A question ofconfidence…

Alison WildishHead of Web Services, University of Bath

The Web: a Powerful Recruitment and Communication ToolNetwork: http://caseweb08.ning.com/ | Tag: caseweb08

The current climate…

Reviewing/commenting

Tagging

(Social) bookmarking

Fed information (RSS)

Expectations…

Contributing

Personalised

Customised

Quick, easy, informal…

11. Myspace12. Bebo13. Blogger14. Amazon15. Microsoft16. IMDB17. Rapidshare18. XXX19. Flickr20. XXX

Statistics courtesy of Alexa

Top 20 websites in the UK (May 08)

1. Google UK2. Yahoo!3. Windows Live4. Google5. YouTube6. Facebook7. BBC Newsline Ticker8. EBay UK9. MSN (.com)10. Wikipedia

What does thismean for HE?

The audience…

What do you they want?

Who are you?

What are you?

Why come here?

How do you support students?

How can I find your alumni?

What are you doing in the community?

Why do you want to build on green belt?

Will my child be safe?

How do I contact?

How are you spending our money?

Are you legal? Do you churn out good students?

How often do you publish?

How can I contact he/she?Where can I find out more about your research?

Everythingfor

Everybody

With bells and whistles too…

http://www.flickr.com/photos/debaird/139994517/http://www.flickr.com/photos/yannisag/866633223/http://www.flickr.com/photos/rockinpaddy/217121721/

When it comes to embracing changing web trends the choice is yours…

Proceed with caution?!

Boldly go where noman has gone before…

Blissful ignorance?!

Possibilities…

Learning from the popular websites and

web trends and embedding what

you’ve learnt into your own site will give your users a richer online

experience

“

”

Reviewing/commenting…

Potential use News stories Research publications

Potential benefits Users will come back Richer content Users will feel they own it

The Guardian – comment is free…http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/

Tagging…

Potential use News stories Courses Research profiles/topics

Potential benefits Easier search Used by others (extends network of info)

Social bookmarking…

Potential use All pages (particularly news items) Create account for students – let them

populate info themselves i.e. for:bathstudent

Potential benefits Ease of use (home/work) Easy way to provide info you think is

useful Can merge your content with external

content – making it more useful

Using RSS…

Potential use News stories New courses Jobs Events Publications

Potential benefits Users get fed info… don’t need to come back More info to more users Minimal effort – simply publish it

Contributing…

Potential use Wikis for teamwork/collaboration Wikis for informal information site Encourage blogging

Potential benefits Versioned, history Quick and easy Extended reach… maximising exposure

Personalised…

Potential use Allow forum use Provide bespoke information (i.e.

Applicant Community site – what happens next?)

Potential benefits Create feeling of belonging Information more useful

Customised…

Potential use Customisable homepages (staff/students)

– they choose what information they want to see

Potential benefits Users are more likely to continue using a

service where they have control

Working with social networks…

Potential use SU – informal groups Apps to push information out to users in

‘their’ environment

Potential benefits Reach users who would otherwise miss

info Providing choice…

Nearly done…

… but hang on… I haven’t talked about

‘the brand’!

Why the reluctance?

Control, control, control

Wanting to “manage” the message

We are a ‘very serious’ University

We own the brand…

But together…

Our brand / our reputation = what we say + what people say about us

If we allow more people to interact with / talk about / share with us… more information is said = increased brand awareness

Nothing to fear! If we live our brand… it’s all good!

Thanks for listening…any questions?