Editorial and Technological Workflow Tools to Promote Website Quality

Abstract

Library websites are an increasingly visible representation of the library as an institution, which makes website quality an important way to communicate competence and trustworthiness to users. A website editorial workflow is one way to enforce a process and ensure quality. In a workflow, users receive roles, like author or editor, and content travels through various stages in which grammar, spelling, tone, and format are checked. One library used a workflow system to involve librarians in the creation of content. This system, implemented in Drupal, an opensource content management system, solved problems of coordination, quality, and comprehensiveness that existed on the library’s earlier, static website.

Web Content Strategy in Academic Libraries: Methods and Maturity

“…9 In 2012, Emily Morton-Owens noted, "A content strategist would be concerned with why content is meaningful in addition to how it is managed." 10 In 2013, Rebecca Blakiston called content strategy "absolutely essential for the future success of library websites if our content is to remain useful, usable, and findable." 11 Blakiston has been a thought leader in this area of practice within libraries, describing the development of a content strategy for the University of Arizona website in 2013, advocating for content strategist positions in libraries in 2015, and in 2017 publishing a book on writing for the Web.…”

Library-Authored Web Content and the Need for Content Strategy

“…36 In her article "Editorial and Technological Workflow Tools to Promote Website Quality," Morton-Owens discussed several studies measuring the severe impact of even small flaws (such as typographical errors) on users' judgements of a website's credibility, and, by extension, of the organization's credibility: "users' experience of a website leads them to attribute characteristics of competence and trustworthiness to the sponsoring organization." 37 A. Paula Wilson, citing McConnell and Middleton, summarized the potential pitfalls inherent in a distributed model in which empowerment of content creators overshadows a unified vision, strategy, and approach to library-wide content management:…”

“…If the website is the most readily available public face of an institution, it should receive editorial attention just as a brochure or fundraising letter would." 40 In an environment with distributed authorship lacking a strong and consistent editorial culture, an organization's "voice" can quickly deteriorate. In web writing, voice is often defined as personality.…”

Appropriating Invention Through Concept Maps in Writing for Multimedia and the Web

“…Using CMs to replicate invention revitalizes the process approach for composing business and technical documents. The workflow itself enforces the method to ensure quality (Morton-Owens, 2011). Successful web productions suggest that the writer has gone through several composing stages and has accounted for purpose, content, and audience.…”