Cindi, A LITA interest group sounds like it would be ideal. I think it is very important for this document to be associated with an official professional library organization if it is going to carry any weight or credibility with rank-and-file librarians.
Josh Welker -----Original Message----- From: Code for Libraries [mailto:CODE4LIB@LISTSERV.ND.EDU] On Behalf Of Cindi Blyberg Sent: Tuesday, September 30, 2014 9:44 AM To: CODE4LIB@LISTSERV.ND.EDU Subject: Re: [CODE4LIB] Library community web standards (was: LibGuides v2 - Templates and Nav) *puts on LITA hat* There are several ways that LITA/ALA could play a role here. Publications: There is a series of books called LITA Guides. Great way to get the word out widely, but a static format. http://www.alastore.ala.org/SearchResult.aspx?KeyWords=lita There are also Library Technology Reports - a periodical. Still static, but published more regularly: http://alatechsource.org/ltr/index There is also the LITA UX Interest Group. IGs are fluid, volunteer-run (not appointed), and can pretty much do what they want. Publish and update something? Sure! Establish and run a virtual conference? Definitely! Have meetings and programs at conferences? Yes! Caveat: must be a LITA member. Happy to provide more info if needed. -Cindi of the many hats On Tue, Sep 30, 2014 at 10:34 AM, Joshua Welker <wel...@ucmo.edu> wrote: > I definitely agree that we should adhere to larger web standards and > that we should actively discourage conventions that libraries have > adopted over the years that have nothing to do with wider standards > and best practices (e.g. > tabbed search boxes, content in sidebar regions). In fact, much of our > work would just be bringing together information from several > standards into a common location and putting a "librarian" stamp of > approval on it. > > Some topics I had in mind: > > -Accessibility standards: screen readers, color blindness, keyboard > navigation, alt tags, etc. > -Text: readable fonts, colors, text alignment -Page layout: navigation > location, sidebars, headings and subheadings, search box designs, > database pages, mobile friendliness -Best practices for specific > library platforms: LibGuides, DSpace, etc. > > Some official name would be required, of course. I also think it would > be great if we could write a draft, bring it to an official ALA group > like LITA, and get them to adopt it after making their own tweaks. > > Josh Welker > > > -----Original Message----- > From: Code for Libraries [mailto:CODE4LIB@LISTSERV.ND.EDU] On Behalf > Of Michael Schofield > Sent: Tuesday, September 30, 2014 9:01 AM > To: CODE4LIB@LISTSERV.ND.EDU > Subject: Re: [CODE4LIB] Library community web standards (was: > LibGuides v2 > - > Templates and Nav) > > I am interested but I am a little hazy about what kind of standards > you all are suggesting. I would warn against creating standards that > conflict with any actual web standards, because I--and, I think, many > others--would honestly recommend that the #libweb should aspire to and > adhere more firmly to larger web standards and best practices that > conflict with something that's more, ah, librarylike. Although that > might not be what you folks have in mind at all : ). > > Michael S. > > -----Original Message----- > From: Code for Libraries [mailto:CODE4LIB@LISTSERV.ND.EDU] On Behalf > Of Brad Coffield > Sent: Tuesday, September 30, 2014 9:30 AM > To: CODE4LIB@LISTSERV.ND.EDU > Subject: Re: [CODE4LIB] Library community web standards (was: > LibGuides v2 > - > Templates and Nav) > > Josh, thanks for separating this topic out and starting this new > thread. I don't know of any such library standards that exist on the > web. I agree that this sounds like a great idea. As for this group or > not... why not! > It's 2014 and they don't exist yet and they would be incredibly useful > for many libraries, if not all. Now all we need is a cool 'working > group' title for ourselves and we're halfway done! Right??? > > But seriously, I'd love to help. > > Brad > > > > > -- > Brad Coffield, MLIS > Assistant Information and Web Services Librarian Saint Francis > University > 814-472-3315 > bcoffi...@francis.edu >
