Web Committee Annual Report 2023

submitted by Laura Jacyna

Current Roster

  • Ellwood Colahan (Co-chair, 2027)
  • Laura Jacyna (Co-chair, 2027)
  • Ana Munandar (2025)
  • Anne E. Shelley (2025)
  • Amy J. Hunsaker (2027)
  • A-R Editions (ex-officio)
  • Elizabeth H. Cribbs (ex-officio, 2024)
  • Jacey Kepich (ex-officio, 2025)
  • Kristi Bergland (ex-officio, 2025)
  • Karen I. B. McCool (ex-officio, 2025)
  • Jason Imbesi (ex-officio, 2024)
  • Melissa Moll (ex-officio, 2026)
  • Serena J. Vaquilar (ex-officio, 2027)
  • Kerry C. Masteller (ex-officio, 2027)

List of Previous Goals and Progress Made

  • 1. Website Content
    • The committee continues to update basic content on the site at the request of board members and committee chairs, including the landing page for E-Notes.
    • The Web Managers and Web Committee continue to use Freshdesk, a free ticketing system to triage and keep track of requests for site updates. Using a ticketing system allows us to more easily distribute work among committee members while monitoring what remains to be done.
    • From July 1, 2022-June 30, 2023, the Web Team received 256 support tickets and resolved 248.
  • 2. Migration of MLA Website
    • The long-term project to move content from YourMembership (YM) to Wordpress continued this year. Major changes include the launch of a new Copyright for Music Librarians site under the direction of Amy Hunsaker, the retirement of the MLA Newsletter and creation of a new MLA blog submission form, and a draft of a committee interest survey for use by the Committee Management team.
    • Membership data and financial transactions remain closely linked to YM’s infrastructure, which prevents a full content migration.
    • This work revealed the need for a systematic review of the site’s architecture, better understanding of user needs, and a more detailed style guide (see future goals).
  • 3. Review/revision of committee handbook and public-facing help documentation.
    • Changes to YM’s structure necessitate revisions to documentation.
    • The Web Committee reviewed and streamlined existing documentation, and created a new FAQ page to answer common questions about site functionality.

List of Future Goals

  • 1. Continue to update website content as needed.
    • Objective 3.5, Objective 4.2
    • The Committee continues to update basic content on the site at the request of board members, special officers, and committee chairs.
  • 2. Website Redesign and User Testing Project
    • Objective 3.4, Objective 4.2
    • Complete an information architecture analysis and report of the website
    • Restructure and redesign website (long-term project)
    • User testing at various stages to include MLA member participation and feedback in the redesign, including gathering baseline feedback from the website in its current form (long-term project)
    • Survey MLA members for input on MLA’s website branding visual design
    • Update MLA members at the Annual Conference of our progress and have ways for them to give feedback on the website redesign prototype
    • Compile a content inventory of existing website content sections, and work with relevant stakeholders to make changes (long-term project)
  • 3. Continue Migration of MLA-related websites to Wordpress.
    • Objective 4.2
    • Now that migration of MLA’s core WordPress sites to Reclaim hosting is complete, work can begin to migrate chapter content to Reclaim hosting, to work with committees in need of more robust websites, and to shift content from YM to Wordpress as necessary.
  • 4. Committee/Interest Groups needs assessment.
    • Objective 4.2
    • The web managers and committee have received multiple requests from committees and interest groups for more robust and user-friendly website functionality. An unsystematic review of committee and interest group pages reveals that numerous other platforms are in use (Tumblr; institutional LibGuides; Google Groups and Google Drive; Humanities Commons; etc.). A more sustainable and centralized location for committee/IG documentation would also help with preservation of MLA’s activities and procedures, and facilitate smoother transitions when leadership or group membership changes.
    • The committee plans to survey chairs and coordinators to learn more about what they need from the website and other MLA-sponsored platforms (long-term project).