Research: Users: Goals

What's the purpose of the website? For example, do you view your website as a portal? A portal is an all-encompassing content and service starting point for a particular audience. It can be a vortal focusing in on a particular area of interest or a hortal that explores broad areas of interest.

Why spend the time and effort to develop a web environment for your students or patrons? There are many websites already developed, how will you differentiate yours? It's important to focus your attentions on specific goals. Use the investigation progess to identify your audience needs and match those needs to the center goal. What are your audience's expectations in terms of a school or library website?

Read Web Portals: Rabbit Holes to Grand Gateways by Annette Lamb and Larry Johnson. Will your website be a portal? If not, what elements might be incorporated?

Read the offsite article Library Portals: A Minority Report by Howard Strauss in The Library Journal. This article explores the issues related to library portal development.