The Laws & Policies, Monitoring & Reporting, and Research & Data sections of the website will undergo a major transformation in 2012. This section will feature a robust, browseable, searchable resource library that will allow users to easily find what they are looking for. Via the new resource library functionality, users will be able to:
- Search for a particular resource by keyword
- Browse resources by specific focus area, topic, type, tag and publication date
- Sort by most frequently requested resources and latest posted resources
Once the library is released, rather than seeing a basic list of links on the Laws & Policies, Monitoring & Reporting, and Research & Data pages, the user will see a page that looks similar to the draft shown in the example to the left.
As you can see, the user will have the immediate choice to browse resources by focus area or to search for a specific resource by keyword. The user will also be greeted with a set of featured resources, which will help guide users to important resources. Further down the page, there will also be a quick access list of the most recent and most requested resources.
Then, once the user enters or selects his search criteria, he will be presented with a page of results that match that criteria — similar to the draft shown on the left. The user will be able to change the criteria at any time to narrow or broaden his results. The user will also be able to sort results by most recent and most requested. Newly added resources will be indicated with a gold “NEW” ribbon, so frequent users can easily see which resources have been added since their last visit.
The goal of this new library structure is to make it easier for grantees, researchers, government officials and other interested audiences to find exactly what they are looking for in the most efficient way possible. Also, by classifying resources with standardized naming conventions, users will be able to find related information very quickly and perhaps discover a helpful resource that otherwise would have been buried in a list of links.
Let us know your preliminary thoughts on the resource library by utilizing the “Was this helpful?” tool in the sidebar. We look forward to your feedback!