Notes of Meeting
Wednesday, November 3, 2004
Porter 428
Present: Christy Branston, Rachel Caldwell, Marian Davies, Linda Hastings, Sandra Keys, Esther Millar, Marina Wan
Regrets: Helena Calogeridis
1. About the project: objectives, tasks, processes and deliverables.
- The group discussed and agreed on the charter.
- When reviewing the current home page, any comment or suggestion that will lead to major changes on the current home page will be documented. These ideas can be further explored when we consider a re-design.
- We will try to document knowledge and skill sets.
- Esther will set up a website for the Group. There is a suggestion to link to pass home page reviews or design projects. Marina will ask Anne and Michele about documentation in the last home page review and re-design. Christy will forward notes from the Information Services Review focus groups regarding the Library home page.
- Members will select and read on “information architecture”, “usability studies” or “Web accessibility” and report to the group. We may invite outside speakers for specific topics.
- Meetings will be held every other Wednesday, 1:30-3 pm . Part of each meeting may be devoted to “learning together”.
- Marina will request Charles to set up an e-mail group.
2. Learning together: What knowledge or technique do we need to complete the project?
- Three areas of knowledge are essential to the design of a good website. They are information architecture, usability studies and web accessibility.
- Groups of 2-3 members are set up to review these three areas and report to the whole group. They are:
- Information architecture: Linda, Marina
- Usability studies: Christy, Esther, Sandra
- Web accessibility: Marian, Rachel
- Sandra will set up a group in RefWork so we can share readings.
- A list of Internet resources is available at http://www.lib.uwaterloo.ca/staff/webops/
usability.html .
- Marian will request the following books to be purchased from the general fund:
- Designing Web Usability : The Practice of Simplicity, by Jakob Nielsen
- Homepage Usability: 50 Websites Deconstructed -- by Jakob Nielsen Information
- Architecture for the World Wide Web: Designing Large-Scale Web Sites -- by Louis Rosenfeld, Peter Morville; Paperback (2nd ed.)
3. Methodology to review the current home page
- We will review the functional area on the home page, one area at a time. We will note items we need to consult other staff members and/or conduct usability studies.
- Next week: Review the drop-downs.
August 11, 2005
