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ACRL Web Site Fact Sheet

ACRL embarked on a redesign of its Web site in tandem with an ALA-wide move to a Web content management system. Features of the system include advanced searching options and an improved general search feature, improved navigability, and one-stop pages detailing ALA's work in major areas of interest.

In addition to providing an updated look for ACRL, the site features a new navigation structure and intuitive interface to simplify access to the array of association information available online.

As with many Web reorganizations, lower-level URLs from our previous site are no longer valid in the current site. We believe that the new organization provides sensible paths to ACRL Web pages; however, we have put together some helpful hints for you below. You may also want to look at the Site Map. If you have questions, call us at 1-800-545-2433, ext. 2511 or email: acrl@ala.org.

This Web site is still accessible through www.acrl.org and www.ala.org/acrl.

Basic information
What’s under that new heading?
Other new items
Where did it go?

Basic information:

This Web site has 9 top-level navigation items (compared to 19! on the previous version):

About ACRL
Issues & Advocacy
Events & Conferences
Professional Tools
Publications
Standards & Guidelines
Awards
Give to ACRL
President’s Page

It also features a Quicklinks dropdown menu that will take you directly to frequently accessed information.

The following areas existed on the previous site and basically contain the same information that they did before:

Events & Conferences
Publications
Standards & Guidelines
Awards
President’s Page

About ACRL existed on the previous site but has been expanded here to include information on all ACRL Units (Sections, Chapters, Committees, etc.) and ACRL leadership and governance information.

Details about the new areas of the site can be found below.

There are some new top-level navigation items. What type of information will I find there?

Issues & Advocacy

On the ACRL site, this section is home to information on major initiatives of the organization and resources that have been developed to assist librarians in areas critical to academic and research librarianship. Topics included are:

Marketing @ your library
Recruiting to the Profession
Effective Practices
Information Literacy
Scholarly Communication
Washington Watch

ACRL’s Committees, Sections, Task Forces and other units are working on a diverse range of important issues too extensive to be covered here. Information on work in other areas can be found in Publications > White Papers & Reports, Standards & Guidelines, and on Web pages dedicated to these units.

Professional Tools

This section provides one-stop access to a range of tools to assist academic and research librarians in their day-to-day work. Items included are:

e-Learning
Events & Conference
ACRL Publications Catalog
Marketing @ your library
Information Literacy Competency Standards Toolkit
Effective Practices Clearinghouse
Career Opportunities

Give to ACRL

On the previous site, this section was called Friends & Colleagues. It is home to information on how to give to ACRL through its Friends of ACRL and Colleagues programs.

In addition to navigation item areas, there are a number of lower-level topic areas new to the ACRL Web site. An overview is below.

Committees, Task Forces & Discussion Groups (under About ACRL)	Charges and rosters for these units, plus links to their work, where available.
Resources for Working with ACRL (under About ACRL)	Tools to help you better understand the workings of the association and guide you through the process of working with ACRL. Included are ACRL's Bylaws, Guide to Policies and Procedures, Directory of Leadership, and Tipsheets on key activities.
Recruiting to the Profession (under Issues & Advocacy)	Information on the recruitment and retention issue and ACRL resources to help you increase awareness of the academic and research library profession on your campus and in your community.
White Papers and Reports (under Publications)	White papers, position statements, reports from ACRL units, and the like that have been produced over the years and published online.

There used to be a button for [fill in the blank] on the home page and now it’s gone. Where did it go?

The following items no longer appear as top-level navigation but can be accessed as indicated:

Career Opportunities	Publications > C&RL News Professional Tools Also available in Quicklinks menu
Chapters	About ACRL Also available in Quicklinks menu
Effective Practices	Issues & Advocacy Professional Tools
Forms	About ACRL > Resources for Working with ACRL
Governance	About ACRL > What is ACRL? (Strategic Plan) About ACRL > Resources for Working with ACRL (Directory of Leadership, Bylaws, Tipsheets, Guides to Policies & Procedures) Most items also available in Quicklinks menu
Information Literacy	Issues & Advocacy
Marketing @your library	Issues & Advocacy Professional Tools
New @ ACRL	ACRL Home Page (News)
Scholarly Communication	Issues & Advocacy Also available in Quicklinks menu
Sections	About ACRL Also available in Quicklinks menu

ACRL is a division of the American Library Association