Last Byte: Navigating Content Management

Many libraries have adopted content management systems (CMS) to allow librarians and staff to create, edit, and manage pages without knowledge of HTML or web design skills. Because content is stored in a database, it is easily reused. A CMS also helps in the creation of consistent information architecture for a web site and maintains reliable metadata about web pages.

While several commercial options are available, many libraries have adopted open source CMS solutions to save money. The web site of Ann Arbor District Library (AADL), MI, is run completely using Drupal, while the library at the University of Tennessee–Chattanooga uses Joomla. Others favor Plone. Also, wiki or blogging software can be employed to maintain a library web site. The library at the University of South Carolina–Aiken relies on PmWiki. The library at Plymouth State University, NH, works with a modified version of Wordpress called Scriblio.

The implementation of a content management system only solves a small piece of the problem of managing the web site, however, as librarians and staff need to gain new skills. Programs like the Learning 2.0 program created by Helene Blowers for the Public Library of Charlotte & Mecklenburg County, NC, can assist staff with technical training.

Librarians and staff also must recognize that the web is an inherently different medium from print. They need to become comfortable with creating web content. Staff often lack understanding of how library users interact with library content. John Blyberg of the Darien Library, CT (and formerly with AADL), recently told me that some library staffers were tentative about posting new items to the library blog when another staff member had created a post that same day because they thought the new item would “devalue” the old by pushing it down the page. They failed to realize that library users might access content via an RSS reader or a web search.

Staff members also need to learn to think critically about their pages and the content therein. To do this, staffers creating a web page should consider several basics:

• What is the purpose of the page?

• Who is the audience?

• What should users be able to do when they visit?

• How is the page related to the rest of the site?

• Does the content exist elsewhere?

• What other pages might users visit before or after this page?

Put yourself in the user's place: How would you use this page and what would you want on it?

The library must plan to support library staff with this type of education and training and reinforce it with a clear system of rewards and accountability.

The implementation of a content management system dramatically changes the role of web services staff. Before the implementation of our CMS at the University of Houston, web services staff spent much of their time making simple updates to the text on the site. Since then, they have spent more time finding bugs in the system and adding new functionality to the content management system.

My role has changed as well. I find myself more often working on planning, training, and interacting with page owners to display their content in the most effective ways. I also have taken on the role of discussing how the library can use the web site to market resources and services to customers.

In contrast, departments in the rest of the library have had to adjust work priorities to handle the new responsibilities of completing and maintaining web content—making changes themselves rather than reviewing pages and sending changes to web services. However, placing control and responsibility with the content experts means that content on the web site is more up-to-date and in line with the needs of specific library user groups.