by Binky Lush, on behalf of WIMT (Web Implementation Management Team)

As you all know, we will be rolling out the new Libraries homepage and top level pages (About, Research, Community and Ask) on December 21! We wanted to offer you a preview and point out some of the changes you can expect.

Design
Our new pages will be more in line with the overall University web look and feel, complying with the Penn State Strategic Communications’ recommendations. The style and color palette are updated, and the new pages are fully responsive, meaning that they work equally well on any device, from mobile phone to large screen desktop.

• My Accounts and Renew Books are still in the header, though higher up and to the left of the search box.
• The “Ask A Librarian” widget will look different, but will function exactly the same way.

Homepage

• Search Box – The search box on the homepage is more prominent and visually simplified. The tabs and functionality will remain the same with the exception of the site search, which has an improved relevancy ranking and will search across both the Drupal and CQ platforms.
• Featured Image – Replacing the news carousel on the home page will be a large image behind the search box, and a caption with a link to further information.

Guides
With our guides now migrated into LibGuides, we’ve developed a new Library Guides page, for easier guides access and discoverability.

Alerts
The new pages will include an updated alerts system with varying levels of alerts and the ability to close the alert once it has been viewed by the user. As we transition from CQ to Drupal, alerts will be posted in both systems.

Hours and Locations
Until January 4, the Hours and Locations link on every page will go to the CQ hours page (http://www.libraries.psu.edu/psul/hours.html). We have all of the hours listed here through Jan 4.
After Jan 4, with our new hours in place, the Hours and Locations link will go to the new hours page in Drupal. This is also an easy way to navigate library locations (replacing the “change library” link in CQ).

IP Redirects at campuses
Currently, on Libraries’ managed public workstations, when a user goes to the Libraries’ homepage, we default to the campus-specific libraries homepage. For example, if a user is on a Libraries’ managed public machine in the Altoona Library and goes to libraries.psu.edu, the Altoona Libraries homepage will be delivered. Because of the necessary redirects in running CQ and Drupal in parallel, the campus specific IP redirects will not take place as we make the switch to Drupal. This means that all campus workstations will default to the general Libraries homepage.

Preview the site here: https://ul01qa.libraries.psu.edu/ (Note: You will need to be on the Penn State network to view)

We will be doing testing, as well as minor tweaks and bug fixes, until December 21, so you will see small changes taking place over the next week in the preview.

We’d love your feedback, which can be submitted here or via the Website Help link in the new page footer.

Zoe Chao, user experience librarian and Web Implementation Management Team (WIMT) member, conducted a “card sorting” game with students in the Weltmann Service Lobby last week. Various library services were written on the cards, and students were asked to pick out cards they considered as services, group the cards and label the groups.

photos by Wilson Hutton

This is just one of the many usability studies that WIMT is undertaking in advance of the Libraries’ website migration from Adobe CQ to Drupal. The site will be more contemporary, modern and simplified, and all changes will be based on analytics and usability studies as well as recommendations from the Penn State Office of Strategic Communications.

View the Nov. 13 Content Strategy Forum here:  http://live.libraries.psu.edu/Mediasite/Play/e2fa34be26ca48c9876d9a85c5c7699e1d?catalog=8376d4b2-4dd1-457e-a3bf-e4cf9163feda

by Ryan Johnson

It’s important to target your audience when writing for the web. By knowing who you are writing for, you can write at a level that will be meaningful for them.
Here are some tips for writing for the web:

• Write clear, simple and effective content. The content of your site should be easy to read for everyone, preferably in a conversational style.
• Front-load your text. Put the most important content on your page in the first paragraph, so that readers scanning your pages will not miss your main idea.
• Chunk your content. Cover only one topic per paragraph.
• Be concise. Write short paragraphs and minimize unnecessary words.
• Choose lists over paragraphs. When possible use lists rather than paragraphs to make your content easier to scan.

For more extensive information on how to write for the web, please watch this Lynda.com tutorial: http://www.lynda.com/Web-Content-Strategy-tutorials/Writing-Web/180104-2.html?org=psu.edu
In addition, this YouTube playlist has shorter modules that introduce the basics for writing for the web: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLAABFB40F4906E8A9

by Alex T. Brown, web analytics specialist and Web Implementation Management Team (WIMT) member

The Databases landing page was the third most accessed page on the website during AY14/15, with close to 375,000 pageviews. The average amount of time spent on this page is 5 minutes and 16 seconds. As the main purpose of the Databases page is to connect users to the database they are looking for, the lengthy average page time indicates that this page is not simplifying the process for our Library users!

A/B testing on the Databases landing page will be aimed at maximizing efficiency of the page and streamlining the ability of users to find the database they are looking for. Our A/B test will deliver a more efficient version of the page with both the databases search and the LionSearch forms on the right hand side and more of the databases A-Z list showing. This is a minor change, but if we are able to streamline the process and connect users more quickly with their desired database, user satisfaction and database usage will increase.

** Note from WIMT:  Did you miss the website Content Strategy presentation last week? Watch it now on MediaSite Live. **

by Alex Brown, web analytics specialist and Web Implementation Management Team (WIMT) member

Numerous library staff of various disciplines are currently hard at work migrating the current library website to Drupal, while ensuring that the final product accounts for and addresses current website flaws. Internally, we have a decent sense of current issues that have been informally raised by our patrons, but our internal sense should also take into account and analyze direct feedback from our patrons. In order to do so, we will be employing a survey that will allow for quantitative and qualitative analysis of our patrons’ views towards the current website. This provides a great opportunity to have the voice of our patrons be involved in data-driven decision making, ultimately working towards the goal of continual improvement and enhancement of the library website.

The upcoming website migration will affect everyone. Do you want to know more about the overall migration plan, what’s going to change and what will stay the same? If so, don’t miss tomorrow’s forum, at 10:30 a.m. in Foster Auditorium and MediaSite Live. This will be the first in a series of forums planned this semester. This forum will focus on an overview of the entire migration, while subsequent events will focus on specific areas such as content strategy, content and authors, the process and other topics.

On the agenda for Oct. 13: Overall migration objectives, improvements that will be made, advantages of Drupal, usability testing, content strategy and much more. Come with your questions!

Contact the Web Implementation Management Team at ul-wimt@lists.psu.edu

The Web Implementation and Management Team (WIMT) has organized several sessions in the coming months to provide updates and take questions on the Drupal migration. The forums will be held in Foster Auditorium and MediaSite Live.

They are scheduled for the following dates and times:
Oct 13, 10:30 a.m.: General Update
Nov 13, 9-10 a.m.:Content Strategy
Dec 3 10-11:30 a.m.: Staff Site
Jan 13, 10-11:30 a.m.: Migration Timeline

We are excited to unveil the new look for the Libraries website! As we migrate the site from Adobe CQ to Drupal, we are making color and font changes that will help us align more closely with the Penn State brand. In doing so, we will also be making the site more contemporary, modern and simplified. You will notice that the links on the home page as well as the global navigation will initially remain the same. The changes we are making are based on analytics and usability studies as well as recommendations from the Penn State Office of Strategic Communications. We will continue to make iterative changes based on our ongoing usabillity studies.

The home page and top level pages of the web site will go live in the new look in early January, over the Holiday Break. The rest of the site will roll out unit by unit as we complete the migration.

Please contact WIMT (ul-wimt@lists.psu.edu) with any comments or questions! — Binky Lush, chair, Web Implementation and Management Team

We are in the beginning stages of our content migration for the Libraries site and are looking forward to working with each of the units across the Libraries to plan their content migration to our new Drupal platform.

1. Members of the team will meet individually with stakeholders from each unit across the Libraries.
2. Together, we will complete a Migration Project Brief, outlining the project and the migration timeline.
3. The content team will review every piece of content on the unit’s site, determining audience (internal to the Libraries vs external for our users), content currency, content location, etc. Through this content mapping process, we will identify content that doesn’t necessarily fit or belong in it’s current location. At this point we will be doing card sorting/usability testing to determine the proper location/category for this content.
4. Once this content mapping is complete, we will sit down with stakeholders once again to review and discuss the plan and all content decisions will be reviewed as a group.
5. The content team will then migrate the content according to the content map.

We will begin the migration planning process in mid-September. We look forward to starting the migration planning process with your unit! Please let us know if you have any questions about the migration process! We look forward to your questions and comments. —Binky Lush, chair, WIMT

Contact the Web Implementation and Management Team: ul-wimt@lists.psu.edu

Dawn Amsberry (Teaching and Learning)
Alex Brown (Analytics)
Zoe Chao (User Experience)
Bonnie Imler (Usability)
Chuck Jones (Research)
Linda Klimczyk (Project Management and Systems)
Binky Lush (Chair)
Charlie Morris (Development)
Lana Munip (Marketing and Social Media)
Amy Rustic (Discovery)
Helen Smith (Content Strategy)

The migration from Adobe CQ to Drupal started with what the development team has been calling the microsites. These sites are collaborations with other colleges, departments or institutions outside of the Libraries and include the following:

The People’s Contest
The People’s Contest is directed by a team of scholars and librarians to advance scholarship on the Pennsylvania home front during the Civil War era. The website is a resource station for the vast and diverse collections of archival material around the state—from local county historical societies to large state museums and libraries—and point scholars in promising new directions of inquiry. The site is a collaboration between the University Libraries, the George and Ann Richards Civil War Era Center, The Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission, the Heinz History Center and the Historical Society of Pennsylvania. The People’s Contest was the first of the microsites to go into production in Drupal.

The Pennsylvania Center for the Book
The mission of the Pennsylvania Center for the Book is to study, honor, celebrate, and promote books, reading, libraries, and literacy to the citizens and residents of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. The sponsors of the Pennsylvania Center for the Book are Dean Barbara Dewey and the University Libraries of Penn State University. In addition to providing space and administrative support for the Center’s offices, the University Libraries provide in-kind contributions that include staff and faculty time as well as the Pennsylvania Center for the Book alcove in 201 B Pattee Library. Development for the site is finishing up and content migration will begin very soon.

ICIK
The Interinstitutional Consortium for Indigenous Knowledge was established at the Penn State in 1995 to promote communication among university faculty, staff, students and community members who share an interest in the diverse local knowledge systems that enables communities to survive in a changing world.

ICIK is affiliated with a global network of indigenous knowledge resource centers in South America, Europe, Asia, Africa and Oceania. In 2010, ICIK became the only global indigenous knowledge resource center in North America when an extensive indigenous knowledge resource collection amassed by Michael Warren at Iowa State University’s Center for Indigenous Knowledge in Agriculture and Rural Development (CIKARD) was acquired by the Pennsylvania State University Libraries. Development and content migration are almost complete for the ICIK website.

ASEE CED
The ASEE Community Engagement Division (CED) aims to promote scholarly discussion and dissemination of knowledge on the value and impact of engaged scholarship in engineering education; to encourage efforts to improve the design, implementation, and assessment of engaged scholarship pedagogy; and to enhance the status of engaged scholarship teaching and learning in institutions of higher education. ASEE CED is a collaboration between the University Libraries and College of Engineering. ASEE development and migration has begun and this microsite will be the fourth to move into production in Drupal.

Alumni Library
The Alumni Library gives members of the Penn State Alumni Association access to Penn State Libraries’ digitized collections and a selection of online databases not available to the general public including Ebsco’s Academic Search, JSTOR, Project MUSE, ProQuest API, ProQuest National Newspapers, Mergent Archives, Mergent Intellect, Mergent Key Business Ratios, Mergent Online, and Hoover’s. The site is a collaboration between the University Libraries and the Penn State Alumni Association. Development has not yet begun for the Alumni Library.

Please let us know if you have any questions about the microsites, or any aspect of the Drupal Migration project. Contact us at ul-cms-dev@lists.psu.edu

The Drupal Implementation Team in I-Tech has been working hard on the website migration project since January 5, 2015. Our initial plan was to build skills in Drupal and make initial decisions on the environment by focusing development on what we call “Micro Sites.” These are sites that we support in parallel with the main Library site and they include the People’s Contest, ICIK, PA Center for the Book, ASEE and the Alumni Library. The People’s Contest is complete and currently in production. ICIK and the PA Center for the Book are next in line for completion by summer 2016. We also started work on the foundational elements of the environment and the site in January. This work includes layout, heming, carousel, templates, alerts, hours and systems. The Systems Team has built the new server environment and collaborated with our Development Team to put tools and processes in place that support the Agile Development methodology, development and best practices in security and performance.

The next phase of development will include programming and content migration of the home page and top two levels of the library site. We expect this work to be complete by winter, 2016. Also beginning in winter 2016 will be content migration of campus library sites. Department site migration will begin mid-winter of 2016 and University Park Library site content migration will begin in spring of 2016. Intranet will follow in summer/fall of 2016. — Linda Klimczyk

The projected timelines are shown below.

The Usability Expert Team has been charged to design, conduct and analyze the usability studies that will inform changes to the Libraries’ web site as we migrate to the new Drupal platform. Members of the team are Angela Davis, Katie Garcia, Penny Huffman, Sherry Lonsdale and Bonnie Imler (chair). The team reports their usability study results and recommendations to the Web Implementation and Management Team as needed.

One of the team’s first assignments is to create “personas” of the libraries’ patrons. A persona is a fictional character that is a composite of characteristics and behaviors seen in that user group. Each persona has a first name, background story, use case, and details of their previous library experience. There are personas for new faculty, near retirement faculty, graduate students, World Campus, traditional and non-traditional undergraduate students. The personas are useful in web development to determine the needs, wants, and reactions of a particular group of patrons.

Usability studies on particular pages from the libraries’ web site have already begun, and will continue following the schedule outlined for the Drupal migration. The team will reach out to departments and campuses to schedule individual usability studies. Please contact us at UL-WEB-USABILITY@LISTS.PSU.EDU with any questions! —Bonnie Imler, WIMT Usability Expert Team

Starting this week, the Web Implementation and Management Team (WIMT) will field questions about the team and the website, including questions about how the new site will look, the migration timeline for specific units, training and other topics. This week, the focus is on the site’s goals.

Q. What are the goals of the Libraries’ site?

A. WIMT has gathered information and input from stakeholders and Libraries employees to finalize our website goals. We will use these as guiding principles as we work towards delivering an optimal web experience to our users.

Goal 1: Website

The Libraries website will meet the needs of current and future users – whoever or wherever they may be and on whatever device they use.

Strategies:
•        Site will be organized based on Libraries services rather than institutional organization
•        Site will be user-centered, personalized and interactive
•        Deliver customized content based on user (personalization)
•        Site will be updated incrementally to remain contemporary
•        Site will maintain consistent terminology and branding between virtual and physical spaces.
•        Site will be friendly, warm and welcoming
•        Site will reflect the diversity of the Penn State community and contribute to the Libraries’ environment of respect and inclusion

Goal 2: Content

The content of the Libraries website will be discoverable and current. Content reuse and integration with other content sources will be a guiding principle.

Strategies:
•        Content will be modular and portable (not bound by format)
•        Content will be organized thematically
•        Content will use a consistent voice that is jargon-free and comprehensible to all users
•        Content will be created once and shared and used in multiple places
•        Obsolete information will be weeded on a regular basis

Goal 3: Technology

The content management system will be optimized to meet web and accessibility standards, to integrate with other library systems, to support ease of authoring and to promote creativity and flexibility.

Strategies:
•        System will employ leading edge web technologies and features and will integrate with social networks
•        System will be reliable, lightweight and based on standards and open source principles
•        System will be easily integrated into learning management systems, and will provide direct linking through to Libraries’ resources
•        System will be accessible to users of all abilities

Goal 4: People

The leadership, management, developers and authors for the Libraries Web Presence will be strategic, accessible, agile, creative, collaborative and responsive.

Strategies:
•        Decisions will be informed from usability studies, assessment and metrics and based on user needs
•        Libraries’ personnel will have skills and confidence to contribute to CMS for content optimization
•        Changes in web strategy and direction and author and user functionality will be clearly communicated to all authors, faculty and staff

Goal 5: Discovery

Website, content and technology will be optimized to facilitate ease of discovery, access and use

Strategies:
•        Libraries’ resources will be easy to use, easy to find and easy to access
•        Libraries’ discovery tools will be integrated into the website to promote seamless search, discovery and access throughout the Libraries’ web pages

Next week, we will highlight the migration timeline for different libraries and departments. Currently, WIMT is working on what are called “microsites” (for example, ICIK and the People’s Contest sites). Once these are completed, we will start work on other units. More on this next week! For more information, e-mail UL-WIMT@LISTS.PSU.EDU

To read previous WIMT blog entries, see https://sites.psu.edu/librarynews/category/website-migration-updates/

by Alex Brown, graduate assistant, Department for Information Technologies

(Brown is a graduate student in the College of Information Sciences and Technology and is a member of the Web Implementation and Management Team, WIMT.)

Over the past couple of weeks, small changes have been made to the interface of the library’s homepage in order to test usability. These small changes are employed through a tool called Optimizely, which tests the changes real-time against an original variation. Results are then analyzed, combined with data from other web analytic technologies, and recommendations are formed.

The images above show an example of a test that was run. This test removed the border placed around the search box, consequently reducing the size of the search area by about 15,000 square pixels. The findings of this test revealed that user behavior remained stagnant, indicating that a streamlined search area will still attract heavy usage, while freeing up pixel space for other resources.

Experiments in the future will look to further understand user preference for textual display, terminology, and button placement. We are excited to continue to learn more about user behavior so that we can meet the needs of our users, while exceeding expectations.

If you have questions about the website migration project, please email UL-wimt@lists.psu.edu.
To read past articles related to the website migration, go to https://sites.psu.edu/librarynews/category/website-migration-updates/

Submitted by Helen Smith, Web Implementation Management Team (WIMT) member

To facilitate the transition of our research guides to LibGuides, the Web Implementation Management Team has charged a LibGuides Expert Team. This team consists of Amanda Clossen (Chair), Sarah Pickle, Bonnie Imler, Amy Rustic, Stephen Woods, Helen Smith, and Vicki Brightbill. The team has begun to meet and has divided their work into three focus groups:

1. Look and feel/usability — this group will focus on templates, standards, customization and usability
2. Content — this group will focus on what content will go into LibGuides, content reuse and other best practices
3. Oversight — this group will focus on how content is managed in LibGuides, author roles and processes and procedures for oversight of the guide collection.

The timeline for implementation of the LibGuides product is very short. We expect a pilot migration of some guides in May, with the beginning of a full migration in June. Feel free to contact any team member for more information.