These general policies for the Yale Library web are intended to help the library achieve its purpose for using the World Wide Web: to create a learning community without time and space restrictions to supplement services and collections offered within the libraries.

This document sets out five principles that describe the philosophy that Yale Library has established for managing the continued growth and development of its presence on the World Wide Web.

The five principles are:

1. Distributed responsibility
2. Local autonomy
3. Collaborative development
4. Centralized support
5. Limited central authority

1. Distributed responsibility

The responsibility for creating and maintaining Yale Library web pages is at the unit, team, or project level. For group-generated web pages, a single library staff member needs to be designated as the responsible party.

rationale: Distributing responsibility positions the library to use its staff resources most effectively and responsively while reducing the need to create central administrative positions.

examples: Nearly every site on the library's web, including the Map collection, MSSA, Beinecke, Divinity, Sterling Circulation Dept., WebPAC, Selected Internet Resources, Medical Library, EAD project, and the Research Workstation.

2. Local autonomy

The unit responsible for the web pages may determine the content, look and feel, service goals and methods for the project at hand.  Staff creating library web pages should consider both the needs of readers who connect to library web pages via a slow Internet connection or who use a text-only browser and the expectations of readers using a high-speed connection and a graphical browser.

Rationale: Localizing autonomy makes it possible for units to create web pages that are thoughtfully tailored to the needs of the unit and its clients. Together with the principle of distributed responsibility, local autonomy flattens the administrative structures needed to develop and manage the library's use of the web.

Examples: Nearly every site on the library's web, including the Map collection, MSSA, Beinecke, Divinity, Sterling Circulation Dept., WebPAC, Selected Internet Resources, Medical, EAD, and the Research Workstation.

3. Collaborative development

Each unit creating Yale Library web pages or sites is responsible for coordinating its web pages with other appropriate units; and the unit is responsible for communicating significant changes in its web pages to the Yale Library community. New library web sites should be announced on yulib-l. Staff who create library web pages should use yulwww-l to communicate and coordinate with their peers.

Rationale: Collaborative development is required in order to ensure that the Yale Library web as a whole is coherent and comprehensive. To build comprehensiveness and cohesion from the bottom up rather than direct it from the top down, it is imperative that the units developing web pages or sites coordinate their work, communicate their plans, and collaborate on services.

Examples: The circulation unit in Divinity Library coordinates its web pages with the Divinity library and with the circulation department in Sterling; significant additions to the Science libraries web are announced on yulib-l.

4. Centralized support

WAG (has been replaced by Public Interfaces Committeee) supports the creation and maintenance of Yale Library web pages and sites by promoting communication among staff and units creating and maintaining web pages and sites; by seeking to coordinate web development within the library; by leading efforts to appropriately train library staff; and assisting the Integrated Library Technology Services in choosing the hardware and software for library web servers and individual workstations.

Rationale: In a work setting characterized by distributed responsibility, local autonomy, and collaborative development, it is useful to centralize a few support services that meet enterprise-wide needs. The chief ones are: training staff, fostering coordination, offering mechanisms for communication and assisting in the selection of appropriate hardware and software.

Examples: Click Here (the WAG training program), yulwww-l, WAG Web site, PIC forums, enterprise-wide link checker & statistical counts, evaluation of html editors, development of cross server search engine.

5. Limited central authority

PIC uses its authority with restraint, limiting itself to mandating minimum requirements for Yale Library web pages; writing and promulgating guidelines to aid development at the unit level; and developing appropriate use policies for library web servers.

Rationale: Use of limited central authority supplements and supports the principle of collaborative development and provides a central body to think and act in those situations that require enterprise-wide leadership.

Examples: This policy note; a checklist of minimum requirements for Library web pages; a policy on appropriate use of the library web servers; a policy on appropriate use of userids and personal accounts on the library web servers.

These principles and the purpose statement should guide overall development of the library's use of the web.