building a web site for mental health librarians

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This article was downloaded by: [University of California Santa Cruz] On: 26 November 2014, At: 05:34 Publisher: Routledge Informa Ltd Registered in England and Wales Registered Number: 1072954 Registered office: Mortimer House, 37-41 Mortimer Street, London W1T 3JH, UK Behavioral & Social Sciences Librarian Publication details, including instructions for authors and subscription information: http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/wbss20 Building a Web Site for Mental Health Librarians Carmen Bou Rivera a a , Rebecca Abromitis b & Amy Brennan c a Pomerance Library & Resource Center, Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences (D-747) , University of Miami School of Medicine , P.O. Box 016960, Miami, FL, 33101, USA b Western Psychiatric Institute & Clinic Library, Health Sciences Library System, University of Pittsburgh , Pittsburgh, PA, 15213, USA c Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences and the Pomerance Library & Resource Center (D-747) , University of Miami School of Medicine , P.O. Box 016960, Miami, FL, 33101, USA Published online: 02 Oct 2008. To cite this article: Carmen Bou Rivera , Rebecca Abromitis & Amy Brennan (2002) Building a Web Site for Mental Health Librarians, Behavioral & Social Sciences Librarian, 21:1, 37-49, DOI: 10.1300/J103v21n01_04 To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1300/J103v21n01_04 PLEASE SCROLL DOWN FOR ARTICLE Taylor & Francis makes every effort to ensure the accuracy of all the information (the “Content”) contained in the publications on our platform. However, Taylor & Francis, our agents, and our licensors make no representations or warranties whatsoever as to the accuracy, completeness, or suitability for any purpose of the Content. Any opinions and views

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Page 1: Building a Web Site for Mental Health Librarians

This article was downloaded by: [University of California Santa Cruz]On: 26 November 2014, At: 05:34Publisher: RoutledgeInforma Ltd Registered in England and Wales Registered Number: 1072954Registered office: Mortimer House, 37-41 Mortimer Street, London W1T 3JH,UK

Behavioral & Social SciencesLibrarianPublication details, including instructions forauthors and subscription information:http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/wbss20

Building a Web Site for MentalHealth LibrariansCarmen Bou Rivera a a , Rebecca Abromitis b & AmyBrennan ca Pomerance Library & Resource Center, Departmentof Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences (D-747) ,University of Miami School of Medicine , P.O. Box016960, Miami, FL, 33101, USAb Western Psychiatric Institute & Clinic Library,Health Sciences Library System, University ofPittsburgh , Pittsburgh, PA, 15213, USAc Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciencesand the Pomerance Library & Resource Center(D-747) , University of Miami School of Medicine ,P.O. Box 016960, Miami, FL, 33101, USAPublished online: 02 Oct 2008.

To cite this article: Carmen Bou Rivera , Rebecca Abromitis & Amy Brennan (2002)Building a Web Site for Mental Health Librarians, Behavioral & Social SciencesLibrarian, 21:1, 37-49, DOI: 10.1300/J103v21n01_04

To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1300/J103v21n01_04

PLEASE SCROLL DOWN FOR ARTICLE

Taylor & Francis makes every effort to ensure the accuracy of all theinformation (the “Content”) contained in the publications on our platform.However, Taylor & Francis, our agents, and our licensors make norepresentations or warranties whatsoever as to the accuracy, completeness,or suitability for any purpose of the Content. Any opinions and views

Page 2: Building a Web Site for Mental Health Librarians

expressed in this publication are the opinions and views of the authors, andare not the views of or endorsed by Taylor & Francis. The accuracy of theContent should not be relied upon and should be independently verified withprimary sources of information. Taylor and Francis shall not be liable for anylosses, actions, claims, proceedings, demands, costs, expenses, damages,and other liabilities whatsoever or howsoever caused arising directly orindirectly in connection with, in relation to or arising out of the use of theContent.

This article may be used for research, teaching, and private study purposes.Any substantial or systematic reproduction, redistribution, reselling, loan,sub-licensing, systematic supply, or distribution in any form to anyone isexpressly forbidden. Terms & Conditions of access and use can be found athttp://www.tandfonline.com/page/terms-and-conditions

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Building a Web Sitefor Mental Health Librarians

Carmen Bou RiveraRebecca Abromitis

Amy Brennan

ABSTRACT. This article details the planning, implementation andmaintenance involved in the creation of the Medical Library Association(MLA) Mental Health Special Interest Group (SIG) Web site (http://www.miami.edu/mhsig). The purpose of this Web site is to provide an infor-mational tool for librarians, information professionals, and consumersinterested in mental and behavioral health, psychology, psychiatry, andsubstance abuse. Covering both common sense and technical aspects,this discussion can serve as a potential model for individuals or organiza-tions interested in creating an informative, content-driven Web site in-tended for knowledge professionals. Stages of Web site developmentincluded are: planning, physical design issues, site contents, contentevaluation and credibility, promotion, evaluation of the final product,maintenance issues, and lessons learned. [Article copies available for a feefrom The Haworth Document Delivery Service: 1-800-HAWORTH. E-mail address:<[email protected]> Website: <http://www.HaworthPress.com> © 2002by The Haworth Press, Inc. All rights reserved.]

Carmen Bou Rivera is Coordinator for Library Services and Head, Pomerance Li-brary & Resource Center, Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences (D-747),University of Miami School of Medicine, P.O. Box 016960, Miami, FL 33101 (E-mail:[email protected]).

Rebecca Abromitis is Reference Librarian, Western Psychiatric Institute & ClinicLibrary, Health Sciences Library System, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA15213 (E-mail: [email protected]).

Amy Brennan is Webmaster for the Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sci-ences and the Pomerance Library & Resource Center (D-747), University of MiamiSchool of Medicine, P.O. Box 016960, Miami, FL 33101 (E-mail: [email protected]).

Behavioral & Social Sciences Librarian, Vol. 21(1) 2002http://www.haworthpressinc.com/store/product.asp?sku=J103

2002 by The Haworth Press, Inc. All rights reserved. 37

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KEYWORDS. Mental health librarians, behavioral sciences librarians,mental health libraries, Internet, Web site development, mental health,psychiatry, psychology, substance abuse, Medical Library Association

INTRODUCTION

It is estimated that fewer than 100 librarians work primarily in themental health field. They provide library and information services to ac-ademicians, researchers, clinicians, and consumers. Mental health li-brarians serve users in both private and public institutions that includeacademic medical centers, psychiatric hospitals, universities, schools ofprofessional psychology, the Veterans Administration, and substanceabuse treatment centers. Within this small, distinct group of librarians,networking is essential to maintain professional links, share resources,and communicate ideas.

The Medical Library Association (MLA) Mental Health Special In-terest Group (SIG) is one of only several international groups that fos-ters cooperation and support among the libraries and librarians whosecollections include the literature of mental health. The MLA MentalHealth SIG:

1. Provides a forum for exchange of knowledge about psychiatry,psychology, mental health issues, and mind-body connection.

2. Facilitates communication and collaboration in the developmentand delivery of information services related to these areas.

3. Promotes the exchange of ideas and experiences in promoting andmarketing mental health issues.

4. Collaborates within MLA to develop mental health programmingat annual meetings and promote professional development for li-brarians in this area.

Members of the Mental Health SIG hold a meeting during the MLAannual conference, providing an opportunity to network and socialize.Throughout the year, members stay connected through MHLIB, an on-line discussion forum for mental health librarians, consultants, andother professionals who work or have an interest in the field of mentalhealth.

During the May 2000 annual meeting, the development of a MentalHealth SIG Web site was identified as an essential project for the com-ing year. Members cited a need to augment the yearly meeting and on-

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line discussion forum with an attractive, content-rich Web site thatwould serve as an informational resource for mental health librarians. AWeb presence was seen as a way to supply useful information for mem-bers, provide additional networking possibilities, and attract new col-leagues to the group. With these goals in mind, the SIG outlined astrategy to create the Web site.

PLANNING

The members of the SIG and a review of the literature provided sageadvice about the trials and errors of building a Web site from the groundup. We identified basic questions about content and physical design is-sues that required answers prior to beginning construction: Who will beresponsible for the Web site? On which server will it reside? What costswill be involved? Who will be our target audience? What will the sitecontain? What selection criteria will be used? How will we evaluatelinks? Which Web site creation tool will best suit our needs? A smallteam of volunteers became responsible for providing solutions to thesequestions, with additional input provided by mental health librariansduring the annual meeting and through subsequent MHLIB online dis-cussions.

Major support for site development came from Pomerance Library atthe University of Miami School of Medicine’s Department of Psychia-try & Behavioral Sciences. The University supplied the server space tohouse the Mental Health SIG Web site, basically absorbing all costs, ex-cept for the value of time donated by volunteers. The head of thePomerance Library offered to oversee the entire project, and a memberof the Library staff volunteered her Web development skills. Both havetraining and experience in developing Web sites, and maintain the De-partment of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences and the Pomerance Li-brary Web sites at the University of Miami School of Medicine.

Increasingly, more librarians are eager to accept the challenge oflearning new skills and taking on the responsibility of creating Webpages. Evans’ (1999) study of authors of academic library home pagesshow that “librarians more often than non-librarians are assuming theresponsibility for writing home pages” and “prior education play[s] arole in determining the likelihood that an individual will write the homepage for his or her employing library” (p. 309). In our case, even withprevious experience in developing and maintaining Web pages, theteam found the prospect of creating a new one “from scratch” stimulat-

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ing and challenging. It helped that our group also shared a contagious,creative flow of energy that provided us with momentum to finish ourproject quickly. Communicating via email, we worked steadily forabout a month to build the page prototypes, and, once a basic documentwas up on the Web, we announced it on MHLIB. Refinements, based onsubsequent MHLIB suggestions, continued until we had a “final” prod-uct that could be linked to the official MLANET Web site under the“Sections and SIGs” page. The Mental Health SIG Web site is availableat http://www.miami.edu/mhsig/.

The target audience for the Web site was readily defined as mentalhealth librarians, consumers interested in mental/behavioral health, andother information professionals. The Web team decided against using aformal survey to determine the needs of these groups. Instead, a simple,informal process was used, involving brainstorming during the annualSIG meeting and online conversations through MHLIB. A rigid selec-tion policy was not formulated to determine which links would be in-cluded. We tended to be very inclusive with our links and our selectionmethod might best be described as “inclusion by suggestions, followedby evaluation.” This method was adopted in our attempt to be as com-prehensive as possible for our own audience. By following the sugges-tions provided, we added both educational and commercial links.However, some caution was needed with this approach, so our Web sitewould not become overgrown and difficult to negotiate or maintain.Throughout this process we received valuable input that enabled theteam to develop a site that conveniently gathers in one place the materi-als most requested by our target audience.

PHYSICAL DESIGN ISSUES

We began the physical design process by reviewing the literature onthis topic, and identified from this search several typical errors to avoidwhen designing a Web site (Balas 1999; Block 1998; Guenther 1999;Klein 2000; Nielsen 1996, 1999, 2001, Williams 1998). Among themost common design flaws cited are:

• using “bells and whistles” effects requiring special plug-ins thatcan be viewed only by specific browsers

• using large graphic files or sound files that can slow the load speedof the pages (one of the most common pitfalls)

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• becoming so enamored with a specific design concept that func-tionality is sacrificed (i.e., developing an attractive site that is dif-ficult to navigate).

From these articles we determined that during the design phase, ourfocus must remain on the needs and preferences of our target audience.Our Web team decided that, while an attractive color scheme would bea plus, the site would be designed as an information presentation toolfor an audience who appreciates efficiency over entertainment. The par-amount design issues would need to address concise navigation andlogical page layouts for easy retrieval of information.

To achieve these goals we looked at comparable sites that were ini-tially suggested by the target audience during brainstorming sessionsand from group polling. Among the Web sites suggested were: MLA(http://www.mlanet.org) and, particularly, the Web sites for MLA Sec-tions and Special Interest Groups; the Association of Mental Health Li-brarians (http://www.mhlib.org); the Substance Abuse Librarians &Information Specialists (http://www.salis.org/); and the Florida HealthSciences Library Association (http://www.library.health.ufl.edu/fhsla).From these sites, our team gathered ideas about site structure, organiza-tion, the need for good “flow through,” and cross links between sections(a form of indexing familiar to the group). This gave us a general idea ofwhere to begin, but before the site could really take shape, there werespecific issues to address.

Specific design issues considered with regard to the layout of theMental Health SIG Web site included: universal access, navigability,internal search capability, and the actual “look” and style of the Website (Health Summit Working Group, 1999). The first issue, universalaccess, refers to accessibility of the Web site via older browsers or onplatforms other than Windows. To insure universal access, we estab-lished alternative text for all images and alternate, effect-free naviga-tion. We also declined the use of frames, which can restrict universalaccess because many older browsers and access aids cannot use frames.Even for those that do support frames, it is often difficult to navigateamong frames if users don’t have both a graphical layout and a mouse(Center for Applied Special Technology 1999-2000). The team testedthe accessibility of the site with Bobby, a free utility specifically de-signed for Web page authors [http://www.cast.org/bobby].

Next, the team focused on the issue of navigability, or the ease of lo-cating pertinent information and the user’s comprehension of how thesite is arranged. We organized the site for maximum efficiency by di-

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viding the information into specific pages, and then subdividing theseinto categories and subcategories. Internal links allow unhinderedmovement among pages, sections, and categories. A sitemap was pro-vided as an indexing tool. This detailed outline of the site’s arrangementallows internal search capability so users don’t become “lost” withinthe site. Navigability is also determined by a clear means of physicallyprogressing through the site. We accomplished this with a variety ofnavigation tools including buttons, links at the bottom of each page, andthe sitemap.

The team’s first priority with respect to physical design was toachieve functionality in an attractive and user-friendly format. As a toolfor knowledge professionals who are typically more intent on informa-tion content than visual effects, site efficiency was vital. This decisionlimited the amount of “effects” that the site design could contain, asthese can cause time delays that impede searcher effectiveness. The ju-dicious use of graphics and minor mouse-over effects saves the sitefrom being too plain, while the absence of Flash movies, audio files, ormany animated elements prevents slow load times and distractionsfrom the content.

Photographs were used sparingly because these high-resolution im-ages can annoy users with long wait times while they load. The fewphotographs we used were optimized for the Web by reducing the col-ors and size to avoid slow load time. The common design “rule ofthumb” is that a picture should be no larger than 100 KB, and ideallymuch smaller if you plan to use more than one graphic on a site. Any sitethat takes more than a minute to load will definitely lose impatientsearchers who may choose to click out of the site. It is important to notethat using your own computer to gauge general loading time for a site isa mistake, since Internet connection speed and other access factors varyacross users. Useful utilities, such as Web Site Garage by Netscape[http://websitegarage.netscape.com/], measure load speed on every-thing from a 14.4 modem to a T1 connection, and can accurately assessa site’s load time across connections.

One of the last physical design issues considered was the colorscheme. Because the site would be of potential interest to persons withmental disorders, as well as those searching for information about thedisorders, we selected a soothing, cool color scheme of blues and greensfor a relaxing effect. Attention-grabbing red and yellow were used onlyfor disclaimers in order to highlight them. While some sites elect to usewhite text on a dramatic, colored background, our team rejected thisstrategy because some older browsers and printers are not able to print

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light text on dark backgrounds. (Most new browsers automatically cor-rect for this problem by printing all text as black and backgrounds col-ors or images as white.) To make sections printer-friendly, we used astandard white background and black text to list information that waslikely to be printed, such as library Web sites, addresses, and contact in-formation.

SITE CONTENTS

The primary goal of the Web site was to provide information for theMLA Special Interest Group concerned with mental health. To this end,supplying information on upcoming events and meetings was para-mount. To advertise our meeting programs and increase attendance, thesite identifies programs of interest to mental health librarians and pro-vides all pertinent information in one location. The home page providescontact information for the two SIG co-conveners, along with their pic-ture to give the site a friendlier, more personal touch. Since the group’smain means of communication is the MHLIB online discussion forum,we provided information for subscribing to it and to other mental healthlibrarians’ organizations, such as the Association of Mental Health Li-brarians (AMHL) and the Substance Abuse Librarians & InformationSpecialists (SALIS).

Our second goal was to provide links to pertinent mental health sites.These links to relevant mental health sites comprise the core element ofour site, serving as a “links reference desk.” Two components were nec-essary: Mental Health Libraries and General Mental Health Links. Cur-rently no site provided a comprehensive list of Mental Health Libraries.To fill this gap, we compiled a list of mental health libraries, as well aslibraries that had collections in relevant subject areas, i.e., alcohol, to-bacco, and substance abuse information. The online membership direc-tory of the Association of Mental Health Librarians provided the basisfor our list of libraries. The team supplemented the list with libraryURLs obtained by sending requests through MHLIB, directly to thosewho had email, and by searching the Internet. Also, messages wereposted on related listservs and we added those libraries that responded.

Through a consensus of librarians we agreed that the best way to listeach library was by its own name, rather than by the name of the parentorganization. In this way the audience had a hand in determining themethod of organizing the content. We created an active link to each li-brary that had a Web site and included the URL below the link, provid-

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ing a printable list of library Web addresses. Libraries without a Webpresence were listed by name, mailing address, and contact person in-formation.

The ‘General Mental Health’ links were organized into categoriesand subcategories by type and level of interest to librarians. A short an-notation was added to many of the Web sites. In the event that a usercould not locate specific information through our Web site, links tomore than 20 search engines were included. Commercial sites were sep-arated from the individual subcategories because the target audienceshowed a marked preference for non-commercial sites. The team care-fully evaluated commercial sites, selectively adding only those withvery relevant information, search capabilities, navigability, and mini-mal advertisements.

Another category in which our audience expressed interest was infor-mation about new mental health books and videos. For books, we pro-vided links to American Psychiatric Publishing, Inc., MLA Publications,and ALA’s Booklist, plus a list of about 20 recently published books.The list is updated monthly after reviewing publishers’ book catalogsand Doody’s Health Sciences Book Reviews Journal. We also identifiedseveral sources for videos.

The links provided by the Mental Health SIG Web site are extensive.We reviewed many Web sites containing mental health content, evalu-ated them, and made selection decisions for each. In addition to usingthe guidelines for evaluating Web sites, the primary contributors to thesite relied on a combination of more than 23 years of experience in themental health field. In addition, members of our target group contrib-uted links for consideration, reported “dead” links and suggested alter-nate ways to organize site contents.

CONTENT EVALUATION AND CREDIBILITY

In addition to the University of Miami ‘team,’ volunteers from theSIG and MHLIB discussion forum became responsible for the evalua-tion of links. While evaluation of books and journals has long been thedomain of librarians, evaluation of Internet sites provided a differenttype of challenge due to the fluid nature of the Web. A Google searchsupplied a list of sites that contain guidelines for evaluating links, usingcriteria such as authority of source, accuracy, balance and objectivity,currency, site organization, and purpose. A search in MEDLINE pro-vided more articles with guidelines for health Internet site evaluation

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(Garrison 1998), and we also searched the Educational Resources Infor-mation Center (ERIC) Database for additional publications on Webevaluation and design (Health Summit Working Group 1999). Usingthe evaluation criteria derived from these searches, each hyperlink toother Web sites was reviewed, evaluated, and then reviewed a secondtime by SIG members. During this evaluation process, a number of bro-ken links were also identified, which aided in preliminary site mainte-nance.

The site displays the University of Miami logo to show where the siteoriginates and the MLA logo as the parent organization and sponsor ofthe Mental Health SIG. These offer assurances to users that this is an ed-ucational, not a commercial site. As mentioned previously, the Web sitealso exhibits the Bobby logo. This is a guarantee that the Center for Ap-plied Special Technology (CAST) organization has evaluated our siteand it has passed various accessibility tests. CAST is a not-for-profit or-ganization whose mission is to expand opportunities for people withdisabilities through innovative uses of computer technology. The “lastmodified date” is also displayed at the bottom of the home page to showthe information is current. A valuable suggestion offered by a SIGmember, and initially overlooked by the design team, entailed dis-claimer statements. Disclaimers prevent legal repercussions from userswho make incorrect assumptions regarding the use and source of the in-formation provided.

Through a constant loop of feedback and peer review, the site hasbeen able to grow from many viewpoints.

PROMOTION

In an age when anybody can create a Web page, it is important to ad-vertise a site so the desired audience can locate it. Although our primaryaudience was well aware of and participated in the development of ourWeb site, we felt that further promotion was necessary. To increase vis-ibility among users in the secondary target audience, who were notmembers of the online discussion forum, we exchanged links with simi-lar sites, including our sponsor site, the Medical Library Association.MLA announced our new Web site to the membership through theire-newsletter MLAFOCUS. In addition, a message was sent to otherlistservs, such as SALIS, ISIG (Internet SIG), FHSLA (Florida HealthSciences Library Association), and other lists with whom individualmembers shared the information. We also submitted our link for consid-eration to relevant Web sites, such as Yahoo Mental Health Libraries.

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Librarians, as catalogers, know the importance of accurately describ-ing information in order to make it accessible to users. On the Internet,metatags are used for this purpose, although these descriptors operatewithout controlled vocabulary, and are accessed differently by eachsearch engine. Some search engines will search the entire content of aWeb page for search terms, while most will only access metatags that area part of the heading or head tag of each Web site. In this way one can usemetatags to index and advertise a site effectively (Guenther 1999).

We used two types of metatags: description and keywords. The de-scription is a blurb that explains the purpose and content of a Web site.This is the information that many search engines display in the searchresults. It must be well written, brief, and provide key information first.Some search engines will display only 15-25 words of a description, orabout 200 characters, while others will show more. Since this statementof purpose may determine whether or not the user will select your link,it is critical to the visibility of your site. Keywords, the second type ofmetatag, are the words that search engines scan to determine if a sitemeets the users’ search criteria. It is important to compile an inclusivelist, placing the most relevant keywords first, since different search en-gines have various cut-off points. When creating keywords it is impor-tant not to repeat terms because this can cause some search engines tostop indexing or searching the site, and the site will not be displayedamong the search results. This search engine mechanism is in place toprevent a site from unfairly weighting itself and receiving a higher placein the results list than is deserved (due to more occurrences of the searchterm). Metatags are an important, but often overlooked, way to increasethe visibility of a Web site.

WEB SITE EVALUATION

How can the value of the Web site be assessed? SIG members ini-tially responded enthusiastically to the site:

“The pages look great . . . thanks for all your help.”“ . . . looks slick, professional and will make a wonderful additionto the Library community on the Web.”“I am very impressed by the Web site! The organization is wellthought-out, easy to navigate, and very pretty . . . I’m looking for-ward to using this!”“I bookmarked the site and use it almost every day.”

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While value is subjective, the positive feedback verified that the Website creators were on the right track in providing a site of some value formental health librarians. Also, SIG members realize that they “own”this Web site, and their constructive criticism is vital to help the sitehold its value.

To evaluate the technical aspects of this Web site, we used Web SiteGarage (mentioned previously). This free utility appraises a Web sitehome page using multiple criteria: Browser Compatibility Check, Readi-ness Check (ability of Web page to be indexed correctly by search en-gines and directories), Load Time Check, Dead Link Check, LinkPopularity Check (number of sites that link to your site), Spelling Check,and HTML Design Check. In addition, this utility provides an overall siterating and describes where the site needs to be improved. It also offers agraphics tool to slim down weighty pictures that can slow the load speedof a page. However, we instead used Adobe Photoshop for this task, be-cause it has a superior tool for saving graphics in Web-compatible colors.The Web Site Garage suggestions proved invaluable for evaluating thetechnical details and programming for our Web site.

MAINTENANCE

Maintaining a Web site is an ongoing task. Some tasks can be donequickly and easily, such as checking for spelling and grammar errors,dead links, or adding new links. Other updates are more technical andrequire a certain level of expertise, such as changing or adding tables,pictures, or sections involving large blocks of text.

When making major changes to the Mental Health SIG Web site, weuse Dreamweaver by Macromedia, an HTML editing program. Twoother extremely popular programs are FrontPage by Microsoft andGoLive! by Adobe. For the more HTML savvy individuals, changescan be made using a basic word processor, such as Notepad orWordPad. We used the latter for adding blocks of text, such as the listsof mental health libraries with accompanying contact information.When incorporating a document from MS Word or Word Perfect into aWeb site, we learned to avoid using their conversion features to save thedocument as HTML. They are notorious for adding tags and garblingthe format, which results in more work to fix these files than if saved intext-only format, and cut and pasted into the HTML document.

As to future maintenance issues on the Mental Health SIG Web site,we must ask ourselves: How much time will be required to keep this in-

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formation up-to-date? Is this information really necessary? Can we findthis information elsewhere? Some new ideas that are presently underconsideration are reviews of mental health videos, employment oppor-tunities, research/collaboration for publication endeavors, an onlinenewsletter, and pathfinders. While preparing this article, additionalideas came to mind, such as links to publisher Web sites, and creating acore list of mental health books and journals based on librarians’ recom-mendations. Some of these ideas are more “doable” than others, but wewill strive to do our best to maintain a Web site that fulfills the needs ofour target audience and is a credit to our profession.

LESSONS LEARNED

When construction began, we quickly realized that the Web sitewould never become a finished product. Rather, the content needs tocontinually evolve, and site maintenance is an ongoing process. Volun-teers will need to be recruited to continue expanding the scope and con-tent of the site.

A second lesson was that, although creating the Web site was initiallylabor-intensive, further updates would require much less time and effortto complete once a framework was in place.

Another lesson was to listen to the preferences and comments of ourtarget audience. This is the only way to truly fulfill their needs, and tocontinually grow and adapt as a result of their input. Get the target audi-ence involved as soon as possible, and if practical, in the very beginningof the creative process.

Finally, an important key to the entire process was recognizing thatthe Mental Health SIG Web site ultimately represents our parent orga-nization, the Medical Library Association. The MLA mission statementwas kept in the forefront at all times during site development. It states:“MLA is dedicated to improving excellence and leadership of the healthinformation professional to foster the art and science of health informa-tion services.” As the site evolves, our objective will be to adhere toMLA’s mission by continuing to provide a Web resource that can beused by librarians to improve mental health information services.

Received: 08/08/01Revised: 01/31/02

Accepted: 02/06/02

48 BEHAVIORAL & SOCIAL SCIENCES LIBRARIAN

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REFERENCES

Balas, J.L. 1999. The ‘Don’ts’ of Web Page Design. Computers in Libraries 19 (8):46-48.

Block, Marylaine. 1998. Making It Up as I Went Along: A Webmaster’s Saga of Trialand Error. Searcher: The Magazine for Database Professionals 6 (October): 53-59.

Evans, Beth. 1999. The Authors of Academic Library Home Pages: Their Identity,Training, and Dissemination of Web Construction Skills. Internet Research: Elec-tronic Networking Applications and Policy 9 (4): 309-319.

Garrison, Scott. 1998. Evaluating Health Internet Sites: A White Paper’s Criteria.Medical Reference Services Quarterly 17 (3): 41-47.

Guenther, Kim. 1999. Publicity Through Better Web Site Design. Computers in Li-braries, 19 (8): 62-67.

Health Summit Working Group, Health Information Technology Institute, MitretekSystems. 1999. Criteria for Assessing the Quality of Health Information on theInternet–Policy Paper <http://hitiweb.mitretek.org/docs/policy.html>.

Klein, Leo Robert. 2000. Web Design and Sin. NetConnect (Summer): 37-39.Nielsen, J. 1996. Top Ten Mistakes of Web Design. <http://www.useit.com/-useit.com>.Nielsen, J. 1999. Top Ten Mistakes Revisited Three Years Later. <http://www.useit.com/

-useit.com>.Nielsen, J. 2000. Top Ten New Mistakes of Web Design. <http://www.useit.com/-useit.com>.Williams, Sheree H. 1998. The AIDS Community-Based Service Organization and the

World-Wide Web: Decisions and Experiences in Creating a Web Site. Health Careon the Internet 2: 3-9.

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