Tag Archives: Teams

Preview of Next Version of Shadowbox Theme

I attended part of the LIS website team meeting today and gave a presentation of the ShadowBox theme and some of the new features that will be available in the next version including updates to author pages, more custom header options and most importantly, higher contrast text in comment fields.  I also gave a preview of some new ShadowBox variations based on the new college website design.  Below is a screencast from that meeting:

[middmedia achapin achapin shadowbox-lis.mp4]

Curricular Technology Team Meeting Minutes: 11/10

In attendance: team members minus Sue Driscoll. (Joy Pile, minutes)

Mack and Alex are working at the helpdesk. Alex tangentially wondered if and how the CTT should be more involved in the helpdesk. It was noted that the team has a number of issues on its plate – not the least of which was the original charge to find a replacement for Segue. If the team is to be involved in other projects – then we need direction and new goal setting from the ADs. It was agreed however, the CTT could have a hand in training staff at the helpdesk once a replacement application is chosen. It was suggested that the team could also have a hand in application development – particularly for MiddMedia and could help determine which features and applications are most appropriate for curricular use.

For the rest of the meeting CTT discussed its new website. There was some disagreement about the current navigation – but it was agreed to seek feedback from a few potential users before changing the navigation from the current mock up.

Discussed the philosophy behind  Quick Starts, and came up with the following rubric:

  • That we need to post some information that relates to the different labs on campus
  • That there needs to be information about some of the free for download applications such as Audacity that are included among the tools
  • Discussed what essentials might be included in a Quick Start Guide as it related to Audacity.

CT Team Minutes 11/03/2009

Meeting minutes of CTT 11/03/2009

In attendance: all team members, Sue Driscoll (minutes)

The focus of the meeting was the IA of the CT website and how to build the site.

Decisions we made:
We agreed that we will use Drupal for the quick starts and overviews, which will then link to MediaWiki for more detailed documentation. The existing Ed Tech site was an initial attempt at a curricular technology site, and should only be used for its content.

We agreed that Dan, who volunteered, will be the ‘project manager’ of the CT site. His responsibility is to oversee the building of the site and make sure that others are doing what they said they would do. Others will be involved in finding and writing documentation. He will begin by adding the lists of Tools and Uses to the site.

We decided that each Tool will have its own page and will include an overview, a quick start and a link to more detailed documentation. Alex will write an example ‘quick start’ before the next meeting.

We decided that each Category of Uses will have consistent headings:
1. What is it? (overview)
2. What do you need to do it? (software, hardware)
3. How do you do it? (quick start)
4. Tips and Suggestions
Also, a link to more detail than the average user wants, or to a glossary and/or buzzwords
Alex will create sample text for the Video category of Uses.

Joe commented that it is important to identify who is going to do what. For example, who will curate the stories? What is a story? We agreed that a story is a 3 sentence blurb about an activity using curricular technology that links to a longer story on another department page or blog. There may be photos and links to our tools. Someone on the team should be responsible for finding these stories as they are reported around campus, write a blurb, perhaps add a photo and put them on the CT site.

Where do pdfs live? They should be linked to Midd Files because Drupal is not the place to store large files. Word documents can go into the Wiki and video files can go in MiddMedia. CT should set the example on this.

Digital Archives Team – charge, priorities, and other introductions

In an attempt to ‘catch up’ with the other teams (LIS-blog-wise), we are starting out by posting our first few important documents or decisions. Other posts in the near future will describe what we’ve accomplished so far. Then, sometime in the next couple of weeks, we will be regularly posting updates like the other two teams have been doing.

Our charge:
develop and promulgate digitization standards; to create a process for prioritizing digitization efforts; to create workflows to allow for effective scanning, storage, cataloging, and archiving; to provide access to digital collections through various means.

Our priorities:
* Develop a policy for approving and prioritizing new projects – 12/2009
* Review of existing projects (standards and relevance) – 5/2010
* Work with Collection Management to integrate metadata creation for digital projects into CM workflow – 5/2010
* Investigate best practices for digital preservation actions – 5/2010

And our ‘vision’:

* What you want to accomplish and why

The Digital Archives team will recommend strategies that expand the vision of a digital library and develop policies that best utilize staff expertise to deliver relevant digital resources to the scholarly community.

* “What’s in it for me” for those affected

For collection curators:

* collections will be organized, described, managed and made accessible in alignment with LIS standards and priorities

* established work flows will ensure that projects are prioritized, planned for and completed
* there will be ongoing assessment of collection practices and policies

For scholarly researchers:

o you will have access to valuable materials that have been consistently described

For LIS:

* LIS staff and resources will be used judiciously
* consolidation of material and location of material
* collections will be managed and preserved for the long-term
* you will know why you are working on a particular collection
* projects will typically be completed before moving on
* projects will be seen as belonging to LIS rather than to individuals
* decisions will be based on clearly defined policies and priorities

CT Team Meeting Minutes 10/27/2009

Topic 1: Segue v1 shutdown notice.

Team ok with Alex sending out the notice he presented. Team decided that the notice should be sent to all faculty rather than a limited group. Team decided that Segue 1 should be made unavailable at the end of Fall 2009 classes and not postponed until later.

Topic 2: CT Site IA.

Team looked at the Uses categories started by Alex. After much discussion and a few changes, we agreed to use the following IA as a starting point for our build-out:
Continue reading

CT Team Meeting Minutes 10/20/2009

Topic 1: Team collaboration processes.

Tasks to accomplish between meetings should be proposed during the meeting, not proposed between meetings. If proposed between meetings, should not have no expectations of accomplishment.

Communications strategies, EMail vs. Google Docs. Be clear about what is up for debate, what is not.
Vote: Email will be sent to team list. New message threads with descriptive subjects will be created for new topics. (unanimous)

Q: How does the CT site relate to our main charge?
A: A good CT site helps direct users to CT tools and services and helps users make better usage of all things we provide.

Topic 2: CT Site IA

Uses will be categorized under the following categories (to start):

  • Video
  • Audio
  • Graphics
  • Web Publishing
  • Data Collection & Analysis
  • Presentation
  • Course (stuff?)
  • Discussion

Uses will often fall under multiple categories. This should be encouraged to allow our constituents to find things even if they would assume categorization different from us.

Vote: Alex (and possibly others) will fill in uses into the categories for the next meeting. The categories decided will not be changed. Other categories can be proposed at the Oct 27th meeting. (unanimous)

Vote: Do we want to keep the Buzzwords category? Yes (unanimous)

Vote: Are we generally happy with the buzzword list? Yes (unanimous)

Review of Technology in Education Sites

To help us create a section of the LIS site on Curricular Technology, I thought it would be good to see how other institutions publish comparable information.  What we are currently calling “curricular technology” is described in various ways including “instructional technology“, “educational technology,” “academic technology,” and “technologies for teaching, learning and research.”  What all of these labels have in common is seems to be the use of technology in education.

Continue reading