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Responsive Web Site Development at the Library, Technological Responsive Web Site Development at the Library, Technological
University Dublin: aCase Study University Dublin: aCase Study
Niamh Walker-Headon
Technological University Dublin
, niamhheadon@gmail.com
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Responsive Web Site Development at the Library,
Institute of Technology Tallaght: A Case Study
Niamh Walker-Headon
To cite this article: Niamh Walker-Headon (2016): Responsive Web Site Development at the
Library, Institute of Technology Tallaght: A Case Study, Journal of Web Librarianship, DOI:
10.1080/19322909.2016.1229147
To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/19322909.2016.1229147
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ARTICLE
Responsive Web Site Development at the Library, Institute
of Technology Tallaght: A Case Study
Niamh Walker-Headon
Library, Institute of Technology Tallaght, Dublin, Ireland
ARTICLE HISTORY
Received 4 September 2015
Accepted 23 August 2016
ABSTRACT
This case study reviews the responsive Web design project
undertaken by the Library, Institute of Technology Tallaght, with
Granite Digital, including the preparatory literature review, the
design process, task allocation, and the technologies leveraged
to deliver the final design. The library is a small academic library
with limited resources, and the project took place during a
particularly challenging period in Ireland. The different types of
testing the site underwent before launch are discussed,
including testing of the design itself across browsers,
accessibility testing using free online resources, testing the
responsive design using free online resources, and physical
device testing. The article outlines how feedback was gathered
and addressed, and discusses plans for future upkeep and
development. Finally, the article concludes that it is possible for
a small academic library to successfully deliver a high quality
library Web site using responsive design.
KEYWORDS
accessibility; consultant;
hosting; OPAC; responsive
Web design; testing; Web
design; Web development
Introduction
This case study details a responsive Web design project at a small academic library
in Ireland. The Library, Institute of Technology Tallaght achieved what many
larger libraries have already been able to realize in terms of responsive design, and
even reached the final stage for a national level Web award. Employing HTML5,
CSS3 (including media queries), and meeting accessibility standards seemed
daunting, but implementing strategies such as using the existing hosted catalog
server, employing third-party tools, working with a design partner, and taking
advantage of vendor services helped the library successfully overcome limited
resources in a changing environment. The library relied mostly on freely available
resources and tools, as well as the skills of the consultant project partner, Granite
Digital. The culmination of the project resulted in a hosted responsive Web design
at the Library, Institute of Technology Tallaght.
1
CONTACT Niamh Walker-Headon niamh.walker-headon@ittdublin.ie Library, Institute of Technology
Tallaght, Old Bless ington Road, Tallaght, Dubli n 24, Ireland.
© 2016 Niamh Walker-Headon
JOURNAL OF WEB LIBRARIANSHIP
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/193 22909.2016.1229147
The decision to undertake this project and use emerging Web design technolo-
gies was in keeping with the policy of maintaining a strong, up-to-date online pres-
ence for the library with a responsive design. The library also aimed to stop
maintaining two sets of online pages and to base its site design on the one used by
the parent institute.
This article is based on a poster displayed at the joint European Innovative User
Group/Irish Innovative User Group Conference in July 2015 (Walker-Headon
2015).
Academic libraries in Ireland
Ireland’s population exceeds 4.8 million (Central Statistics Office 2015), and more
than 50 percent of those aged 30– 34 hold a third-level qualification (Eurostat
2015), which is a higher proportion than in other European Union countries. Edu-
cation in Ireland is structured under the European Union’s Bologna Agreement,
which applies to the European Higher Education Area, with ten levels (level ten
being Doctorate).
2
Third-level education in Ireland is generally understood as
studies undertaken at higher than second-level, usually at a college, institute, or
university. Education is overseen by the Department of Education and Science and
the Higher Education Authority, and qualifications are granted under the auspices
of Quality and Qualifications Ireland. There are several different types of organiza-
tions providing third-level education in Ireland:
Universities: Seven universities, offering more traditional subject coverage
and progression (Irish Universities Association
2015).
Institutes of Technology: Thirteen institutes, offering non-traditional pro-
gression. Students can progress from two-year courses to four-year degree
courses. The Institutes initially concentrated on the science, engineering, and
technology fields (Institutes of Technology Ireland
2014).
Colleges of Further Education: Often private colleges, these offer post-leaving
certificate (end of second-level education certificate) education at multiple
levels within the National Framework for Qualifications. There are hundreds
of these, including professional institutes, vocational training, and prepara-
tory courses for university entry.
The Institute of Technology sector was formed via legislation (Government
of Ireland
1992), and is comprised of the pre -existing Regional Technical Col-
leges an d new In stitutes founded subsequent to the act since 1992.
3
The
majority of the I nstitutes are less than 40 years old and serve remote areas,
often with disadvantaged socioeconomic populations. Most of the Institutes
serve fewer than 10,000 students, making them relatively small on an interna-
tional scale. The Institutes offer a wide range of academic programs in all dis-
ciplines, including but not limited to trade apprenticeships, science,
computing, engineering, digital humanities, sport science, social care, and
nursing.
2
N. WALKER-HEADON
Innovative Interfaces Inc. (III) dominates the library system market in Ireland.
Three universities, thirteen Institutes of Technology, the National Library, and
(since July 2015) all public libraries use library management platforms (also called
integrated library systems) provided by III (Innovative Interfaces Inc.
2015). The
effects of the current recession, including severe budget cuts and a recruitment
embargo in the public service sector (where most professional librarian posts reside
in Ireland), are still being felt in Ireland (O’Sullivan
2015).
To provide economy of scale, all thirteen Institutes of Technology currently use
individual instances of Innovative Interfaces’ Millennium integrated library system
(ILS), hosted on a VMWare server off-site, by Hewlett Packard (HP). To manage
procurement and support for these systems, the library software hosting is man-
aged by An Ch
eim (An Ch
eim Computer Services Limited
2015), now transition-
ing to EduCampus (HEAnet Ltd.
2015), on behalf of the institutes as part of a
larger management information systems project, which includes finance (Agresso),
student registration (Banner), and human resource management (Core).
Profile of the Library, Institute of Technology Tallaght
The Library, Institute of Technology Tallaght is a small academic library with a
registered user population of 6,358,
4
a student FTE of 5,200, and about ten FTE
staff, with the equivalent of one FTE staff member working on the provision of
Web services, split across three staff positions. The Institute is located in a disad-
vantaged area of greater Dublin, and its mission is to provide local access to third-
level education. A full suite of library services is provided, including silent study
space, dynamic group working spaces, access to online subscription resources and
open access publications, online support tutorials, and a full information literacy
training program. The Institute of Technology Tallaght is a young organization,
having first opened its doors to students in 1992. Consequently, the journal, book,
and other print material collections are small in comparison to other academic
libraries serving similar population sizes, partly due to limited physical storage
space and partly due to how new the institution is. The Library has used the Mil-
lennium ILS since 2001. Every effort is made to provide access to materials online,
within the capabilities of the resources available to the library.
Library, Institute of Technology Tallaght has a policy of providing quality serv-
ices and ensuring that it continues to do so by taking part in the LibQualC survey
on a regular basis (Russell
2010). This policy includes the early adoption of new
technologies where practical, such as the Simon Fraser University hosted open
source researcher suite (Walker-Headon
2010), the LibraryThing App (Roberts
2010), CSS for design layout, Articulate interactive tutorials published as reusable
open educational resources (Russell et al.
2015), and the Summon resource discov-
ery layer. In addition, the library pursues quality in its online services. For example,
the Library’s suite of online interactive tutorials was recognized as the ACRL Web
page of the month in September 2013 (Russell
2013).
5
The Web design project
JOURNAL OF WEB LIBRARIANSHIP
3