Library Webpage Examples
Tuesday, January 20, 2004
There was a request on one of the mailing lists for examples of well-designed library pages. I thought that I would put the links up here for further inspiration along with my own comments as a web-surfer.
- Brooklyn Public Library
- I think this one is my favorite. First, I love the colors. It’s interesting, energetic and fun without being overwelming. It’s also well organized, with immediate access to a lot of information without looking busy. There’s a nice use of whitespace that makes the text more readable. I’m left with the feeling that if this was my library system, it would be one that I could get a lot out of. My only nitpick is that it is set to one screen size. If you don’t have your browser window set to that one size, you get a horizontal scroll bar or extra white space on the right that throws the design off balance.
- Cleveland Public Library
- The main colors are white, black and red, which, while eye-catching, tend to make the red parts overwhelm the rest. The first letters of the links are larger, which looks cool but makes the whole words hard to read because I keep being drawn to those letters. There are three sections one on top of the other, which makes it easy to not see the news at the bottom. The 3 different sections are choppy. Personally, I’d prefer a more integrated look with at least the tops of all 3 parts near the top of the page side-by-side.
- Portland Public Library Home
- Nice colors and very clean look. Very useable but doesn’t have the energy or the feel of things happening that Brooklyn does. Sortof traditional library services updated for today but without the extras.
- Welcome to the Chicago Public Library
- The tight, centered design looks polished and efficient. It also works well at multiple browser sizes. The graphic on the right makes the library seem “alive” by showcasing what’s happening. I’m not fond of the green arrows. Their size distracts from the links rather than points them out and the colors don’t seem to go together. The row of graphics at the bottom looks like ads and are likely to be visually filtered out by users. Overall it’s good though.
- The New York Public Library
- This is cool. It’s unusual in an eye-catching way that makes you stop and really look at the page instead of skimming. Very liberal use of whitespace keeps things readable while breaking it up into chunks makes all of the links manageable. The colors work well together to give it punch but not clobber you. NYPL has also provided a Style Guide for their branch libraries to help keep things consistent. Excellent idea.
- Berkeley Public Library
- Berkeley gets bonus points for using XHTML and CSS but as much as I hate to say it, at first glance the page looks undesigned. I’m forcibly reminded of pages done in Netscape Composer. On second glance, the problem seems to be the huge “Authors Dinner” graphic. It pushes all of the textual content far down so that the page looks designed in that one thing after another fashion. Plus the links at the top detract from the side links. Personally, I would take some of the content, such as the top links and the footer information and put it in the left-hand column to give it more presence. The entire page would look more interesting and balanced. Other than asthetically, it seems to have quick access to most of their interesting services.
- Waterloo Public Library
- Most of what I said about Brooklyn applies here as well, both good and bad. I don’t like the colors as much but that’s a personal preference. Overall, the page is lively and informative with lots of links to interesting places.
- Boston Public Library
- Boston wins for most attractive use of graphics. The colors are nice, though the orange text is very difficult to read against the white background. The “Quick Feature Finder” is nice but it needs to be more prominent. I looked at the page 3 times before I saw it. On the grey background, just above the “Mass Answers” graphic would be good. It doesn’t have the energy of some of the others but it is dignified without being staid (due mostly to the red in the header).
- Appleton Public Library
- This is a popular design these days. The category list give immediate access to selected resources while the category links give fuller and more organized and systematic access. Unfortunately the profusion of links is a little overwhelming. I think all they need is to take the underlines off of the links and spread them out so they aren’t packed together to make them easier to read. The heading graphics also need to be larger to better define the sections. A background color other than blue on the headings would also add more interest.
- San Diego Public Library
- I’m not sure why I dislike it, I just do. It’s an evisceral response. It could be the textured bars that look late nineties, could be the clash of the orange and blue. Might be the lists of text links at the bottom (though they are neccesary, the rest of the page is graphics). Or even the way the middle content is scrunched up to the left. I don’t know.
- Orcas Island Library
- Having the graphic positioned so far down and to the right is annoying. The title graphic drowns out the links and the counter looks amateurish. I do like the colors and the graphic itself. The page doesn’t look like it’s for a library (good or bad, your choice). Usability looks good.
Tutorials — laura
