Study On The Information Architecture Of Library Websites

Library website is the exchanging center of information, since it possessed the abundant information resource. According to the theory of information architecture, the rich information is the base of satisfaction of users. If the abundant information are stored in randomly, or information are the excessively complex structure although with ordered content, which resulted in that the users lost their patience and trust when users explored the information of the websites. On the base of analyzing the Information Architecture(IA) theory particularly, the amalgamation of IA theory and construction of library websites was proposed, which is significantly important for the construction of library websites and provide the guidance and example of websites designing of library. The first part of thesis summarizes the basic theory of IA, and proposes its application in the design of websites. After that, the second part also interprets the backgrounds, reasons and significances of introduction of IA into the construct of library websites. The third part of thesis discusses especially the information architecture of library websites, which includes how to determine the themes of library websites, design users experience, plan websites' content, design websites' structure, design the organization system, the labeling system, the navigation system and the search system. Furthermore, the fourth part embodies the information architecture theory of library websites through qualitative analyzing a special case——ShangHai Library Website. During the investigation, different analytical methods such as content analysis, comparative analysis, the real example analysis and graphic presentation to analyze the raised questions one by one, and makes the research deepened step by step.