The law school’s new Web site is up and running this month
after two years of planning, and thankful users say they’re
glad to be free of an old system that had gone without updates for
a decade.
“Compared to some other law schools that had very
beautiful Web sites, UCLA School of Law’s old Web site kind
of stuck out as needing major improvements,” said Sara
Jasper, a third-year law student who sat on a committee to gather
criticism and recommend changes to the site.
The old pages were badly organized, with links leading to dead
ends, she said.
Surfers who didn’t attend the law school had difficulty
finding information because they couldn’t figure out where to
click, added law Professor Stephen Yeazell, who chaired the
committee.
Donna Gulnac, head of law library access services, said there
was no search function or site map. There was nothing preferable
about the old version, and it’s hard to fathom anyone would
have complimented it, she said.
The overhaul of www.law.ucla.edu began a couple years ago when
then-dean Jonathan Varat decided the site was badly in need of
help, Yeazell said.
After Varat appointed him to head a group to suggest
improvements, Yeazell and others collected comments about the site,
polling law students, faculty, staff and undergraduates who might
use it to apply for further studies. The updated site launched
April 4.
While recommendations, like making the site more transparent and
easier to navigate, came as no surprise, others were less expected,
Yeazell said.
He remembers admiring sites for other law schools that had
virtual tours, video streaming and other fancy technology.
“When I first looked at it, I thought, ohhh, this is
cute,” Yeazell said.
“But that’s not what people really want. They want
information rather than bells and whistles.”
The cost of implementing the new system ran around $100,000 to
$125,000 for functions like a search engine and all equipment,
including servers, said Sean Pine, the law school’s chief
information officer.
The major difference between the old and current sites is the
shift to a content management system, she said.
This means multiple users can input information using a screen
that resembles a word processing window, a change from the old
format, which put one person in charge of manipulating the content
of all pages.
Information that was isolated is now available in more than one
place on the site, making it easier for users to find what
they’re looking for. The base color of the pages has changed
from a dark turquoise to lighter greens, greys and white.
The site design is more “outwardly” focused, meaning
in part that there are links for prospective students and other
groups who may not necessarily already be at the law school, Pine
said.
Yeazell, who was teaching at the law school when its first Web
site went up in 1995, says one reason he likes the new pages is
that the information is current. The Internet is no good if all the
content it displays is old, he says.
He puts PowerPoint slides from recent lectures and other
material for students online. Though his work with the committee is
done, he says he feels responsible for keeping his class portal
updated and for his continued contribution to the law
school’s new home on the Internet.
“I am part of it because here I am. This is one of my
course Web pages,” Yeazell said, pointing to his computer
screen. “I own a little, tiny corner.”