{"id":89978,"date":"2015-03-23T11:00:16","date_gmt":"2015-03-23T16:00:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/?p=89978"},"modified":"2015-03-15T22:36:06","modified_gmt":"2015-03-16T03:36:06","slug":"have-you-contributed-content-to-your-librarys-website","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/?p=89978","title":{"rendered":"Have you contributed content to your library\u2019s website?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Have you contributed content to your library\u2019s website?<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

by Katherine Kimball Adelberg, Senior Assistant,\u00a0INALJ Michigan<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Katherine<\/a>If you haven\u2019t yet, it\u2019s only a matter of time. Think of all the pieces of content on your library\u2019s website: event listings, ebook download instructions, lists of services, how to get a library card, research guides, blog posts…that\u2019s a lot of writing, and you\u2019ll eventually be asked to contribute. Before you start, here are some questions to think about.<\/p>\n

What is the purpose of this website (and your piece of it)?<\/b><\/p>\n

The primary purpose of most websites is to communicate with customers. However, each of the individual pages with a site has a different purpose, each requiring a different writing style. A page that includes information about the library budget requires a different writing style than an event listing. In the first example, the purpose is transparency, and requires more description than a brief, one-sentence teaser designed to encourage attendance at an upcoming event.<\/p>\n

Who is your audience?<\/b><\/p>\n

Put another way, who will actually read the content you\u2019re writing? In the library budget example, it might be university administrators or legislators. If you\u2019re writing a blog post about early literacy activities, it might be parents of young children. If you\u2019re working on a research guide, it might be college or graduate students. What is the reading level of your audience? How much do they already know about the library?<\/p>\n

What do they really need to know?<\/b><\/p>\n

Research indicates that only 16% of people<\/a> read content on the web word for word (and it\u2019s possible that they\u2019re all librarians). Journalism\u2019s inverted pyramid<\/a> provides a good model for ensuring the critical information is front and center. What does this mean for you as you craft an introduction to your research guide?<\/p>\n