I’m right now sitting in a session about ebranch in a box.  Michael Samuelson, Web Developer at ICFL, is showing off our new ebranch in a box system to a group of interested Idaho librarians.

The ebranch system runs on an open source software called Drupal.  ICFL staff have identified some basic criteria they feel are the bare minimum for a library’s website.  Using Drupal, they have created a template that libraries can use for their own websites.  Some of the information, that which is shared among all the sites, is preloaded.  The rest can be easily updated by the library.

The beauty part is that using the ebranch template does not require any special knowledge of web development, HTML, or any programming languages. All updating is done through a web interface. Anyone who can fill out an online form can use this system.  What’s more, the site is housed on a server at ICFL with a URL that identifies the library (i.e. cascade.lili.org) and costs the library exactly $0.00.  That’s right, it’s free.

ICFL surveyed the library community. The community was clear. When it comes to web pages, they want good ones, but they don’t have the time, the knowledge of HTML, or the money to pay someone who does. Clearly, they wanted something that is easy to use, won’t take much time, and won’t draw from their already limited budgets.

Ebranch fits that criteria. It’s free to Idaho’s publicly funded libraries, it’s easy, and a library can create and maintain their site using the system in 30 minutes of less per month.