Additional Notes from User Services July 30-31 Meeting
RE: The Opening Page [August 28, 1998]

Need a professional designer for this and the gateway page, at least.
Personally, I like the look of ALA's navigation bar or the
index/tab approach as seen at Amazon.Com.

Reduce standard choices on all screens to:

- About Pharos (or Overview)

- Select Databases [mainmenu]

- Help

- Exit [to local campus url]

OPTIONS WHICH MIGHT CHANGE WITH THE CONTEXT --
Could be within each page rather than on top logo bar, or in a
part of the top bar which changes, depending.

New Search

Document Delivery/Interlibrary Loan

Help specific to context

Ask a Librarian [goes to a locally specified url]

Close Window/Return to PHAROS (from url links)

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Main Selection Screen/Mainmenu -- /webpac/menu.shtml

PHAROS DATABASES

In a narrower left-hand column, each linked to other pages:

Broadcast Search [/webpac/CVL.shtml]

WWW Sites [new page]

Searching Tips [info comp]

How to select a database [info comp]

Topic Areas

[I'm not sure how the group visualized this part working; I would want the user to see the pre-selected list first before going to the broadcast search page where appear with some pre-checked to honor the "no mysteries" principle.]

ARTS
Business
Current Affairs
General selections
Government & Law
Health & Medicine
Humanities
Social Sciences
Science & Technology

Right hand column:
Select and search any one of these databases; to search several
databases at one time, select the "Broadcast Search" option.

CSU Union Catalog

CSU Libraries (listed in 3 columns)

Other Library Catalogs

I wouldn't subdivide these into private/public...but whatever.

Databases Available to CSU Users

[I think that the last word was alpha order, but not too sure. Otherwise
would be in broad subject categories (the Topic Areas - then clicking on a
topic just skips you to that part of the list). The group did not
distinguish among types of databases...we should probably discuss this.
That is, access to articles versus access to dissertations or images or
statistics or whatever.]

The display would be much more extensive, e.g.:
ERIC Educational research reports and articles. [More Info]
[the more info would be a graphical icon leading to a descript]

Reporter: LaVonne Jacobsen <lavonne@sfsu.edu>

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