Survey of Web Developers in Acdemic Librries by Ruth Sr Connell Avilble online 8 Februry 2008 A survey ws sent to librry Web designers from rndomly selected institutions to determine the bckground, tools, nd methods used by those designers. Results, grouped by Crnegie clssifiction type, indicted tht lrger schools were not necessrily working with more resources or more dvnced levels of technology thn other institutions. Ruth Sr Connell, Electronic Services Librrin, Vlpriso University, USA <Ruth.Connell@vlpo.edu>. INTRODUCTION A librry Web site is n integrl prt of librry's identity. Mny ptrons visit librry's virtul loction, its Web site, more thn they visit its physicl loction. Librry Web sites function s portls for reserch, mrketing tools, nd plces for informtion bout librries. Tody it is possible for students to conduct reserch for ppers without ever stepping foot inside their cdemic librry. They cn sk reference questions virtully; conduct reserch in dtbses; nd plce interlibrry lon requests online, nd in the cse of rticles, receive those items electroniclly. All of these functions utilize librry Web sites, requiring those Web sites to be timely nd esy to use. In librry literture, much hs been written bout individul librries' Web site design, but less is known bout the people who design those Web sites. In this study, the uthor took systemtic smpling of cdemic institutions nd distributed survey to those cdemic librry Web tem leders. The purpose ws to discover how librry Web tems' stffing, bckground, tools, nd professionl development differ mong vrious types of cdemic librries. Since cdemic librry Web sites re such n integrl prt of their librries, it is importnt to know more bout the people, tools, nd methods used to crete these Web sites. REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE The literture relted to librry Web site design nd the people who design librry Web sites fell into three min ctegories. The lrgest group of literture ws concerned with how individul librries hve hndled their Web site design, evlution, nd mngement. The second group included rticles tht nlyzed groups of librry Web sites nd reported on norms found for those popultions. However, the focus of the literture review ws the third group, which included interviews nd surveys of librry Web designers. Sndr Shropshire investigted how librry Web sites re mnged by conducting cse study of four institutions tht included interviews with librry Web designers. She wnted to find out how mngement concerns were hndled. 1 She decided to focus on nonmembers of the Assocition of Reserch Librries (ARL), investigted ech of their Web sites hed of time, nd then went to ech librry during the fll nd winter of 2001/2002. She interviewed ll stff who were responsible for their librry's Web design, nd tilored the questions for ech institution bsed on tht librry's Web site. Shropshire's interviews reveled mny insights into Web mngement. She recommended including prprofessionls on the Web committee; sid tht Web tem members should hve Web design included in their job description nd performnce evlution; The Journl of Acdemic Librrinship, Volume 34, Number 2, pges 121 129 Mrch 2008 121
nd found tht the Web tem leder should not be the person with the most technologicl skills, but rther the person with cler ide of the big picture. In ddition, ll of the librries Shropshire studied hd presence on their institution's web committee. Among studies tht surveyed Web designers, Beth Evns studied Web pge uthors of very lrge (7,500+ FTEs) public institutions in 1997. 2 Her results showed tht librrins (78.2 percent) were responsible for the cretion of librry Web pges more often thn nonlibrrins (20.2 percent). 3 Evns lso sked Web pge uthors to identify their job title nd found tht most respondents wore different hts within the librry nd tht Web design ws just portion of their job. Evns lso sked bout collbortion nd Web tems nd found tht bout 84 percent of designers hd collbortors. 4 However, since the survey included only very lrge public institutions, this did not ddress how smller institutions hndle Web design. Evns's respondents indicted tht they were lrgely selftught (93.8 percent of librrins nd 100 percent of nonlibrrins) lthough mny hd ttended workshops or trining sessions. Tht home pge uthors hve been trined through combintion of methods my explin the pprent contrdiction here. Mny my hve first been introduced to skill through workshop nd then continued to upgrde their bilities through self-instruction. 5 The survey lso found tht institutions re more likely to support the continuing eduction of their employees by giving time for trining thn by giving monetry compenstion. 6 One yer lter, Mry Tylor distributed survey to ARL librry Webmsters nd received eighty-two responses. 7 Like Evns, 78 percent of Tylor's responding Web designers were librrins. Most (69 percent) of the librrins did not feel their librry school eduction hd dequtely prepred them for Web design, mostly becuse their librry eduction hd tken plce before Web design ws n issue. However, of those who felt they hd received n dequte librry school eduction in terms of Web design, mny (15 percent) felt tht becuse they hd lerned how to orgnize informtion, they were prepred for Web design. 8 Tylor lso sked for respondents to list their job titles. Over third of the webmsters hd either the words Web, WWW, Electronic, or Digitl in their job titles. For most Web designers, Web design ws smller portion of their job becuse lmost 60 percent of those responding spent fifteen or fewer hours week on their Web-relted duties. 9 Tble 1 Size of Librry Web Tems (N=98) 1 Person 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 or More 48 (49.0%) 28 (28.6%) 12 (12.2%) 6 (6.1%) 3 (3.1%) 1 (1.0%) Of the ARL Web designers Tylor surveyed, 81 percent served s prt of Web committee, with medin of eight tem members. All felt tht librrins should hve some role in developing librry Web sites. During the summer of 2001, ARL conducted study of its member librries with response from 62 of the 122 members. 10 Fifty-seven percent of librry Web uthors did Web design on full-time bsis. In ddition, some of the comments from this survey mentioned the importnce of creting Web tem with complementry skills in grphic design, progrmming, dtbse design, systems dministrtion, content editing, informtion rchitecture, usbility, nd project mngement. 11 One rticle of interest tht did not fit into ny of the bove ctegories ws written by two librrins with experience developing nine different librry Web sites between them. Veldof nd Nckerud used their combined experience to come up with the seven res of expertise for successful Web site design in librries. 12 They rgued tht successful Web designer or design tem should be proficient in the following seven res: project mngement, informtion rchitecture, usbility, ccess for people with disbilities, grphic design, content cretion, nd progrmming. RESEARCH QUESTION The reserch question tht ws the impetus of this study ws, Wht re the bckgrounds of different cdemic librry Web designers nd wht tools nd methods do they use? The purpose of the study ws to exmine cdemic librries of ll sizes nd types, to determine common prctices used by different peer groups. Wht re the bckgrounds of different cdemic librry web designers nd wht tools nd methods do they use? Figure 1 Shring of Web Tems by Institutions with Multiple Librries (N=35) METHODOLOGY The popultion group of ll cdemic librries in the United Sttes ws gthered using the 2005 Crnegie clssifiction list. 13 This list hd the benefit of clssifying institutions bsed Tble 2 Web Tem Membership (N=110) Librrins Prprofessionls IT Stff Students 91 (82.7%) 30 (27.3%) 24 (21.8%) 7 (6.4%) The sum of percentges totls more thn 100 percent becuse respondents were llowed multiple nswers for this question. 122 The Journl of Acdemic Librrinship
Figure 2 Self-tught Web Tem Members by Simplified Bsic Crnegie Clssifiction (N = 110) on size nd type, which llowed for comprisons between different institutions bsed on these clssifictions. At the time the dt were gthered, there were 4384 institutions on the Crnegie list. In order to gther smple tht would include ll types of librries, systemtic smpling using every twelfth institution ws collected. Then, for ech institution in the smple group, Web serch ws performed to find their librry Web site. Once their Web site ws found, the uthor or librry student ssistnt serched for contct nme nd e-mil ddress, preferbly for the librry Web designer. When contct informtion for the librry Web designer ws not vilble, contct informtion ws gthered for n lterntive person, in this order of preference: librrin, generl cmpus Web designer, nd then generl cmpus e-mil contct. Some of the 365 institutions hd to be removed from the smple for vrious resons. Some of the Puerto Ricn institutionl Web sites were in Spnish, one institution did not hve Web site t ll, mny of the institutions did not hve librry Web sites, nd some mde no mention of librry on their Web site. There were fifty-four institutions without librries or librry Web sites; thirty-four of those were twoyer schools, nd thirty-six were privte, for-profit schools. After ll of these institutions were eliminted, 288 institutions remined. A survey ws creted with thirty-five questions designed to lern more bout the people creting librry Web sites, the tools they use, nd the resources nd professionl development fforded to them (see Appendix A). Within the survey, it ws necessry to sk respondents to identify their institution for two resons. First, it llowed for mtching the survey results to the pproprite institution, so tht the reltionship between the results nd the size/type of institution could be tken into considertion. Secondly, since two e-mil requests were sent out per institution, it llowed those who responded fter one e-mil to be removed from the list used for the e-mil reminder. To encourge frnk responses, the prticipnts were ssured tht their nmes or other identifying informtion would not be used in the published results. The survey ws posted to the Web during September 2006 using commercil online survey utility. E-mils were sent to ll of the contcts for ech of the 288 institutions in the smple group, sking for their prticiption. Sixty-seven individuls filled out the survey fter receiving the initil e-mil. Two weeks fter the initil e-mil request ws sent out, follow-up reminder e-mil ws sent to those people who hd not responded to the first request. The second e-mil elicited fortythree responses. The survey closed in mid-october 2006, fter being open for one month. In ll, 110 institutions' contcts completed the survey, for 38.19 percent response rte. In cses where someone from n institution filled out the survey more thn once, the most complete response ws used, nd the other discrded. PROFILE OF RESPONDENTS The 2005 revision of the Crnegie clssifiction is complicted, with thirty-three different levels of institutions in the bsic clssifiction ctegory. Becuse the survey's responses only represented twenty-one of those ctegories, nd some of those only hd one institution in ctegory, the ctegories were combined into five simplified ctegories: ssocite's colleges (combining 14 ctegories), bcclurete colleges (three ctegories), mster's colleges nd universities (three ctegories), doctorte-grnting universities (three ctegories), nd specil focus institutions (nine ctegories). The specil focus institutions tht responded to this survey included six theologicl schools, five nonmedicl helth schools, three schools of rt, two lw schools, nd one medicl school. In this pper, the term simplified bsic Crnegie clssifiction refers to the combined clssifictions listed bove. The 110 Web developers who responded to this survey represented the following Crnegie simplified bsic clssifictions: Thirty-nine (35.5 percent) ssocite's colleges, twentythree (20.9 percent) mster's colleges nd universities; twenty (18.2 percent) bcclurete colleges, seventeen (15.5 percent) specil focus institutions, nd ten (9.0 percent) doctorlgrnting universities. One (0.9 percent) of the responding institutions ws not clssified under the 2005 bsic Crnegie clssifiction. Tble 3 Pst Web Design Trining for Tem Members (N=110) College/Grd Clss (Before Hire) Professionl Workshop Full Clss Tken After Hire (Audited or For Credit) Other 41 (37.3%) 39 (35.5%) 7 (6.4%) 26 (23.6%) The sum of percentges totls more thn 100 percent becuse respondents were llowed multiple nswers for this question. Mrch 2008 123
Tble 4 Continuing Eduction by Simplified Bsic Crnegie Clssifiction Associte's (N = 39) Bcclurete (N = 20) Mster's (N = 23) Doctorte (N = 10) Specil Focus (N = 17) Workshops 18 (46.2%) 7 (35.0%) 15 (65.2%) 7 (70.0%) 8 (47.1%) None 11 (28.2%) 9 (45.0%) 6 (26.1%) 1 (10.0%) 7 (41.2%) Other 10 (25.6%) 6 (30.0%) 6 (26.1%) 5 (50.0%) 4 (23.5%) Full courses 6 (15.4%) 3 (15.0%) 1 (4.3%) 0 (0%) 0 (0%) The sum of percentges totls more thn 100 percent becuse respondents were llowed multiple nswers for this question. In terms of size, bsed on Crnegie's size nd setting clssifiction, twelve (10.9 percent) responses cme from very smll schools, thirty-nine (35.5 percent) from smll schools, twenty-three (20.9 percent) from medium, seventeen (15.5 percent) from lrge, nd two (1.8 percent) from very lrge sized institutions. Seventeen (15.5 percent) responses cme from specil focus institutions with no specific size clssifiction. The mjority (61 or 55.5 percent) of responses cme from representtives of public institutions. Forty-six (41.8 percent) represented privte not-for-profit institutions, while the smllest number (three or 2.7 percent) were Web developers t privte for-profit institutions. RESULTS Web Editor Title Respondents were sked for the job title of the person responsible for the Web site or Web design tem t their librry. In some cses, responses indicted tht the developer hd multiple titles. For exmple, one response ws Electronic Reference Resources nd Web Development Coordintor nd Art Librrin. Of the ninety-three responses to this question, sixteen titles include the word Web, eleven included electronic (there ws some overlp-titles with both Web nd electronic), nineteen titles indicted job clssified in public services, six in technicl services, nd twenty-one hd titles indicting the Director/University Librrin or Assistnt Director ws the person in chrge of librry Web design. Of the lst group, twelve of the director/ssistnt director Web designers worked in very smll or smll librries; but surprisingly, four worked in medium sized librries, nd two worked in lrge librries. Three worked in specil focus institutions tht did not hve Crnegie size listing. Other titles tht did not fit into ny of the ctegories bove were: librrin (six instnces), Informtion Specilist, Technicin I, nd Librry Technology Coordintor. Multiple or Individul Librries The respondents were sked if their institution hd multiple librries nd thirty-five (31.8 percent) sid yes. Those thirty-five were sked (1) if their librries shred Web tem; (2) ech hd their own Web tem; or (3) if some of their librries shred, while others did not. The vst mjority shred Web tem (see Fig. 1). Two-yer colleges were more likely (91.7 percent) to shre Web tem thn four-yer or bove institutions (60.9 percent). Outsourced vs. In-House Design When sked if their librry Web site design ws outsourced or if it ws n in-house opertion, 108 responded, nd lmost ll (102 or 94.4 percent) used n in-house structure, while only six (5.6 percent) used n outside firm. All of the outsourcing librries were either smll or medium sized schools or specil focus institutions. It my be tht these six institutions did not hve the resources necessry to crete their Web sites in-house, nd it ws more cost effective to go outside their librry thn to trin someone lredy on stff. When sked if their librry website design ws outsourced or if it ws n in-house opertion, 108 responded, nd lmost ll (102 or 94.4 percent) used n in-house structure, while only six (5.6 percent) used n outside firm. Size of Web Tem Librries tht mnged their Web design in-house were sked how mny people served on the Web tem. In mny cses, there ws no tem becuse librry Web design ws one-person opertion. In fct, of the ninety-eight people who nswered this question, bout hlf (48 or 49.0 percent) sid tht one person mnged ll Web design (see Tble 1). When Web tems existed, smller tems were the norm. One might ssume tht the lrger librries would hve lrge Web tems, but tht ws not lwys the cse. Of the fourteen lrge or very lrge institutions, five (35.7 percent) hd only one person Showed n Interest in Web Design Tble 5 Fctors Considered When Selecting Web Tem Members (N=110) Hd Tken Web Design Clss(es) Specificlly Hired for Web Work Grphic Design nd Web Authoring Knowledge Grphic Design, But No Web Authoring Knowledge Other 47 (42.7%) 17 (15.5%) 17 (15.5%) 16 (14.5%) 3 (2.7%) 42 (38.2%) The sum of percentges totls more thn 100 percent becuse respondents were llowed multiple nswers for this question. 124 The Journl of Acdemic Librrinship
hndling Web design while four (28.6 percent) hd Web tems of two or three people. Web Tem Membership nd Responsibilities Respondents were sked to select ll types of stff tht serve on the librry Web tem. Not surprisingly, librrins were the most commonly listed type of Web tem member (see Tble 2). Specil focus institutions were less likely to use librrins (11/17 or 64.7 percent) thn other types of institutions (80/93 or 86.0 percent). In terms of job responsibilities, for most Web tem members, Web design ws just one component of their job. Only five (4.9 percent) of the 103 responses to this question indicted tht members were primrily Web designers, while eighty-six (83.5 percent) responses listed Web design s smller portion of the job; the remining twelve (11.7 percent) nswered other. Web Tem Trining nd Professionl Development Concerning pst trining for tem members, 66 out of 110 (60.0 percent) sid tht t lest some of their tem members were self-tught. Tem members t mster's nd doctorte grnting institutions were more likely to be self-tught thn members t ssocite's, bcclurete, nd specil focus colleges (see Fig. 2). In ddition to self-trining, prticipnts were sked wht other types of trining their tem members hd received in the pst. The two most commonly listed methods were college or grdute school clss tken before hire nd professionl workshops (see Tble 3). Interestingly, Web members t bcclurete institutions were more likely to hve tken clss in college or grdute school (14/20 or 70.0 percent) compred with other institutions (27/90 or 30.0 percent). The most commonly listed other trining method ws one-on-one instruction from the cmpus Web mnger or IT stff. Respondents were sked wht types of continuing eduction or professionl development relted to Web design their tem members received (see Tble 4). The most commonly mentioned other continuing eductionl option ws selftrining: reding books, mnuls, journl rticles, nd studying other Web sites. Web Tem Selection Next, respondents were directed to select ll nswers tht pplied when sked how Web tem members were chosen. The most commonly listed ttribute for Web tem member selection ws hving n interest in Web design (see Tble 5). Web design is constntly evolving field necessitting tem members to keep up with technology. If someone with no interest in the field ws forced into Web tem position, it would be unlikely tht they would be willing to put forth the effort required to be successful in tht role. Tble 6 Most Importnt Qulity in Librry Web Designer (N=102) Orgnize Informtion Effectively Web Authoring Skills Grphic Design Skills Other 65 (63.7%) 18 (17.6%) 6 (5.9%) 13 (12.7%) Tble 7 Knowledge All Tem Members re Expected to Possess (N=110) Web Authoring Softwre 66 (60.0%) Bsic HTML Coding 64 (58.2%) Imge Editing Softwre 42 (38.2%) Cscding Style Sheets 25 (22.7%) Jv Scripting 20 (18.2%) Other 40 (36.4%) The sum of percentges totls more thn 100 percent becuse respondents were llowed multiple nswers for this question. Some of the other resons given for Web tem selection included: Becuse they re the only librrin who knows how to do it, Not chosen; I just decided to crete our web pges, nd Librrin committee member [selection ws] bsed on computer ptitude. Web Tem Abilities nd Knowledge One theme tht recurred in the librry science literture relted to Web design ws the importnce of orgniztion. As Veldof nd Nckerud sid, The orgniztion or rchitecture of the Web site is the one re where librrins hve the home court dvntge. 14 The results of this survey showed tht librry Web designers vlue the importnce of these skills more highly thn ny other when it comes to Web design, regrdless of type of institution (two-yer vs. four-yer; size, or bsic clssifiction) (see Tble 6). When specifying wht they ment by other, three responded tht ll ttributes were necessry. Other responses included the bility to chieve consensus nd to understnd users. One person sid, t this point, we're thnkful for willingness, we don't hve the luxury of seeking skills. Next, respondents were sked wht bsic knowledge ll Web tem members were expected to possess nd were directed to select ll pproprite nswers. Web uthoring softwre ws the most commonly listed requirement, but bsic HTML coding rnked lmost s highly (see Tble 7). With some of the Web uthoring softwre vilble on the mrket tody, it is possible to crete Web sites without much HTML knowledge, but hving HTML knowledge definitely helps when it comes to trouble shooting design problems. Other responses included PHP, SQL, ASP, nd whtever I get good t. Design Tools On some librry Web tems, not every member hs ccess to the sme tools so two questions were sked to determine Tble 8 All Web Tem Members Hve Access to the Following Softwre Yes No Web uthoring softwre (N = 103) 65 (61.3%) 38 (36.9%) Imge editing softwre (N = 102) 49 (48.0%) 53 (52.0%) N is different for the two types of softwre becuse one more person chose to respond to the web uthoring question thn the imge editing question. Mrch 2008 125
Figure 3 Length of Design Process (N=94) whether every tem member hd certin types of softwre (see Tble 8). The fct tht some tem members did not hve ccess to Web uthoring softwre might indicte tht those members served on the tem in order to provide input in terms of orgniztion or content, but not to crete Web pges. Alterntively, those tem members did not hve softwre becuse they coded from scrtch, but tht seems unlikely considering the plethor of Web uthoring softwre vilble. In n erlier question, forty-eight stted their Web tem consisted of only one person, which mens tht some of the respondents who nswered these two questions were responding for tem of one. Design Process Respondents were sked how long their design process took, from brinstorming to debut. The most common response ws tht the process took between two nd four months, which is short turnround time for complete Web design process including the brinstorming period (see Fig. 3). Most of the other responses indicted tht the time vried or ws unknown. Resources nd Technologies Used One of the purposes of this survey ws to discern wht resources nd technologies different cdemic institutions employ. When sked whether they use dtbse driven system (one tht cretes lists of resources on the fly), ninetyfour people responded: twenty-five (26.6 percent) sid yes nd sixty-nine (73.4 percent) sid no. Regrding content mngement systems (CMS), bout one in four (24/94 or 25.5 percent) hd dopted this softwre. There were some significnt differences between institution types in terms of dtbse driven nd content mngement systems (see Tble 9). While doctorte grnting institutions were most likely to utilize dtbse driven systems, they were lest likely to use content mngement systems. Predictbly, the use of these two tools ws lso correlted to institution size (see Tble 10). According to Dniel J. Cohen nd Roy Rosenzweig, [T]hose contemplting more complex sites need to think bout more involved technicl infrstructures, especilly the possibility of orgnizing expnsive resources through dtbses. 15 Lrger institutions generlly hve more complex Web sites, nd therefore hve greter need for dtbse driven system. With the exception of the two very lrge institutions, the lrger the institution size, the higher the percentges of users rose for dtbse driven systems. Conversely, content mngement systems often re more useful for smller librries becuse they llow stff to crete Web content without much Web design knowledge. For smller librries tht do not hve the stff needed to crete nd mintin Web site from scrtch, the CMS llows them to do more with less, nd the dt from this survey showed tht the smller institutions were more likely to use CMS thn lrger institutions. With the exception of the two very lrge institutions, the lrger the institution size, the higher the percentges of users rose for dtbse driven systems. Only seven out of ninety-four (7.4 percent) hd dopted RSS (Relly Simple Syndiction) feeds into their Web site to llow ptrons to follow librry news or monitor chnges on the librry Tble 9 Users of Dtbse Driven nd Content Mngement Systems by Simplified Bsic Crnegie Clssifiction Associte's Bcclurete Mster's Doctorte Specil Focus Dtbse driven systems 5/35 (14.3%) 6/18 (33.3%) 5/20 (25.0%) 7/9 (77.8%) 2/12 (16.7%) Content mngement system 7/34 (20.6%) 5/17 (29.4%) 11/21 (52.4%) 0/9 (0%) 1/13 (7.7%) N is different for the two types of systems becuse different numbers of people chose to respond to the two questions. 126 The Journl of Acdemic Librrinship
Tble 10 Users of Dtbse Driven nd Content Mngement Systems by Institution Size Very Smll Smll Medium Lrge Very Lrge Use dtbse driven system 1/8 (12.5%) 9/37 (24.3%) 7/20 (35.0%) 6/15 (40.0%) 0/2 (0%) Use CMS 3/8 (37.5%) 12/36 (33.3%) 5/20 (25.0%) 3/15 (20.0%) 0/2 (0%) N is different for the two types of systems becuse different numbers of people chose to respond to the two questions. Web site. This survey did not sk whether prticipnts utilize blogs on their Web sites; it my be tht lot of librries do not crete their own RSS feeds, but rther use blogging tools tht hve RSS feeds built into them. Accessibility An issue tht Web developers grpple with is mking Web pges tht re ccessible to those with disbilities. Survey respondents were sked how their institution directs them in terms of complying with The Americns with Disbilities Act (ADA) Web ccessibility requirements. The ssocite's nd mster's level institutions surveyed hd significntly more direction in terms of ADA complince thn other institutions (see Tble 11). Usbility Testing Another hot topic in Web design is usbility testing nd so the lst set of survey questions delt with usbility testing methodology. First, respondents were sked if they employed usbility testing during their Web site design phse. Given the bundnce of literture concerning the importnce of usbility testing, it ws surprising tht minority of the responding institutions (44 or 46.8 percent) utilized this tool (see Tble 12). According to Steve Krug, if you wnt gret site, you've got to test Testing lwys works, nd even the worst test with the wrong user will show you importnt things you cn do to improve your site. 16 Those institutions tht utilized testing were given set of follow-up questions. First, they were sked how big their usbility testing group ws. Forty-three responded, with smller groups being the norm (see Tble 13). According to Jkob Nielsen, test with five users will discover the mjority of problems, nd fter the fifth user, you re wsting your time by observing the sme findings repetedly but not lerning much new. 17 This survey did not sk whether the usbility test subjects were split into multiple testing groups for different prototype itertions; which if tht ws the cse, would explin why some of the institutions hd such lrge groups. Concerning compenstion of usbility test groups, most librries (75.0 percent) did not compenste (see Tble 14). According to Elin Norlin, rule of thumb is tht if it will tke more thn thirty minutes to conduct the usbility test, you will probbly need some form of incentive for prticipnts. For cses like these, librrins hve used food, free printing crds, T-shirts, librry book bgs, etc., to entice prticipnts. 18 As would be expected, undergrdute students were the most commonly listed members of librry usbility testing groups (see Tble 15). The percentge of institutions tht utilized grdute students for usbility testing ws deceiving becuse the ssocite's nd bcclurete level institutions skewed tht number. Predictbly, since those institutions did not hve grdute students, they did not use them for usbility testing. Removing ssocite's nd bcclurete institutions left twenty schools, so 50 percent of respondents with grdute students utilized them during testing. DISCUSSION One of the purposes of this survey ws to discover the differences concerning Web design between types of institutions. One question before this survey ws tken ws whether institutions offering higher levels of eduction would hve more resources for Web design nd trining. The results were mixed. When looking t the results for ssocite's colleges, fewer of their Web designers were self-tught thn bcclurete, mster's, nd doctorte institutions. More of their Web members took full courses to lern Web design thn mster's or doctorte universities, lthough mster's nd doctorte institutions were Tble 11 Institutionl Direction Regrding ADA Web Accessibility Requirements by Simplified Bsic Crnegie Clssifiction Associte's (N=33) Bcclurete (N=19) Mster's (N=20) Doctorte (N=9) Specil Focus (N=12) Totl (N=93) Required 12 (36.4%) 1 (5.3%) 6 (30.0%) 0 (0%) 1 (8.3%) 20 (21.5%) Recommended 6 (18.2%) 2 (10.5%) 6 (30.0%) 3 (33.3%) 0 (0%) 17 (18.3%) None, comply on own 6 (18.2%) 3 (15.8%) 2 (10.0%) 3 (33.3%) 2 (16.7%) 16 (17.2%) None, so not priority 5 (15.2%) 10 (52.6%) 1 (5.0%) 2 (22.2%) 5 (41.7%) 23 (24.7%) Other 4 (12.1%) 3 (15.8%) 5 (25.0%) 1 (11.1%) 4 (33.3%) 17 (18.3%) Mrch 2008 127
Tble 12 Usbility Testing Adopters by Bsic Crnegie Clssifiction Associte's Bcclurete Mster's Doctorte Specil Focus Totl 14/33 (42.4%) 10/18 (55.6%) 10/21 (47.6%) 6/9 (66.7%) 4/13 (30.8%) 44/94 (46.8%) more likely to send their tem members to workshops. More ssocite's schools surveyed required ADA complince thn ny other type of institution. The nswer to why ssocite's institutions were hed in some res of Web design my lie in their course offerings. Associte's colleges tend to offer more computer technology nd Web design courses thn other types of institutions. Becuse of this, their librry Web designers my hve more ccess to Web courses nd to students trined in Web nd grphic rts who cn help with Web projects. An re where ssocite's colleges fell behind other types of schools ws softwre vilble. All other types of institutions were more likely to use dtbse driven systems content mngement systems. In ddition, ssocite's colleges were less likely (58.3 percent) to provide Web uthoring softwre to ll Web tem members thn bcclurete (75.0 percent) nd mster's (78.3 percent) institutions. This survey ws built on the ssumption tht most librries operted with multiple person tem model. Since 51 percent of the institutions hd tems running their Web site, this ssumption ws techniclly correct, but brely. Some institutions my hve defulted to one-person opertion becuse they did not hve the personnel vilble for tems, but there my be other resons for hving single person in chrge of Web design. A respondent commented tht tems hve trouble greeing, while if only one person is in chrge of Web design, they cn get it done nd forget bout it. Other comments cme from prticipnts who were frustrted by the stte of their Web site presence: I despertely wish tht our Web site could be tended regulrly by someone with the skills nd determintion to mke it extrordinry. As the portl to the librry, it should be the most winning, winsome presence tht we cn possibly crete. And it isn't, simply becuse we don't hve the skills or stff to mke it so. Tht, to me, is big frustrtion. [I] wish we hd [the] stff to enble us to develop more extensive Web site for the librry. Our site needs mjor revision for more professionl ppernce. While the respondents quoted bove relized their sites needed improvement nd wnted chnge, nother respondent seemed to be somewht pthetic bout the stte of his/her Web site, I put everything [on the Web site] I [think] the students Tble 13 Number of Usbility Testers (N=43) 1 5 6 10 11 15 16 20 21 25 46 50 14 (32.6%) 16 (37.2%) 5 (11.6%) 3 (7.0%) 2 (4.7%) 1 (2.3%) More thn 50 2 (4.7%) 26 30, 31 35, 36 40, nd 41 45 were ll vilble options tht were not selected. might need to know (since I'm on cmpus only 40 hrs/week), with no concern bout how it looks or conforms to populr web design stndrds. All three of these comments spek to the importnce of providing support in terms of stff, money, nd professionl development for Web design becuse lck of support cn cuse frustrtion nd pthy. Some librry Web designers fced issues relted to mndtes from cmpus Web committees. One person commented tht their cmpus-wide group originlly wnted the librry to use their templte, but fortuntely we were ble to use n lterntive to the templte they required. Another respondent hd similr experience: We were responsible for our own web site when I first rrived, but bout 3 yers go they went with universitywide system. Unfortuntely the librry ws not one of the res where they got input. Our usbility is much less thn it ws when we hd freer hnd in things nd my need to redesign something quickly is hmpered becuse of permissions issues. I've told them we need more input this time round since wht the librry needs to offer is quite different from other res of the university. To librrins nd other librry Web designers, it my seem obvious tht librry Web site is complicted nd needs to be regulrly updted; requiring more utonomy nd control thn most other cmpus deprtments, but this is not lwys understood by cmpus Web committees. For tht reson, it is importnt for the librry to be represented on, or hve close working reltionship with, cmpus Web committees so tht librry interests re not forgotten. CONCLUSION Assumptions bout librry tems nd resources cnnot lwys be mde bsed on librry size or type. Although ssocite's colleges were hed in res such s ADA complince nd providing Web tem members with full courses on Web design, doctorte nd mster's institutions sent their members to more workshops nd were more likely to use dtbse driven nd content mngement systems. Few people-hours were llocted for Web design t mny institutions. Almost hlf of the librries surveyed hd only one person to do Web design, nd the mjority of Web Tble 14 Mens of Compensting Usbility Test Groups (N=44) No Money/Gift Other Compenstion Food Certifictes Compenstion 33 (75.0%) 3 (6.8%) 5 (11.4%) 5 (11.4%) The sum of percentges totls more thn 100 percent becuse respondents were llowed multiple nswers for this question. 128 The Journl of Acdemic Librrinship
Tble 15 Usbility Test Groups Include the Following Ctegories of (N=44) Undergrdutes Stff Fculty Grd Students Community Members Other 32 (72.7%) 31 (70.5%) 23 (52.3%) 10 (22.7%) 4 (9.1%) 3 (6.8%) The sum of percentges totls more thn 100 percent becuse respondents were llowed multiple nswers for this question. designers mnged Web work in conjunction with other responsibilities. Almost hlf of the librries surveyed hd only one person to do web design, nd the mjority of web designers mnged web work in conjunction with other responsibilities. When there were multiple people on Web tem, not ll of them ctully creted Web pges. Almost 37 percent of respondents nswered tht not ll members of their Web tem hd Web uthoring softwre, suggesting tht those who did hve the required softwre shouldered the mjority of the responsibility for Web pge cretion. This survey found tht mny cdemic institutions hd not implemented usbility testing, despite the evidence of benefits of such testing. The mjority of those who hd implemented usbility testing did not compenste their testers. Web tem members were usully selected becuse they showed n interest in Web design, not becuse of ny prticulr skill. A decisive mjority of librry Web designers surveyed felt tht the bility to orgnize informtion effectively ws the most importnt qulity someone in their position could possess. There re res of this study tht wrrnt further explortion. This study utilized systemtic smple, tking every twelfth institution from the Crnegie clssifiction list. In order to hve more even distribution, similr study using strtified smple would be useful. For strtified smple, institutions would be seprted by type nd then rndom smpling would be tken from within ech group. This wy, the smple group would still be rndom, but ech type of institution would hve more equl representtion. Becuse of the unevenness of the institutions represented in this survey, the findings re explortory. A more evenly distributed smpling group would result in more ccurte representtion of trends by institution type. One of the difficulties with this survey ws designing it in wy tht would mke it pplicble to mny different Web site design opertions. At the end of the survey, few people commented tht their librry ws not orgnized the wy the survey ws designed becuse most questions referred to Web tem when they hd one-person opertion. Another suggestion ws to include options for different versions of Web site redesign so tht respondents could tlk bout wht they hd done in the pst s opposed to wht they hope to do in the future. While it would be difficult to design survey tht could ddress every eventulity, future studies should include questions tht do not ssume multiple person tem. As Web design is constntly evolving, future studies cn ddress updtes in technology, s well s discover trends in trining nd tem composition. Considering the mount of time nd effort tht goes into creting the librry Web sites for the 4384 Crnegie institutions, further study into issues concerning Web design models is wrrnted. APPENDIX A. SUPPLEMENTARY DATA Supplementry dt ssocited with this rticle cn be found, in the online version, t doi:10.1016/j.clib.2007.12.005. NOTES AND REFERENCES 1. Sndr Shropshire, Beyond the Design nd Evlution of Librry Web Sites: An Anlysis nd Four Cse Studies, The Journl of Acdemic Librrinship 29, no. 2 (Mrch 2003): 97. 2. Beth Evns, The Authors of Acdemic Librry Home Pges: Their Identity, Trining nd Dissemintion of Web Construction Skills, Internet Reserch 9, no. 4 (1999). 3. Ibid., pp. 310. 4. Ibid., pp. 311. 5. Ibid., pp. 312. 6. Ibid., pp. 313. 7. Mry Tylor, Librry Webmsters: Stisfctions, Disstisfctions, nd Expecttions Informtion Technology nd Librries, 19, no. 3 (Sept. 2000). 8. Ibid., pp. 117. 9. Ibid., pp. 118. 10. Kte Rgsdle & Wshington D.C. Office of Ledership nd Mngement Services. Assocition of Reserch Librries, Stffing the Librry Website. SPEC Kit. (2001). Vendor, ERIC, ED463761. 11. Ibid., pp. 12. 12. Jerilyn R. Veldof & Shne A. Nckerud, Do You Hve the Right Stuff? Seven Ares of Expertise for Successful Web Site Design in Librries, Internet Reference Services Qurterly 6, no. 1 (2001). 13. The Crnegie Foundtion for the Advncement of Teching, The Crnegie Clssifiction of Institutions of Higher Eduction, [Online] Avilble: http://www.crnegiefoundtion.org/ clssifictions/index.sp (ccessed August 22, 2007). 14. Veldof nd Nckerud, Do You Hve the Right Stuff?, p. 18. 15. Dniel J. Cohen & Roy Rosenzweig, Digitl History, (Phildelphi: University of Pennsylvni Press, 2006), p. 249. 16. Steve Krug, Don't Mke Me Think: A Common Sense Approch to Web Usbility, Second Edition (Berkeley, CA: New Riders Publishing, 2006), p. 133 134. 17. Jkob Nielsen, Why You Only Need to Test With 5 Users, Jkob Nielsen s Alertbox, [Online] Avilble: http://www.useit. com/lertbox/20000319.html (ccessed August 22, 2007). 18. Elin Norlin, Usbility Testing for Librry Web Sites: A Hnds-On Guide, (Chicgo: Americn Librry Assocition, 2002, p. 39). Mrch 2008 129