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Ah yes, I remember it as if it were only -- well -- a month ago: On April 10th at the stroke of 12, I announced to the world that LibSite was open and ready for business.

Well, one month, 200 users and 70 site listings later, we're still going strong!

SURPRISES

I've been amazed by the variety of users and site listings. Several of the sites listed are in French and German. Someone even posted a Spanish dictionary coming out of Granada University.

The site listings also point to the variety of library types and resources available. We've had everything from Professional Development sites to sites focused on Law Libraries, Medical Libraries and resources for teens and children.

The important thing -- something I find extremely reassuring -- is yes, there was a huge surge following the initial announcement, but happily there still is a steady stream of recommendations. That's important for the long-term viability of the project.

LESSONS LEARNED

You don't do something like this without learning a number of lessons.

How things will work out isn't always that easy to predict and adjustments have to be made along the way.

One of the first adjustments we had to make was "moderating" submitted sites. Originally I didn't think we'd need to. Unfortunately after a few scurrilous posts it became clear that moderation would indeed be necessary.

Live and learn. You can read about the posting policy on the Wiki:
http://libsite.org/wiki/webcites

KEEP IT SIMPLE STUPID

Actually this isn't a 'lesson learned' so much as a guiding principle: If you want people to use your site, you have to make it as easy as possible.

In that spirit, I cut out the need to supply a screen-shot (which some people were having problems with). I also removed the need to set the category "individual/institution"

The process isn't completely automated on the back-end but I've adjusted the workflow to make it easier for users to submit a site while remaining manageable for us!

IMPROVEMENTS

One of the first improvements I was able to implement -- and this in an incredibly short time -- was a 'Gallery' feature. It's amazing how simple this was once the concept dawned on me.

All I can say is, why didn't I think of this earlier? Duh! In any case, you can judge the results by going to the Gallery Page: http://libsite.org/gallery

FUTURE

Future improvements include better handling of 'Free Tagging'. This is major!

At first I was afraid 'Free Tagging' would get out of hand -- the cataloguer's nightmare. I'm relieved to say that it hasn't. Still we need to make the system easier so people can make the right decisions. This isn't a question of concept but of technology. Needless to say, I'm still working on it...

Another neat thing I want to do in the not-too-distant future is implement a "social mapping" feature. I mean, we're getting sites from all over the place so it'd be an interesting nugget of information to see how they mapped out using something like the Google Map API.

In any case, food for thought. Enough for now!

Leo Klein
ChicagoLibrarian.com

SUGGESTIONS?

Suggest away in the Comments Section for this Newsletter:
http://libsite.org/node/104

Also, feel free to contact me using the LibSite Contact form:
http://libsite.org/contact

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