MLIS 7505 Assignment 3, Option 1 

For our MLIS 7505 Module III assignment we were to identify an library that uses a Content Management System and interview the librarian in charge of creating and managing the website.  I interviewed Mr. James Keehbler, director of the Piscataway Library in New Jersey (http://www.piscatawaylibrary.org/).  Mr. Keehbler received his MLS from Rutgers in January 1997 and his MPA from Rutgers in 2006.

How and where did you hear about CMS?

Answer:  I had used Joomla at my previous library, New Providence Memorial Library.  Afterwards, I started seeing more programs about libraries using Drupal, particularly through our then regional library cooperative, Infolink, which is now part of LibraryLink NJ.

What were your motivations to adopt CMS for its current use (library website or any other purpose)?

Answer:  We wanted to use a content management system to remove the former roadblock of relying on our webmaster to update the website. She would use Microsoft FrontPage, and of course not every staff member knew how to use that program or even had it installed.  With budget cuts, we were forced to eliminate that position, so we needed our other staff to be able to update the website on their own.

What were your decision making criteria?  What is the name of the CMS you are using now?

Answer:  We use Drupal.  I had used Joomla previously but wasn't impressed with the capability of Joomla at the time to provide the level of user permissions that Drupal allowed.  With a large organization, we believed we needed to be able to limit the capabilities of some users, while allowing others greater capabilities.  We also liked choosing a CMS with a good user community of library users. We really wanted an open source choice for the cost benefit, and the ability to grow in the future.  Finally, the online community forum at drupal.org answered so many questions.

What are the important benefits or advantages of CMS you are using now over the old system or another CMS system you've used in the past?

Answer:

a. We don't need software to update website.

b. More people can update website, though this can also be a disadvantage as not all people do as good 

    of a job.

c. We can update website on remote devices like ipads, android phones, and iphones.  Including 

    Drupad application.

d. No knowledge of HTML required and easy FTP of images to website. With CKeditor, looks like 

     Microsoft Word interface.

e. Thousands of moduless to allow increasing capabilities of website.  We started simple and grew into 

    the website.

f. While we haven't done this yet, we can do a multisite installation to have separate websites for   library, friends and foundation using the same Drupal install.

How was the learning curve?

Answer:  The learning curve was more difficult than with Joomla in my experience.  Then again it was more difficult since we had it hosted on our state library's server, who do not offer any support for Drupal and they do not offer a nice utility like CPanel.  When using Drupal for the New Jersey Library Association, using CPanel is so much easier.  The learning curve is hard for people who aren't used to the database background and only think of HTML files.  As an old Notepad HTML coder, it was difficult when learning Joomla to get my mind wrapped around that. 

Additional comments from Mr. Keehbler:

Some staff did miss the ability to just drop off their changes with someone else to deal with, but now we have 19 different staff who update the website. Of course, as previously mentioned, we do have a challenge making all 19 enter information in an attractive manner.  Patrons enjoy it, they can sign up for programs on line, they follow the RSS feed, etc.  Drupal integrates nicely with Flickr, too.  We use as much free stuff as possible, Flickr, Meebo, and we use Google Voice to provide text reference.

 Oh, one other challenge when we changed to Drupal was to get everybody to realize they didn't need to bring everything from the old website.  Huge long pages of hyperlinks, text nobody was going to read.  It was a struggle.  Also, CMSs are great because you don't need to recreate an item each time you want it to appear on a website, and in fact with a module like Views, you can use the same information and display it in a unlimited amount of ways on the website.  For example, when we enter a program for the meeting room, we can have a main entry show up on the department page, a brief entry show up on the upcoming events block on the front page, an entry on the library calendar and an entry on the meeting room calendar all from that one form being filled out. 

My reflections:

Mr. Keehbler is obviously very knowledgeable about CMSs and especially Drupal.  It is interesting that he started out with Joomla and then migrated to Drupal.  He is not the first librarian I have heard to do that.  He pretty much echoed everything I learned from our readings.  It is amazing to me that 19 different people update their website.  A few years ago that would be unheard of.   There would have been just one person in charge of making all the updates.  That is definitely one of the many advantages of using a CMS.  Mr. Keehbler replied to my e-mail the same day that I wrote him and he answered all of the questions with thoughtful answers.  I sent him a Thank You card for his generous help with this assignment.