Continuing-Ed Opportunities with DrupalWeb Services Librarian Networking GroupJune 7, 2010

Gwyneth StuparReference and Web Services LibrarianNorthbrook Public Librarygstupar@northbrook.infoNorthbrook Public Library 2.0:www.facebook.com/NorthbrookPublicLibrarywww.twitter.com/northbrookpl

My gift to you…

10 months Drupal learning rolled into 1 (and gift-wrapped)

Links Slides

Background

No computer science experience Visual Learner Basic Skills:

HTML class with Michael Stephens at Dominican

Colleagues taught Dreamweaver My Work Week:

14 hours per week : Web Services21 hours per week: Reference Librarian

“Go Learn Drupal…” Um, what do I do now?

LEARN AS MUCH AS YOU CAN

NEVER ASSUME

You may not see progress right away; continue learninganyway… Drupal is like a Star Trek

Transporter Beam

“Go Learn Drupal…”

Survey Says! Let’s Rate Them

Gwyn’s Drupal Rockstar Rating System

=Worst

=BestRatings are based on

experience gained vs. overall cost.

Doug Vanndougvann.com

I found Doug at: http://groups.drupal.org/libraries

call – 3 hour session Introduction of CCK and Views Drupal Sandbox Chat Transcript with Links Completed Training: July 2009

Lullabotlullabot.com

Drupal Fundamentals Meetings are Virtual: Presentor, Screen, and Chat Sandbox Provided with theme, activity (create a

site for your rockband) Listserv Recordings available Challenges Cost Completed in 6 weeks: Oct. 12, 2009

to Nov. 16, 2009

Learn by the Droplearnbythedrop.com

User-friendly screencasts Demo Listserv:

http://learnbythedrop.com/drop/164 Ongoing

Lynda.comlynda.com

Paid subscription ($25.00/month) Drupal 7 videos are in production Demo of Drupal Video Lynda.com offers a wide variety: Drupal,

Joomla, Wordpress, Javascript

DrupalCamp

Huge turnout Numerous presentations

On June 26 and 27, DrupalCamp will be at the University of Chicago Law School

DrupalJam

The most influential of all learning opportunities

Total free-for-all; ask as many questions as possible

Katherine Lynch, web developer at Drexel Universityhttp://cdmug.org/videos/jam/spring2010/session6http://www.katherinelynch.org/sites/default/files/

a11y_dcsf_DONE.pdf

DrupalCon

Over 100 librarians in the room, most conversed about a librarian-created open source ILS

Large event, with a small-town feel Session by Michelle Lauer about Views arguments is

excellent: http://www.archive.org/details/ViewsExamplesUsingArgumentsAndRelationships

(in fact, I used this to pattern the A-Z eResource list) Great Usability Presentation about a garden project,

“How do you feel when you are in the garden?” http://www.archive.org/details/ShowDontTellGuerillaUsabilityTesting

Computers In Libraries

Sarah Houghton-Jan’s presentation gave concrete advice about her website redesign, such as determining how long the website redesign process will take start to finish, and double it… www.slideshare.net/librarianinblack/cil2010-website-redesign-a-public-library-website-redesign-aka-the-trip-to-hades-back

THE BEST RESOURCES ARE IN THIS

ROOM

By Far…

Behind the scenes at northbrook.info Brief Overview: RFP in September, 6 responses received Conducted phone interviews Cardsorting with Staff and Teen Advisory

Board Chose a consultant at the end of November;

began development early December Web Committee Meetings (bi-monthly) Meetings with assistant director, graphic

designer, myself.

Behind the scenes at northbrook.info Brief Overview: Our graphics designer mocked up

wireframes Agreed on “content areas” that we

wanted Consultants provided excel

spreadsheet to describe whether or not content would be available in new website

Behind the scenes at northbrook.infoStaging site created by March 18Discussion about staging siteHomepage originally featured events; I changed it to show our survey, the director’s blog, and a “News Feature”

Launched May 12

Advice (or, how Gwyn saved you money and time)

Think about the WHOLE project, not just one piece (marketing, usability, editing content for grammar and accuracy)

Perform usability studies in all phases of the project, and it can be fun; it does not have to be elaborate. Create time to analyze and present data.

Advice

Have a style guide in place before you let the website loose to everyone

Make plans for all major landing pages Find a friend who totally supports the

mission Begin thinking about how your website will

play nice with Webfeat, Serials Solutions, eResources, and most importantly, the Catalog

Develop a system for people to track website problems on the onset

Advice: (or Gwyn rambling on more…)

Give yourself time to learn what Drupal can do to solve problems in your organization, then pitch the plan. (Most learning happened after pitching the plan)

Full-TimeLearning is ½ the battle

Roadblocks…

Learning to install Drupal on Linux Not knowing all the possibilities with

Drupal What is the role of the Web Committee? Expectations of what Drupal can do,

what the consultants can do, where they end and we begin, etc.

The Elaborate Diagram of How Drupal Works… and a Meeting Nightmare

The *story*General consensus: “Drupal isn’t as easy as it looks…”

Wisdom: Give yourself time to learn what Drupal can do to solve problems in your organization, then pitch the plan.

“Most People Don’t Want Drupal-

They Just Want What Drupal Does…”-Jeff Robbins, Lullabot

Get People To Think Like DrupalExample: Job PageStatic List of Jobs?Content Form that can sort in different ways, with an RSS feed

Repurpose Modules (domesticat example)

Web Design Projects Aren’t Linear…They Are Explosions. Consider Everything.

We’ll do this…then this…then this…

It’s more like this:

Agree

Agree to support one idea (think deli, not shoe store)

Whether or not to be above the fold

NavigationBlogs or No Blogs? Should EVERYONE do blogs, or only some departments?

Bug Your Colleagues

Leo: Views/Being Afraid of Views

Mick: TagsBrian: Sign-Up ModuleGeneva Public Library: Google Map

John

Original Design

??

Caution

Drupal works for displaying content in different ways and limiting duplication of effort, but you must be consistent for this to work.

Room analogy: you must realize that removing something from one room changes the whole décor of another room.

THANK YOU FOR MAKING THIS POSSIBLE

-postsecret.com

“Inherent in every intention and desire are the mechanics for its fulfillment.”-Chopra

Live Demo:http://www.northbrook.info/