Wednesday, August 19 2009 - Biology 1 (B1) 266
Present:
Michelle Douglas-Mills, Guillermo Fuentes, Eva Grabinski, Chris Gray, Bob Hicks, Karen Jack, Jim Johnston, John Kemp, Pat Lafranier, Megan McDermott Paul Miskovsky, Isaac Morland, Kris Olafson, Kevin Paxman, Terry Stewart (Chair), Kelly Teahen, Evan Truong.
Absent:
David Bean, Mary Lynn Benninger, Sharon Dahmer, Don Duff-McCracken, Tobi Day-Hamilton, Sarah Forgrave, Jaymis Goertz, Marlon Griffith, Lauren Harrison, Tammy Marcinko, Geoff McBoyle, Sean Van Koughnett.
1. Chair's remarks
a. New members
Chris Gray will be replacing Alan Bell as Library rep. Eva Grabinski is now a Computing Consultant in Information Systems and technology (IST) (congratulations to Eva) and will be replacing Bob Hicks from IST.
b. Upcoming events
EdUi conference: "Remaining "* http://www.eduiconf.org/program/ . New (hopefully) annual conference at University of Virginia. "Focusing on the universal methods and tools of user interface and interaction design as well as the unique challenges of producing websites and applications for large institutions, EdUI is a perfect opportunity for web professionals in higher education, K-12 schools, government, and local and regional businesses to develop skills and share ideas."
c. Web Content Management Systems (CMS)
Announcement has been made. [[http://newsrelease.uwaterloo.ca/news.php?id=5095][See University of Waterloo Press release 2009- #68]]
Two articles in the Daily Bulletin by Pat Bow that Alan, Eva and Terry contributed to on [[http://www.bulletin.uwaterloo.ca/2009/jul/31fr.html][July 31st]] and [[http://www.bulletin.uwaterloo.ca/2009/aug/04tu.html][Aug 4th]].
Lisa Tomalty-Crans has informed Hannon-Hill that we will not be using Cascade Server.
Update from Alan George: "Eva Grabinski has joined Client Services, IST. That will not change the plan to have her lead the Waterloo content Management System (WCMS) implementation, and that will be essentially her main responsibility for the next year or so. In some respects the situation will be better than the original scenario, since she will not have some of her time devoted to other tasks. As soon as she joins IST (August 19), I hope she will immediately begin assembling a team and decide who should go for training. There appear to be a number of people eager to get involved, which is great. I have money set aside for training. At the moment we do not have plans for using other Enterprise Content Management (ECM) products from Open Text. However, given the difficulties we have had with Hyland, the subject has come up and we have not closed the door on the possibility. As you probably know, Open Text was a strong candidate when we were deciding what DMS to buy."
d. Evaluation of web application vulnerability scanners
[[ISTITSec.WebVulnerabilityScannerEvaluationProjectCharter][Project Charter]] has been developed. Jason Testart requested volunteers from uw-web list to test vulnerabilities in web applications. David Bean, Isaac Morland, and John Kemp from Web Advisory Committee are among the volunteers.
e. From the mailing list
[[http://squaredpeg.com/index.php/2009/08/03/web-callouts-facebook-research-bluefuego/][Social Networking Stats.]] Statistics on Social Website Call-outs on university web pages.
[[http://www.opentext.com/2/global/press-release-details.html?id=2201][Open Text announced that they have purchased Vignette. ]]Vignette is a large company with 700 employees and large customer base. Open Text bought Visible (digital media software) in spring. And in January, Autonomy bought Interwoven. So, it would appear that there is some market consolidation happening.
2. Minutes of July 15, 2009 approved
With a minor correction to the date (July 15 not July 13).
3. EduWeb conference report (Pat Lafranier)
Pat Lafranier and Lisa Tomalty (IST) attended the [[http://www.eduwebconference.com/][EduWeb Conference]] in Chicago July 20-22. There were three major streams: "Marketing and Communications," "Design and Development", and "Get it Done." Speakers included Stewart Foss, Dimitri Glaskov, Susan Evans and Brian Niles. Conference was very useful but tended to be more marketing oriented than technically oriented. Pat and Lisa will be making a full report at the September 12th Professional Development Seminar in MC2009 at 9:00am. The report will be available online closer to that date.
4. University of Waterloo branding (Kelley Teahen)
A draft of the logo was released on Facebook. There has been considerable controversy surrounding the logo. It should be remembered that the identity framework is a framework and not just the logo. Many elements of the framework have tested well, including the new banners on and around campus. Several useful criticisms have come out of the controversy. The majority of the "design language" seems to be working but the question is does the final expression (i.e., the proposed logo) accurately reflect the attributes of the University. There will probably be a special session for student feedback, as well as the upcoming town hall meeting for faculty and staff. As far as the web goes, the issue of the logo should not affect the time lines for redesigning the web space.
5. Web redesign (Megan McDermott)
A redesign team has been assembled with desk space in Graphics. It consists of Megan McDermott, Sarah Forgrave, a co-op student and one other member to be announced. Jaymis Goertz and Matt Regehr will also be available to the project. Meg Beckel has requested a functional prototype in November. Audience research will start soon. There are plans for general audience and web maintainer surveys and a Facebook page. WAC members can follow along at web.uwaterloo.ca There is an RSS feed for that site. The Web Manager position has been advertised externally.
6. Search (Megan McDermott)
An updated search, which includes a feedback form, is now available. Details and coding are at web.uwaterloo.ca. Web maintainers are encouraged to update the search form on their pages. They are also encouraged to fix redirects by using 301 redirects and to make sure title tags are accurate and not the same throughout the site. Of particular use is the "Didn't find what you're looking" feedback form. It has been generating some useful feedback. While Megan is on leave, Lauren Harrison may act as a resource.
7. Email link on University of Waterloo home page (Pat Lafranier)
The Email link on the Waterloo home page (which has the most hits of any on the home page) currently goes to mywaterloo.ca. But increasingly administrative areas and Faculties are moving to connect.uwaterloo.ca for email. Both use different web interfaces and it is not recommended to use mywaterloo for connect. Various options were discussed, including: another link on the home page, a landing page for the various email systems, and automatically redirecting the user based upon settings in WatIAM. We need to be careful that we don't make the situation so complex that it is difficult for users and difficult to maintain. Bob Hicks will discuss WatIAM issues with Connie van Oosteen. Terry Stewart will investigate possibilities with Ray White for mywaterloo. Item tabled to next meeting.
8. DNS Resolution Policy subcommittee (Jim Johnston)
No report.
9. Weblinks on web.uwaterloo.ca (Megan McDermott)
Megan McDermott has prepared an area for Resources. To access, login and go to create content > resources. Resources will include both news items and more permanent resources. An RSS-feed is now available.
10. Advertisments on University of Waterloo web pages (Pat Lafranier)
Carmen Roecker sent an email to Pat Lafranier requesting advice on the footer of the [[http://ugradcalendar.uwaterloo.ca/][undergrad calendar]] which states "Powered by Interglobal Solutions." Should this be removed? Several opinions were offered. Some felt it should be removed because the company had been paid. Others felt that only official University of Waterloo content should be in the footer. It was noted that the wireless page sports an obvious graphical advertisement for Aruba networks. The Advertisements and Waterloo Web Pages subcommittee will meet to develop recommendations for the next meeting.
11. Next meeting 3:00-4:30pm, September 16, 2009 in Needles Hall (NH) 3004
12. *Meeting adjourned - 4:30 pm*
-- Terry Stewart - 20 Aug 2009