28 May 10 ITTS News Meeting – May 25, 2010
New Content Management System Selection Update
Sherri gave an update on where we are in the selection process for a new content management system for http://www.ala.org.
- Altogether ALA received 47 proposals from which the CMS Task Force, comprised of members of the Website Advisory Committee (WAC) and staff, selected 7 candidates.
- The same Task Force then completed a 41 page survey created by Louise Gruenberg that evaluated the proposals submitted by the 7 candidates.
- The results of that survey identified our top 3 candidates and those candidates have now been given a document with additional questions so we can compare all 3 candidates equally on their responses.
- The names of the top 3 candidates will be announced once we notify the 44 vendors who were not selected.
ALA Connect Update
The Opportunties Exchange
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.
Staff Liaisons Should Notify Committee Members about Access to Connect Groups Change Over on June 30th
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
Chat Upgrade
Jenny discussed where we are at with updating the Chat Module.
MemberFuse Pilot Project Update
Jenny discussed the MemberFuse Pilot.
Tech at Annual
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 Editorial Board (WEB)
WEB is adding taskforces to involve staff stakeholders in the following four areas:
- Social Media
- Archiving & Digital Asset Management
- Branding, Marketing & Design
- Communication & Education
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.
- Thursday, May 27
- Wednesday, June 9
- Wednesday, June 16
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.
New Internet Administrator: Rob Berquist
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.
Other
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.
20 Apr 10 ITTS News Meeting – April 20, 2010
1. New Content Management System Selection Process (Louise)
The Web Editorial Board (WEB) has determined that our new content management system should allow for interactive options, such as widgets, sharing, posting, and so on. This will require a database-driven CMS that delivers dynamic content. We also want to offer flexible design options in a way that reinforces ALA branding and supports usability and accessibility. The timeline for the vendor decision has been set for June 1, with work to begin on September 1. WEB is creating sub-groups to assist with the discussions that will be required to prepare for the new site design and migration.
- Communication & Education Task Force
- Marketing, Branding & Design Task Force
- Social Media & Interaction Task Force
Staff members interested in serving should discuss it with their unit manager and have him or her notify the conveners of WEB (Karen Muller, Jenny Levine, Louise Gruenberg). We may also need a fourth group to look into digital asset management and archiving issues; there is a 2010 project request under consideration.
With five months between now and the earliest work can begin, units are encouraged to review and weed their collections, archiving material that is no longer current but that should be kept for reference.
We also briefly discussed the advantages of a rolling migration/conversion versus an all-at-once, seemingly overnight changeover.
2. Standard Maintenance Window for Servers (Sherri)
We need a standard maintenance window for our 50 servers. We plan to do maintenance on them every Wednesday from 5:00pm until 9:00pm. This means that we will have interruptions of service during this time depending on the applications running on the servers. We will post notifications. It won’t be every server every week. We plan to begin server maintenance on Wednesday, April 28th, 2010.
3. ALA Connect Pilot Project (Sherri for Jenny)
We have found another software package that contains features (like an expanded search, expanded profiles to collect more interests, advocacy tools, better file repository, and historical CVs) we don’t currently have in ALA Connect. We have decided to do a pilot project with NFi Studios to see if their package meets our needs. Jenny is planning to give a more detailed communication on this topic on the ITTS news blog.
4. Status of New Desktops, Laptops, Netbooks (Sherri)
We replace 1/3 of our equipment every year. We ordered new desktops to replace PCs that were leased three years ago. We are waiting to hear from unit managers regarding the number of laptops and netbooks to order. If a netbook is ordered, you must have a desktop to run applications that will not run on the netbook.
Why Lease? First, leasing forces us to change our technology infrastructure every three years. Second, laptops typically begin to fail in the third year, especially when they are used a lot. Third, the ongoing fattening of application software usually requires more powerful hardware over time.
5. Early May launch of the New Online Learning section of the ALA Website (Louise)
We showed everyone the staging version of Online Learning, the new section of the website that will debut on or about May 3, 2010.
6. The next ITTS News meeting will be on Tuesday, May 25 . See you then.
14 Jan 10 American Library Association Seeks New CMS
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.
18 Nov 08 ITTS Update Meeting – November 18, 2008
1. Website (Louise)
Critical things you need to know about:
a. You need to fill out the new SEO (Search Engine Optimization) metadata fields because they are now required; if you get an error message on check-in about a required field not being filled out, it’s probably a metadata field
question – we can use phrases, too?
answer – yes, just separate them by commas
need congruency between the metadata title field and the actual title field – they have to match for the alphabetization to work properly on the listings pages
b. Some listing pages are still blank (eg, “Government Documents,” even though we have a whole Round Table devoted to this topic) and need content. Karen Muller will tag the things she knows are applicable, but it’s going to take a coordinated effort – everyone needs to pitch in to the areas that are relevant to them, because if we don’t add the content, we need to take down the aggregated pages.
c. We’re seeing some problems with Firefox 3 – Collage won’t let you upload anything (images, etc.). We also think we’re having transaction problems on the site with FF3, so if you receive a complaint, please ask the user if they are using this version of the browser. We’re trying to determine if we have a systematic “superbrowser compatability problem” or if it’s an isolated issue.
Please help us track this issue and let us know when you hear about problems with slow pages, authentication issues, etc.
2. Web Editorial Board (Louise)
Louise noted a handout about the purpose of the Web Editorial Board Tag Team, a group that has rights to the entire site and can make quick fixes without requiring permissions first. These are considered “Tier 1” changes, and the Team will always communicate changes to the owning unit, even if it’s afterwards. The charge empowers the team to handle these types of issues.
Tier 2 fixes will have the Tag Team contacting the owning unit before making the suggested changes.
Tier 3 would be things the Team discusses with you and you then change.
The approach will be an ad-hoc one, although we may split up the work to handle specific sections of the site.
If you have questions about any of this, contact Louise or Karen Muller.
3. ALA Connect (Jenny)
Jenny showed the prototype, pre-alpha testing site for ALA Connect to give staff a sense of how the site functions
4. Keeping up with developments (Sherri)
Blog w/RSS Feed – http://itts.ala.org/update/
Wikis – http://wikis.ala.org/learningcollage ; http://wikis.ala.org/webplanning
5. Q&A / Wrap up
29 Aug 08 Website Updates
All of ALA is working hard to get everything ready on the new website. We’re still a couple of weeks away from “flipping the switch,” but you can see the progress at http://ala.org/preview. For updates on the progress as we near the launch, we’ve started a new page at http://itts.ala.org/update/current-website-progress/, which will be the official place to find the latest status report. The list of 10 key performance objectives are listed there at the moment, and we’ll start updating progress on them after Labor Day.
We’re just as excited as you are to be so close to the big event!
22 Jul 08 Server Maintenance
Wednesday, July 23, we will be performing some server maintenance. During the maintenance period there will be no interruption of service for most staff.
American Library Association
312-280-5109
20 Jun 08 Annual 2008 WAC Meeting and Report
At the 2008 Annual Conference, the Website Advisory Committee meeting will take place on Monday, June 30, from 8:30 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. in Room 202B in the Convention Center. If you’re coming to the meeting or playing along at home, here are the agenda and the latest ITTS Report (both PDFs). Committee members who have agenda changes or additions should bring them to the meeting.
In the meantime, if you have any questions, please ask away in the comments. See you in Anaheim soon.
Tags: ala2008, annual2008, itts report, wac
21 Mar 08 Collage-a-Rama Finished-a-Rama!
Wondering what ever became of Collage-a-Rama? Wonder no more: it’s done! On Thursday, March 20, 2008 (first day of spring, no less!), we completed the migration of all our website content to Collage. Only a handful of applications remain on the Active Matter server, where they will reside for the foreseeable future. They are things like event registration, dues manager, Cold Fusion applications, etc. Everything else, though, is now in Collage.
We are on high alert today and all next week to fix any major problems you find in the content. Broken links, a missing file or two – that sort of thing we ask staff to go in and fix yourselves. If your left navigation is missing, or your graphic design is messed up – please let us know that. We have people at the ready to fix such things.
Staff can check the schedule in the KMS if you need Collage training or a refresher.
Thanks and congrats, everyone! We have liftoff!
Rob
Tags: collage, final migration, website
05 Mar 08 More on Collage-a-Rama
On Monday, March 10th, we will begin “Collage-a-Rama,” a two-week intensive push to get all remaining Active Matter content into Collage. Starting Monday, content on Active Matter will be frozen so that we can do a final import and deploy in Collage. We will do two “freezes,” one on Monday the 10th and one on Friday the14th (please see the calendar I sent out last week).
Content that will be frozen in Active Matter on Monday the 10th
– Advocacy Bucket
– Awards & Scholarships
– Awards Bucket
– Contacts & Questions
– Continuing Education
– ERT, IFRT, NMRT, SORT
– Events & Conferences
– Issues & Advocacy
– OIF
– OLOS
– Our Association
– Products & Publications
o Book Links
o Book Lists
o Editions
– Professional Tools
– Site Map A-Z
– SupportALA/Development Office
– Website Advisory Committee
This means that no one will be allowed to edit content in Active Matter in these sections starting Monday the 10th. If you have any urgent updates that reside in any of these areas, have them in place before 8:30 a.m. Monday the 10th. Any changes you make to content in Active Matter will be pulled into Collage during the final import and deploy. If you delete content in Active Matter, it will still appear in Collage, as the import can only pull in new and changed content. Put another way, it can’t pull in content that isn’t there. The original Collage import was done many months ago, so it’s very likely we pulled over things you have since deleted
Once the freeze has begun, we will do final imports and deploys on the sections above as we are able. You will have 24 hours to review your content in Collage and get us a list of major problems (see below). After we have fixed any major problems, we will will add a rule to the content services switch that will point all incoming traffic for your content to the Collage web servers, and your content will be live in Collage.
“Major Problems”
ITTS and Duo will fix problems with navigation and display. Individual units will be responsible for fixing broken links (most of which are broken in Active Matter, some of which will break in the conversion because they were “hard coded” in Active Matter), resolving shadow assets, and uploading missing pieces of content. If entire directories of content are missing, or all files of a certain type (say PDFs) are missing, ITTS and Duo will work together to get the missing content moved into Collage.
Please remember that a generous slate of training and support has been scheduled for Collage-a-Rama. See the “Training” tab in the KMS for specifics.
Second Freeze
The second freeze of Active Matter content will take place on Friday, March 14. Content in this freeze includes login pages and the home page. And after PIO has entered their weekly batch of press releases on March 18th, we will convert all press releases and other PIO content. This is necessary because so many other units point to or feed content in the press releases. It all needs to move over at once, then we can find links or feeds that are no longer functioning and fix them.
Then, on Wednesday, March 19th, we will “reverse the flow” on the content services switch, so that all incoming requests (with some exceptions) will flow to the Collage web servers instead of the Active Matter web server. Be aware that some things *will* remain on the Active Matter server, such as the Event Manager, Online Membership Application, and numerous databases and forms created originally on the AM server. We will migrate these applications as time and resources permit.
28 Feb 08 Collage-a-Rama
Collage-a-Rama: n. (fr. Old Eng., lots of Collage); 1. a two-week intensive push to get all remaining Active Matter web content moved over to Collage. 2. March 10 — 21, 2008.
We are about to embark on “Collage-a-Rama,” an intensive two-week push to get all remaining units’ web content live in Collage. Beginning March 10, we will “freeze” all remaining sections of Active Matter content, migrate them, review them, clean them up, and take them live in Collage. During this time, ITTS and Duo Consulting will be working overtime to import and deploy content in Collage, clean up any import problems, and provide training and one-on-one help.
In addition, Diane Foote, Executive Director of the Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC), has graciously agreed to serve as project mentor for anyone having Collage conversion jitters. ALSC recently migrated its content to Collage with very little drama, so Diane has a wealth of practical advice on what to look for, how to fix minor problems, and when to ask for help. We will also solicit other Collage-savvy volunteers to help units that are short-staffed or otherwise in need of help.
There is a rough schedule for Collage-a-Rama (.doc file), but we are still working out with Duo which units will be converted on which days and hope to have that information to you by the end of this week (02/29/08). When your content has been imported and deployed in Collage, your unit will have 24 hours to review it and report any problems. Duo and ITTS will fix major structural, layout, graphic, and navigation issues you report. Units will be required to fix broken links and upload missing files themselves. If staff in your unit have not been to Collage training, now would be a good time to look at the schedule of upcoming training in the KMS (http://km.ala.org, click on “Training” tab). Five full-length Collage classes and nine 2-hour drop-in help sessions have been scheduled during Collage-a-Rama.
Units/Sections not yet live in Collage are: Advocacy Bucket, Awards & Scholarships, Awards Bucket, Book Links, Book Lists, Contacts & Questions, Continuing Education, Editions, ERT, Events & Conferences, IFRT, Issues & Advocacy, Meetings, News/ Press Releases, NMRT, OIF, OLOS, Our Association, PIO, Pre-White House, Products & Publications, Professional Tools, Site Map A-Z, SORT, Support ALA (Development), Website Advisory Committee
Please contact Rob Carlson at x3272 with any questions.
Tags: collage, final migration
