Monday, January 12, 2004

Optimizing Content For the Web

In Attendance: Valentina Bettencourt, Webresources; Beth Berrean, Webresources; Gabrielle Fisher, External Programs, Barbara Maher, ISU; Naomi Wong, OHRS; Anna Lincoln, Continuing Medical Education; John Yee, Pediatrics; Kathy Bates, Compliance; Kerstin Svendsen, Office of Student Affairs; Cristina Cicoletti, Office of Educational Technology; Allison Shore, Affiliations; Patrick DelaHunt, Association of Clinical Faculty; Sharon Reynolds, Neurosurgery; Joaquin Castillo Arana, Faculty Medical Group; Nicole Budd, Community Based Education; Suzanne Ezrre, Family Medicine; Chandler Mayfield, Office of Educational Technology; Christine Khuu, Academy of Medical Educators

1. Announcements:
• Beth has completed the updates of the Meta tags. Big job, thank you Beth!
• Update on left-hand nav's and printer friendly pages. Announced a temporary freeze to LeftHandNavigation changes. Left-hand nav's went live today (January 26, 2004.)
• We ran Xenu over the School of Medicine site last week and it was impeccable. Thank you for all your good work!
• Please check your libraries for new elements.
  
  
2. Presentation: Alison Shore discussed 'Optimizing Your Web Content'. She discussed writing for the web, as well as how the content on the page relates to information architecture and usability. I have posted Allison's presentation notes on content design (word format) to the web. They will be converted to a tutorial soon.
   
   This was a great presentation, with lots of valuable information. Allison drew on her background as a usability expert as well as from the 'Bibles' of usability, Jakob Nielsen's Designing Web Usability: The Practice of Simplicity and
   Homepage Usability. We recommend purchasing and reading these books as the are arguably the best ones on the market.
   
   
3. New sites in progress:
   • Curriculum
   • Student Research
   • Anthropology
     
     
4. Questions for the group , please contact me if you would like to make a suggestion or a request:
   • Do any of you have web expertise which you would like to share with the group? We are looking for speakers for our upcoming meetings.
   • Are there any topics you would like to see covered in our meetings?
   • Do you have any suggestions for improved workflow?