An Introduction to our new website from the Library Director

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Welcome to San Jose Public Library’s new website!

 

Our intent is to create a digital branch that will mirror the services that you receive when you visit a library in person.

 

Here you will find information about all 19 San Jose Library locations and the events and activities taking place at them. I am particularly excited that our multi-talented library staff is contributing recommendations and reviews of books, movies, music, and databases the library subscribes to, as well as websites. Expect to see video and podcasts of a variety of library educational programs. Of course, you can still search the library catalog (including all of the San Jose State University Library collections), place holds, renew items, and pay overdue fines.

 

Our previous website was designed when the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Library, our joint use partnership with San Jose State University Library, opened in 2003. Over time, the site became outdated and overly complex. Users told us that they were often confused and a bit frustrated because many of the highly specialized databases included on the site are licensed for off-site use just by SJSU students and employees and others may use them only in the King Library.  Consequently, the two libraries decided to separate their websites to better serve their specific users, but to keep sjlibrary.org as a portal for those wanting specific information about the King Library. 

 

We are eager to hear your comments about the website. Is it easy to use? Do you like the staff's content? Is there something else you would like to see? Please let me know by commenting below or clicking on the survey link in the upper right corner of the website.



Posted by Jane Light on Nov 9, 2010 | Comments: 4 |
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Comments from our readers...

Needs A Lot of Work

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Fri, January 14.
Thank you director Light for providing us with an opportunity to give you and the library feedback on the new website. I've been using it since it came out so I could get used to it and give it a chance to grow on me. However, I've come to find that the new website is unfortunately not a great example of a good website development. Aesthetically, I think the new site is in need of a new design to be honest. I know that aesthetics are largely in the eye of the beholder, but I think a designer could safely say that the new site's design is largely incoherent. Color is used haphazardly, typography is uninspired, and the site looks a bit on the 20th century side. Try increasing the font size and see how the design breaks. And developers who look at the actual code (HTML and CSS) would probably tell you that the site developers don't have very advanced knowledge of web development standards. Presentation is mixed with content, and if a developer were to "view source" on the site, they would find a lot of work to be done. And the navigation of the site is also confusing. It's not bad compared to the old site, it's just objectively not easy find things on the site. I know that public library websites are generally uninspired, but I was hoping that the San Jose Public Library, in Silicon Valley, would roll out something amazing. It's not horrible by any means, but it's not a site to aspire to either. I think the New York Public Library is the only library site that I find on the level of other professionally done sites. Please don't use whatever design firm you hired to do the site, because honestly, there's much better out there. I think the decision to update the site was a good one, but the implementation is flawed. Again, thank you for the chance to give you my feedback. Sincerly, Dissappointed Patron

Thank you for your feedback

Submitted by Sarah Houghton-Jan on Tue, January 25.

Thank you ever so much for taking the time to give us your feedback on the new website. The design process was, and is, completely iterative. You can expect frequent and thoughtful changes to the site's design and code in the future. Moving to this new website was a huge step for the library. We moved from a 10-year old website and content management system to an open source Drupal site that is separate from the SJSU Library site. The future holds more development and change, and we'd love to have your input. If you have specific suggestions to make to us, you are welcome to email the Digital Futures team at SJPLDigitalFutures@sjlibrary.org. We'd love the chance to talk to you!


Congratulations!

Submitted by Gordon Yusko (not verified) on Tue, November 16.
It's really great to see the new Web site. It's one of the five home page tabs in my browser, so I see it every day. I know that it took a lot of planning and the work involved in the redesign was a lot more complicated and time consuming than first envisioned. But it's here now and is giving SJPL a bright new look for its eBranch. Congratulations!

Tell us what you think!

Submitted by Sarah Houghton-Jan on Fri, November 12.

As the Library's Digital Futures Manager, I just want to chime in here and say that we are so very pleased to be able to offer this new digital branch to our library users and all residents of San Jose.  We are open to all feedback about the new site and look forward to hearing from you!