Website Resource: Americal Library Association

-          Website address:  http://www.ala.org/

-          Copyright:  2011 © American Library Association

-          Credentials:  ALA is maintained by the American Library Association.

-  Website Design and Ease of Navigation:

This website has one of the simplest designs of those I have viewed.  The colors are pretty plain and the design is straightforward.  The homepage is pretty scarce, but in the rest of the site the text is a little large and there isn’t much different in font size between headings and text bodies, which makes the pages seem a little overwhelming and cluttered.

The site is divided into tabs on the top, with each page featuring more tabs on the left side for easy navigation.  It also contains the bar that shows each link chosen to get you where you are (i.e., home>YALSA>YALSA’s Booklists and Awards).  Navigation is relative easy if one utilizes the tabs on the side instead of trying to scroll through the pages to find the appropriate links.

-          Response and Recommendations for Use:

This site is actually designed to be a resource for libraries and librarians.  Most of the information is about libraries and things like government issues, different conferences, and available awards and grants.

However, it is also a great resource for books in general.  There is an entire section called the Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA).  This is the part of the site that I would primarily use as a resource.

In this section is a lot of information about young adult books and reading.  There is information on things like Teen Reading Week and Teen Literature Symposiums.  The part that I would probably utilize the most is the section on booklists and book awards.  This section holds an abundance of information on books.  The books are organized by different criteria.  One way is by things like 2010 top books for young adults, which could help me find books that are generally popular with young adults.  Another way the books are organized is by different awards.  The awards have different criteria, such as books meant particularly for teens who do not like to read, or best audio-books or graphic novels.  The books are listed with the author, title, and a brief summary.  I think these would be especially useful in helping me identify books I would like my class to read.  I also think it would be a good site to give out to my students to help them find books for pleasure or for assignments when they are allowed to pick their book.