National Library of Australia


Guidelines for the content of library websites

Library websites contain a wealth of information. Feedback from users and experience gained from managing websites has led to the emergence of a core of information that is acknowledged as useful. These guidelines are an attempt to assist libraries to develop websites that contain the information their patrons and offsite users require.

Given the diversity of libraries and their websites, some of the information listed in the first section of the guidelines will not be applicable to every library. However, each library is encouraged to make use of the relevant aspects. The ultimate test of a website is whether users can find the information they expect, and whether they can find it easily.

Information to display somewhere within the site:

Information to display on every page:

Additional information to display on the home page and other key pages:

Don't forget to include a link to the Australian Libraries Gateway - http://www.nla.gov.au/libraries/ - somewhere on your site!

Metadata

The inclusion of metadata on your home page will help users and search engines find your site. It need not be a difficult task. At the very least you should use the HTML tags of TITLE, DESCRIPTION, KEYWORDS and AUTHOR. In addition, the use of an appropriate metadata scheme, such as Dublin Core is recommended.

For more information about Metadata, check out the Australian Meta Matters site or PADI metadata page.

Accessibility

Library websites should be accessible to all members of the community. For information on web accessibility, see the guidelines from the World Wide Web consortium at http://www.w3c.org/WAI/.

Last modified: October 07 2009.