School Library Media Websites:

Features I Believe They Should Have

Ashley S. Moss-Pham

Note to the Reader: Rather than basing my judgments (and consequent list of the features I’d like to see) on more theoretical considerations like those listed in the checklist of criteria on Joyce Velenzas’ Webquest, I have based my final judgment on visits to every school library website listed on Velenzas’ Best Practices list of links for high school media centers, and on visits to the Maryland high school media center websites available on School-Libraries.net. Based on visits to these websites, I have chosen two possible models for the one I will eventually create (or at least facilitate the creation of). Oddly enough, one is the newly redesigned website of my former school, Richard Montgomery High School in Rockville, Maryland, which I had not seen before today, and one is the website for Springbrook High School in Silver Spring, Maryland.

The Springbrook Media Center website is very elegant looking, especially as compared to many high school media center website home and other pages which tend to be cluttered with information and links all competing for your attention.

http://www.mcps.k12.md.us/schools/springbrookhs/

The Richard Montgomery High School Media Center website is also clean- looking and inviting even though it contains lots of information and links on the homepage. The “clean-ness” of its layout has more to do with the organization of its contents than with the sparseness of its text. I also like this one a lot because of how student and faculty-friendly it is. From the first glance at its homepage, you can find out where to access all sorts of content-related information that might be of use. I believe students and faculty would view this sort of layout, as well as the content, as extremely inviting and helpful to them. This is because the website is organized and “stocked” according to categories of information for faculty and students that are totally relevant to their day-to-day activities and concerns. To view this website, click on Richard Montgomery High School’s homepage and then the link for Media Center (it seems you cannot access the Media Center homepage directly).

http://www.portalcontrol.com/rmhs/

That said, what follows are the categories of information I think are important because of the obvious relevance of this information to students and educators at the high school level. While the schematic below is very similar to the Richard Montgomery High School website in terms of its organization, it is not identical. They have left out some important information for students (i.e., safety online; search tips) and included other information that I don’t see as necessary.

Media Center News, Information & Important Links

ü Library Hours of Operation and Staff Information

ü MCPS Website (contains school calendar, emergency information, contact information for School Board members, etc.; it’s a vast website that students and parents in Montgomery County should be familiar with and learn how to navigate)

ü School Information (a link to the school’s website provided here)

ü Computer Use Regulations and forms

ü Safety Information for Internet Use

ü Web Site Evaluation Information

ü Plagiarism

ü Search Tips for the Internet

Libraries and Other Local Resources Online

ü College & Community Libraries in D.C. and Maryland

ü Library of Congress

ü Smithsonian Institution

ü Kennedy Center

ü MCPS Online Catalog

ü Montgomery County Public Library

Online Databases for Students & Staff

ü Galenet

ü Encyclopedia Britannica Online

ü The Rest to be Determined…

English Links

ü The Research Process

§ MLA Citation of Print and Electronic Sources

§ Avoiding Plagiarism

§ Searching on the Internet

§ Stages of Writing

§ Etc., other categories to be determined

ü Norton Anthology of American Literature Online

ü Modern American Poetry Online (Oxford)

ü Poets.org (Academy of American Poets)

ü PAL: Perspectives in American Literature

Social Studies Links

ü To be determined

Math Links

ü To be determined

Science Links

ü To be determined

Interrelated Arts

ü Artcyclopedia

ü Artopia

Reading Links

ü Best Books for Young Adults

ü Guys Read

ü Summer Reading Lists – All Grades, All Programs

Resources for Educators

ü Maryland State Department of Education

ü Turnitin (or EVE2)

ü MCPS Professional Library

ü MCPS Electronic Literacy Pathfinders

ü MCPS Evaluation & Selection Policy