Public College

Lyndon State College (Vermont)
http://www.lsc.vsc.edu/

1.) Overall Appearance/Design - The dark and light green colors as well as the photos on the Home page gives the site a welcoming appearance. The date is displayed at the top of the page as well as the Samuel Read Hall Library banner. At the bottom is a news feature, "What's New" with library and college event postings. The hours and phone numbers of the library are also available on the page.

2.) Site Navigability - Links are divided into different categories: Find Books and More (On-line catalog); Find Articles and More (Databases and serials); Resources by Subject (Subject and Course Guides); and Fast Facts (Quick on-line reference). Categories are placed in an efficient, uncluttered and easy to read format. The Main page also has a side bar with links to additional resources like Fast Facts, on-line resources and contact information.

3.) Use of Emerging Technology - The library has set up a Facebook and a library weblog. The Main page has links to both features. There are also links to netlibrary (e-books) and the Info Literacy Tutorial.

4.) Quality of Content - Library catalog contains Basic and Advanced Search features, as well as the ability to search the collections of other colleges in Vermont and the Library of Congress. The E-Books link provides access to the Gale Virtual Reference Library. Due to the college's small enrollment (approximately 1400 students) the library's number of subscription databases is limited, however users do have access to Lexis-Nexis, ERIC and Medline. The number of on-line journals is substantial. The Web Searching Help page has links to a number of wikis whose credibility is unknown, however the wikis only supply the user with information about web searching strategies.

5.) Site Management and Communications - There is a copyright at the bottom of the page. The top of the page also shows the current date and year. Links to contact information include phone numbers of library departments, library address and staff information (e-mails and phone numbers).

Additional Comments - While the small enrollment of Lyndon State College limit the number of subscription databases, the institution has access to other academic and public libraries in Vermont. The site reflects the rural heritage of Vermont with its green colors and "homey" appearance, but what makes the site stand out is its simple, yet extremely user friendly arrangement of hyperlinks. This is also the only site from the many that were researched (including larger universities) to make use of Facebook and other up and coming social networking sites.