Library Website Reviews

Authority

	McIntosh College Library	New Hampshire Community Technical College, Manchester Library
What is the URL?	www.mcintoshstudent.com/library.htm	http://ms.nhctc.edu/nhctc_manchester_library.php
Is there a recognizable sponsor of the web site? Who is it? Will it be possible to find background information about this sponsor?	McIntosh College is the obvious organization behind the library site. There is a link to CECybary, which appears to be sponsered by Career Education Corporation, which is McIntosh’s parent company (it wasn’t easy to verify that). The other interesting thing is that there is not a link to the library page from McIntosh’s home page.	The New Hampshire Community Technical College is the direct sponsor of the library site.
Has descriptive information about the sponsor been provided, either on the opening page or via an “about us” link?	No information provided.	There is an “about us” link that gives general information about the college and a short message from the President of the Manchester/Stratham campuses.
Is there an address, phone number, or fax number provided for the sponsor?	No information provided.	Contact information was provided under the Campus Locator section of the site.
Is a personal author identified for the information, articles, or documents presented at the web site?	No information provided.	There is an email address for the Webmaster, no name is associated with the address.
If an author is identified, is it clear what his/her credentials are?		There is no information provided.
Is there a way to contact the author?	No information provided.	Yes, through email.
Will it be possible to find background information about the author?	No information provided.	Only by emailing the author and requesting information.

Scope and Purpose

Does the content appear to be fact or opinion?	The little content provided on the page is very definitely factual.	The content is factual.
What is the scope or purpose of this web site?	The site is linked to from McIntoshStudent.com, so it appears to be intended to be the students’ guide to the library.	The site provides information about NHCTC Manchester Library and the services it offers.
Does the information presented here seem to be complete and comprehensive? What is included? What is excluded?	The site is by no means complete, there is quite a bit of information missing that is typically considered normal to have on a site. Included: Online catalog Link to Career Education Corporation’s Cyber-Library Tutoring schedule Library learning center schedule Excluded: Contact information for the library staff Library hours (unless that is what the library learning center schedule is) Links to databases other than CECybrary A description of services	Included: Library hours General information about the library Links to databases Staff names and contact information Excluded: Value-added information is not directly posted on the library site (links to web sites, suggested resources, etc.
How can you tell? Is the scope described At the top of the first page? In any help file? In a “frequently asked questions” or FAQ section? In any other way?	The scope is not defined at all on the site. The included and excluded lists were based on what is typically found on other library sites.	The scope is not defined on the site. The included and excluded lists were based on what is typically found on other library sites.
How does this site compare to similar information elsewhere?	There are many library sites that have far more information presented on them and are much more user-friendly. The fact that this site is not even linked to from the McIntosh home page points to an indifference towards meeting the students’ needs via the Internet.	This site has the basic information that someone may be looking for, though it could have additional resource links.
How is this database structured?	The online catalog was created by Sagebrush Corporation and appears to be a Winnebago product.	The online catalog was created by The Library Corporation. The other databases available are EBSCOhost, Grove’s Dictionary of Art, and Jstor.
Are there links provided to other sources of information on this same topic? Is it clear how these links are selected?	Not applicable	Not applicable
Are the links reliable? Do they get you where you need to go?	The links listed on the page go to the correct pages and information.	The links all work and send you to the correct place.

Accuracy

How accurate is this information?	The information appears to be fairly recently, though not totally up-to-date.	There is no date to indicate whether or not the information is current.
How can you tell?	The tutoring schedule is dated “April Quarter 2004” and the Learning Center schedule is not dated.	No date listed.
When statistics and other factual data are presented is it cited so that one can verify it?	None of this type of information is present on the site.	None of this type of information is present on the site.
Are tables, charts, and graphs clear and easy to understand?	None of this type of information is present on the site.	None of this type of information is present on the site.
Is there any bibliography?	None of this type of information is present on the site.	None of this type of information is present on the site.
Is the document generally well-written? Free of spelling mistakes and typographical errors?	The information presented does not have any grammatical errors.	There are no obvious spelling errors on the site.

Objectivity

Check the domain to ascertain possible reasons for the provision of this information: .edu - university, school,or other educational site .com - company or another commercial site .gov - government site .org - nonprofit organization site .~ - usually indicates a personal home page	McIntosh is a proprietary school, which is why the library site is a .com.	NHCTC is a community college, which is why the library site is a .edu.
Is the subject controversial? If so, Are all sides of the issue presented? Is the presentation too bland? Is there a bias? If so, is it stated up front? Is the information free from advertising?	Nothing controversial is presented on this site.	Nothing controversial is presented on this site.
Is the information free from advertising?	There is no advertising on the site.	There is no advertising on the site.

Currentness

Are any of the following dates provided? Creation date Post date Revision date	There are no creation, posting, or revision dates on the site.	There are no creation, posting, or revision dates on the site.
When was this site last updated? How can you tell? Is there any information on how often the site is updated?	There is no way to tell when the site was updated other than looking at the tutoring schedules.	There were no dates visible on the site.
What was updated?	The tutoring schedule was obviously dated, so it had been updated because it was fairly current.	Since there were no dates to be found, it is hard to determine when it was last updated.
How does the creation of the database stay current?	Unknown.	Unknown.
In cases where there is statistical data or factual data is it indicated when that data was gathered?	Not applicable.	Not applicable.
Does the information seem out of date?	Given that it is June, the schedules posted on the site are definitely getting to be out of date.	The information seems to be fairly current.
How stable is this site, its address and its information? Is it here today and gone (or moved) tomorrow?	I have looked at this site briefly in the past and it was the same address. It seems unlikely that it will move or disappear because it seems to be a low priority.	The site appears to be fairly stable, especially because the Manchester campus is one of many locations for NHCTC.

Arrangement and Format

How easy is it to find and use this site?	The site was very hard to find. It is not linked to from McIntosh’s home page and can only be found by going to the McIntoshStudent.com site and clicking on a link from there. The site is very easy to use because there is only one level to click through.	The site was not easy to find. There is a link from NHCTC’s home page, but it links only to the online catalog. I finally managed to find it by going through one of the other campus library sites.
How convenient is it?	The site is not very convenient because it doesn’t have the information a student might be looking for.	The site has all of the “ready reference” type information that someone may be looking for.
How well-organized?	There is very little hierarchy to speak of, so the site's organization works fine.	The site is fairly flat, so it is organized well.
How quickly can you usually get to this site? Get around the site?	I did not know the address for the site, so it took me a while to find it. It is very easy to get around the site because there is little information available.	Getting around the site is easy because it makes use of the college’s navigation system, which is present on all pages.
How appropriate is the format of the database for its intended audience?	The catalog has a very straight-forward approach to it. It doesn’t seem likely that it would be difficult for the intended audience to use.	The catalog seems to be very user-friendly.
Does the information seem out of date?	No	No
Are there any hardware, software, or multimedia requirements?	No requirements were stated on the site.	No requirements were stated on the site.

Design Considerations

Does it function well with different browsers?	The site works well in Explorer and Netscape.	The site works well in Explorer and Netscape.
Is too much filler used?	The site is very clean and simple.	No, the site is straight and to-the-point.
Is it obvious when you leave to a different site?	Yes	Yes

Layout Considerations

Enough white space?	There is plenty of white space.	Yes
Overdone styles?	The style is very simple, so it is not annoying at all.	The style is fine.
Too many links?	No	No
Links with too many words?	No	No
Textual descriptions too briefor too long?	No	No
Use of color?	Very little use of color, there could have been more.	There could be more use of color, but the college’s navigation bar is dark blue, which makes it difficult to integrate more colors without making the site busy.

Graphics

Do the graphics relate to the surrounding text?	The only graphic present on the site is the McIntosh logo. It is place appropriately in terms of the text on the site.	There is a nice picture of the library next to the hours.
Do the graphics provide important information?	Yes, the logo helps the user to understand that the library is part of McIntosh College.	Not really.
Does the size of the graphics relate to the page content?	Yes, the text wraps nicely around the logo.	Yes, it does not crowd the page.
Are pictures missing?	No	No
What is the quality of the graphics?	The image is crisp and clear.	The image is crisp and clear.
How long does it take for the graphics to display?	There is very little wait for the graphic to load on a 56K modem.	There is very little wait for the graphic to load on a 56K modem.
Are textual descriptions of graphics provided when a text-based browser is used?	There is no textual description provided.	There is no textual description provided.
Are the textual descriptions appropriate?	Not applicable.	Not applicable.

Help Information

Is “help” provided?	No	No
Is “help” information easy to find?	No	No
How helpful is the “help” information?	Not applicable.	Not applicable.
If “help” isn't provided, should it be provided?	The site is so simple, there is very little need for help.	There is very little need for a help section because of the simplicity of the site.

Feedback Information

Are opportunities for feedback provided?	No	There are email addresses for all of the library staff for questions or comments.
Are feedback opportunities easy to find?	No	Yes

Overall Feel and Look

How well organized is the site?	The site’s organization works well.	The site is pretty much all on one page, so there isn’t a complicated organization system.
Are the pages consistent from page to page?	No, but that is because the pages are all links to other sites or documents.	The college’s pages are consistent.
How easy is it to locate important information?	It is very easy to find the information provided on the site because it is all at one level.	There are no problems locating the information that is presented on the site.
On a scale of 1 to 10 (1=poor, 10=superior), rate each web site.	3	7
Briefly describe why you rated each as you did.	The site makes an attempt at providing information to the students of McIntosh College. However, there is very little information on the site that has potential use for the students, there is no contact information, and the site is not accessible through the McIntosh site. If anyone outside of the organization was looking for the site, it is difficult to find and doesn’t really feel like an actual library website.	The site was not easy to find, which makes it difficult for people outside of the organization to make use of it. Once at the site, the information is clear and easy to understand. There are pieces that could use a small description, such as what the databases are. The site could use some added suggested resources and topic websites.