http://www.ukoln.ac.uk/web-focus/events/workshops/webmaster-2002/talks/ Details of the plenary talks at the Institutional Web Management Workshop 2002 en 2002-06-18 http://www.ukoln.ac.uk/web-focus/events/workshops/webmaster-2002/talks/law/ http://www.ukoln.ac.uk/web-focus/events/workshops/webmaster-2002/talks/law/ Derek will give reflections on the role of Web-based services in managing the life of educational communities. Avoiding turf wars, hiding real ownership costs, not scaring the management and letting everyone else think it was their idea - and other principled objectives are considered. 2002-06-18 http://www.ukoln.ac.uk/web-focus/events/workshops/webmaster-2002/talks/aird/ http://www.ukoln.ac.uk/web-focus/events/workshops/webmaster-2002/talks/aird/ There are signs that HE is finally waking up to the real opportunities that the Web offers, in the wake of revolutions in the banking, travel and music industries. Web managers are beginning to find themselves in a crucial, and increasingly powerful position within their institutions but often without that vital roadmap, telescope or crystal ball. In other words, it's time to stop paying lip-service to that dog-eared 'strategic consultative plan' and to come up with some radical ideas and fool-proof tactics that will put the web at the very heart of our business. Andrew Aird, Director of Web Services at King's College, London will take you on a safari from the swamps of apathy, through the plateau of innocence, up the rocky path of persuasion to finally emerge in on the sunlit peaks of virtuality, inclusiveness and sustainability. 2002-06-18 http://www.ukoln.ac.uk/web-focus/events/workshops/webmaster-2002/talks/nisen/ http://www.ukoln.ac.uk/web-focus/events/workshops/webmaster-2002/talks/nisen/ The Web has become one of the most important information and communication inventions - ever! But can it store, process and deliver knowledge? The Web as a knowledge tool will be investigated and current trends will be discussed. Maybe the Web in its current form just is not good enough. 2002-06-19 http://www.ukoln.ac.uk/web-focus/events/workshops/webmaster-2002/talks/phipps/ http://www.ukoln.ac.uk/web-focus/events/workshops/webmaster-2002/talks/phipps/ The talk will outline implications of new disability legislation and use case studies to illustrate possible legislative outcomes for those involved in providing Web-based material both at a strategic and practitioner level. In addition the session will look at UK approaches to the legislation, focusing on case studies from the UK education sector. A range of resources that support staff in meeting the needs of students with disabilities will also be highlighted. However, as well as bringing new pressures to bear on institutional staff, side effects of the legislation may create opportunities and these will be explored during the talk. 2002-06-19 http://www.ukoln.ac.uk/web-focus/events/workshops/webmaster-2002/talks/tanner/ http://www.ukoln.ac.uk/web-focus/events/workshops/webmaster-2002/talks/tanner/ The talk will give the experience of implementing commercial Web-based MIS applications for Lecturers college wide in a large FE/HE institution. Starting with the strategic objective to both integrate and open up the mysteries of management information to be under the ownership of all it will provide an honest analysis of the successes and failures at a site running web based views onto live commercial databases for up to 3 years in some of the following areas - Student & Course Records including live enrolment tracking and Web-based reporting; Timetables, Library Catalogue and eRegisters. Analogies will be made of the traditional 'silver service' approach to information where lecturers would request the support office or MI team to provide their particular information order just how they liked it, compared to the drive-thru world where it's more DIY and fast food limited menu format, and those running the service (servers) are those 20 years their juniors with pony tails wearing baseball caps back to front speaking in weird language but at least they recognise the coffee flavour being discussed ....... 2002-06-19 http://www.ukoln.ac.uk/web-focus/events/workshops/webmaster-2002/talks/simpson/ http://www.ukoln.ac.uk/web-focus/events/workshops/webmaster-2002/talks/simpson/ De Montfort University is building a student-centred Web portal / Managed Learning Environment [MLE]. It is intended that the MLE should become the primary source of information for students at the University, be it educational, social or reference material. In order for this to occur, the MLE must be highly usable, allowing all types of students access to information intuitively. The talk describes the formative and summative usability methods that have been used to develop the site. In particular, the benefits of each of the chosen methods will be highlighted, how each contributed to the design and where it fitted into the design process. Lastly, a description of the usability evaluation methods, which will be used to measure the on-going usability of the portal and its information resources, will be provided. 2002-06-19 http://www.ukoln.ac.uk/web-focus/events/workshops/webmaster-2002/talks/mcconnell/ http://www.ukoln.ac.uk/web-focus/events/workshops/webmaster-2002/talks/mcconnell/ This talk examines centralised and decentralised strategies for Web management and development, and discusses the pros and cons of each. The question is one that has taxed HEIs since the early days of the web: to what degree should constituent parts of an institution be autonomous in development of their Web services? Can the rules, procedures and editorial controls which apply to traditional media (prospectuses, brochures, etc.) be translated to the Web? How can institutional objectives be reconciled with the (often conflicting) goals and ambitions of constituent departments and sections? The speakers will examine the pros and cons of each approach by providing case study examples from their personal experiences managing two Scottish HEI Web sites. 2002-06-19 http://www.ukoln.ac.uk/web-focus/events/workshops/webmaster-2002/talks/browning/ http://www.ukoln.ac.uk/web-focus/events/workshops/webmaster-2002/talks/browning/ The question "Do we need a Content Management System (CMS)?" has become a no-brainer. The upcoming disability legislation has provided a useful external driver - the only resource efficient way of providing a consistently accessible Web site is by the templating approach offered with a CMS. This year's question seems to be "Do we need an Institutional Portal?". It is important that any decision about a portal framework is not taken independently of deliberations concerning a CMS. Portals, fundamentally, are content-free - they do not store content but aggregate it from many other places. One content repository from which a portal will provide views is the institutional CMS. But it is also likely that the portal will offer "contributor channels" through which information providers directly edit content hosted by the underlying CMS. It is therefore crucial to understand the relationship between the portal and the CMS - and not just in technical terms. That said, XML + XSLT has emerged as a key technology in this area. 2002-06-19