25 Jul 06 Committee Volunteer Form – Background
Amos Lieberman has been working with Charles Wilt in ALCTS to refine a committee appointment process management application. The system will track volunteers, allow appointing officers to select committee members, and update member records in iMIS. The application continues to be refined as new user needs are identified. It is expected that the application will eventually be broadened for use by all ALA units that have appointments to make.
07 Jul 06 TrackIT! – Background
Our new help desk application, TrackIt! is set to launch with the Knowledge Management System portal on April 3rd. All calls or messages to the help desk will now be entered directly into the TrackIt! system, where a problem ticket will be opened and requests will be assigned to an ITTS staff member. Staff can follow the progress of their requests in the system in real time. TrackIt! will also give us reliable statistics on help desk issues.
07 Jul 06 Web Editorial Board – Background
Since the debut of the CMS in 2003, a group of ALA staff has met weekly to review content for the ALA home page. Keith Michael Fiels has asked this group to expand its charge to include oversight of more sections of the website that need regular updating. He would also like the group to seek and evaluate regular feedback on the website, and to oversee a model of continuous improvements to the site. The group is currently re-writing its charge.
07 Jul 06 SpaceMaster – Background
ITTS staff are working with Choice to install a new version of SpaceMaster (software used to integrate ad sales into iMIS). Completion is expected in late May or early June.
Tags: SpaceMaster
07 Jul 06 Network Upgrade – Background
The growth of electronic systems and storage at ALA is taxing our network infrastructure. To increase capacity, we will replace our current fiber optic cabling within the building. After the new fiber cabling is installed, our current electronic switching equipment will be replaced with higher speed gear. This upgrade is scheduled for later this spring.
07 Jul 06 WebCT – Background
ALA has maintained WebCT software since August of 2000. It was little used until late 2005. There are now four divisions (RUSA, YALSA, ACRL, and ALCTS) using the WebCT software, and interest seems to be growing.
07 Jul 06 KMS – Background
During February the staff implementation team received additional training in the use and specification development for the new ALA Knowledge Management System, developed by SydneyPlus International. The initial phases of implementation include replacement of the current ALA in-house Intranet with an Information Portal and replacement of the current library OPAC. The new library OPAC is now operational and the Information Portal is scheduled to launch during National Library Week April 2-8. New features will include keyword-searchable access to human resources policies and forms, searchable access to links to electronic resources, and a number of other specialized files. Irene Marquez, ITTS, Karen Muller, Library, and Sherri Vanyek, ITTS, are the project managers.
07 Jul 06 List Migration – Background
The organization that once supported ListProc, ALA’s main discussion list management system, stopped supporting the product in 2000. After a thorough investigation, we installed Sympa as the replacement discussion list processing system.
07 Jul 06 Usability Study – Background
At its March 8th meeting, the Web Editorial Board heard from Michelle Frisque and Stephanie Orphan, both of whom had overseen some usability testing for their websites (LITA and ACRL, respectively). WEB members were briefed on types of usability testing and the benefits usability testing provides in redesigning and maintaining the utility of websites. The group was also briefed on the concept and practices of user-centered design, which calls for continual testing and improvement of websites. The group agreed this is the approach ALA needs to take.
At their March 15th meeting, the group decided to proceed with commissioning a usability study of the ALA website. Rob Carlson is drafting the RFP that will be floated in April. The plan calls for the usability study to be done by August. It will lead to redesign recommendations that will be implemented as resources become available.
07 Jul 06 Website Search – Background
Our lease on the Google search appliance (installed in 2004 and credited with vast improvements in the searchability of the ALA website) will be up for renewal in December of 2006. While we would like to extend the “umbrella” of Google searching to all ALA online content (Online Communities, discussion list archives, etc.) the cost would be prohibitive. Google bases its pricing, in part, on the number of files indexed, and our list archives alone account for some 600,000 files (the website stands at approximately 141,000 files). While it is rumored that Google is restructuring its pricing models to maintain their competitiveness, it remains to be seen what this new pricing is and whether or not it would suit our needs.
We will evaluate the purported new Google pricing on just the website, and the website plus other content. If Google remains our choice for website content indexing, we will look for another solution for indexing list archives, and then will pursue a federated search solution for all ALA content.
