Tuesday 1 May 2012

Enterprise look & feel

I should have mentioned yesterday that Enterprise can be configured in a whole range of ways - both in terms of layout as well as colour schemes.  Below are some links that you may want to check out to see how others have set up their systems.

I really like the "buttons" that Mitcham has put down the left hand side of the screen - linking off to a range of other services and options.  By making them as big and as colourful as they are means that people can understand what they are before clicking through.  And the addition of some local information sources such as the Messenger newspapers and SA Community provides some real local information.

I haven't asked, but I am sure that the Mitcham team would be happy to share these icons with anyone who also wanted to use them on their site when they set it up.

Here are a few sites: 

Livingston Manor - a small public library in New York State.
http://rcls.ent.sirsi.net/client/livmanor.  This library is using the same blue background and NY Times best seller list as Mitcham, with their only customisation being the addition of their opening hours.  However you will note that they have included the option of seeing the instructions in Spanish - in the "select language" choice on the top right hand set of options.
Wells County Public Library - In Indiana USA. 
 http://welc.ent.sirsi.net/client/default They have used the same blue fading to white screen, but are not using any side panels. They have chosen to put the various links into the bar along the bottom of the screen. Not my favourite idea, but perhaps it was an easy change to make.

University of Reading - UK
http://rdg.ent.sirsidynix.net.uk/client/main  This site looks very different.  Enterprise has been used to provide seamless access to three different collections that the University has had for many years.  Rather than combining all the collections into one catalogue they have used Enterprise to access all three separate existing catalogues. This is one of the powerful features of Enterprise - the ability to access disparate sources of information, not just a single library catalogue. 
They have not used the site to advertise any other information such as opening hours, etc.
Carnegie Mellon University - well known US university with a campus in Adelaide.
http://search.library.cmu.edu/client/default This site looks quite busy - but it does create a "one stop shop" in terms of accessing so many other services provided by the library.  It also uses a photo as their header.  They have a news section as well as some instructions about how to use services.
Hopefully providing access to these sites may get you thinking about how you may wish to customise your site when the time comes.

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