Hi Kristen,
Our library at SUNY Geneseo launched our newly redesigned
library website
during the summer break. We decided to do it on August 4th,
a Friday, at
4:15pm. Here were a few reasons:
1. We waited until the last of two summer sessions were
over at the
college.
2. Decided to launch on a Friday afternoon/evening, when
most of the campus
staff should not be affected. Most campus non-teaching
faculty and staff
work an 8-4 schedule, M-Fri, during the summer months.
3. We also wanted to do it early enough in August to give
the library
faculty and staff enough time to become familiar with the
site before
classes started.
4. Give us time to fix bugs before faculty and students get
back to campus.
About a month and a half before launch we posted a message
on our old page
to notify our web audiences that we would be launching our
newly redesigned
site in early August. We kept it purposely vague as to the
date to give us
the flexibility of changing the launch if any problems were
encountered.
Right alongside the message, we posted a thumbnail image of
the new site.
A week before the launch, we posted another message, with
announcing
possible disruptions of service while we moved over to the
new site. We
gave a 2-hour window in case we encountered problems.
At the same time, I sent an email to all the campus
listservs (for faculty,
staff, etc.) to notify those concerned about the launch date
and the
possible disruptions in web services. We also included an
image of the new
website to give the campus a preview of what was to come,
but didn't provide
a link to the new site.
I believe it worked rather well. We launched with a minimum
disruption of
service and broken links, errors, etc.
http://library.geneseo.edu
Kate
************************************************************
*******
Katherine E. Pitcher
Reference/Instruction & Web Development Librarian
Milne Library
SUNY at Geneseo
(585) 245-5064
pitcher geneseo.edu
http://www.geneseo.ed
u/~pitcher
************************************************************
*******
From: "DeVoe, Kristen" <DevoeKcofc.edu>
To: <web4libwebjunction.org>
Sent: Wednesday, August 30, 2006 1:45 PM
Subject: [Web4lib] new library website
Hello,
I'm interested in learning about other libraries
experiences introducing
redesigned academic library websites. Did you wait until a
break
between semesters? Did you release the new site in the
middle of a
semester? Over a fall break or spring break? Did you
provide a link to
the new site on the old site before releasing to get user
feedback,
introduce users to the new look, and troubleshoot?
Any insight into this process would be appreciated. Feel
free to
respond off-list if you prefer.
Thanks!
Kristen DeVoe
Kristen E. DeVoe
Electronic Resources Librarian
Marlene and Nathan Addlestone Library
College of Charleston
Charleston, South Carolina 29424
Phone: (843) 953-6671
Email: devoekcofc.edu
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