ITTS Update

Urchin is installed and running. Staff are now able to pull up meaningful statistics with just a few clicks.

We continue on WebCT version 4.1.1.5 while we evaluate our options. We will create a Moodle test bed to evaluate its suitability as a replacement for WebCT.

In November, the Web Editorial Board heard from Sam Florio, Online Marketing Manager in Publishing, about search engine optimization techniques he uses to attract more viewers to ALA's e-commerce sites. The WEB will implement Sam's techniques across the website by including proper tagging and titling in Collage training classes.

Most deliverables from the usability assessment have been received and will be reviewed with a panel of ALA members and staff on December 18, 2006, in Chicago. The result of the retreat will be a plan for moving forward with needed changes to the website. See http://blogs.ala.org/webplanning.php for more information.

The server TrackIT! resides on needs to be rebuilt in order to resolve problems that have been encountered since TrackIT! went live.

No change.

Jack Briody's departure in November has caused us to re-evaluate this project. We expect to be able to contract with Jack to complete this project on a contract basis before Midwinter.

We are expecting a proposal from Sydney+ regarding the feedback form in early December.

The online communities application has been stable since last month's attacks. We are looking at enhancements to the communities applications which will be implemented as resources permit.

Work continues on customizing the volunteer application for four ALA units.

An attempt to go live on Collage with American Libraries online had to be rolled back when it was discovered secure socket layer (SSL) traffic was being lost. We are investigating options for fixing this situation. Conversion of current content continues in the meantime, with four units ready for review. Training is scheduled to start the first week in December.

The "bad behavior" plug-in for MediaWiki has been installed. New wikis this month include the Web Planning Retreat, Sister Libraries, National Library Agenda, Virtual Reference Directory, Publications, and ACRL Baltimore (conference wiki), for a total of 28. Additionally, Read Write Connect has been created, a wiki to consolidate access to all ALA blogs, wikis, RSS feeds, podcasts, Flickr sites, etc.

New blogs this month include the Web Planning Retreat, Member Participation, American Libraries Centennial, and a blog for the Office for Intellectual Freedom. There are now 25 blogs being served from the ALA server.