Rachel Vacek

Intranet 2.0 from a Project Management Perspective

Library intranets require flexibility and efficiency and enhance the internal communication and collaborative nature of creating and organizing the institutions information. At the University of Houston Libraries, the focus was on public services, so little attention was given to the intranet—the tool every department relied on for quick access to their content. Text-heavy, static Web pages with poor organization and outdated information made the site unusable. In 2008, the University of Houston Libraries assembled a team to begin the considerable task of redesigning the intranet with Drupal, a popular open source content management system that would allow for interactive information sharing, user-centered design, and new ways of collaboration. This article outlines on the overall project management of the intranet redesign process, including methods used for collecting staff feedback, evaluating existing and potential content, creating a new information architecture focused on departments and committees, establishing new internal communication channels, creating staff enthusiasm and buy-in, and training the entire library staff.

Streamlining Data for Cross-Platform Web Delivery

Smartphone users expect the presentation of Web sites on their mobile browsers to look and feel like native applications. With the pressure on library Web developers to produce app-like mobile sites, there is often a rush to get a site up without considering the importance of reusing or even restructuring the data driving the Web sites. An additional challenge is the content maintenance required of any Web site, regardless of platform, underscoring the advantage of pulling content from other systems to decrease redundancy. This article highlights case studies from two large research universities, examines how each one is streamlining its data for multiple Web-based platforms, and discusses how to work toward making data more flexible so content is delivered from single source points rather than duplicated on individual delivery platforms.