IWMW 2011 blog » kirsty-pitkin http://iwmw.ukoln.ac.uk/blog/2011 Supporting UKOLN's IWMW 2011 event Fri, 20 Apr 2012 08:43:04 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.1.4 IWMW11 Conclusions and Reflections http://iwmw.ukoln.ac.uk/blog/2011/2011/08/09/iwmw11-conclusions-and-reflections/ http://iwmw.ukoln.ac.uk/blog/2011/2011/08/09/iwmw11-conclusions-and-reflections/#comments Tue, 09 Aug 2011 14:42:35 +0000 kirsty-pitkin http://iwmw.ukoln.ac.uk/blog/2011/?p=671 Continue reading →]]> In bringing IWMW11 to a close, Brian Kelly invited a number of web managers to share their experiences and reflect on what the event and the community had contributed to their professional practices…

Milly Shaw from the University of Sunderland described their recent experiments with student bloggers, who were encouraged to blog about university life as a way of demonstrating authentic university life to prospective students in their Lives Online project.

Claire Gibbon from the University of Bradford described her department’s efforts to make themselves known within the institution and the local community as expert advisors on social media, which has involved running social media surgeries for staff and local community groups to help bring them onto campus.

Duncan Ireland from the University of Strathclyde described the activities of the Scottish Regional Group, which has been meeting informally every 3-4 months as a result of bonds forged at previous IWMW events. They often meet to discuss specific topical issues and collect together just prior to or immediately after IWMW each year to help extend the conversations associated with the event.

Miles Banbery from the University of Kent described work at this year’s event which has led to the establishment of an ongoing collaborative document designed to pull together ideas about how to maximise institutional webmaster impact. The hope is that this will prove to be a valuable resource to the community going forward, and to which they can all contribute.

And finally, Christopher Gutteridge demonstrated what his team has been doing with cookie data for the catering department at the University of Southampton, showing what can be done with linked data. Their exploits are all documented at their department blog, which was inspired by previous IWMW events. Chris emphasised the need to encourage each other to blog more, especially by commenting.

Picture 007

Brian drew attention to the new UK HE Web Professionals LinkedIn group that was started as a result of discussions at this year’s event, and the launch of the Institutional Web Team blog aggregator. Both of these things are designed to help support the community throughout the year so that the energy and ideas generated at IWMW11 are not lost when everyone returns to their day jobs.

With the event Twitter stream was a-buzz with discussion about the formation of further regional groups and collaborations, Brian and Marieke formally brought IWMW11 to a close.

]]> http://iwmw.ukoln.ac.uk/blog/2011/2011/08/09/iwmw11-conclusions-and-reflections/feed/ 1 IWMW11 Take Aways: Christopher Gutteridge http://iwmw.ukoln.ac.uk/blog/2011/2011/08/09/iwmw11-take-aways-christopher-gutteridge/ http://iwmw.ukoln.ac.uk/blog/2011/2011/08/09/iwmw11-take-aways-christopher-gutteridge/#comments Tue, 09 Aug 2011 10:56:07 +0000 kirsty-pitkin http://iwmw.ukoln.ac.uk/blog/2011/?p=597 In the final instalment of our series of IWMW11 take aways, Chris Gutteridge from the University of Southampton gives us a succinct summary of what he has taken away from the event…

View this video on Vimeo.

]]> http://iwmw.ukoln.ac.uk/blog/2011/2011/08/09/iwmw11-take-aways-christopher-gutteridge/feed/ 2 Plenary 8: The Strategic Developer http://iwmw.ukoln.ac.uk/blog/2011/2011/08/08/plenary-8-the-strategic-developer/ http://iwmw.ukoln.ac.uk/blog/2011/2011/08/08/plenary-8-the-strategic-developer/#comments Mon, 08 Aug 2011 15:42:05 +0000 kirsty-pitkin http://iwmw.ukoln.ac.uk/blog/2011/?p=658 Continue reading →]]> Paul Walk from UKOLN introduced us to the idea of the strategic developer and the work of the DevCSI project to foster innovation through local developers in order to create an environment in which strategic developers can emerge to benefit the sector.

“ Walk: “Successful companies innovate in a down market” #iwmw11 #p8
iwmwlive
July 27, 2011

The Cost of Innovation

Paul began his presentation by questioning the costs of the current trend towards outsourcing development and IT expertise in HE institutions, highlighting the lost capacity of innovate that can result from the practice…

“ Walk: Discussing the temptation for universities to cut away the ability to innovate #iwmw11 #p8
iwmwlive
July 27, 2011
“ Walk: Asks whether local IT expertise a sunk cost? Outsourcing IT capacity has a cost, including loss of tacit knowledge #iwmw11 #p8
iwmwlive
July 27, 2011
“ Walk: Innovation happens in a local context – it needs to be driven by user demands and needs #iwmw11 #p8
iwmwlive
July 27, 2011

DevCSI

Within this context, Paul introduced the work of the JISC-funded DevCSI project, which seeks to foster innovation by supporting local developer.

He outlined the results of their research into the general standing of local developers within the institution, and described the training and community building opportunities that the project has facilitated, particularly through their Dev8D event.

“ Walk: The #devcsi stakeholder survey showed widespread agreement that local developers understand local context better #iwmw11 #p8
iwmwlive
July 27, 2011
“ Walk: 70% of those surveyed by #devcsi felt that local developers were undervalued #iwmw11 #p8
iwmwlive
July 27, 2011
“ Walk: #dev8d saw the building of an interactive whiteboard out of a nintendo wii and a sheet of tracing paper #iwmw11 #p8
iwmwlive
July 27, 2011
“ Walk: We think we delivered £85k worth of training at one 2-day event using peer-to-peer training #iwmw11 #p8
iwmwlive
July 27, 2011
“ Walk: A well connected community of developers is greater than the sum of its parts. You haven’t just got one or two guys #iwmw11 #p8
iwmwlive
July 27, 2011

Strategic Roles

Paul concluded by describing the lack of career progression for local developers and the clear need for strategic leads as technology becomes increasingly important to universities.

“ Walk: The strategic role is missing – the technical guide #iwmw11 #p8
iwmwlive
July 27, 2011
“ Walk: Good management of URLs is going to become very important – this is the new currency for institutions #iwmw11 #p8
iwmwlive
July 27, 2011
“ Walk: Key information sets will become a big deal over the next few years, whether we like it or not #iwmw11 #p8
iwmwlive
July 27, 2011

Reactions

The web managers had the following comments to make about Paul’s presentation…

“ RT @iwmwlive Can web managers and developers work well together? #iwmw11 #p8 <– Definitely especially if they can talk the same language
webpackets
July 27, 2011
“ Can highly recommend #dev8d! #iwmw11 #p8
MikeNolan
July 27, 2011
“ @iwmwlive Don’t be afraid to enter the testosterone den of the developers’ office! #iwmw11 #p8
KateLLin
July 27, 2011

Further Information

Paul’s slides from this presentation are available in PDF form at the IWMW webpage for his talk.

More information about the work of the DevCSI project in this area, including the case studies Paul cited during his talk, can be found at the DevCSI Local Dev Impact page.

You can view Paul’s talk in full on Vimeo.

]]> http://iwmw.ukoln.ac.uk/blog/2011/2011/08/08/plenary-8-the-strategic-developer/feed/ 0 IWMW11 Take Aways: Dave Challis http://iwmw.ukoln.ac.uk/blog/2011/2011/08/08/iwmw11-take-aways-dave-challis/ http://iwmw.ukoln.ac.uk/blog/2011/2011/08/08/iwmw11-take-aways-dave-challis/#comments Mon, 08 Aug 2011 10:47:46 +0000 kirsty-pitkin http://iwmw.ukoln.ac.uk/blog/2011/?p=595 Dave Challis from the University of Southampton describes his IWMW11 take aways for us in this short video interview…

View this video on Vimeo.

]]> http://iwmw.ukoln.ac.uk/blog/2011/2011/08/08/iwmw11-take-aways-dave-challis/feed/ 0 Plenary 7: Online Privacy http://iwmw.ukoln.ac.uk/blog/2011/2011/08/05/plenary-7-online-privacy/ http://iwmw.ukoln.ac.uk/blog/2011/2011/08/05/plenary-7-online-privacy/#comments Fri, 05 Aug 2011 14:55:36 +0000 kirsty-pitkin http://iwmw.ukoln.ac.uk/blog/2011/?p=655 Continue reading →]]> Dave Raggett from the University of the West of England used his plenary talk to discuss the issue of online privacy, particularly in view of recent EU legislation regarding the use of cookies.

iwmw11

“ Raggett: You become the product the websites are selling #iwmw11 #p7
iwmwlive
July 27, 2011

Setting the Scene

Dave began by providing an overview of the current situation relating to cookies and online privacy, including where these issues rank in relation to other global concerns.

“ Raggett: 80% of browsers could be identified without using any cookies according to Electronic Fronteir Foundation #iwmw11 #p7
iwmwlive
July 27, 2011
“ Raggett: There is a proliferation of ways to store data in the browser, including HTML 5 local storage and flash cookies #iwmw11 #p7
iwmwlive
July 27, 2011
“ Raggett: Advertising is now using a profiling model using 3rd party cookies to provide detailed tracking of users across the web #iwmw11 #p7
iwmwlive
July 27, 2011
“ Raggett: Quoting Russell Glass: “nobody cares about online privacy because they’re worried about the economy & terrorism” #iwmw11 #p7
iwmwlive
July 27, 2011

Aiding Privacy

Dave discussed the work of the EU PrimeLife project and outlined some of the tools and initiatives that have emerged to help users manage their online privacy.

“ Raggett: We have seen the emergence of browser extensions for privacy that block ads and inhibit cookies #iwmw11 #p7
iwmwlive
July 27, 2011
“ Raggett: Describing the Privacy Dashboard, which helps you to see how websites are tracking you & adjust your settings as you go #iwmw11 #p7
iwmwlive
July 27, 2011
“ Raggett: Privacy Dashboard gives you a diagnosis of a webpage telling you what cookies and third parties are tracking you #iwmw11 #p7
iwmwlive
July 27, 2011
“ Raggett: W3C’s has organised workshops relating to privacy and technical working groups to support privacy by design #iwmw11 #p7
iwmwlive
July 27, 2011

Regulation

Dave highlighted some of the issues associated with regulation in this area, including the lack of clarity surrounding the wording of new legislation and the agendas of advertisers, who push for self-regulation.

“ Raggett: The advertising industry would like us to believe that self-regulation is the way. But is it? #iwmw11 #p7
iwmwlive
July 27, 2011
“ Raggett: There is a better need for regulation and better tools #iwmw11 #p7
iwmwlive
July 27, 2011
“ Raggett: The definition of “do not track” is not 100% clear – people push the definition depending on their interests #iwmw11 #p7
iwmwlive
July 27, 2011
“ Raggett: Self-regulatory efforts are like a patchwork, which is a real problem in itself, and covering cookies is not enough #iwmw11 #p7
iwmwlive
July 27, 2011
“ Raggett: The E-Privacy Directive appears to only apply to cookies – but its not clear. #iwmw11 #p7
iwmwlive
July 27, 2011

Users

Dave was keen to put these issues into context by considering them from the users’ perspective, noting that many of the suggested solutions so far do not support the average user in a realistic manner.

“ Raggett: Most users do not want to touch the browser settings, but do not track is opt in by default #iwmw11 #p7
iwmwlive
July 27, 2011
“ Raggett: You shouldn’t arm-twist users into an agreement that is to their detriment #iwmw11 #p7
iwmwlive
July 27, 2011

Technical Issues

To conclude, Dave outlined some of the technical issues that have yet to be resolved if cookies are to be used practically to add value, without infringing privacy.

“ Raggett: There is no good machine-readable way to identify what a cookie is being used for. Its impossible to identify good ones #iwmw11 #p7
iwmwlive
July 27, 2011
“ Raggett: Privacy friendly strong authentication: ways to prove the user’s trusted credentials without revealing identity #iwmw11 #p7
iwmwlive
July 27, 2011

Reactions

Privacy and the new cookie legislation are issues of great concern to the IWMW audience.  Here are just some of their reactions to Dave Raggett’s talk…

“ #iwmw11 #p7 cookies are useful to eg online purchasing would be impossible without them
rssidhu
July 27, 2011
“ It’s easy to forget that the #Facebook like button tracks your browsing @draggett #iwmw11 #p7
SocialCommsUK
July 27, 2011
“ #iwmw11 #p7 – presumably a key issue is what a 3rd party does with the information it gathers, and can this be regulated internationally?
ash_28
July 27, 2011
“ “Privacy is not dead, but it is deeply misunderstood”. Abso-blooming-lutely! #iwmw11 #p7
sharonsteeples
July 27, 2011

Further Information

Dave’s slides are available in PDF format at the IWMW webpage for his talk.

You can also view Dave’s presentation in full on Vimeo.

]]> http://iwmw.ukoln.ac.uk/blog/2011/2011/08/05/plenary-7-online-privacy/feed/ 1 IWMW11 Take Aways: Paul Wise http://iwmw.ukoln.ac.uk/blog/2011/2011/08/05/iwmw11-take-aways-paul-wise/ http://iwmw.ukoln.ac.uk/blog/2011/2011/08/05/iwmw11-take-aways-paul-wise/#comments Fri, 05 Aug 2011 10:41:06 +0000 kirsty-pitkin http://iwmw.ukoln.ac.uk/blog/2011/?p=591 Paul Wise from the Aberystwyth University gives us his light-hearted reflections on IWMW11 in this short video interview…

View this video on Vimeo.

]]> http://iwmw.ukoln.ac.uk/blog/2011/2011/08/05/iwmw11-take-aways-paul-wise/feed/ 0 Plenary 6: Embedding Web 2.0 http://iwmw.ukoln.ac.uk/blog/2011/2011/08/04/plenary-6-embedding-web-2-0/ http://iwmw.ukoln.ac.uk/blog/2011/2011/08/04/plenary-6-embedding-web-2-0/#comments Thu, 04 Aug 2011 14:11:37 +0000 kirsty-pitkin http://iwmw.ukoln.ac.uk/blog/2011/?p=651 Continue reading →]]> Martin Hamilton walked the audience through key lessons derived from his experience leading the Google Apps implementation at Loughborough University and the Google Apps for Education UK User Group, and subsequently co-authoring an institutional Web 2.0 good practice guide.

DSC_3833 by Guy Berresford Photography (aka Berrega)

“ Hamilton: Web 2.0 changes the relationship between the university, its academics and its users #iwmw11 #p6
iwmwlive
July 27, 2011

Experiences of Embedding Web 2.0

Martin began his presentation with a walk through of his own experiences of embedding Web 2.0 technologies in various contexts at Loughborough University, including his own work with Google Apps and work using Facebook to create a community around a new course. He also discussed the various policy development issues he has encountered within the institution as a result of this work, and the supporting evidence they have been collecting to inform policy decisions.

“ Hamilton: Loughborough has been playing with a wired, hired and fired traffic light system to judge what tools to look at #iwmw11 #p6
iwmwlive
July 27, 2011
“ Hamilton: Their institutional web 2.0 guidelines are available as a shared Google doc to crowdsource ideas #iwmw11 #p6
iwmwlive
July 27, 2011
“ Hamilton: Aiming to build up a portfolio of practical case studies to help pass on lessons about using these tools #iwmw11 #p6
iwmwlive
July 27, 2011
“ Hamilton: Demonstrating the my.Lboro student portal – which helps to slip messages in that we might not otherwise get to promote #iwmw11 #p6
iwmwlive
July 27, 2011

Tools

Martin went on to discuss web 2.0 tools in the context of institutional use and investment. He advocated that web managers should know about and have opinions about these tools, so they can play a role in guiding institutional use and policy making.

“ Hamilton: There is a tendency to assume that all web 2.0 things will be free. Ning’s £20 per year fee was seen as too high! #iwmw11 #p6
iwmwlive
July 27, 2011
“ Hamilton: It’s easy to forget the people we’re talking to don’t necessarily know about online tools we use i.e. Google Forms #iwmw11 #p6
iwmwlive
July 27, 2011
“ Hamilton: Nod to @psychemedia & his work with Google spreadsheets -should web managers be expected to know how to do this stuff? #iwmw11 #p6
iwmwlive
July 27, 2011

Beware of Speed

Martin concluded with a warning designed to keep us on our toes and make us consider the speed at which Web 2.0 tools evolve:

“ Hamilton: Internet years are very strange things. #iwmw11 #p6
iwmwlive
July 27, 2011

Reactions

The web managers in the audience shared the following range opinions and perspectives about Martin’s talk…

“ Nice to have a insight into Loughborough’s student portal. #iwmw11 #p6
sharonsteeples
July 27, 2011
“ Haven’t noticed digital literacy increasing as tools get easier – but easier for ppl to do things badly. :-( #iwmw11 #p6
j4
July 27, 2011
“ We need to have an opinion about Google + as people will ask US about it. #iwmw11 #P6
PlanetClaire
July 27, 2011
“ #iwmw11 #p6 key takeaway from Martin Hamilton’s talk – have a play with Google+
psm0726
July 27, 2011
“ Web 2.0 policy? Sigh. Do we also have a paper policy, whiteboard policy, biro policy…? #iwmw11 #p6
j4
July 27, 2011
“ Embedding 3rd Party services we need to consider reputation, message and dependability #iwmw11 #p6
Ruth_Q
July 27, 2011

Further Information

Martin’s slides are available in HTML5 from the IWMW webpage about his talk. Martin has also described his thinking on this topic in more detail in his recent blog post, which also describes his take aways from the event.

]]> http://iwmw.ukoln.ac.uk/blog/2011/2011/08/04/plenary-6-embedding-web-2-0/feed/ 0 IWMW11 Take Aways: Miles Banbery http://iwmw.ukoln.ac.uk/blog/2011/2011/08/04/iwmw11-take-aways-miles-banbery/ http://iwmw.ukoln.ac.uk/blog/2011/2011/08/04/iwmw11-take-aways-miles-banbery/#comments Thu, 04 Aug 2011 10:36:06 +0000 kirsty-pitkin http://iwmw.ukoln.ac.uk/blog/2011/?p=588 Continue reading →]]> In his almost obligatory annual video interview for IWMW, Miles Banbery from the University of Kent reflects on the quality of the sessions at this year’s IWMW and discusses the length of his take away list…

View this video on Vimeo.

]]> http://iwmw.ukoln.ac.uk/blog/2011/2011/08/04/iwmw11-take-aways-miles-banbery/feed/ 1 Plenary 5: UK University Website Visibility http://iwmw.ukoln.ac.uk/blog/2011/2011/08/03/plenary-5-uk-university-website-visibility/ http://iwmw.ukoln.ac.uk/blog/2011/2011/08/03/plenary-5-uk-university-website-visibility/#comments Wed, 03 Aug 2011 14:03:54 +0000 kirsty-pitkin http://iwmw.ukoln.ac.uk/blog/2011/?p=644 Continue reading →]]> Following on the theme of search, Professor Melius Weideman from Cape Peninsula University presented his findings following a study of UK HEI websites from the perspective of a search engine crawler.

“ Weideman: Usability and visibility are the two motivating factors when judging the success of a website design #iwmw11 #p5
iwmwlive
July 27, 2011

Methodology

To begin, Weideman described the methodology for his study, including some of the assumptions and omissions he made, and the evidence which informed the focus of his study, such as established user behaviours.

“ Weideman: I couldn’t find out how many universities the UK has! Studied a sample of 38, assuming total population is circa 150 #iwmw11 #p5
iwmwlive
July 27, 2011
“ Weideman: Most users seem to prefer natural search engine results, rather than paid results, which are seen as ads #iwmw11 #p5
iwmwlive
July 27, 2011
“ Weideman: 2/3rd of users will click on the first two positions on the search results #iwmw11 #p5
iwmwlive
July 27, 2011
“ Weideman: There was no method within the available tools to analyse anchor text links, so this was omitted #iwmw11 #p5
iwmwlive
July 27, 2011

Tips

In outlining the criteria he used to assess his sample group of websites, Weideman described best practices for optimising websites for search engines, which provided the audience with the following practical tips to help improve their sites…

Tips for description metatags:

“ Weideman: Reminding us of the importance of the description metatag. You need a copywriting expert to do this well #iwmw11 #p5
iwmwlive
July 27, 2011
“ Weideman: A good description metatag will be multiple sentence, keyword rich, well written, and strong uni related #iwmw11 #p5
iwmwlive
July 27, 2011

Tips for title tags:

“ Weideman: Title tags are important: they appear top left on most browsers. The top left is the most read part of the screen #iwmw11 #p5
iwmwlive
July 27, 2011
“ Weideman: How many people search for the word “home page” to find your university? Don’t use non-sensical words at the start! #iwmw11 #p5
iwmwlive
July 27, 2011
“ Weideman: The title tag is prime real estate, so don’t waste characters #iwmw11 #p5
iwmwlive
July 27, 2011
“ Weideman: A good title tag starts with the full uni name, plus other important key words about the content #iwmw11 #p5
iwmwlive
July 27, 2011

Tips for header tags:

“ Weideman: Best practice for header tags: one H1 per page, very descriptive, followed by some H2 and H3 #iwmw11 #p5
iwmwlive
July 27, 2011

The Results

Weideman highlighted the universities that came out on top in his analysis of specific criteria, and those which ranked highest overall for visibility across all criteria.

“ Weideman: University of Warwick came top of the rankings for inlinks #iwmw11 #p5
iwmwlive
July 27, 2011
“ Weideman: University of Birmingham came top of the results for the quality of their description metatags #iwmw11 #p5
iwmwlive
July 27, 2011
“ Weideman: University of Liverpool and came top overall for their website visibility, followed by University of Cambridge #iwmw11 #p5
iwmwlive
July 27, 2011

Reactions

Melius’ presentation was very popular given it’s practical, evidence-based tips that informed immediate changes to improve the search visibility of institutional websites.

Here are just some of the things the audience had to say about the talk…

“ loving th eback to basics metatag analysis of Weiderman – a reminder to keep the key crawlable texts complete and well selected #p5 #iwmw11
suchprettyeyes
July 27, 2011
“ Good stuff about microcopy and #contentstrategy RT @iwmwliveWeideman: You need a copywriting expert to do this well #iwmw11 #p5
annindk
July 27, 2011
“ We put page specific info before org name to get more relevant words first – also helps with #a11y says Shaw Trust #iwmw11 #p5
KateLLin
July 27, 2011
“ Are we optimising our website with the words that people are looking for? #iwmw11 #P5
PlanetClaire
July 27, 2011
“ Looks like @SalfordUni has a lot of work to do to topple top 10 uni search engine rankings. Drat. #iwmw11 #p5
mancypino
July 27, 2011
“ #iwmw11 #p5 Excellent talk. Good reminder to go back to the basics for Search Engine Optimisation.
sharonsteeples
July 27, 2011

Further Information

For full details of his research and the top 10 rankings against each of his criteria, Melius’ slides are available in PDF format at the IWMW webpage for his talk.

You can view Melius’ presentation in full on Vimeo.

]]> http://iwmw.ukoln.ac.uk/blog/2011/2011/08/03/plenary-5-uk-university-website-visibility/feed/ 1 IWMW11 Take Aways: Debbie Nicholson http://iwmw.ukoln.ac.uk/blog/2011/2011/08/03/iwmw11-take-aways-debbie-nicholson/ http://iwmw.ukoln.ac.uk/blog/2011/2011/08/03/iwmw11-take-aways-debbie-nicholson/#comments Wed, 03 Aug 2011 10:27:27 +0000 kirsty-pitkin http://iwmw.ukoln.ac.uk/blog/2011/?p=584 Continue reading →]]> In this short video interview, Debbie Nicholson from the University of Essex discusses the positive impact that IWMW has made on the work of her team since last year’s event and reflects on the value of this year’s workshop…

View this video on Vimeo.

]]> http://iwmw.ukoln.ac.uk/blog/2011/2011/08/03/iwmw11-take-aways-debbie-nicholson/feed/ 0