Learning Commons:Student Orientation/Working With Content/Strategic Overview of Website

Site Wide Philosophy

The major guiding principles when deciding on whether content should be placed on the website, or deciding where in the architecture this content should go, are as follows:

1. Is the content relevant and helpful for first-year students?
2. How is the information better than what you could find with a simple Google search?
3. Could a first time user find the information easily on the website? (2 clicks or less to reach content is ideal)
4. Will a user understand what the page is trying to accomplish before scrolling past the fold?
5. Is the information interactive and engaging?
6. Does the content reflect the mission statement of the Learning Commons? Does it help people learn better?

Overview of Website Sections

Home Page

The Home Page has seen been through several iterations over the years and will likely continue to evolve. As it stands currently, we use the carousel as a navigational aid and to display new blog posts. Of the eight tiles, six of them are static and link to our highest traffic pages. Even though the pages are static, we do change some of them a couple times a year when a service like Tutoring isn’t being offered in the summer.

The other two tiles can be used to highlight important content from our campus partners (for example, if a pertinent event is taking place on campus), or to highlight a blog post. One rule about content in those rotating tiles is that if it’s in the carousel, it should not replicated in the stream of blog posts below the carousel. There should be no duplication of content on the home page.

About Us

The About Us page is a brief overview to what the Learning Commons is as a whole. It provides links to several Learning Commons at UBC, one of which is the Chapman Learning Commons. This page also explains some of our resources and houses staff bios. This page also lists relevant contact information as well as open hours for all locations.

Tutoring and Studying

This is a page that links to campus resources that UBC offers, as well as tools/resources that helps with students' learning.

Student Toolkits

The focus of the Student Toolkits is to cultivate the best resources that will help students build strong academic skills. These pages were designed to cater to all learning styles. The toolkits are essentially an online representation of the kinds of things that Peer Academic Coaches would help students with. In fact, we like to suggest to students that they use both resources in conjunction.

Resource Guides

This landing page is more for technical guides. Such as citing resources and finding images.

Tech Support

This landing page is more for the technical support in the physical Chapman Learning Commons space. It includes borrowing equipment and help with printers.

Our Blog

This page goes to the archive to our blog post.