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ISSN 1443-0568 | no. 39 | June 1999


NLA at work

New National Library Web site

By the time this issue of Gateways goes to press, we will have released a new version of our Web site, with a new graphic design, significant changes and additions to content, improved navigation and pathways, and a new metadata-compliant search engine.

Why the change?
We last updated the site in December 1997. At that time, our main aim was to improve the level of access for offsite users to information about our collections, services and activities. Our main aim with this new project has been to reposition the site so that the Web is a primary means of information service delivery for both onsite and offsite users.

At the end of July, we will be replacing the character-based terminals providing access to the NLA catalogue in the Library’s reading rooms with integrated workstations providing Web access to the catalogue, and our other research and information services. All services will be visible (and many fully accessible) to both onsite and offsite users.

While the focus of this update campaign has been the implementation of a framework for information service delivery, we have also begun a process of review of all parts of the site to ensure that they meet user needs.

The brief
Our brief was to design a Web site that would meet the needs of users, here and elsewhere, who visit the site for the first time or as regular users. We identified the need for entry points and navigation paths that would address user needs, regardless of whether they wished to engage with the Library in its role as:

The graphic design had to be simple enough to welcome and invite new users to explore the site. The structure had to ensure that users were encouraged to continue using the site by finding what they needed within two, or at most three, levels from the home page.

Another challenge has been to review and update the content of the site. Much of the existing content has had to be rewritten to ensure it is current and appropriate, and new content had to be commissioned from relevant areas of the Library. Development of content at lower levels of the site will be an ongoing process over the next few months.

Feedback
You are welcome to provide us with your comments on the new Web site and how effectively you think we have met our design brief.

Use the online feedback form (http://www.nla.gov.au/feedback) or write to: Lesley Bezear, Manager, Server Team, National Library of Australia, Canberra ACT 2600; email: www@nla.gov.au

| Contents list for this issue of Gateways |

Please address any comments and enquiries to The Editor, Gateways: lkirwan@nla.gov.au

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