Museo&WebPlanning Kit for a Quality Site for Small and Medium Sized Museums |
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EffectiveThe Quality Principles Handbook says: IntroductionThis section examines the second quality principle, that «A quality Website must select, digitise, author, present and validate content to create an effective Website for users». It:
CommentaryThe core of the effectiveness principle is content - a high-quality Website must have content that is
A second crucial element of an effective Website is the ease with which users can navigate the material presented therein. Relevance and selectionCultural Websites are typically produced by cultural organisations which have, as a major asset, very large amounts of cultural content. This content may be books, images, statues, buildings, historic sites, or indeed take other forms. In many cases, the total holdings of a cultural institution cannot be placed on a Website, simply because there is too much material. This means that selection is critical. Any project or initiative which is creating a cultural Website must set selection criteria which allow it to choose which content is to be digitised and published online. The criteria will vary from project to project, from institution to institution. Good examples include:
But there are many more possible selection criteria. A well-chosen set of online items will greatly enhance the value of a cultural Website to its target audience. Presenting the content that the end user is looking for greatly increases the effectiveness of the user. Of course, this requires that you understand what your user is looking for – some research in this area may is essential before starting the technical aspects of the project. CorrectnessRegardless of the items selected and presented on a cultural Website, it is a critical responsibility of the cultural organisation to ensure that the information and content provided are factually correct. Cultural Websites have major educational and research impact and are important resources for these domains – errors of fact greatly undermine the value of any cultural site. Ensure that the content and any accompanying text (see below) is reviewed by curatorial or sectoral experts before publication. Often, the technical staff involved in digitisation and Web publication may not have the specific expertise required. It may be noted, however, that in the event that the source material is itself not 100% factually correct, this may be flagged and made obvious to the user, rather than simply not being displayed. Supporting informationWhile the core of many cultural Websites will be the unique cultural items which are presented there, the site will gain a great deal of end-user value if all items are supported by additional information. Such information may cover the provenance of the items, historic events or individuals relevant to the item, links to related items in the same and other cultural institutions, literary references to items, etc. A bare image, regardless of the item represented, is of limited value to the typical end user. The supporting information increases the value of the content and the effectiveness of the site. As far as feasible, labels and supporting information should be multi-lingual. This increases the audience for which the site is effective. PresentationThe overall usability and look-and-feel of any Website, including cultural sites, has a major impact on the effectiveness of the site. This area includes navigation, colour choice, image presentation, etc. Much of this is quite subjective in nature. However, the following should be borne in mind by all cultural Websites:
NavigationThe ability to find one’s way around a Website and to access the information which meets one’s particular requirements is central to the effectiveness of any Website, cultural or otherwise. While the topic of Website navigation is too large to cover in any detail here, the following pragmatic notions may be taken into account.
CriteriaThe following criteria should be met if a site is to be considered effective. The degree of effectiveness reflects the number of these criteria which are met; thus a site can be ‘75% effective’ if not all the criteria are met. Some of the criteria overlap across the quality principles. For example, the use of metadata standards is relevant to the interoperability principle, while presentation and navigation are central to the user-centric principle. Criteria for effectiveness include
Additional Criteria for Navigation include (but are not limited to), the following:
ChecklistThis section presents a checklist to evaluate the site.
Practical testsThis section suggests some simple, pragmatic tests and questions to be asked in order to assess how completely your Website meets the effectiveness principle
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© Minerva
Project 2005-03, last revision 2006-03-30, edited by WP5, Committee for the development of a prototype of public cultural websites. |