Alicia Ellison

Building a Low-Cost, Low-Labor Library Web Site at Hillsborough Community College

When an institutional program review determined the Hillsborough Community College Libraries Web site was out-of-date, lacked resources, and was in desperate need of a makeover, the authors embarked upon a redesign project. The article describes the challenges and considerations that contributed to the authors’ decision-making and design processes. Library governance, staffing, expertise, and resource and funding availability all played roles in directing a total site redesign. In addition, the organizational structure for a decentralized, multi-campus Web site needed to be reconciled with the Web platform chosen for the redesign. Ultimately, the authors determined that LibGuides, traditionally used for creating research guides, could be the foundation of a new Web site. In fact, the flexibility and unique features of LibGuides allowed them to easily adapt it to serve a five-campus library system. A description of the redesign process is given with emphasis on features that were appealing to the authors and their local circumstances.