Enhancements to current services (Sherri)
* Outlook Migration
Handed out a draft schedule
Will start with Conference Services tomorrow
Converting and training about 10 people at a time
Conversion process is about 30 steps, not all of which we've been able to automate
Need one hour of prep time and two hours of conversion time for a 500MB or less mailbox, so please try get your mailbox at or below that level
Right-clicking on your "mailbox" and selecting "mailbox properties" will show you how large it is
During the conversion process, we will need access to your computer so that we can uninstall Groupwise, install Outlook, and attach your archive to Outlook
While your account is inaccessible, you will attend a 3-hour training session with Louise
ITTS is starting out with a 3-hour course (normally they are 1-3 days), but will offer an advanced version later
If you have a laptop, bring it in so it can go through this process
Reminders and recurring events will not convert, nor will proxies and rules
Events, tasks, and memos will, though
Frequent contacts will convert as a personal address book
Other staff still on Groupwise will see your email as coming from 123together.com until they are migrated to Outlook
- this does not affect how non-staff see your email (it will still appear as ALA to them)
The conversion should be completed by February 2008 if all goes according to plan
There will be make-up sessions at the end for those who are sick or can't attend their scheduled training
* Spacemaster implementation
Converting final data for final test
Should go live in the next month if successful
Web issues
* Web Editorial Board activities (Karen)
Has mostly been doing the usual news and spotlight decisions
Recently discussed how to handle all "news" on the website
Appointed a task force from the group to study this
- Came back with a proposal to replace the static view on the home page with three news feeds that change dynamically
- Feeds could then also be displayed elsewhere on the site
- Looking at a way to test this as a trial run, even as the usability study continues
Also going to start a long overdue conversation about what types of information should be in the CMS as static, carefully-structured pages versus what kinds of information should be in blogs, wikis, etc.
Need to collectively think about the long-term impact of working around the CMS
Would be happy to get questions, talking points, and other ways to frame this conversation
* Collage implementation (Karen, filling in for Rob)
Migration is about 2/3 done; should be completed in November
YALSA and International Relations have gone live
RUSA is scheduled to go live this week
Round Tables' pages are being reviewed
Question: for committees and round tables, are people putting new things in the new CMS or the old one?
Answer: until you're converted, keep putting it in Active Matter, because it will get converted from there; ALA committee pages have not been converted yet, so we should continue adding content for them in Active Matter
* Website Usability/Redesign (Karen, filling in for Rob)
User Works is giving an update to the Executive Board on Sunday
Have a summary of results of the feedback from the second set of wireframes
* Website Search Optimization Analysis
The proper markup structure is essential for an optimized web page (titling is important, the best place to put keyword phrases is in the title, links are indexed, the first 25 words on the page are very important for indexing)
- encouraged everyone to try finding things on the website when you don't already know where they are; it's an eye-opening education
* KM System Enhancements (Karen)
We're in the process of adding a "request/response" system for receiving, answering, and collaborating on answers
The public forms for submitting questions will appear on the website, while the internal KM system will show you which questions are awaiting a response from you or your unit
You'll also be able to forward a question to someone else who can better answer it
We can customize the system so that questions about specific topics can go to specific units
Answers to these questions will help build up a new "knowledge base" (another new tab in the KM system) of answers to frequently asked questions
Work was progressing on all of this, but there's been a slowdown because the Library is short one staff member right now - will return to this soon
New Capabilities (Matt)
* WebCT to Moodle conversion
Matt has been investigating conversion scripts for moving content from WebCT into Moodle
With the help of Donavan, he tested the scripts and unfortunately it didn't go as we had hoped
The scripts do work, but the effort doesn't save you much time from manually importing the content yourself because of all of the tweaks you have to make
November 29 is when our WebCT license expires
- this means that any course you have now that is running in WebCT needs to be running in Moodle if you want it to be working on November 30; otherwise, you can leave it in WebCT and migrate your content before February
The one known issue is that quizzes won't convert anyway and must be moved over manually
* Migrating existing blogs and wikis to the new hosting service
All new wikis and blogs have been going on the new service, everything seems to be working well
As we get ready to migrate existing blogs and wikis over, we'll start with wikis first
Blogs will be more difficult because we're actually switching software from b2evolution to WordPress (whereas we'll still be using Mediawiki for the wikis)
- requires conversion of content (posts and comments)
- maintaining access rights for authors and admins
- skins/templates don't convert, so when you decide you want your blog moved, you'll need to spend time creating the new skin on WP
ITTS is not going to drag anyone out of b2e at this time; will work through the process first
The major complication for both of these is the RSS feed, because URLs change between software, so we need to work out if we can maintain existing addresses
Question: Is there training we'll need to go into the new environment?
Answer: Well, there wasn't any training previously for the blogs, but WordPress is easier to use in general and we are trying to provide documentation for this. For wikis, the software will be the same, and Matt will be migrating the actual content, which should stay the same
Question: Are new blogs being set up?
Answer: Yes. Some requests are getting lost between Track-It and email, so please let us know if something has fallen through the cracks.
Question: when blogs are migrated, what happens with members who are already authors on them?
Answer: Matt will test migrating the posts and comments over. Blog owners will have to handle the skins, but Matt can give admins access to do this. Once Matt gives staff access, you can then work with members to implement skins, authors, etc. Authors may not convert over, but Matt will try to migrate them.
Question: will it be possible for us to have one wiki login or one blog login across the board?
Answer: The software isn't designed to work that way. Would have to hack each wiki to make it look at an authentication database, which would be difficult. Would also require a much more complex system of permissions than we currently use.
Association 2.0 (Jenny)
* AL Focus
Just a reminder that ALF is still plugging away at http://alfocus.ala.org/ and that you can post your own videos here, too
Can then embed the videos in your blog or wiki
This is also one place where we're trying to explain how the various parts of ALA work, so you might want to track what goes online here, too
- e.g., the BARC interview that explains what BARC is at http://alfocus.ala.org/videos/rod-hersberger-marilyn-hinshaw-interview
* r-mail
Noted that this service will give you code to paste into your blog that lets folks subscribe to email updates for your blog
This way, they don't have to know what RSS is - they can just sign up here and get an email for each new blog post
Inserting a reminder here that this service is free, could go away at any time, and is not affiliated with ALA in any way; it will only work if their site is up and running, which ITTS cannot control
Note, too, that it does put a small ad at the very bottom of the email message
Still, it might be a good way to let users get updates - your call
* Feed2js
Installed this on the new hosting service so that we can display others' headlines on our sites, display our own headlines on our own sites, or let others display our headlines on their sites
To try this out for yourself, go to http://discuss.ala.org/feeds/build.php and paste in a URL for an RSS feed
- you can change the options if you'd like
- then take the code and paste it into your web page where you want the headlines to appear
You can also display things like American Libraries news headlines on your own sites to make them more dynamic
- see an example of it at http://discuss.ala.org/feeds/altest.html
You should be able to use this to display almost anything that has an RSS feed
It's not locked down (and won't be unless it becomes abused by non-ALA users), so feel free to use this to syndicate content yourself, as it is intended for ALA staff use
* SlideShare
This free site lets you upload a Powerpoint presentation or PDF file of slides and then converts it into a slideshow that users can click through
Also gives you code you can paste into your blog or wiki to display the slideshow on your own site
Also lets users comment on individual slides
Same caveats as noted for r-mail (free is as free does, etc.)
Still, this may be a great way to offer screencasts if you know how to use Powerpoint but don't have the time or knowledge to do something more robust in something like Camtasia
One note from someone that videos and screencasts need to be kept short, especially if it's just talking heads. Ten minutes can be way too long (3-5 is better).
Training (Louise)
* Outlook
Putting documentation on the ALA staff wiki
Expect to start receiving lots of emails from Louise when your unit starts getting ready to be converted
Question: The conversion for rules and folders - is there a way to copy the formula of rules in Groupwise or can we do screenshots? Will there be help for this ahead of time as we're cleaning up our mailboxes?
Answer: Try "print screen," but will check into this
Question: Are we using "archive" the same way (terminology)?
Answer: Ultimately, your archive gets stored on your I drive. Want to keep large attachments on your H drive. Can edit your archive through Groupwise.
Keeping up with developments
* Blog w/RSS Feed (and email alerts option) - http://blogs.ala.org/ittsupdate.php
* Wikis
- [http://wikis.ala.org/learningcollage Learning Collage]
- [http://wikis.ala.org/webplanning Web Planning]
