7. “Content strategy plans for the creation, publication,
and governance of useful, usable content.”
-Kristina Halvorson
http://www.alistapart.com/articles/thedisciplineofcontentstrategy
8. • One of three parts of overall web strategy, along with:
–Design strategy
–User experience strategy
• Handout: JCPL Web Strategies Document
9. “Hoping that a content management system will
replace…human care and attention [to web content] is
about as effective as pointing a barn full of unmanned
agricultural machinery at a field, going on vacation, and
hoping it all works out.”
-Erin Kissane, The Elements of Content Strategy
10. • Reference/public services have the reference interview.
• Tech Services have the AACR2, MARC record.
• IT staff have recognized industry standards.
• The web staff have content strategy.
– This is our area of expertise;
– These are newly emerging librarian skills;
– Embracing content strategy creates a clear channel in which
we can operate.
11. • Where is your web site managed?
– Marketing?
– Reference/public services?
– Tech Services?
– IT?
• Who can add content? Is there an editorial process?
12.
13. • Laggards/conservative organizations:
– Likely require formal approval processes
– Are heavily document/policy oriented
• Innovators/cutting edge organizations:
– Do you need to reign your content creators in?
– Do you need to retrofit existing content to yet-to-be-developed
standards?
14. • Building the right team
• The Web aware, the Web savvy and the Web experts
• Cross-departmental team
• Understand where people are coming from
• Use usage data trends
• Establish a sense of urgency
• Write a draft then ask them to react and discus
• Starting point
• Seed the discussion with a first draft
15. • Library websites serve needs
• Service needs
• Stakeholders based in Public Services
• Organizational needs
• Stakeholders based in Communications/PR Dept & Administration
• What’s your organization’s emphasis?
• You’ll want to represent them in your strategy accordingly
19. • Individual or collaborative research of new content? From
what sources?
• Individual or collaborative curation of content?
• Individual or collaborative authoring of content?
• Individual or collaborative entering of content?
• Individual or collaborative periodic review of content?
20. • When is certain content timely?
• When does certain content match our users’ context?
• When will it reach them where they are?
• When can/does it matter to their lives?
21. • What is the frequency of content’s change?
• What is considered dynamic?
• What degree of frequency of change is appropriate for
each content type?
22. How much of this can we reasonably do?
If its too much, we should scale back our content.
23.
24. An iterative approach using this rubric:
• Primary audience
• Scope
• Interactivity outcome
• Update frequency
25.
26. Primary audience
• Patrons
Scope
• qualitative selection & timely promotion of events, programs and classes
• qualitative selection & timely promotion of services
• qualitative selection & timely promotion of campaigns
• no more than 5 items at a time
• primarily graphical presentation w/ text only serving as a title to elicit a click through
Interactivity outcome
• circulating traffic within the website
• provide a hook into an experience of the library (digital or physical)
Frequency
• multiple times per week
27. Primary Audience
• Media & community contacts
Scope
• press releases
• JCPL in the news items
• awards & recognitions
• Reporter Resources
o Fact Sheets
o Strategic Plan & Budget
o Annual Reports
o Request an Interview
Frequency
• Awards & recognition items updated as needed
• Reporter Resources reviewed/updated 1x per year
28. Primary audience
• Power users
• Staff
Scope
• Comprehensive list of subscription databases listed alphabetically by name and grouped by
subject.
• Intended for staff assisting patrons or patrons doing more extensive research with the databases.
• Connects patrons with resources for topics not covered by subject guides.
Interactivity Outcome
• Staff will have quick access to a complete list of JCPL’s databases.
• Patrons researching topics not covered by the subject guides will still have a path to reliable
content.
Frequency
• Annually
• Corrections and updates as needed
29. jeffcolibrary.org
(Main Navigation)
Books, Movies &
Downloads Research Events
Music
(Global Navigation)
Locations &
Ask Us Catalog My Account Kids Teens
Hours
(About Us)
Leadership & Planning &
Board of trustees Our Community Press room Policies Jobs
Mission budget
(Services)
Reserve a computer Recursos en
Ask Us Get a library card Wireless Outreach Services
Espanol
(Support the Library)
Request a
Donate Volunteer Foundation & Friends Advocate for JCPL
Speaker
(Connect With Us)
Contact Us Social Media Icons Newsletter
30.
31.
32. Content Type Responsibility Frequency Time
Blog posts - Crazy TART daily .5 hr
Readerz
Reviews by Teens TART weekly - 2x .5 hrs
(patron)
Page - Homework help TART quarterly 2 hrs
(Teens)
List - Teens TART yearly 16 hrs (2 hrs X 8
people)
33.
34. Content Type Responsibility Frequency Time
Database list Digital quarterly 1 - 2 hrs
Resources
Librarian
Seasonal guides Digital quarterly 1 - 2 hrs
Resources
Librarian
Subject guides Digital quarterly 1 - 2 hrs
Resources
Librarian
35.
36. Content Type Responsibility Frequency Time
Blog posts - Books & ISRT weekly - 3x .5 hr
Beyond
List - Adults ISRT monthly 3 hrs
44. "This model can be used to validate the concept
with stakeholders, and helps IAs and designers start
thinking about the implications for the flow of the site."
45. from a classmate in Web Content Management class in the Syracuse LIS program
48. "It allows me to represent content in a way that translates the
intention, stakeholder needs, and functional requirements
from the user experience design into something that can be
built by developers implementing a CMS."
51. • The assembly model
• Choosing content types
• Choosing content attributes
52. • Wordpress deals in “Posts”
• Sharepoint deals in “Documents”
• Drupal deals in “Entities”
• How structured does your content need to be?
• How modular does your content need to be?
• What volume are you dealing with? Is it predictable?
• Can your parts be reusable or do they need to be unique?
53. Try to combine and reuse as much as possible
–Are your study rooms and your classrooms similar
enough to be one generic venue content type?
–If you have permanent subject guides (health &
medicine) and other seasonal guides (taxes or winter
sports), can they be one guide content type?
57. For people with a CMS website:
• What are your content types and why are they
successful?
For people with no CMS website:
• model a section your site [assemble the elephant]
60. • LibGuides was Auraria Library’s first CMS
• Best practices for guide content were drafted, posted, and
reviewed on the intranet wiki, but never fully
approved/vetted/implemented
• The result:
– No consistency in IA/navigation
– No consistency in design/layout
– No consistency in image use/quality/attribution
– Frustrated web admins, frustrated librarians, frustrated users
61. “Web governance is the structure of people,
positions, authorities, roles, responsibilities,
relationships, and rules involved in managing an
agency’s website(s). The governance structure
defines who can make what decisions, who is
accountable for which efforts, and how each of the
players must work together to operate a website and
a web management process effectively.”
Federal Web Managers Governance and Operations Sub-Council
http://www.howto.gov/web-content/governance/definition
62. • Web librarians, designers, and developers
• Marketing/communications/graphic design
• Content creators (often in public services, but can include any
and all other areas of the library)
• IT (in-library, external)
• Admin
What are, or should be, the responsibilities of all of these entities for
library web governance? What are the relationships among them?
63. • Web librarians, designers, and developers
• Supervisors
• Web oversight/advisory committees
• IT department(s; library/external)
• Administration
• Boards (public libraries)
• Parent institutions (college/university)
64. • Job descriptions, performance plans
• Strategic plans
• Best practices, guidelines, style guides
• Process documentation
• Training materials
• Committee charges
• Web server access agreements
Who makes which rules? Why?
65. • Sorta…but our goals are to:
– Decentralize content production
– Bring more people into the web site fold
– Take advantage of, and promote, everyone’s expertise and
knowledge about library resources and services
– Establish a unified voice/brand for our libraries
– Create a web site that is consistent, current, adheres to best
practices, and is easy/pleasant to maintain and use
66. • Two new governance models:
– New content creation model
– New tool/service creation model
• People, positions, authorities, responsibilities and roles were
sorted into appropriate planning, development, launch phases
• Models and processes were vetted and adopted by the Shared
Leadership committee
67. Planning
Proposal for new content, revisions to
CXC for idea approval
Development
Launch
Gather information from stakeholders
Content container
created CXC vets content
Assign responsibility for content
creation/maintenance
Vet content with staff as Web staff checks code,
appropriate tests
Mockup/sample content, developed
based on best web writing practices
Make changes as Make changes as
necessary necessary
Published to live
68. • Anyone can make suggestions for new content
• Responsibility for creation/maintenance must be assumed or
assigned
• Sample content must be provided before web staff work begins
• Web team makes recommendations for presentation of the
content
69. • Content container created (Drupal content type) and designed
by web staff
• Vet with staff as appropriate (depends on content)
• Web team revises as necessary based on feedback
• Communications Committee reviews/approves content
70. • Communications Committee vets content
• Web staff checks/tests affected parts of the web site
• Changes made, as necessary
• Content published to production environment
• Content marketed as determined by the Communications
Committee
71. Planning Phase Development Phase Launch Phase
Written proposal, with stakeholder
Prototype developed on dev
input, for new tool to ADs for
server Documentation created
approval
Tool/content manager/group Prototype moved to Training conducted, if
manager assigned staging server necessary
Project specifications & plan
Prototype presented to library Launch date/plan
developed by Online Interfaces
Working Group staff coordinated
Prototype revised based upon New tool deployed to live
Project manager assigned
staff input server
72. • Requires a written proposal from initiator
• Approval (including prioritization, more to follow) by
assistant directors
• Project plan and specifications developed by tech
experts in Online Interfaces Working Group
• Project/content manager(s) assigned
73. • Web staff develop iterative prototypes in dev environment
• Complete prototype placed in context of entire site on
staging environment
• Feedback from staff solicited, evaluated, incorporated
74. • Web team writes documentation
• Develop/conduct training
• Launch planned/coordinated
• (Left off: marketing!)
• Deployment
75.
76. • Draft the following lists:
– The existing web content people, positions, roles,
relationships, and responsibilities
– The existing authorities over the library’s web site
– The existing rules governing the library’s web site
• Policies, best practices, job descriptions, strategic plans
• Do a quick assessment (what exists of) your current
governance model
• Write/sketch some suggested improvements
77. • Be democratic
• Be transparent
• Be overly communicative
• Be positive/use positive language
• Give authority to others, with a clear understanding of the
related responsibilities
• Ask for authority for yourself, and articulate why you need
it
78. Chris Evjy Nina McHale
chris.evjy@jeffcolibrary.org nmchale@ald.lib.co.us
@endupok @ninermac
79. • Drupal4lib BoF: 10:30-noon, Marriott
• Drupal lunch, 12-1:30 Marriott
• How to Build a Web App Using Drupal, Cary Gordon,
1:30-5:30, Anaheim Marriott Orange County, Salon 3
80. • Top Tech Trends & Award Presentation
– ACC Ballroom A, 1:30 – 3:30
• LITA President’s Program
– ACC Ballroom A, 4:00
• Happy Hour
– Disney’s Grand Californian Hotel, Hearthstone Lounge, 5:30
– 8:00
Notes de l'éditeur
How many have a CMS up and running?About a year?More than a year?More than 4 or 5? Early adopters?Which CMS are you running?How many are planning a CMS project?How many are in the middle of a CMS project?Public, academic, special?What part of the library do you work in?
Who can add content: Auraria: anyone who wanted to; ALD: just DS web team
Let’s first consider what types of questions you want to be asking your stakeholders, then I’ll illustrate how to plug this into IA.
So you can orient yourselves to what we are dealing with here…
Defining structure and relationships2 reasons
Hierarchical or tree model of a Publisher’s website.
High-level or conceptual model of a music website.
More like data modeling, database design
Are you instigating cultural change or describing technical requirements? Either way, you’re going to want to start with a conceptual model, and then define and refine more and more detail. Boxes and arrows.
Things to think about.
What is the grain you are dealing with?Research the following to inform the next steps.StructuredWhat metadata do you need to capture to meet the sorting and filtering requirements of your displays? (Blogs subject category, time posted, authorEvents venue, type, audienceHow modularAre those grains self contained all on one page? Will you need lists of them?Will you need lists of them alongside lists of other content types?Will you need list of them on several different pages?Think about how content will need to be assembled for display and be sure you engineer your model appropriately.What volumeDo you know? Will it need to be open ended?
Reasons to make a separate content type for something.Distinct:ImageAuthorFunctionalVideo to invoke a video playerSong to invoke an audio playerOrganizational:A subject guide may be very similar to a page about homework help, but they will be maintained by different groups.
Depending on what your needs are, data types.
Got in 2008; fail realized much, much later
Who does what to the web site, when, to keep it operational, relevant, and current.
Web folks are authorities on best practices, standards, and compliance (i.e., accessibility)Supervisors are authorities of their, and everyone else’s time, as it’s spent on the web site.Note about how IT can affect content: if only 5 people can touch the web server, it creates an editorial bottleneck that stymies the editorial process. If you don’t have your own server, they might also limit the type of information/data/content that can be posted.
We’re not in it for the speeding tickets; we’re in it because we care about our communities and civil order. Protect and serve!
Tools and services more in-depth, time-consuming processes, but what’s created from them—search boxes, widgets, etc—are pieces of content (some of the most useful!)
