Working Group on Web Principles and Requirements
Report and Recommendations
February 5, 2008
Executive Summary
The continued shift to electronic resources, the growth in virtual work and study among
students and faculty, and the emphasis on immediate access to information and tools
propel the need for an effective and engaging Sheridan Libraries web presence. (A
definition of web presence follows in this report.) The evolution of the online world has
matured the processes and procedures needed to develop and sustain a web presence
and services. Establishing principles and requirements alone is not enough to secure
the development and future of the Sheridan Libraries’ web presence. The working group
recommends:
1. Define clearly what constitutes the Sheridan Libraries web presence.
2. Establish and communicate the web presence goals.
3. Apply the recommended principles to the identification and development of web
presence services. The recommended principles are:
 Meet demonstrated needs and expectations of users in an evolving web
environment.
 Support the integration of web presence services and environment such
that they align with the work users are performing.
 Build and maintain a multi-presence of services at the points where the
users need them, thus helping the users easily accomplish their work.
 Develop an intuitive web presence and services that works the way a
user expects.
 Ensure engagement of content owners, user advocates, and/or other
Library groups.
 Reinforce the Sheridan Libraries’ brand presence with users.
4. Use the web prioritization requirements, which include measuring “impact”,
evaluating resource/effort, and weighing current and future needs, to prioritize
web presence projects.
5. Identify an individual(s) and role(s) that can act as the web presence champion
and advocate by connecting all parties supporting the web presence and
ensuring they are working in concert to pursue the web presence goals.
Focusing on all the pieces needed to ensure a strong web presence the Sheridan
Libraries is essential to building a firm foundation for serving all users now and in the
future.
The Sheridan Libraries’ Web Presence: Then and now
The Web Principles and Requirements working group was tasked with preparing
recommended principles and requirements to guide the identification and prioritization of
web technology dependent projects that Library Systems manages and implements for
the web presence. In order to fully appreciate the context for discussions and analysis
the working group agreed to take some time to step back and consider a) the role of the
web presence now and for the future, and b) the continuing evolution of the web
presence.
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All agreed that the web presence is a critical tool to serving the needs of primary (faculty,
staff, and students) and secondary MSE community users (media, Friends of the Library,
alumni, etc.) Users expect access to electronic resources and the Libraries have
responded by increasing the dollars allocated to electronic resources (56% of the
collections budget in FY08.) The announced plan to move towards primarily electronic
journal holdings will increase dependence on the library’s virtual services. Faculty and
students expect access to these resources from where-ever they need them whether
that is in the library, their office, their dorm or beyond. JHU also continues to grow parttime programs in different locations (as demonstrated by the positions recently
established to support Regional Library Services) and depend on a virtual library
services. Lastly, virtual research environments and teams continue to grow and will
continue to impact the scholarly publishing tradition and the library’s role.
The need for an engaging web presence is critical as users’ expectations and needs
have grown with a maturing online world. To address the demands and needs of the
user community the web presence would benefit from a more formal structure to enable
swift and effective response and implementation of new services and ideas. A more
formal structure would include the following:
 Agreement on what constitutes the web presence
 Broad communication of short and long-term goals for the web presence
 Principles and Requirements that filter and help guide prioritization of technology
supported projects
 Clarity of roles/individuals that manage and support the web presence and
service development process
Although the working group was tasked with focusing on the development of web
presence principles and requirements it was recognized that the above points have an
impact and shape the principles and requirements. Therefore the working group took
time to addresses each of these key points in support of recognizing how all these
elements will need to work together.
The Sheridan Libraries’ Web Presence – Shaping a Definition
The web presence is the Library presence within the virtual environment. It is more than
simple a set of web pages. It includes the way in which users access content, how they
interact with it, use it, and how they share and collaborate with others in their work. It
encompasses functionalities and services that are created by the Sheridan Libraries as
well as services arising from collaborative development within the University Libraries.
The Library web presence is where users go to do their work and get it done.
The Sheridan Libraries web presence includes everything from the traditional web site
and pages to the services that are delivered through those pages, such as Illiad, other
document delivery services and e-reserves. Services that were developed in
collaboration within the University Libraries such as “Find It” and the “JH Search” are
also part of the web presence. Furthermore the web presence is also Library services or
content provided through other online services and tools such as the University’s
learning management systems or public venues such as Facebook, or Google Scholar.
WG Recommendation: Complete an audit of the Sheridan Libraries web presence,
identifying elements that are solely controlled by the Sheridan Libraries and others that
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result from collaborative partnerships. Define and communicate to staff what constitutes
the web presence so there is a common understanding of terminology.
The Sheridan Libraries’ Web Presence – Defining the Goals
The Sheridan Libraries strategic plan outlines a series of goals that relate to the Libraries
web presence and support the Libraries web site mission statement as well as the
Research Services Department’s educational mission statement (see Attachment A). A
combination of conversations with M-team members and discussions within the working
group revealed the need for greater clarity in outlining goals for the web site and web
presence. Based on the goals outlined in the strategic plan the group identified the
following two over arching goals and used them to help frame the development of web
principles and requirements:


Support user (particularly faculty and student) tasks and workflow with an
emphasis on research and teaching.
Continuously expand the ability for users to access all available content.
Although the group acknowledged that these goals focus on faculty and students, one
could envision different sets of goals that also emphasize both primary and secondary
users or even seek to aggressively reach out to the world-wide community.
WG Recommendation: Revisit these recommended overarching goals, make changes
as needed, and communicate the goals to all staff so everyone is on the same page. In
particular determine if becoming a leader in web presence innovation within the
academic library community is a goal.
WP Principles and Requirements
Using the overarching goals identified above the working group developed principles and
requirements to evaluate proposed projects, guide the development of web presence
services, and support prioritization of efforts. The principles are used to distinguish
between worthwhile projects, based on the expected services to be delivered, and those
that are not acceptable. Applying the requirements to these winnowed projects aids in
ranking and prioritizing the projects and allows the library systems staff to assess
schedules and assign resources.
Web Presence PRINCIPLES
The proposed principles are designed to help identify and shape the development of
projects that support the web presence goals. All web presence projects, whether they
be managed by Library Systems or not, should ideally support the following principles.
Principle 1: Meet demonstrated needs and expectations of users in an evolving
web environment.
[Note: “Demonstrated” means provide either (primary or secondary) quantitative or qualitative user
data/information with rationale. Principle 1 also recognizes that this is a continuous and
incremental process.]
Principle 2: Support the integration of web presence services and environment
such that they align with the work users are performing.
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[Note: Integration should be on the back end and essentially invisible to users. Integrated web
presence services should also be compatible with future scale up needs in mind.]
Principle 3: Build and maintain a multi-presence of services at the points where
the users need them thus helping the users easily accomplish their work.
[Note: Services related to both functionality and organization should be available to users wherever
they need them.]
Principle 4: Develop and sustain an intuitive web presence and services that
works the way a user expects.
[Note: Provide a consistent, clear and straightforward web presence for both the sophisticated and
novice users.]
Principle 5: Ensure engagement of content owners, user advocates, and/or
other Library groups.
[Note: Commitment to cross-functional collaboration and development of services is essential.]
Principle 6: Reinforce Sheridan Libraries’ brand presence with users.
[Note: Within the University users should be aware of services that are provided by the Sheridan
Libraries. Outside of the University the Sheridan Libraries’ brand presence should be competitive
with like institutions.]
Web Presence Prioritization REQUIREMENTS
Once projects have met the above principles then the following requirements are
recommended to help guide the prioritization process. Each requirement recognizes
that there is a spectrum and balance of factors that impact the ability to prioritize
compelling projects.
Prioritization Requirement 1: Evaluate the “impact” the project will have using
the following three criteria.
Criteria 1: Projects that address user expectations for the optimal use of
existing or new services are of a higher priority than projects addressing a
need that users would like to see in the future but do not expect to be
available.
Criteria 2: Projects that meet the needs of the primary users of the web
presence, that is faculty, staff and students, are a higher priority than projects
that meet the needs of the secondary users, which include walk-in visitors,
JHU alumni, the media, Friends of the Library, etc.
Criteria 3: Projects that meet the needs of a broad number of primary users
are of higher priority than projects that meet the needs of a small number of
primary users.
Prioritization Requirement 2: Determine how big an effort the project is and
how many resources will be needed.
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Prioritization Requirement 3: Assess whether the project is supporting current
and immediate user needs verses planning for future needs.
The working group also discussed and agreed that although content (JHU proprietary
collections, licensed material, and created for the web site) is a critical component of the
web presence it is also a critical component of the physical Library presence. Principles
and criteria that guide content creation and access were not considered within the scope
of the working group’s task.
WG Recommendation: Establish the recommended principles and requirements.
Begin applying the principles once the appropriate individual(s) have been identified and
tasked with managing the process for developing and evaluating new technology
dependent projects.
Managing the Web Presence – Establishing a role to champion development
The web presence principles and prioritization requirements provide a tool to help a
person or body of individuals filter and prioritize projects. However some individual(s)
still needs to manage the process. The working group recognized that there are a
number of benefits to having one individual take on the role of Web Presence Manager
instead of relying on the committee structure that managed prioritization in the past. A
review of how other Libraries structure and manage their web presence points to the
creation of a team of people dedicated to managing all aspects of a library’s web
presence, with one lead individual. Attachment B provides examples.
If this role could be created or adapted from an existing role, then ideally the Web
Presence Manager should be responsible for managing the evaluation of projects
against the web presence principles and prioritization requirements and working with
user advocates to prepare proposals in support of prioritization and pursuit of new
projects. In order for this individual to succeed he/she will need the authority to move
the process along, the commitment of the management team to respond swiftly to
proposals, and access to the resources necessary to move projects forward.
Attachment C outlines specific responsibilities of the Web Presence Manager and
diagrams the relationship between all the parties responsible for the different
components of the web presence.
WG Recommendation: Create a Web Presence Manager position. In view of practical
considerations, such as limited budgets, the working group recommends the following
short-run solution. Review existing positions within the Library that already contribute
significantly to the web presence and transition one of these positions into the Web
Presence Manager position. If a full transition is not possible then a last resort would be
to transition a minimum of 50% of the position into the Web Presence Manager role
while relieving the individual of half their prior responsibilities.
Contributors
Working Group: Sean Hannan, Elizabeth Uzelac, Jonathan Rochkind, Barbara Pralle
(Chair), Sue Woodson
Ex officio: Xuemao Wang
Advisor: Ken Flower
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Attachment A
Goals within the Sheridan Libraries strategic plan that speak to the web presence
Goal 2 – Advance the library’s digital activities, focusing on faculty and student needs.
B. Develop digital collections and services that support the scholarly and co curricular
needs of our customers.
C. Ensure an integrated digital library infrastructure that provides preservation of digital
collections and access to digital resources any time, anywhere, and in any format.
Goal 1 – Expand and Preserve Access to information for the Current and Future Hopkins
Academic Community, Including Assisting Faculty, Staff, and Students in Navigating and
Mastering the Changing Information Environment.
B. Strengthen, Preserve and Improve Access to Our Materials Collections.
D. Assess strengths and reduce redundancies throughout Hopkins libraries and build
cooperative models to provide coherent and improved access to information for all
Hopkins students, faculty, and staff.
F. Integrate library resources into learning environments including but not limited to
courseware, e-portfolios, blogs and portals.
Goal 7 – Create and pursue focused international activities and programs to position the Libraries
and our users to thrive in a global information environment.
C. Develop global library technology strategy to support university’s international
expansion.
The Sheridan Libraries Web Site Mission
(source: http://intranet.mse.jhu.edu/committees/web/mission.php)
The Sheridan Libraries Web site plays an essential role in fulfilling the Libraries' mission to advance
research and teaching at Johns Hopkins by providing relevant and significant information resources,
instruction and services. As the central point of integration for all of the Libraries' resources and services,
the Sheridan Libraries Web site serves the needs of the core academic and research community at the
Johns Hopkins University comprised of faculty, students and staff. The Web site provides access to the
Libraries' print and electronic resources and to select Internet sources which have been evaluated by
librarians. The site provides information about the library and on-site library services as well as access to
virtual library services, such as e-reserves, online reference and e-document delivery.
The Sheridan Libraries Web site also connects Johns Hopkins alumni, library Friends and current and
prospective clients of the George Peabody Events program to services and programs devoted to the
extended Sheridan Libraries community.
The Research Services Department’s Educational Mission Statement
(source: http://www.library.jhu.edu/departments/rsc/educationalmission.html)
Environment
The Sheridan Libraries’ primary mission is to provide information resources and services to support the
work of faculty, students, and staff in the three schools based at the Homewood campus of Johns Hopkins
University: the Krieger School of Arts and Sciences, the Whiting School of Engineering, and the School of
Professional Studies in Business and Education. Students enrolled in the Homewood schools include
undergraduates, approximately 90% of whom go on to pursue graduate studies; graduate students
enrolled in both full and part-time programs in the arts and sciences and engineering; and students
enrolled in large and rapidly developing part-time professional programs (e.g., education, business). A
significant and growing percentage of the student body are distance learners.
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These factors, combined with Hopkins’ highly decentralized academic organizational structure, the
emphasis on independent, self-directed study, and a strong research orientation even at the
undergraduate level, require that instruction in library and information use be provided through a “just in
time” and “just enough” model. This means that much of our effort is focused on developing, organizing,
and disseminating content in the ways that best facilitate our users’ work. For this reason, there is less
emphasis at the Sheridan Libraries on traditional approaches to library instruction that are often found at
other universities. There is also less emphasis on information literacy in the curriculum. The focus of our
educational efforts is on cultivating and maintaining strong relationships with faculty and students in order
to understand their needs. This includes marketing and publicizing our resources and services in order to
assist our users in making the best use of the resources available to them.
Elements of the library’s outreach program
The overarching goal of our program is to enable users to find the information they need quickly, to save
them time in a complex information environment. The resources and value-added services we offer
should be a preferred alternative to an environment where searching the Internet can seem easier to
some and too time-consuming and unproductive to others. Therefore, an essential component of the
Sheridan Libraries’ outreach program is the development of the library’s Web site and various innovative
technologies as robust research and instructional tools for our users. The value that librarians add to the
online environment includes not only our expertise in the selection and organization of high-quality
scholarly information resources but also the ability to assist users in becoming aware of and proficient
users of information resources. The creation of innovative, robust technologies that will help our students,
faculty and staff make the best use of information resources will require:
• Selecting high-quality scholarly content
• Applying professional skills to the organization of online information to make it easily retrievable
• Providing just-in-time, context-sensitive, interactive instructional content
• Providing the opportunity for human interaction and access to our professional expertise via digital, inperson, and telephone reference service
As the development of a high quality, user-centered, online library presence combined with innovative
technology is the foremost component of the program, most staff time and resources are focused on
presenting resources and information in the electronic workspaces at the users’ fingertips.
A second element of the outreach program is an emphasis on marketing and publicity. This includes the
continual development of print and electronic user awareness materials, continual interaction with our
user groups, and development of mechanisms for obtaining user feedback on library services and
resources.
A third element of our program is what may be described as “niche” instructional activities; i.e.,
opportunities to provide targeted instruction to specific user groups with identified information needs.
Some examples of niche activities include:
• A course on the use of rare books and manuscripts in humanities research
• A workshop for graduate students on searching the chemistry literature
• Instruction in the use of business resources for students participating in the annual undergraduate
business plan competition
Librarians need to be prepared to identify and take advantage of these “niche” opportunities. The impact
of our instructional activities must be sufficient to warrant staff time and should be determined by using
benchmarks to establish and assess desired outcomes.
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Attachment B
Princeton has a Library Web Development Manager who works with a Library Web
Team. http://library.princeton.edu/hr/committees/WebGroup.html
University of California Berkeley has a Library Web Manager, who is responsible for
“Library Web policies, large Web or digital information projects”, and also works with a
web team. http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/AboutLibrary/webmngr.html
Purdue University is presently in the process of trying to hire an “Information Architect
and User Experience Specialist”, who’s role will be to provide “leadership to create and
enhance their web-based resources and services” by collaborating with faculty, staff,
and the Libraries’ IT group. http://chronicle.com/jobs/id.php?id=0000543783-01
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Attachment C
Proposed Web Presence Manager Role
The Web Presence Manager’s role would be to manage and champion the web
presence at a strategic level. The position would be responsible for working with a) the
management team, b) all the user advocates and content providers, c) technology
project owners, and d) directly with primary and secondary users. Key responsibilities
would include:
 Will manage the web presence by evaluating, prioritizing and overseeing web
presence and service projects.
 Research and maintain awareness in the best practices of usability and library
site design or know where that expertise resides within the organization.
 Know who all the key individuals within expertise on specific customer groups,
usability, design, content, technology etc.
 Identify sources of qualitative and quantitative user and web site data. (This
includes the use of both primary data gathered with Sheridan Libraries’ users and
secondary data found in credible studies conducted within the broader library
community.)
 Gather new ideas from the user advocates, as well as directly from users (both
primary and secondary), to identify opportunities that cross over many user and
group needs.
 Be the keeper of the guidelines and criteria for evaluating projects.
 Help prepare project proposals and rationale, prioritize new efforts, and provide
M-team with quarterly updates.
 Work with Library Systems to be aware of resources (both available and
competing).
 Work with Library Systems on approved project priorities.
 Assist Library Systems by understanding technical opportunities, considerations,
and requirements which are important in the evaluation stage.
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Web Presence Components and Champions
Design
Organization
Usability
Branding
Compliance
Discoverability
Content
Includes some limited small
scope functionality
Research
Services
Communications
Special
Collections
Functionality
Access/Authentication
Web Presence
Manager
Library Systems
Library
services
Web Technology
Project Owners
Preservation
DRCC
Development
Library
Office
CER
ELP
Content Providers and
User Advocates
The three overlapping ovals at the top of the diagram represent all components of the web presence. Multiple groups are responsible for
contributing to and sharing responsibility for these components. The roles of these parties are identified in the boxes.
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