Site of the Month: Carthage (MO) High School Media Center

Nancy Rankin (rankinn@carthage.k12.mo.us), Carthage High School's media specialist, says that she wants the library's Web site to be "the first stop" for students doing research. So she's designed a sophisticated home page that gives users brief descriptions of the databases and reference resources when a cursor moves over them.

Resource rich: Rankin decided to highlight Web-based research tools in 2002, when many of the library's databases became available via remote access. At the same time, she added Follett's WebCollection Plus software that enables students and teachers to access Carthage's online catalog from home or the classroom. Rankin took a class in Web site design, and the new, resource-rich home page is the result.

Making it better: Throughout the past year, Rankin has added more useful research information to the site. There's a page that offers guidance on how to create citations for research papers, as well as an annotated list of quick-reference sites on a wide range of topics, including everything from biographies to used-car price guides. Most recently, Rankin has been working with two language arts teachers to create a Web page of student-written book reviews. "I'm constantly making [the site] better," she says.