A strategic planning approach to Web site management
| Pages | 97-108 |
| Published date | 01 April 2000 |
| Date | 01 April 2000 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/02640470010325637 |
| Author | Laurel A. Clyde |
| Subject Matter | Information & knowledge management,Library & information science |
A strategic planning
approach to Web site
management
Laurel A. Clyde
Introduction
In today's world, it has become accepted that
an organisation, association, business, or
other institution will have a Web site.
Libraries are no exception to this trend. Web
sites can serve a wide range of purposes for an
organisation, and this is also true for libraries
and information agencies. For example,
library Web sites can be used to promote the
library and its services; to provide current
information about the library for library users;
to provide access to online and CD-ROM-
based reference sources such as databases and
encyclopedias; to provide remote access to the
library catalogue and other databases created
by the library; to assist library users to explore
the Internet; to serve as the basis for
community projects; among other purposes.
However, not all these purposes are
appropriate for every library, and the different
purposes may suggest that different kinds of
Web sites would be appropriate for different
libraries.
However, Web sites are not always
developed or managed in such a way that they
help organisations (including libraries and
information agencies) to achieve their mission
or goals. As with any other project, the
development and maintenance of a Web site
can be managed so that resources are used to
further the aims of the organisation. This
article takes a strategic planning approach to
Web site creation, development, and
maintenance. Strategic planning relates the
activities of an organisation, such as the
development of an Internet presence, to the
mission and goals that should guide the
activities of the organisation, and provides a
basis for the allocation of resources to a
project and for its evaluation. The strategic
planning process has been applied to the
management of libraries and information
agencies in general (see, for example, Corrall,
1994, 2000) and to particular types of
libraries, such as school libraries (see, for
example, Clyde, 1999). The strategic
planning approach, as it relates to a Web site
(such as a library Web site), is summarised in
Figure 1.
The strength of this approach is that it
covers the Web site development process
from the time that the original planning
question is asked ± ``Should we have a Web
site?'' ± through all the planning phases from
the establishment of the site to its ongoing
The author
Laurel A. Clyde is a Professor at the University of
Iceland, Reykajvik, Iceland
Keywords
Internet, Development, Strategic planning, Libraries,
Strategic management
Abstract
Many libraries are creating Web sites, to serve a wide
range of purposes. The author is Webmaster of the
International Association of School Librarianship (IASL);
using her own Web site as an example, she discusses a
number of issues and tasks associated with creating and
maintaining a professional Web site, within the context of
a strategic planning approach to Web site development.
Beginning with ``Should we have a Web site?'', the stages
of the process are outlined, including identification of
aims and objectives, analysis of user needs, selection of
content and services to be included, writing or developing
the content, developing the information architecture,
navigational aids, visual design of the site, HTML coding
or use of page development software, metadata,
mounting the completed pages on a Web server, testing
and modifications, listing with search engines and
directories, publicity and promotion, ongoing site
maintenance, and ongoing monitoring and evaluation of
the Web site. The strategic planning process provides a
useful framework through which to view the many tasks
associated with Web site development and maintenance
and to conceptualise their relationship to one another.
Electronic access
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is
available at
http://www.emerald-library.com
Libraries and the Web
97
The Electronic Library
Volume 18 .Number 2 .2000 .pp. 97±108
#MCB University Press .ISSN 0264-0473
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