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02 Mar 17 New ALA Connect Project Update

 

ITTS is posting this update on behalf of the ALA ITTS Advisory Group.

 

1.    Project Summary

ALA Connect is an online community where members, staff, and supporters of ALA gather virtually to do the work of the Association, collaborate in communities of practice and other groups, find cooperative and innovative colleagues, discuss library-related topics and issues, share ideas, and discover other ways to engage and participate.

What follows is an update on the forthcoming upgrade to ALA Connect, designed above all to support ALA members through a user-friendly platform that meets their needs, providing easy paths to share input, learn, and engage with ALA and its divisions, offices, and other units in multiple ways.

The new ALA Connect system is on track for a summer 2017 rollout. Three different vendors making a concerted effort with us to implement 33 different microsites with over 2,500 groups/communities, as well as to train users so the user experience is the best and most useful it can be.

2.    Where we are

Below is a list of high-level project milestones highlighting the work accomplished so far in coordination with the three vendors:

  1. Higher Logic (host of the new ALA Connect site)
  2. eConverse Social Media (designer of the interface for the new ALA Connect)
  3. Urban Insight (host of the current Connect site in Drupal)

Project Milestones

Milestones Completed
Tagging Hierarchy feature added. Alterations to base code to accommodate our extensive need for tagging. 5/2016
Nested Communities created. Alterations to base code to accommodate the hierarchy and search function across unit sites. ALA identified and negotiated for 33 microsites to accommodate the Divisions, Round Tables, and the ALA-APA (Allied Professional Association). 5/2016
Membership Data Sync. Modifications to the system to import our membership data directly from ALA’s Membership database iMIS, with which ALA Connect will communicate directly. 8/2016
Interface Designer hired. The eConverse Social Media team began discovery with ALA. 10/2016
New Connect Logo designed. Stakeholders collaboratively selected a new logo created by the ALA Production Services department. 12/2016
New Connect Interface drafted. The first round of interface designs was delivered for review. 2/2017
Current Connect Groups review.  ITTS started work with the administrators of 2,500+ groups and communities to document what content needed migrating into the new Connect system, so everyone will have full access to the content they identified for migration. 2/2017
Profile work begins. Work has begun to develop new ALA Connect profile pages so users can update their contact and demographic information there, and it will then automatically update in ALA’s Membership database. 3/2017

3.    Launching the new ALA Connect

As the proposed launch date would have been too close to the ALA Annual Conference, a soft launch is planned for late July/early August. The full implementation is scheduled for September 2017. This will allow time to develop and communicate best practices for working with all groups in the new system. It will also allow time for ALA staff to conduct thorough training for all users during the summer months. The Connect URL (connect.ala.org) and user credentials will remain the same in the new version of Connect. Since it is not possible to have both systems running at the same time, the old system will not be available once the soft launch begins.

4.    Training Plan to support all users

We are investigating the possibility of creating a sandbox copy to use for training during the final migration, in which case we will offer 90-minute in-person and remote training sessions at multiple times and dates to accommodate different time zones. Recorded sessions and learning videos will also be available. We are planning sessions by user role, but also seek user feedback on tasks that are critical, so we can include them in the training.

Training by Roles

  • ALA Connect for Members and logged-in users
  • ALA Connect for ALA Staff
  • ALA Connect for Community Admin
  • ALA Connect for Testers/Early-Adopters
  • Others as identified

Best Practices

  • Contribute to/Start a discussion
  • Add files to a Library
  • Find your groups; Explore navigation; Understand “nesting”
  • Understand/Review best practices for handling Private groups/public posts
  • Understand best practice on how to post governance documents

 

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