by Kristine Lloyd

I must begin by admitting that I do not spend inordinate amounts of time on the AALL website, so I’m not able to provide a thorough comparison of the old and the new. But I can tell you that the old website was sorely in need of a makeover, just as we ladies ought to make an occasional visit to the makeup counter to keep things fresh. A bit of advice though: careful at the Mac counter, lest you come out looking like a drag queen.

The old AALL website was a blight on our image as cutting edge information professionals. It’s like having a car on concrete blocks at the entrance to an auto dealership. The SLA website suffers from the same syndrome, but have you seen the new SLA conference website? I was impressed with their Conference Preview Program. It’s interactive, which totally excites me, even if the font requires a magnifying glass. There’s nothing quite that cool on the AALL website.    

The new AALL homepage is a tad busy for my taste, but at least there are no vendor ad banners. I do like the large-print, easy-reader tabs at the top of the page, rather than at the side. It seems like you have to click through just as many screens to get to where you actually want to be, but again, the layout is much cleaner once you get to a sub-page.

Overall, I think the new website is a definite improvment over the old site, even if it’s primarily cosmetic changes. Perhaps now I will consult the site more often. What do you think about the change: is it a do or a don’t?