MEDIA CENTER WEB PAGES

Information about a school’s Media Center can be found on almost any school web page. This is because the purpose of the library is to provide information and resources for student and staff use. In my viewing of several Media Center located in Pennsylvania and Maryland, I found them all to be different. Some were designed with a specific purpose and goal in mind, while others were at a loss for purpose and goal. Needless to say, those that I looked at in which much was available to choose from were ones that I would tend to model after.

A priority in designing a web page for my up and coming high school Media Center would be the students. I want the website to be one that students would like to go to because it was a sight that is easy to navigate through and has more than enough resources to choose from. I would want the students to know that this was designed with them in mind and to enhance their learning. I would also keep in mind the parents and staff. The website would include information and resources for them as well.

The following components would be a part of my web design. First, there would be a statement addressing the philosophy and purpose of the Media Center. Objectives and outcomes could be a part of this statement. I would like all users to understand that one responsibility of a great media center is to keep information available and updated.

Second, in line with that idea, would be providing resource sites that have been selected for their content. I think that one critical job performed by the media specialist is to make available sources that are in line with the curriculum and support teacher objectives. Therefore it would be beneficial to have each subject listed as a main category and reliable web sites as sub-categories. It would be vital to have a section devoted to topics such as plagiarism, evaluations for web sites, and guidelines for citing on-line resources just to mention a few.

Another great idea would be to involve the teachers to have them hand over vital classroom information pertaining to policy and grades. This information would then be placed on an individual site for students to access when they have questions about what to expect from a certain teacher. Parents could also have the option to view teacher sites as well.