|
Online Collection:
Development of P.L. Duffy Resource Centre Website
This explains the creation of the website serving a secondary school library.
It examines the rationale for creating such a site when there are many
search engines available. The website aims to provide a virtual roadmap
of sites appropriate to a Western Australian secondary school. The facility
while aimed at a particular school has all kinds of uses for a wide range
of similar organizations as it is available on the Internet. Methodology
for finding the sites is discussed, as is specific criteria for selecting
them. A summary of the areas covered by the site is outlined from specific
Learning Areas links to links for school principals on school leadership.
The website is a living document of use both to staff and students of
this school and many others. Continuing evaluation is expected to maintain
a high standard of web design and useful educational content.
Rationale
As educational programmes become more student centred and require an
outcomes based focus, so access to greater range of resources becomes
a necessity. As the teacher librarian for the Senior Library, the P.L.
Duffy Resource Centre at Trinity College the problems of servicing these
wide ranging needs are very apparent. It was obvious that no library whether
based at a school or elsewhere can afford to provide enough text based
material to support the ever widening requirements of teachers and students.
We are all aware of the possibilities of the enormous amounts of material
available on the Internet. The huge quantity of sites available are daunting
rather than encouraging to a student first faced with the vagaries of
the World Wide Web It is very apparent that many find the quantity of
material available on the web overwhelming. Anyone who has gone to Google
or Yahoo typed in one word and been faced with millions of hits has faced
with the sheer immensity of the Internet. However, the main difficulty
with this plethora of information is the enormous variety in quality of
material that is available. Many waste much time searching for appropriate
sites that are on the correct subject, have appropriate information and
are at the right level. There was a necessity to provide a roadmap to
assist students find their way through the maze on the "Internet Superhighway".
To alleviate this problem, I decided to construct a library website.
The search engines are developing better selection methods to make their
retrieval more useful, but the amount of information recovered is still
overwhelming. Both students and staff found the task of obtaining relevant
material very time consuming. While students didn't¹t often mind
this time loss, staff resented it, and students ultimately realised they
did not have the information they needed to assist them.
Some staff members initially saw the creation of the website as "spoon
feeding" the students. However, in a print library we don¹t just
pile the books in a heap on the floor. We don¹t call providing a
library catalogue "spoon feeding" The "roadmap" of the website merely
be points students in the right direction. If I merely provided one or
two sites on a topic, then this might be considered "spoon feeding". My
aim is to provide a number of sites, just as we would offer a number of
books.
The main aim is to provide access to a wide variety of high quality information
in all kinds of areas to support the curriculum and the teachers as much
as possible. No library has the funds to provide access to a wide range
of hard copy resources in all the possible areas students and teachers
would choose to research. The Internet may provide the opportunity to
do this, at least to a limited extent. My expertise, shared by many librarians,
gathered over a number of years enables me to choose material that will
be of use to staff and students. The skills of selection we apply in choosing
books and magazines are appropriate in selecting web sites. The question
we ask about quality and relevance apply in the same way. The medium may
be different but the quality of the message is still an issue in selection.
The assistance of this selection gives the maximum amount of choice with
the greatest amount of support for the teaching and learning programmes.
The website tries not limit the choices of the students. It provides a
number of sites on each topic, ranging from introductory to academic.
The range of opinions also attempts to be as varied as possible. Especially
in areas where viewpoints differ, I attempt to provide a wide variety
of opinions to allow students to examine.
The website necessarily is as accessible and usable as possible. The
resource is only worthwhile if students and staff find it easy to use
and can access the site and navigate it with ease.
Methodology
I used originally used FrontPage to create my website. There are many
different website creation tools, many easy to use for new creators of
web sites. FrontPage was available at my school with the Office software,
and this is the case with many schools. I began by using FrontPage Express,
moved to FrontPage 97 then FrontPage 200) and 2002 or XP. It is a tool
that enables planning of the structure of the site beforehand, and it
is able to be changed easily as needs change. It is relatively easy to
use and integrates easily with ubiquitous Microsoft products. I now use
Macromedia's Dreamweaver as I find it more flexible, with cleaner code.
I planned a site where every learning area is covered and each has its
own folder and subsections have subfolders. This allows for expansion
as further assignments are added. After some initial mistakes I now keep
file names short and without spaces or special characters as this makes
the site easy to read in all kinds of browsers.
To create a website reflective of the needs of the school both staff
and students I ask teachers to inform me of programs, topics and assignments
at least a week before they bring students to library and computer labs.
I provided forms with spaces for appropriate information, so that teachers
can give me enough background to choose sites intelligently. I need to
know the topic, its focus, the subject area, the year level, the time
allocated for research and production of the assignment.
I search for appropriate sites as each assignment arises, and review
each page when the assignment is repeated. This required using search
engines intelligently. Search engines are useful but there is a need to
learn the peculiarities, strengths and weaknesses of each one to use them
appropriately. I prepared an Access database of Australian sites Australian
Search Database. to aid in this process Educational sites and specific
subject areas sites that review other websites are useful Educational,
computing and other journals regularly review sites of use to students
and can provide good suggestions A knowledge of the "invisible" web is
necessary to aid in finding appropriate sites. Normal search engines do
not find the contents of databases or Adobe pdf files which are of great
benefit to students and teachers alike.
I apply specific criteria to examine the sites as I find them to assess
whether they are of use to the students or staff. As with print material
the sites have to be useful to our purposes as well as of good quality.
I add a webpage with a number of appropriate links for each assignment.
I decided on criteria for the suitability of each link, and apply that
as consistently as possible. I link each page to a general page for each
subject area and link it other subject areas if it seems appropriate.
I evaluate the usefulness of the site and the amount of use of the site.
regularly . This evaluation needs to be ongoing and continuous.
- A PowerPoint slide show prepared for a workshop summarises this process
Saving Time Rosemary Horton
Presentation Style
My main focus is on creating a Web site that organises the links coherently
with easy navigation so that both student and teacher can find what they
need quickly. I have added site maps and a search facility to assist with
this. I used large fonts, few illustrations and a simple format to make
it relatively uncluttered. I tried to make the pages visually attractive
without slowing them down too much. The priority is for each page to load
quickly and provide information as easily as possible.
I aim to make the website as accessible as possible to as many browser
platforms as possible, as wide a range of screen and colour resolutions
as is practicable. For the most part I have added links to tables, as
they are easy to navigate and read. Some earlier version browsers cannot
handle tables but it is the best way to make the presentation easy. I
have tried to make the code as uncluttered as possible (Dreamwweaver is
much better at this than Frontpage). I have learnt as much as possible
about webpage design so that the site is as error free as attainable.
My latest area of competence are cascading style sheets. I endeavour to
keep the links up-to-date, although as the site now has thousands of links
this is more difficult.
I decided not to have much editorialising. Unlike many. my comments are
minimal so the user can make their own decisions. The books on my library
shelves do not come with my commentary on the cover. I decided not to
add comments except when absolutely necessary.
Criteria for Choice of Links
Content Criteria
Geographical Bias
The Internet is very culturally biased with the great majority of sites
emanating from the United States of America. For this reason, as we are
in Western Australia, although local sites are often more difficult to
locate I try, in most instances, to include first Western Australian,
then Australian sites so the information is relevant to the students.
This requirement makes finding sites especially difficult. Most of the
Internet is dominated by the Unites States; in sheer numbers websites
from there dominate the web. Australian and Western Australian sites are
much fewer and therefore much harder to find. Nevertheless the number
is growing and in most areas of discussion there are some available.
As we are also one of the most isolated cities in the world I also try
to include sites from around the world. In some cases, a site in another
language may be the only helpful one. Now this is less of a problem than
it would have been. With the advent of a number of translation sites like
AltaVista's Babel fish site http://babelfish.altavista.com/translate.dyn
we can read and access sites in a number (not all, of course!) of different
languages Now, we can enter a url of a site and have it translated. Or
we can enter straight text to do the same.
Variety
I endeavour to include as wide a range of sites as possible, allowing
for different reading competency levels, different learning styles and
different abilities. I would, finances allowing, have many books on every
topic that students study in the library. With the Internet, we can have
this range of topics covered at a surprising breadth and depth at a somewhat
lesser cost. I try to include a wide range of information from many different
points of view. This means the students can examine diverse opinions and
begin to develop critical thinking skills. A lot of the pages have links
to specific webquests so that the students can follow them if they wish.
Sometimes this search for variety may be at odds with the criteria of
quality. In trying to balance the need to provide a range of viewpoints
on a topic, it is sometimes necessary to include sites that are not of
the highest quality, so that all perspectives are expressed. If the quality
gap is too wide then the stance may not be well served. Nevertheless,
I err on the side of variety if necessary.
Similarly, some viewpoints may not be representative of the school mainstream
thinking but in the interests of providing material for discussion are
still be included.
Evaluation
I try to choose website links based on the following criteria, weighing
this with the aim of variety.
Accuracy
When viewing a webpage, I weigh the information provided with information
already known. If possible, I check with subject teachers to assist me
in this area. I am not an expert in every field. However, as a librarian,
I am used to making such decisions. Where details are provided I can check
with known information. If there are sources provided on the site can
use these to verify accuracy.
Another area of accuracy of great importance is accuracy of links. A
page where many of the links do not work argues that details are not important
and/or no revision has taken place recently. This is of concern if considering
the accuracy of statements made.
Authority
This is one of the most difficult areas to confirm. Many websites provide
little or no information on the author and some authorisations prove spurious
on further analysis. It is definitely a step in the right direction if
there is an author cited. I try to choose sites where there are credentials
are clear and reliable source organizations are acknowledged and organization
loyalty is clearly cited. This is not always foolproof. Universities sometimes
host websites that have no actual academic standing at all. It is a good
sign if there is an address that is contactable outside the Internet provided
Objectivity
When I first began my teacher training our lecturers said we had to be
objective when teaching. They spoke of keeping our personal feelings hidden
and merely presenting the facts. This stance was and is untenable. No
one is really objective. Their viewpoint on the world colours what they
say, how they say it and what they present. In choosing websites I choose
sites where the bias is clear and acknowledged, where, if commercial,
the dependency is stated; if academic, which institution is involved;
if related to any group or affiliation that is clear.
When dealing with advertising the situation is more problematical. A
commercial site must advertise its product. A genealogy site may advertise
gedcom software, a music site favourite player software. When choosing
sites for students especially I try to choose sites where the relationship
with the advertising is clear and acknowledged.
Currency
One of the major benefits of the web is access to current information.
It is obviously of much more use if the page appears to be updated regularly.
This is not a hard and fast rule, of course. On-line classics will not
change, but is more relevant than you would think even in areas like history
where research constantly changes our view of the past. It is especially
relevant in areas like current affairs. I choose sites where the page
is dated clearly, where the information is up-to date.
Links also need to work. The usefulness of any links provided in dependent
whether they work. If these are not updated then the page may be out-of-date
as well despite any dating provided
Coverage/Purpose
The first issue of coverage is subject matter of use to the students
in their particular assignments. Many sites may cover the topic in question,
but to be added to our site they have to be relevant to assignment under
discussion, and suitable for the year level that is studying it. There
is so much on the Internet. I am not trying to catalogue it all, but merely
find sites appropriate for our students and teachers in their tasks.
When evaluating sites those of more value are ones where the purpose
and coverage of the site is clear. It does not matter whether the site
appears to be comprehensive or on one small area. If it is clear what
the aim of the site is and if it achieves that aim then it will be valuable.
A major university site may aim provide a comprehensive coverage of World
War Two; a small storytelling organization may try to supply resources
for beginning tellers. Both may be valuable if they achieve their task
well
Areas of Coverage
Learning Areas
In the main section are links to sites in various curriculum or learning.
I organise these into the main Learning Areas
- Contemporary Issues I created pages of links that deal with controversial and contemporary
issues as they are discussed in Religious Education, English, Science,
Studies of Society and Environment etc. As these topics cross curriculum
areas I did not place them in particular Learning Areas but I will place
them in a separate subdivision In this section I will also add pages of
links to support the debating teams as they deal with various topics
- Australian Indigenous People I created a cluster of sites bringing together information about our
indigenous population and discussing issues that are of interest across
the curriculum in this area. I developed this in consultation with the
Aboriginal Education Officer.
- Reference and General Information
- I added links to encyclopaedias, dictionaries, atlases, on-line journals and other such reference material available on the web
- Research, Study Skills and Information Literacy Information and tutorials on methods of study and research skills has been added, as this is an area where there has been much discussion from staff. Included is also be information about copyright, citation and referencing methods
- Computer and Information Technology Pages of links dealing with the Internet, Internet searching, search engines and tutorials on word processing, spreadsheets and database has been added, as this kind of information can be accessed and used as needed. Links to web page design and evaluation is also necessary.
Special Interests
Pastoral Care
I created a site, with advice from the guidance officer, to provide information that students may wish to investigate, but would wish to do on their own. Topics in this area would be suicide, drugs, domestic violence and other areas of this nature.
Primary
I developed links to assist primary students in their studies as well. This is a smaller area as students here have more limited access to computers and consequently less skills and use.
Recreation
There are areas of recreational interest for students, so pages of links to sport,music, movies, books, web cams around the world and trivia have been added.
Cross Curricular
Teachers and Education
- Teachers
- Lesson Plans General Education lesson plans and resources Pages have been added leading to sites with lesson plans and teaching resources of a general nature, professional organizations, educational journals, listservs, webquests and other on-line assignments and collaborative resources like e-mail and video conferencing
- Resources for Key Learning Area Teaching Subject Related Pages have been added finding links to subject specific methodology, lesson plans, lesson catalogues, professional organizations, webquests
- Education Methodology and Philosophy Links to general educational methodology and philosophy have been added. Also special areas of interest such as boys' education, educational leadership, gifted and talented education, special education, problem solving and creative thinking has been established.
- Information Comminication Technology in Education Pages with links for teachers on using Information Technology in teaching, using webquests and webquest examples and evaluating web pages have been added.
The Website
I have created a website which provides a service to the school and to
the wider educational community. The students and staff use the site,
and gain benefit from it. It provides a worthwhile guide to appropriate
and relevant sites that assists students in finding a variety of information
that they need to complete assignments and projects and helps teachers
with their teaching role and academic work
The site is a living document, reacting to the needs of the students
and teachers, mirroring the areas of the curriculum and even anticipating
areas of need. I hope that it does more than this, expanding their horizons
in their education, opening up possibilities for future exploration of
ideas, concepts and promoting the desire for a continuous life long learning.
The site is easy to access and easily navigable. It provides different
ways to find information, with a search facility, a site map, a "What's
New" page and a border with common navigation. The site uses good
web design principles, for the most part able easily viewed by different
browsers with different screen resolutions and colour settings. The links
still need to be maintained (that is checked that they are still operational)
so that the site continues to remains usable. For the most part it is
accessible by people who are disabled
Evaluation
t is of importance that the site provide the kinds of sites that provide
appropriate material for helping students and staff find material for
their assignments and assist them with other academic work. The links
need to be maintained (that is checked that they are still operational).
It is also essential that students and staff use the site, and gain benefit
from it.
The evaluation of the site is a combination of anecdotal and external
measurement. It is apparent that much of the evaluation is self-evaluation.
As I learned and gained better skills my webpage creation skills improved,as
I examined what I produced and improved on it. As I developed the site
I learned better techniques for searching, selection and building my site.
This constant reflection will be continuing. As I repeatedly revise, check
links and re-organise content, structure and presentation, evaluation
will be ongoing.
In my day-to-day work, as the project progresses, I observe students
use the site in the library. I receive feedback from teachers as to how
students use the sites in the labs, or at home in their projects. Teachers
and students request additions and comment on usage and usefulness. Students
delight in pointing out mistakes or omissions
Users from outside the school also offer reactions as they comment, request
help or offer suggestions. This is very useful for feedback in moulding,
building or changing the site.
Other instruments are used to evaluate various aspects of the site. I
use various means to check how the site appears in different browsers,
screen size and verify links at Anybrowser I use my Freefind search facility
to have reports on what terms are used in the search facility. The ExtremeTracker
webtracker facility gives feedback a number of different things. It enumerates
which domain and which country the visitor is from; when the highest use
is (days and times); which search engine sent them to my site; what browser
they are using, which screen resolution and which colour resolution they
are using.
A typical summary http://extremetracking.com/open;sum?login=hortonr reflects
1550 visitors on Anzac Day, 2002, while the daily average number is 982
,and the average number of weekly visitors is 6650 . Most visitors use
IE5, Windows 98, 800x 600 resolution and 16 bit screen colour. Google
is the search engine that refers to my page most and the most common search
words (after "the"!) are "australia", "australian"
and "aboriginal" and 42% of visitors are from Australia
I check coding with W3C CSS Validation Service
With these instruments I decide whether to alter my site to accommodate
any of these factors.
The combination of self-evaluation, anecdotal feedback and automated
measuring tracking provides a combination of very useful evaluation tools
to enable the maintenance and continuation of a very useful facility.
References
Altavista (2002) Altavista World Translation [Online] Available:http://babelfish.altavista.com/translate.dyn (2002, April 25)
Anybrowser (2002) Anybrowser.com: Your Source for Browser Compatibility
Verification [Online] Available: http://www.anybrowser.com/ (2002, April
25)
eXTReMe Digital (2002) eXTReMe Tracking [Online] Available: http://www.extreme-dm.com/tracking/ (2002, April 25)
Freefind (2002) Freefind: Add a search engine to your web site today.
[Online] Available: http://www.freefind.com/ (2002, April 25)
Google (2002) Google [Online] Available: http://www.google.com/ (2002,
April 25)
Horton, Rosemary (2002) Australian Search Database Access Database [Online]
http://www.alia.org.au/~rhorton/Learntech/learncurr/search1.mdb (2002,
April 25)
Horton, Rosemary (2002) Saving Time: Showing the Way PowerPoint slide
show [Online] Available http://www.alia.org.au/~rhorton/library/save/st.htm (2002, April 25)
Le Hégaret, Philippe (2002) W3C CSS Validation Service [Online]
Available:http://jigsaw.w3.org/css-validator/ (2002, April 25)
Yahoo (2002) Yahoo [Online] Available: http://www.yahoo.com/ (2002, April
25)
|
