Category Archives: Web Design

healthcare.gov likes Opera

Even though I am not currently working in the library field (and am not following library-related news as closely), I have been following the implementation and rollout of the Affordable Care Act somewhat closely. I think libraries have an important … Continue reading

Posted in Government, Libraries, Medical, News, Online Services, Software, Web Design | Comments Off on healthcare.gov likes Opera

Register to Vote on Libology

The Democratic National Committee recently released code that allows websites to offer streamlined voter registration pages through a Ruby on Rails interface.  The Obama campaign quickly modified that code to make it even easier to embed in nearly any website. … Continue reading

Posted in Government, Libraries, Online Services, Politics, Software, Web Design | Tagged , , , , , | Comments Off on Register to Vote on Libology

Wikipedia Redefined

Wikipedia Redefined is a proposal by a creative agency called NEW! which presents changes that would make Wikipedia more usable, both as a user and as an editor. Having used MediaWiki (the software that runs Wikipedia) extensively, I can vouch that … Continue reading

Posted in Online Services, Open Source, Software, Web Design, Wiki | Tagged , , , , , | Comments Off on Wikipedia Redefined

Schema.org

Google, Bing and Yahoo have joined their efforts and have created schema.org, a site that offers “a one stop resource” for metadata structure for web pages. There are two schema that stand out as excellent additions to library web sites: … Continue reading

Posted in Books, Google, Libraries, Library 2.0, OPAC, Web Design | Comments Off on Schema.org

How to Create and Run Your Website

The San Jose Public Library has launched their new website. It has a clean design, with clear indications of how to find the information being sought.  But what really got my attention was the relationship of the library staff to … Continue reading

Posted in Blogs, Libraries, Library 2.0, Online Services, OPAC, Web Design | Tagged , , , , | Comments Off on How to Create and Run Your Website

Google Election Maps

The mid-term elections are shaping up to be quite dramatic (although not quite the roller-coaster ride that we had with the 2008 election season). And Google has come up with a new way to visualize the flood of data that … Continue reading

Posted in Google, Government, History, Maps, Online Services, Politics, Web Design | Tagged , , , , , , | Comments Off on Google Election Maps

New Hybrid ILS Front End

A regional group of public libraries in Antwerp, Belgium have announced a new hybrid OPAC for their library software. They have merged WordPress with AquaBrowser to create a web presence with the capabilities they felt were most important for their … Continue reading

Posted in ILS, Libraries, Library 2.0, OPAC, Open Source, Software, Web Design | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on New Hybrid ILS Front End

Unicorn Validator

Unicorn, W3C’s unified validation service, is live. As someone who has found the W3C html, css and feed validators to be valuable tools in web design, the merging of the three tools into one interface is a terrific step.  With … Continue reading

Posted in Library 2.0, News, Online Services, Web Design | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

The Positive No

No One Nos : Learning to Say No to Bad Ideas is an article on A List Apart that discusses when and how to address those situations where, for a variety of reasons, your best option is to tell someone … Continue reading

Posted in Books, Definitions, Ethics, Language, Web Design | Tagged , , , , , | Comments Off on The Positive No

A Brief History of Markup

I just received my copy of the newly-published HTML5 For Web Designers by Jeremy Keith, and remembered that the first chapter is available online.  It is a quick and interesting read, no matter how involved in web design.  In fact, … Continue reading

Posted in Blogs, Books, Groups, History, Library 2.0, Web Design | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on A Brief History of Markup

Thoughts on Names

A blog post by Patrick McKenzie titled Falsehoods Programmers Believe about Names is a great reminder of the increasing complexity surrounding computer software and personal names. It is presented as a list, and most likely will contain some thought-provoking “rules” … Continue reading

Posted in Classification, Definitions, ILS, Libraries, Online Databases, Software, Translation, Web Design | Comments Off on Thoughts on Names

Upgrade

Libology has upgraded to WordPress 3.0, which is a significant jump ahead in standards and features.  One of the most interesting, for me, will be support for HTML 5. I have also switched to the Twenty-Ten theme, as it is … Continue reading

Posted in Blogs, Books, Libraries, Library 2.0, News, Open Source, Software, Web Design | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Upgrade

iPad Peek

A good service for web designers who want to see how their website will work on the iPad: iPad Peek found via WeblogToolsCollection

Posted in Online Services, Software, Web Design | Tagged , , | Comments Off on iPad Peek

OpenDNS Hits 1%

DNS, aka Domain Name System,  is one of those things that is easily taken for granted.  However, the DNS service we use can determine our overall internet experience. I first encountered OpenDNS at a tech conference, and was intrigued enough … Continue reading

Posted in Libraries, News, Online Services, Web Design | Tagged , , , , , , | Comments Off on OpenDNS Hits 1%

Mash-Up the OPAC

ILS user groups can be one of the greatest sources of tips, tricks and inspiration for tech-oriented library staff. There was a recent discussion on the Innovative User’s Group that has led to an interesting way to embed various media … Continue reading

Posted in Cataloging, ILS, Libraries, Library 2.0, Online Services, Software, Tutorials, Video, Web Design, XML | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Mash-Up is not a new term

From the Oxford English Dictionary, via Ron Murray at the Library of Congress, through the Disruptive Library Technology Jester, comes the news that the term “Mash-Up”, with roughly the same meaning as today, is over 150 years old! The modern … Continue reading

Posted in Definitions, History, Language, Library 2.0, Web Design | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on Mash-Up is not a new term

Accent Folding

A List Apart has been a steady source of thought-provoking inspiration over the years, not only from a website building perspective, but also because much of what they publish crosses boundaries and impacts other projects and interests in my life. … Continue reading

Posted in ILS, Language, Libraries, Library 2.0, OPAC, Search, Web Design | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Accent Folding

Library Website Fails

I see these types of messages all the time on library-related websites, and I agree that it sends the message that those who manage those sites don’t have a good grasp of current web technology: Time to Update? by David … Continue reading

Posted in ILS, Libraries, Online Services, OPAC, Web Design | Tagged , , , , | Comments Off on Library Website Fails

Springo

I have always been a fan of the idea of creating a mediated search engine – one in which the results have been reviewed in order to ensure a lean, relevant results list. The reality of the idea is, shall … Continue reading

Posted in Online Services, Search, Web Design, WebSearch | Tagged , , , , , | Comments Off on Springo

punypng

punypng is a great service for those who work with the .png image format.  If you work on web sites, presentations, or other projects that involve image files, this is really worth adding to your toolkit. What it does is … Continue reading

Posted in Online Services, Presenting, Software, Web Design | Tagged , , , , , | Comments Off on punypng