24 Sep 09 ITTS Update Meeting — Tuesday, September 22nd

1. ALA Connect (Sheila)

ALA Connect was upgraded from Drupal 5 to Drupal 6 version at the end of July. This upgrade paved the way for phase 2, which includes the mentoring network (now available), an opportunities exchange (due end of October), expanding member profiles, and improving member searching capabilities. The opportunities exchange will allow a member to tag their interests in their profile and then Connect will send a notification when new opportunities are posted.

Opportunities include:

a. Assistantships

b. Awards

c. Fellowships

d. Grants

e. Internships

f. Publishing

g. Residencies

h. Scholarships

i. Speaking

j. Volunteer Opportunities

Email subscriptions were streamlined to allow users to select notifications by community or group all from one page. Email frequency options were enhanced, and a ‘temporarily on vacation flag’ was added to suspend communications while you are away.

New Member searching capabilities will be added to allow members to find an ACRL member in IL who likes Gaming.

Sheila then demonstrated the mentoring network showing views of a mentor and a mentee. The mentoring network is an opt-in feature and has a separate MentorConnect profile. There is a feedback area for discussion between the mentor and the mentee. All discussions between the mentor and the mentee are private. Some members have set up a private community in Connect to use other ALA Connect tools to communicate.

2. Quick Tour of Google Statistics (Matt)

The tour was postponed because ITTS ran into problems with the latest upgrade. The upgrade could not be performed without significant down time using our old Google server in its current configuration. A different path is being discussed and further details will be shared once the new plan is worked out.

3. Collage Maintenance Schedule (Sherri)

A proposal went out to all web content developers asking that the last Thursday and Friday of the month be reserved for Collage maintenance. Several web content developers had issues with having lockouts for updating content prior to the beginning of each month. An alternate proposal for the second Thursday and Friday of each month was confirmed. It was also noted that ITTS might not need this time every month and that ITTS will send a notice to all web content developers with details of proposed maintenance when it does occur.

4. Online Handbook (Sheila)

Sheila showed the new display of committee information pages. An example of the new page can be found at Website Advisory Committee information page. The non-member view will show committee name and term, and the member-only version will contain preferred address information. Sheila also gave a quick demonstration of how to create and update this page in Collage.

5. ePetitions Update (Donavan)

Donavan showed the new interface for the new ePetition system. The ePetition application was started as a directive by the ALA Board. Traditionally members used paper to gather signatures manually to petition for leadership positions or to propose a charge. This application presents a method to do so electronically on ALA’s website. The new system will allow members to create new petitions and sign existing petitions online based on their current membership(s). The system is scheduled to launch in a few weeks.