Blog from May, 2018

A lot of progress has been made on the website project in the last few months. Several different groups of people are working on different components. If you’re having a hard time keeping it all straight, you’re not alone. Below is an exhaustive list of everything that’s going on right now and who’s involved. Also for a refresher on who the Site Editors and the Content Contributors are and the role they play, please refer to the Website Editorial Roles and Procedures.

  1. Metadata Work

    1. Build metadata profiles for building, space, person, group - David L., Holly

    2. Review metadata profiles for building, space, person, group - Cynthia, Richie, Marianne

    3. Build metadata profile for service and policy - Holly, Jasmine

  2. List of Services

    1. Compilation and initial analysis of list of services (based on web inventory and content contributors brainstorming session) - Nancy Turner

    2. Further review of list of services - coming soon - Site Editors + Content Contributors

  3. Website Content Management System

    1. Building website content management system - Chad, Chris, Steven N.

    2. Define content approval workflow - Chad, Emily, Cynthia + Site Editors

    3. Web Content Style Guide - Jackie, Rachel C.

Below are general updates from March and April 2018 regarding to the Website Redesign Project. Cynthia will return from parental leave on May 21st and will once again be serving as the primary project manager for website redesign.

Phase 2: Web Content Review 

Service List Brainstorming

In March 2018, a list of site editors and content contributors were assigned, in accordance with the proposed Website Editorial Roles for the development and maintenance of the new web content. In April 2018, this group met and began to brainstorm a list of existing services within each functional area of the library that will need to be included in the new website. The Strategic Partners Group has begun to review that initial list and analyze it, looking for patterns, duplications, additional types of categories, etc. Work will continue with the content contributors upon Cynthia’s return later this month.

Metadata Profiles and Relationship Definition

In preparation for the development of a custom content management system (CMS), Holly Tomren and David Lacy worked collaboratively to finalize the requirements for the following content types: Building, Space, Person, Group. As part of the Strategic Partners Group, Jasmine Clark also further developed the metadata guidelines for services and policies, in collaboration with Holly.

Web Content Style Guide

As part of the Strategic Partners Group, Jackie Sipes and Rachel Cox have drafted a Web Content Style Guide, which will be used by content contributors in drafting text for the new website. This includes Writing for Web best practices, accessibility standards, and standardized language that help create more consistency across our web pages. This has been reviewed by the Communications department and is currently in the process of being finalized.

Phase 3: Platform and Infrastructure selection

Infrastructure Development

The Library Technology Development team, led by Chad Nelson, is currently working on building a prototype of a custom CMS, which will incorporate the Building, Space, Group, and Person entities as a proof-of-concept.

Workflow Requirements

In addition to the further development of the metadata profiles, workflow requirements for the custom CMS have been defined and reviewed by the Web Advisory team.


Project Timeline

Phase 1 (October - December 2017): Initial content inventory and user survey 

Phase 2 (January - March 2018): Further content review, metadata profile composition - We are currently in Phase 2 of the project. Click on the link to read more about the steps that are included in Phase 2.

Phase 3 (April - June 2018): Platform and infrastructure selection

Phase 4 (July - October 2018): Final redesign 

Beta Release: October 2018

Official Release: January 2019