Virtual Library

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The Virtual Library Department is responsible for coordinating the province's online reference service AskAway, maintaining the online databases and the public web site and providing training resources for both staff and the public throughout the library system.

This newest of library departments chose to create an internal identity. The objective was to reinforce the new division’s presence in a relatively static organization and to foster a sense of esprit de corps for the small staff that would form the fledgling department. The logo would be used on all internal communications, including the intranet and print materials.

The design is based on one of the fundamental actions required for Virtual Library's services: the mouse click.

The name is displayed in all caps on each side of the click and creates a formal but modern presentation. The colour of the star changes depending on use and context.

The logo is in use on signs in the department's new divisional offices at the Central Library, and extensively on staff intranet pages.

The intranet is available to all staff throughout the library system, providing information about Virtual Library and its resources.

The main page is divided into quadrants relating to Virtual Library’s core responsibilities. The content boxes' translucent background is achieved with a 50% dot screen, a simple cross-browser solution, creating a unique presentation and integrating decoration into the information without difficult programming or extravagant visual display.

Subsequent pages use this technique as well. Navigation menus are simple lists in text files easily expanded and modified by staff as the requirements and information of the pages change over time.

The entire site serves as an example of the technical prowess that the new department brings to the library, executed in strict XHTML and CSS the pages serve as a proving ground for new techniques and design concepts that can deployed throughout the library’s online services in the future.