About The Workshop

The sixth Institutional Web Management Workshop will be held at the University of Strathclyde on 18-20 June 2002.

The workshop builds on the successes of previous events. This year’s theme is “The Pervasive Web” and will address a range of topics of concern to Web managers, ranging from strategic and management issues, implementation issues based on case studies as well as a number of technical areas.

The workshop will be of interest to people who are involved in running institutional Web services, including IT and Web Strategy managers, content managers, designers, software developers, information specialists, support staff, etc.

The workshop will last for 2.5 days. The first two days will begin with a Keynote Plenary Talk which will provide an insight into national and international developments. Other plenary presentations will provide case studies on institutional developments including development of personalised portals, approaches to usability testing and design, the development of a radical Web strategy, the implementation of commercial Web-based MIS applications to support teaching in a large FE/HE institution and an examination of centralised and decentralised strategies for Web management and development, together with an outline of the implications of new disability legislation.

As always the workshop will provide a number of parallel sessions, which will provide an opportunity for participants to contribute actively on topics of interest to them. Parallel sessions cover topics such as e-strategy, accessibility, usability, Web site redevelopment, quality assurance, usability of portals, advertising on Web sites, legal issues, panoramic Web sites, dynamic Web sites, XML, authentication, metadata and e-prints.

There will also be a number of briefing sessions, including ones on Interoperability and Learning Standards and Web Standards.

New features at this year’s workshop include a panel session on “Avoiding Portal Wars” and a debates on open source software and web strategies.

The workshop is suitable for all those involved in managing and supporting institutional Web services, including managerial staff and Web developers – the parallel sessions will enable participants to follow their interests, whether that is managerial, technical or both.

Cost of Workshop

The cost of the workshop was £325 for delegates from the Higher and Further Education communities. This includes workshop materials, meals (except evening meals on the 17th and 19thJune), the social programme and accommodation for the nights of 17th/18th/19th June. The workshop cost £250 for those who do not require accommodation.

Workshop Content

Plenary Talks

  1. Are All The Children In Their Bed?
  2. Virtually Everything Virtually Everywhere: Pursuing a Radical Web Strategy
  3. Legislation, Disabilities and Educational Web Sites
  4. Knowledge-Based Web Sites: A Preliminary Investigation
  5. The Lecturer’s MIS Menu: Why Silver Service Is Off And Drive Thru’s In
  6. Designing For Usability
  7. Centralised Control Or Departmental Freedom?
  8. Portals and CMS – Why You Need Them Both

Other Plenary Sessions

  1. Panel session on Avoiding Portal Wars
  2. Debate on “The Future Lies With Open Source
  3. Debate on “Web Strategies Are A Waste Of Time

Workshops

Parallel sessions A:

  1. How I Learned To Stop Worrying And Love The E-Strategy
  2. Right People, Right Stuff: Right Pain?
  3. Testing Web Site Accessibility
  4. <XML Everywhere / <
  5. The Value of Metadata and How to Realise It
  6. QA For Web Sites
  7. Is Your Institution’s Web Site Legal?: A Guide To Keeping Your Web Site Compliant With Recent Legislation
  8. Providing 360° Panoramic Scenes on the Web

Parallel sessions B:

  1. Information Strategies – An Essential Navigational Tool?
  2. The Perfect Portal … is a Popular Portal
  3. Usable Design and Accessible Web Sites
  4. Delivering XML in an Apache Environment
  5. Weblogs and Blogs: What Are They? What Can They Be Used For?
  6. Will The Real Mr Homepage Please Stand Up?
  7. Dynamic Web Pages and Cross-Browser Compatibility – Can It Be Done?
  8. Exploiting Locally-Created E-resources: OAI and E-prints

Parallel sessions C:

  1. Computer Scientists – A Help Or A Hindrance ;-)!
  2. Departmental Freedom vs Centralised Control
  3. Advertising and Web Sites

Briefings:

  1. Interoperability and Learning Standards Briefing
  2. Web Standards Briefing
  3. Web Sites and Legislation Briefing

Vendor Presentations:

  • Presentations about IPP (Institution Programme Publishing) and The Need for Content Management

Evaluation

The average score for the workshop content was 4.3. This included 29 scores of 5, 30 scores of 4 and 10 scores of 3.

The average score for the workshop organisation was 4.4. This included 40 scores of 5, 26 scores of 4, 6 scores of 3 and 1 scores of 2.

There were a total of 8 plenary speakers. The most highly rated speaker was Derek Law, with an average of 4.5.

The second most highly rated speaker was Mark Simpson, with an average of 4.3.

The third most highly rated speaker was Paul Browning, with an average of 4.2.

All of the plenary speakers had an average above 3 and all received at least 3 scores of Excellent.

There were a total of 22 parallel sessions (excluding the vendors slot and the BoF). The most highly rated parallel session was C5: Departmental Freedom vs. Centralised Control by Mike McConnell and Iain Middleton, University of Aberdeen, with an average of 4.8.

The second most highly rated parallel session was the C2: Web Standards Briefing by Brian Kelly, UKOLN, with an average of 4.7.

The third most highly rated parallel session was the B2: The Perfect Portal … is a Popular Portal by Julie Stuckes, UKOLN, with an average of 4.3.

Event Summary

Location: University of Strathclyde

Date: 18-20 June 2002

Length: 3 days

Cost (including 3 nights accommodation): £325

No. of plenary talks: 9

No. of plenary speakers: 10

Gender ratios: 8 M (80%) and 2 F (20%)

No. of workshop/briefing sessions: 22

No. of workshop facilitators: 26

Gender ratios: 18 M (69%) and 8 F (31%)

No. of participants: 175

Total length of sessions: (3.25+3.5)+(3.5+3.5)+3.25=17 hours

Delegate contact time: 17*175= 2,975 delegate hours

Evaluation: 4.3 out of 5 (content) and 4.4 out of 5 (organisation).

Special features:

This year’s event featured a number of new developments including a lively debate on two topics of interest to Web managers.

In addition to the formal programme there was also a social programme. This included a ceilidh (with buffet meal) and a wine reception.