State and Local: Capturing the Moment: Local Government Publications

When it comes to identifying and accessing government information sources, publications from local government offices and departments can be one of the toughest areas out there. Local or municipal governments are typically categorized based on the category of government subdivision they fit, such as counties, cities, towns, or districts, but they are more frequently requested and accessed based on the surrounding geography. Some functions can be carried out in partnership with other government entities, as when a water or parks district works in concert with a county government; or when agencies at the regional level work directly under the mandate of a state or provincial government

Rare and Endangered Government Publications: Capturing the Moment

What are rare and endangered government publications? In short, they are the materials representing that which is valued most in our collections. Each depository library collects documents that are important to its community: some arrive through a depository program, some come through direct solicitation from agencies, some come through traditional means of acquisition, and some come through emerging models of building digital collections. Managing these resources to ensure their availability for long-term access is a critical part of government documents librarianship. Put another way, rare and endangered government publications are the pieces of the public output of government that are most likely to go missing

A Path to Providing User-Centered Subject Guides

The experience at the University of Akron illustrates a transitional path from static Web sites to dynamic, user-centered Web design. Starting with Web-based subject resource guides that were difficult to maintain and navigate, University Libraries migrated to a content management system that solved existing maintenance issues and created the opportunity for interactive resource lists. Subsequent usability testing found that users needed librarian-designed subject guides to understand and access resources. Consequently, University Libraries redesigned its Web site functionality. In the course of this article, it is shown that ease of maintenance and ease of use need not be mutually exclusive

Transitioning from Marketing-Oriented Design to User-Oriented Design: A Case Study

The transition to a new architecture and design for an academic library Web site does not always proceed smoothly. This case study describes the experiences of a library at a large research university that hired an outside Web development contractor to create a new architecture and design for the university’s Web site using dotCMS, an open source content management system. The library participated in the design and development process along with other campus units. Because the university-wide process focused on marketing the university to prospective students, parents, and donors, the fact-finding process that the contractor used for the library’s site design focused on how the design could incorporate Web 2.0 technologies. The outcome was a library Web site that showcased Web 2.0 technology more than it provided users with access to library resources. The library’s users quickly communicated their dissatisfaction and confusion, which led to some immediate changes and a commitment to redesign the site based on expressed and demonstrated user needs. Therefore, the library hired another contractor to conduct iterative usability testing on both the new site and prototypes for a redesigned version. The testing outcome showed that Web 2.0 technology that does not meet existing user needs creates obstacles for both novice and experienced users. In collaboration with the university’s information technology unit, the library developed and launched a revised Web site that helped users connect to the resources they need. This upgrade included the deployment of the Google Search Appliance to replace the native dotCMS search functionality. This case study demonstrates that libraries may need to advocate for different Web design priorities than those in practice at the university-wide level, and that working with outside contractors presents different challenges and opportunities depending on the contractor’s hiring unit. These experiences also demonstrate that libraries can do a better job learning about their users when they lead the fact-finding process. Following these experiences, the library has made a commitment to conducting iterative usability testing on a regular basis

Preservation of and Access to Government Information and Data: Accounts from the Field

Video of the panel session "Preservation of and Access to Government Information and Data: Accounts from the Field" for the 2017 Open Access Symposium with presentations on the End of Term Archive, the US Government Publishing Office, the Data Refuge initiative, and the Preservation of Electronic Government Information group