BLINK Research Portal Project

Jason DeFayDirector, eResearch AdministrationOffice of Research Affairs

Project ObjectiveMove existing web content from multiple department web servers & move to CMS

BenefitsSelf-serve page maintenance by content owners reduces stale contentReduces site maintenance due to changing style guidelinesEasier to maintain content - IT staff don’t create bottlenecksGreater accountability for content ownership via meta-data (last update date & ‘Author’)Convenient staging environment!Built in multisite redundancy for continuity planning

RequirementsCreate a non-Blink public facing page for external visitorsCreate an internal facing Research Portal with “life-cycle” focused contentCreate Blink Sponsor pages for individual departments/programsAssign individual ownership to pages and/or taxonomy parent areas to run reports on content aging and/or direct content inquiries

ChallengesProcess pages (research life cycle) maintained on multiple department web sites and servers (OCGA, ORA, TTO, Health Sciences, CMS, etc.)Unclear and/or overlapping ownership of individual pages / content areasContent gaps / incomplete contentOverly detailed contentOld contentRedundant contentNeeded to address and move beyond legacy conflicts between ACT and VC over ownership/control of web content

ContextLeadership support from main VC office, 1 key department and ACTSmall project team (1 CWO, 2 SME & 1 w/ copy editing and technical writer experience assigned full responsibility for page creation)SMEs had power/authority to make decisions for a significant portion of key content and create taxonomy for future content2 research 'Process Frameworks' established previously helped accelerate project.

1 based on CWO card sorting process1 based on VC level needs

Factors Affecting Project SuccessBiweekly team meetingsDeveloped 2 phase strategy approach to first aggregate content into Blink Sponsor sites, then move that content to research portalPeriodic consultation with key stakeholders to make sure project team was heading the right direction - allowed for several minor course corrections instead of major changes or 'no go' at the endUsed “Free Mind” Mind Map tool to develop and fine tune research taxonomy. Revised frequently and made available to all team members to use as project road mapDedicated resource with available bandwidth, experience, skills and access to create content was essential for project success VC SME introduced Content Editor to potential "content owners" and he served as their 'personal content facilitator'. During this process we assigned area/topical/page ownership to that individual via CMS

Factors Affecting Project SuccessProject took approximately 1 year to completeNot all departments able to migrate content to CMS and/or Research Portal. Reasons include:

No ability to filter by IP address or force user authentication No ability to host dynamic contentLack of bandwidth / bad timing

Now that framework/taxonomy has been established, SMEs have assigned portal improvements/updates/maintenance responsibility to individual unit (eRAP)Original SMEs and CWO remain engaged to help ensure new content evolves appropriately & help facilitate/resolve issues

Factors Affecting Project SuccessAs of today, most VC Research sites are in CMS/Blink including:

Office of Research AffairsOffice of Contract & Grant AdministrationConflict of InterestPostdoctoral and Visiting ScholarsExport ControlElectronic Research Administration ProgramResearch Affairs information Technology Support UnitIACUC Office (in progress)

Questions