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Web Operational Management Group

Minutes of the Meeting of March 24, 2010
2 - 3:30 pm, Davis Library Conference Rm 1568

Present: Nancy Collins, Marian Davies (Recorder), Chris Gray, Tim Ireland, Esther Millar, Doug Morton (Chair), Charles Woods

Guest: Jonathan Sutherland

Regrets: Annie Bélanger, Allan Bell, Bill Oldfield

Note: The agenda was revised at the start of the meeting. 1. Approval of minutes, then 2. Nancy's Tour of Ryerson's intranet.

  1. Approval of WebOps Minutes of March 10 – Approved with minor changes

  2. Tour of Ryerson's New Intranet
    Nancy presented an overview of Ryerson Library's (RULA) intranet. Nancy arranged to have a guest pass to access the site. Administrative access is possible if staff are interested. Modelled after McMaster Library's intranet, the site illustrates a commitment to both community and communication. Library teams are prominently displayed and interactive features such as 'shout box', group blogs, and individual blogs encourage open communications. The intranet uses a tab structure that points to: Departments, Policies, Committees, Training and Workshops, Projects, Schedules, Library News and the Old Intranet. Although the staff compliment at Ryerson is smaller than at uWaterloo, the functionality, features, and design in their intranet are important to note.

  3. Business Arising
    1. Business Arising
      • #2-5. All actions are "in the works."
      • #6. Bill examined the logs and emailed his findings to the group. Please see Bill's email sent: Thu 11/03/2010 3:19pm; Subject: Themes and Usage, along with the attachment titled "Theme Statistics.xlsx".

  4. Agenda Review
    Add item: RefWorks Group code (Tim), and insert as agenda item 5.

  5. RefWorks Group Code
    Tim discussed the need to make the RefWorks Group Code more readily available to those who need it. The Group Code question is one of the most frequently asked questions regarding RefWorks. The group approved the decision to insert a new page at the top of the Library Guide, RefWorks: Getting Started: http://www.lib.uwaterloo.ca/libguides/1-15.html that would point patrons to a page where they could access the Group Code information. Since this information is restricted to the uWaterloo community an authentication page needs to be included for off-campus users.
    ACTION: Chris volunteered to set this up.

  6. Research Database Page
    Doug reported on behalf of Annie.
    A committee or working group will be created to look at criteria and/or principles to apply when deciding which vendor/provider/database will be included or not included. In addition the group will make design recommendations based on research such as card sorting exercises and usability studies. The project will begin once LibGuides and YBP are finalized.
    ACTION: Annie will distribute the project outline.

  7. Website Redesign
    Annie provided a quick update:
    Homepage prototype release
    • You can submit feedback through web.uwaterloo.ca; Facebook, twitter. You can also send me your feedback to share with the core web team.
    • The team does feel strongly about the photos being submitted from the UW community. We’re drafting some proposed ways for “harvesting” photos.
    Usability testing to begin shortly.
    • I’m working closely with the web communications coop student on this. We’re coming up with a fuller plan that we hope to present to the Web Redesign Taskforce.
    • Communications went out yesterday for recruiting volunteers. Encourage staff you know to think about participating – we need folks from differing areas.
    • We’ll be looking for moderators, so if anyone is interested, that would be great.
    • We’re using the report from the last UW usability task force as the baseline for the current CLF.
    • Round 1 will be focused on the gateways and will be using card sorting.
    • Round 2+ will be focused on task-based testing.
    Information Architecture is one of the next key deliverables. Sarah, Tonya (White Whale), Eva (CMS) and I will shortly begin meeting to finalize the proposal for the core web team.
    Competencies needed for the “new” site is on our radar. If you have thoughts, please share them with me.

    Questions and concerns that arose from Annie's update include a request to clarify what types of competencies (other than technical) are required, and within the technical competencies what training should staff receive.

  8. Around the Table
    Nancy inquired about the increase of legitimate email flagged as spam, especially since the update to 'connect'. Charles reported that he will write an information memo to all library staff explaining certain features of the junk mail settings in Outlook, which should reduce the amount of junk mail. In addition, Charles stressed the importance of checking the junk mail folder for legitimate messages.
    ACTION: Charles will first consult with Michael Holmes, and then send an email to library staff.

  9. Next Meeting
    Next Meeting: April 14, Porter 428. 2-3:30 pm. Recorder: Tim
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May 13, 2010