Searching and Searching Some More

I recently took some time to review search terms....... something I'm sure everyone is jumping up and down to do! What are search terms, you ask? When you go to the website and put something you're looking for in the search box, that information is captured.

Why, you might ask, is this important? Well, by reviewing one month's worth of data, we hope to come up with better ways and methods to help you find what you are looking for! (Don't worry - no personal information is captured so we have no idea who enters what terms in our site!)

A good example would be searching for "princess" and choosing "the site" to find the Disney Princess books. When I look at the search results, I don't find any......so what are my options? We hope you're asking a staff person for help, but if it's 10:00 at night then chances are you're not....... Another example are the searches for "school reading lists." We have put lots of time and effort into making these available......on the teen website.......so you would not necessarily find these by searching the adult site! Without going into technical detail, the search you perform on the http://www.arapahoelibraries.org/ does not search the teensite or the kidsite. So we need to do what we can with the websites to make them better for you!

Getting articles made easier!

When you are searching within the Ebsco databases, you now have a handy live link that says "Request this item through interlibrary loan." I hope this is not so library-jargon-ridden that it is beyond understanding (but please let me know if you think this is the case!). What the translation might read:

"This database does not have the full-text article you are seeking. If you would like to have the full-text then click on the link, fill out the required relevant information and click submit. Your form will be emailed to the appropriate department who will then obtain the full-text article for you. While it may take a week or two (because we may be requesting from an out-of-state library), we will try to provide this information to you at no charge."

This is just one small improvement in your website experience with http://www.arapahoelibraries.org/. If there are other features you would like/love to see or features now that you absolutely just detest, here's the place to let me know!

Of Library Websites

What do you like in websites? What do you particularly like or don't like when visiting library websites?

I recently found a list of renovated library websites and was pursuing them with interest - what new things do they do? How do they portray their catalog? What is different and what are new features?

If you are interested in doing the same, follow this link and then give me your input!

Minor Changes To Report

We've made a few tweaks to the home page:

1.  the Contact Us button is now higher up for easy access.  When you click here, you are taken to a page which consolidates all of the ways you can contact us - phone, email, the contact us form, etc.  Hopefully this helps to cut down on the clutter in trying to find this information in different places.

2.  the Homework Help button is no longer on the home page.  As an electronic service, you can now search the site to find the link from this home page.  More appropriately, you can easily find Homework Help in the childrens and teen sites by searching the site.

We are working diligently on our new website design and content management back end.  Continue to check the blog for updates as we make progress!