CHICAGO - ALA TechSource announces an exciting new workshop, 10 Steps to a User-Friendly Library Website with Aaron Schmidt and Amanda Etches-Johnson.

A clean, well-designed website can mean the difference between an informed library user and a confused one. With a focus on the needs and wants of the library user, Amanda Etches-Johnson and Aaron Schmidt will help you develop the skills to make your library website easier to use and more interesting.

Topics include:

• Determining the purpose of your website
• Identifying your users’ critical tasks
• Wrangling content
• Writing for the web
• How and when to conduct usability tests

Registration for this ALA TechSource Workshop is available on the ALA Store. You can purchase registration at both individual and group rates. The workshop takes place at 2:30 p.m. EST/1:30 p.m. CST/12:30 p.m. MST/11:30 a.m. PST on Wednesday, Jan. 25. The session will last 90 minutes.

Throughout his career, Aaron Schmidt has helped libraries connect to communities using new media technology and social software, most recently at Influx:  Library Users Experience Consulting. As digital initiatives librarian for the District of Columbia Public Library, he assisted with website visioning, conducted usability testing and formed DC Library Labs, a digital research and development project. He also created user interfaces for home-brewed self check machines and iPad-based neighborhood library dashboards. A frequent speaker and Library Journal columnist, Schmidt blogs about library design at Walking Paper. 

Amanda Etches-Johnson heads Discovery & Access at the University of Guelph Library, where she guides teams and projects focused on improving the overall library user experience. She is also a consultant at Influx:  Library Users Experience Consulting. As adjunct at the Faculty of Information & Media Studies at The University of Western Ontario, Etches-Johnson teaches grad students about social media literacy and other topics. She frequently writes and presents about web design and usability, user experience practices and trends, emerging technology and social media. She blogs at blogwithoutalibrary.net.

ALA TechSource Workshops are designed to give you and your staff the opportunity to participate in a hands‐on learning experience that will help you make the best technology decisions for your library.

ALA TechSource is a publishing imprint of the American Library Association. ALA TechSource publishes Library Technology Reports and the ALA TechSource Blog.

ALA Store purchases fund advocacy, awareness, and accreditation programs for library professionals worldwide. 

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