As the air gets crisper and precipitation drives us indoors, Fall is a great time to reflect and to find energy for new projects and adventures.

Have you thought about the web presence your museum, archive or library collection has? Are you providing users with modern tools to help them research your records and share them with others. Here are 10 ideas to read on a blustery Fall day, and that could add some sparkle to your website and online collections.

1. Upgrade to a more modern search engine, such as our Andornot Discovery Interface, with features users expect when searching. For example, see how we helped Forestry Innovation Investment with their ThinkWood Research Library.
2. Add ever more historic content to attract users interested in local history and genealogy, like the Arnprior & McNab/Braeside Archives did with back issues of the Arnprior Chronicle newspaper.
3. Add a map interface so users can browse geographically, like the one we built for the Ontario Jewish Archives.
4. Have lots of documents? Why not index the full text of them, then when a user searches for keywords, take them directly to the most relevant page in the PDF. No more downloading and repeating the search within the PDF to find the right page. Learn more.
5. Get out in front of Community Engagement by adding the Disqus commenting system to your search results, so users can more easily discuss items in your collection, help identify people and places, and provide feedback to you.
6. Make sure your website or search engine is mobile friendly. Google and other search engines now place mobile-friendly results higher in their rankings. And make sure you have a sitemap and permalinks so your collection can be easily indexed by Google and Bing.
7. Planning to digitize large works, such as maps, paintings, or architectural drawings? Will users be able to see the fine detail in the resulting images on your website or in your search engine? Our Image Zoomer can help, by allowing users to easily zoom in on specific areas of a large image, without having to download that very large file.
8. Is your website looking dated? Maybe it has the digital equivalent of large shoulder pads or flared pants? Time for a refresh? Let us help with a Content Management System and new graphic design, like we did recently for PRCVI (the BC Provincial Resource Centre for the Visually Impaired).
9. Can't attract the attention of your own IT staff to help with your website or software? Why not have Andornot host it?
10. On a tight budget? Consider our low-cost Digital History Hub platform for putting collections online and making virtual exhibits.

Contact us to discuss any of these ideas, and ones of your own.

Earlier this year, the McGill Universities Health Centre Libraries launched a new website with a fresh, modern design. At the time, Andornot updated the library catalogue we host with a matching design.

As is often the case with a new website launch, after 6 months of real-world usage and feedback from users, a modest tune-up is often needed. With changes occurring to the main MUHC Libraries website often, rather than recreate them each time in the hosted catalogue, we took this opportunity to rebrand it with a simpler design, but to use a responsive web framework. With this, the site is as accessible on a smartphone or tablet as on a full-size desktop web browser. 

The library’s book catalogue is available directly at http://muhclibraries.andornot.com/Books/Default.aspx or though the MUCH Libraries website at http://www.muhclibraries.ca  As before, it’s available in both English and French, shows Google Book covers when available, and offers users a selection list to save or email records as they search. The site now also includes up-to-date loan information, pulled directly from the underlying Inmagic Genie system. The entire interface is built from the Andornot Starter Kit.

Contact us to update your search interface to a responsive one, accessible from any device.