Architecture of university libraries websites: the library system of Universidad Nacional de La Plata, Argentina

Abstract

The purpose of this descriptive and exploratory work is to analyze the information architecture (IA) of Web sites from libraries of Universidad Nacional de La Plata (UNLP), Argentina. The sample includes 17 libraries and a grid was applied to gather 10 relevant issues. The results were: 1. Location of the library Website: 9 websites included in the main page of the school. 2) Content labelling: simple terminology, without jargón; there is no homogeneity between the libraries. 3. Search capability: 62% positive, 38% negative. 4. Search system: simple 43%, complex 10%, with help 10%, none 38%. 5. Navigation systems: global 5%, hierarchical 79%, local 5%, none 11%. Navigation tools: bars 16%, frames 30%, indexes 2%, sitemaps 7%, horizontal menus 9%, vertical menus 35%. 7. RSS: 3 websites. 8. Other services: chat 7%, document downloads 16%, form submission 14%, instructions 21%, links to other pages 23%, tutorials 5%, other 14%. 9. Web accessibility: 1 website. 10. Other observations: none. We conclude that the website development is not equal between the libraries, and it is recommended to consider some IA guidelines as part of the cooperation within the UNLP library network.