We read this post with great interest. Since SSS was not contacted for a comment, we would like to take this opportunity to respond to a few key points.

First, Pratt SILS’s website is not a “temporary” site as Dean Giannini contends. It has been online since approximately 2005 in a similar iteration and can in no way be described as temporary or transitional.

Secondly, we do not criticize the site because it’s not “pretty”. We criticize it because it is hard to use. If, as Dean Giannini says, providing “content is the most important” purpose of the site, poor information design directly impacts its effectiveness for this very purpose. This is not about wanting the Pratt SILS site to be graphically pleasing (although there is nothing wrong with that and, indeed, that does make a site more pleasant to use, which increases user satisfaction). The site is rich is content, but is a hodgepodge of poorly organized information. Websites are not intended to be brochures, as Dean Giannini contends. Rather, they should be information portals that focus on key audiences and provide that information in an effective and useful manner. In addition, sites should reflect well on the institution they represent. It is incumbent upon those who design and implement sites to make them as useful as possible.

Finally, we would like to raise a key point about the anonymity of the blog. Direct talks with Dean Giannini about the SILS site have been attempted several times, and she has always been both defensive of the site and dismissive of any offers to work with her to improve it. Many students have volunteered their time and expertise to make the site a highly useful informational tool for the school, and nothing has come of it. SSS hopes Mr. Oder will continue to follow both SSS and the Pratt SILS site. We truly hope to report, along with him, on the new, attractive, and, most importantly, usable SILS site in June. We look forward to the promised redesign, just as we looked forward to past promises. If SSS doesn’t hold its breath, don’t hold it against us.

Mr. Oder,
I believe the Library Journal web site was evaluated by a Pratt SILS Usability Leadership class, not the Information Architecture class.
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In that presentation, many problems were pointed out and improvements were suggested by each group of students who performed hours and hours of usability testing on the Library Journal web site. As many of us in the class had previously taken the Information Architecture course, most of these suggestions were derived from the skills that we learned in that class. <br><br>I am happy to hear that our hard work will not go ignored or unused. <br><br>As for the Pratt SILS site, it has been proposed time and time again that SILS students who are studying these unique and invaluable skill sets be enlisted/allowed to evaluate, suggest and implement improvements for the "temporary" site. Content is only important if you can find and use it. If it was/is indeed a "temporary" site, was is the harm in enlisting Information Architecture students to lay out and chunk the information properly, have Usability Leadership students test the proposed layout with actual users, and have other skilled students add design elements? Any Pratt SILS student would welcome the opportunity to apply their unique and varied skills towards implementing an amazing web site we can all be proud of - FOR FREE! But apparently, Pratt needs to pay large web design companies tens of thousands of dollars to create unusable (case and point-see the main Pratt web site at www.pratt.edu), poorly designed web sites. This is how most students see it, but no one is listening to us, however much we beg and plead.......<br><br>So hopefully on this large stage, where students were not asked for their input or views, again, people can understand why we are so frustrated. This type of attention is why the blog is so necessary as an agent for change. (and no I am not the creator, just a fan) <br><br>I look forward to seeing the newly designed site and can only hope that history does not repeat itself. Thank you for bringing attention to this. We all appreciate it.

I find this topic to be quite petty. Yes, the site is clunky. Yes, the site provides information. No, I never had time to worry about it (I just graduated in May). I had more important things to do: assignments, internships, and work. I worked hard and Pratt SILS provided many opportunities that would have otherwise been a struggle to obtain or would not have been possible period. I've known many others with similar experiences as my own.

My advice to the disgruntled:
An individual is responsible for the experience gained in his/her graduate studies (and life in general). If you want something, go get it. If you want to rebuild or update a website and someone tells you "no", then go ask another website, and another, and another..until you get the answer you want. If numerous people tell you "no", then perhaps a more effective use of your time would be to consider self-evaluation and self-improvement. Learn to use "no" to your advantage. Learn how to get someone to say "yes" and happily mean it.

Good luck.

I would love to see a follow-up on this post with news of Giannini's promised new Pratt SILS site.