Rob is contacting units to schedule the migrations; submit a Track-It ticket if you want to discuss timing before he contacts you
many of our wikis seem to be informational and aren’t updated much
a lot of them are getting spammed to the point where they’re unusable
Rob has developed a script that checks for any admin activity in the last 90 days
if the admin hasn’t logged in during the last 90 days, it will send an email to the address listed for that account to let them know the site is being converted to “read-only” status
this means updates/edits will no longer be possible, but Rob can always reverse the read-only status so that it can be edited if changes need to be made at some point
this will prevent spammers from creating new accounts and vandalizing the wikithe new blogs/wiki server is working amazingly well and is nice and clean
We also upgraded chat a few weeks ago; there have been no reports of users getting kicked out of chat rooms since the upgrade was installed.
There are some new features that came with the upgrade (see next blot post for more details), but you can now:
– Pop the chat out into its own window
– Pause autoscrolling
– Make the box you type in bigger by pulling down the bottom border of the box
Right now, we’re working on offering the ability to do “drafts” so that you can start writing something and stave it but not publish it yet.
This fall, we’ll be working on the new conference scheduler (used to be known as the “event planner”) and giving each group its own file repository. We’re also going to redesign the Connect home page and group home pages so that they’re easier to read and use.
These three major projects will take up the bulk of our time, so there won’t be a lot of smaller enhancements until either December or January.
the Library has become less reactive to questions and more proactive to get the information out there and reorganized ahead of time
they’ve have been working on the Guidelines and Standards section, the Library FAQ Sheets, an A-Z of topics
they’re also doing interventions in major areas because then the number of questions about that subject drop when work is done to address problems
one of the problems has been the Policy Manual, which was originally posted as a straight translation of the print version to the web (150 print pages as one long scrolling page)
– the Library has redone it, with Rebecca taking the lead to work with Lois Ann and the Governance Office
Karen showed work that was done to make it a true web document, such as making the data that needed to be in tables accessible, adding anchors for navigation, and adding a section for recent changes
they’re still building the left navigation
ITTS fixed everyone’s links to the Policy Manual and deployed the pages so the links wouldn’t break
please be sure to link to the new version, rather than reproducing it (or sections of it) elsewhere on the site
the Library has begun working with OIF to restructure some of its pages and is starting another project with the Governance Office
Sherri gave an update on where we are in the selection process for a new content management system for http://www.ala.org.
Jenny encouraged any unit that has opportunities such as scholarships, grants or internships to add them to ALA Connect’s Opportunity Exchange (OppEx). OppEx is a database where anyone can search for assistantships, awards, calls for proposals, volunteer opportunities, and more. Connect members can indicate within their individual profiles the opportunities that they seek and will get additional email notices when new opportunities are added to the OppEx. Anyone who is posting an opportunity needs to login to ALA Connect to access the form.
Jenny reminded everyone to have their iMIS Committee Rosters up-to-date with the correct term dates for all members. All committee members whose terms end on June 30, 2010 within an iMIS Commitee Roster will only have access to their Connect groups until midnight that night. Any incoming committee member whose term begins July 1, 2010 will not have access to the Connect group until July 1st at 12:01 AM
Jenny discussed where we are at with updating the Chat Module.
Jenny discussed the MemberFuse Pilot.
A Networking Uncommons area will be set up at Annual Conference as it was at Midwinter. This is a location where groups can meet informally and have access to resources such as projector, digital recorder, iPod with microphone, a webcam and a flip cam. If any group wants to gather in the Uncommons and have any of these resources available to them at a specific time, they can go to the ALA Annual Wiki at http://annual.ala.org/2010 and on the index page go to Connecting with Other Attendees>New at Annual: Networking Uncommons. On the Networking Uncommons page is a link to a Schedule. There is a page for Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday with reservation times slots from 10:00 am to 5:00 pm. Add a Presenter/Convenor Name, Topic and make sure to list what technology resources you would like to use in the Resource column.
WEB is adding taskforces to involve staff stakeholders in the following four areas:
If any staff member would like to be a part of any of above groups and help move the association forward in these areas please contact webeditorialboard@ala.org.
The Social Media Working Group has already met to discuss strategies and created an ALA Connect Community. As part of this group, Jenny will be offering “Let’s Talk About Twitter” Lunch and Learns in the weeks before Annual.
All sessions will take place in the training room from 12:00-1:00 pm.
The sessions will highlight some Twitter basics, such as the difference between replies and direct messages, the use of hashtags, why you should use URL shorteners, and more. Our focus will be on how to use Twitter well during Annual, but the concepts will be applicable to your unit’s general use of this interactive channel. The official ALA hashtag for Annual is #ala10.
Annual Base Camp is currently planning showing a Twitter Feed on the www.ala.org home page to showcase the excitement of Annual Conference.
All units are encouraged to contact the Web Editorial Board for guidance with their web presence. Currently WEB is assisting the units with the creation of an eGovernment Tool Kit and possibly merging the Help Get a Job site with JobList.
Rob Berquist was introduced at the meeting. He has joined ITTS as our Internet Administrator and he will be responsible for the administration of Blogs, Wikis, Moodle, Sympa and other internet resources.
Please be sure to sign up for email updates from the ITTS News blog at http://itts.ala.org/news because it is one of our primary communication channels.
We received 47 responses for our December 15, 2009 request for a content migration and CMS system. The proposals are quite varied in their approaches and their pricing. They are already generating much discussion, as we consider the costs of enterprise systems versus opensource solutions, boutique agencies versus offshoring companies, companies that expect us to handle all the migration tasks ourselves versus companies that would like to provide a level of support that would make our jobs redundant. (Given the high price of that level of service, I’m not too worried about having to update my resume.)
Ultimately we need to take the time to make the best long-term decision for ALA’s varied constituencies and their needs, positioning us so that we will be ready and capable of evolving from social networking to the semantic web when the time comes. We expect our work process and deadlines to proceed as follows:
I assure you that every proposal is being read in full, and that we are considering the costs and benefits carefully. Members who have concerns can share them with me at lgruenberg at ala.org.
Louise Gruenberg
The Association is seeking a vendor to handle the migration of http://www.ala.org, which includes 11 division subsites, a number of online publications, and our site for the public (I Love Libraries http://www.ilovelibraries.org) to a new content management system.
Simplifying the site organization and maintenance is a key component of what we hope to achieve in the new CMS.
We are also seeking an alternative solution for creating new and transforming existing forms (several hundred active and legacy Cold Fusion applications and FormMail). We are not wedded to the continued use of Cold Fusion and want to move away from it, so the system should allow for arbitrary data sources (separate MySQL databases) and other languages besides CF, including but not necessarily limited to Python, PHP and Ruby. It is crucial that we have the ability to either render existing CF aps so that they look and behave like the rest of the site or move them to another system that can do so.
If the recommended system is not open source, it would be very desirable if ALA could license the original code for internal use. At the very least, we would want access via an API.
Contact information in the RFP.