UC Berkeley Library Website Guiding Principles

Mission, Goals and Scope

The University of California, Berkeley Library website is often the first line of communication with key constituents. It should provide useful information, encourage interaction among diverse groups and generate enthusiasm for programs, services and resources.

The Library's website should be developed so it allows students, faculty, staff, alumni and the public the flexibility to access the information they use most often.

The following Guiding Principles are suggested for the development of The Library's website in order to provide excellent service to all our users. These guidelines should be reviewed annually as capabilities are enhanced.

Overall Design & Development

1. PROMOTE USER SELF-SUFFICIENCY AND ACCESS FOR A WIDE RANGE OF USERS. The user interface must be designed for the full range of uses desired by people coming to the interface. The website and interfaces will be accessible to users with disabilities.
2. BE INFORMED BY ACADEMIC PROGRAMS AND RESEARCH AGENDAS. Wherever appropriate the Library website design should be informed by the academic programs and research agendas of the campus.
3. PROVIDE TARGETED AND TIMELY RESPONSE. User interfaces should be designed to get users started in the direction most likely to result in success for their current need. The system should provide a response time that is acceptable to the user.
4. BE BASED ON USER-CENTERED DESIGN. Design will be focused on how the user will use the system. This includes, user testing and usability studies at the appropriate stages of the design process.
5. FACILITATE COMMENT AND FEEDBACK. Users should be able to easily report problems they encounter with interfaces and search engines, databases and applications. Feedback forms should be widely available.
6. PROVIDE ACCESS ON and OFF-CAMPUS. Off-campus access should be as easy as on-campus access for authorized users.

Interface Look and Feel

7. BE ORGANIZED, SIMPLE, AND CLEAN AND SHOW CONSISTENT IDENTIFICATION, NAVIGATION, TERMINOLOY AND content. To assist users in assessing the information on our site, pages we publish should have consistent identification as belonging to the UC Berkeley Library. The interface should provide useful, consistent navigational tools (e.g., navigation bars) that represent the most-used navigational features. Standard language and terminology should be used throughout the website to refer to the same activity or item.
8. BE JARGON-FREE. The interface should speak the users' language, with words, phrases and concepts familiar to the user, rather than using jargon, acronyms, and system-oriented terms. The names of library services and systems or their explanatory labels should reflect what they do.
9. BE CONCISE. Write in a brief and concise format.
10. BE CONTINUOUSLY EVALUTED AND UPDATED.To keep the website looking fresh and up-to-date it constantly needs to be reviewed as new capabilities are added.

Functionality

11. INTEGRATE VARIOUS INFORMATION SOURCES. Wherever appropriate, we should provide, to each level of user, a single interface that transparently integrates separate resources (e.g., the local catalog, the union catalog, the CDL directory, and perhaps information on / access to Library services).
12. INTEROPERATE WITH RELATED UC BERKELEY AND CDL INITIATIVES. The Library's website will be designed to work well with campuswide and systemwide electronic initiatives, such as e-Berkeley and those authored by the CDL.
13. MAINTAIN USER TASK CONTEXT. The user interface should keep users informed about where they are in the session and, as much as possible, help them keep their place in our web-based user interfaces.
14. MAINTAIN SETTING VISIBILITY. Make objects, actions, and options visible. The user should not have to remember information from one part of the dialogue to another.
15. LIMIT THE NUMBER OF PLACES USER HAS TO GO TO SEARCH. Make access to the multitude of electronic resources easy and simple for the user to find.
16. ABILITY TO SEARCH THE ENTIRE LIBRARY WEBSITE. Provide indexing of the entire website.
17. PROVIDE SUPPORT FOR MULTIPLE BROWSERS. Access needs to allow for a number of different Browsers and versions.
18. HAVE ABILITY TO CHECK LINKS TO KEEP BROKEN LINKS TO A MINIMUM. Reduce the number of broken links by having them checked automatically periodically.

Help

19. PROVIDE TIPS FOR IMPROVING SEARCH RESULTS. Assist users to refine their searches.
20. PROVIDE CLEAR INSTRUCTIONS ON USE. Help screens should be easy to find and search; be focused on the user's task; list concrete steps to be carried out; and be brief.
21. REFER USER TO HUMAN ASSISTANCE. The site should be able to refer a user who needs more help to a person.

Compliance

22. COMPLY WITH ALL CAMPUS AND UCOP POLICIES. The Library website represents the official business of the University and should comply with all University or campus policies and guidelines. Copyright standards should be adhered to.
23. COMPLY WITH ALL STATE AND FEDERAL REGULATIONS. The website should comply with the American Disabilities Act (ADA) and Section 508 requirements that information technology is accessible to people with disabilities.
24. COMPLY WITH THE WEB content ACCESSIBILITY GUIDELINES as outlined by the W3C http://www.w3.org/TR/1999/WAI-WEBCONTENT-19990505/full-checklist.html
25. CORRECTLY USE CAMPUS AND LIBRARY INDENTITY STANDARDS. Correct usage of names, logos and seals must be followed.