ScratchPad: A Quality Management Tool for Library Web Sites

Abstract

This chapter describes the planning, development, and implementation of a quality management tool for an academic library Web site. It explains the impetus for the project, presents the rationale for developing the tool, and describes the system components. The tool balances the needs of Web contributors with the assurance of a professional presentation of the organization’s Web site by offering a systematic workflow from development to production, with appropriate quality oversight prior to public posting. Implementation outcomes are discussed, especially as they relate to staff engagement and solving post-production issues. The authors hope that technical staff in other libraries will consider implementing a quality control tool to manage their Web sites.