http://hdl.handle.net/2374.MIA/5051 Jason Michel Wed, 08 Apr 2026 08:36:13 GMT 2026-04-08T08:36:13Z http://hdl.handle.net/2374.MIA/5816 New Content Display Options Ladd, Marcus; Michel, Jason Presentation slides for Internet Librarian http://hdl.handle.net/2374.MIA/5816 http://hdl.handle.net/2374.MIA/5788 "Snow Fall"ing Special Collections & Archives [slide deck] Ladd, Marcus; Michel, Jason http://hdl.handle.net/2374.MIA/5788 http://hdl.handle.net/2374.MIA/5273 “Snow Fall”-ing Special Collections & Archives Michel, Jason; Ladd, Marcus “Snow Fall” is a Pulitzer Prize winning, digital storytelling project produced by the New York Times. It represents the next step in long-form digital journalism. The web application tells a compelling story about the fate of sixteen skiers and snowboarders during an avalanche. The textual element of the story is wrapped in a slick interface with gently appearing and disappearing images, strategically positioned HTML5 video and image slideshows, maps, and 3-D visualizations. Its title, “Snow Fall,” has become a verb in the digital journalism world. Upon seeing “Snow Fall” and other similar projects, the authors started to make the connection between this form of storytelling and Special Collections. Special Collections are full of interesting, rich, and unique stories. Their digital representation, however, while widespread in systems such as ContentDM, can be lacking in sensory appeal. Because of this, the authors developed a “Snow Fall”-like application for a Special Collections’ exhibit, “Cradle of Coaches,” in the fall of 2013. In addition to this exhibit, they have developed two more using the same template. They feel that this is a new and exciting medium to tell the stories within special collections and archives, as well as general stories about libraries themselves. http://hdl.handle.net/2374.MIA/5273 http://hdl.handle.net/2374.MIA/5270 Improving the Effectiveness of LibGuides through Usability Testing Sullivan, Elizabeth; Revelle, Andrew; Michel, Jason Paul As information professionals, one of our primary responsibilities is to make information findable. As the amount of information continues to grow exponentially, the need to organize content and simplify the search process becomes imperative. We are eager to adopt any tools that can help us in this endeavor. Over 1,800 libraries throughout the world have adopted Springshare's LibGuides as a viable tool to organize resources. But how effective is our use of this powerful, highly-customizable tool? Have we structured content in a way that is intuitive and effective for our users? Miami University Libraries conducted formal testing on their LibGuides to determine the usability and effectiveness of the system. The results of these tests were used to compose a set of best practices for guides. This poster details the process and findings of our study. Poster presentation at the 2011 American Libraries Association Annual Conference, New Orleans, LA. http://hdl.handle.net/2374.MIA/5270