Building (Intranet) Bridges

Lately I have been thinking about creating an intranet site at work.  It would be a good way to firmly establish the link between the library, the staff, the attorneys…you know, building bridges and whatnot.  Luckily the IT gal here at the office is spectacular.  We’re putting together a list of different platforms we can use, the strengths and weaknesses of these platforms, and the cost.  Another bit of luck is that she’s very comfortable with programming and I’m moderately comfortable with HTML and CSS.  So, together we make a pretty good team.

Of course, my emphasis is on the library but the intranet site would technically be for the firm at large.  I suspect that other law libraries within private firms have similar sites.  The “wish list” we have come up with so far includes various pages and sections:

• Library (obviously)
• Search capabilities
• Database access
• List of external sites
• Events and notices
• Announcements
• Internal contact information
• Calendar and scheduling access
• “Share space” for employee interest
• Etc.

It’s quite an undertaking, but I’m very excited to be preparing the proposal for the firm.  I think this is one of those wonderful times that my library degree blends perfectly with the needs/wants of the firm.

On that note, I'm off to go refresh my knowledge of website design...