The CALI Conference for Law School Computing Maintaining Your Website With a Content Management System

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The CALI Conference for Law School Computing
Maintaining Your Website With a Content
Management System

• Michael Monina
• WebsiteASP, Inc.
• OmniUpdate

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Why the need for a CMS?Consider This

• The Entire Web
• 8 billion web pages one the www
• 50 million web sites
• Thats less than 200 pages per site
• College/University Web Sites
• 80 million web pages from college/university
  sites
• 7,000 college/university sites
• Thats an amazing 11,000 pages per site

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Why is Maintaining Web Content so Critical?

• Your Web Site Has Become the Front Door for

• New Students
• Parents
• Current Students
• Enrollment
• Financial Aid
• Online Classes
• Grades
• Transcripts

• Book Purchases
• Campus Living
• Email
• Study Forums
• Faculty Staff Info Systems
• ERP Systems
• Course Mgt Systems

• Search Engines (Google, Wayback Machine, etc.)
• Scientific Research
• Community Involvement
• Alumni Involvement
• Alumni Giving

This is the Tip of the Iceberg!
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Is It Important to The Institution?

• Beneficiaries include
• Marketing enrollment advancement
• Students ePortfolios resumes
• Faculty ePortfolios publication
• Alumni outreach giving
• Community outreach programs
• Institutions Reputation priceless!

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More Effective Tools are Needed

• Without the proper tools, your institution cannot
  hold content managers responsible for sustaining
  web excellence
• A single point of contact can no longer be
  responsible for Web content

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More Effective Tools are Needed

• The Perfect Storm of Colliding Forces
• Surging proliferation of new services and
  technologies for teaching and learning
• Exploding population of young adults who expect
  accurate, timely information at their finger tips
  
• A mountain of content to manage

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Web Content Management Defined

1. A solution that simplifies the process by which
   content contributors create, publish, and update
   website content.
2. A solution that enables both non-technical and
   technical staff to update content and coordinates
   an approval process.
3. A solution that decreases the time and costs
   associated with web content maintenance.

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Web Content ManagementChoices

• Status Quo Maintenance
• Home Grown Solutions
• High-End Corporate Solutions
• Solutions for Higher Education

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Web Content ManagementChoices

• Status Quo Maintenance
• Introduce yourself to the Webmaster
• Email the Webmaster
• Chat with the Webmaster
• Hunt down the Webmaster
• Plead and beg the Webmaster

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Web Content Managementfor Higher Education

• College University Needs are Different
• Cookie-Cutter approach doesnt work
• Database-Driven systems are not flexible enough
  (and too costly)
• Diverse skills of content editors
• Diversity of content and site architectures
• Diversity of services offered by institution

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Web Content Managementfor Higher Education

• Diverse environment
• Types of Websites
• Technology Server/Client
• End-User Experience
• Many Content Authors
• Constituents/Visitors Seeking Content

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Web Content Managementfor Higher Education

• Essential Features
• Flexibility
• Scalability
• Priced to Fit
• Easy Implementation
• Browser-Based
• Multi-User
• Easy to Use

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Web Content Managementfor Higher Education

• Usability is the key or the killer to new
  technology rollouts
• New technologies cannot be forced upon users
• Technologies that arent used, offer no ROI

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Selecting a CMS

• The Right Tool Will
• Distribute the Web publishing process
• Help maintain consistent design
• Help ensure ADA 508 compliance
• Allow IT folks do their jobs better
• Keep costs under control

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Selecting a CMS

• The Right Tool Will
• Empowerment Content Authors to Get the Job Done
  When it Needs to be Done
• Keep Web Content Fresh and Accurate
• Attract more students
• Communicate better with existing students,
  faculty, staff, and alumni

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Selecting a CMS

• The Right Tool Will
• Allow staff to do more with existing limited
  resources
• Ensure a level excellence expected by site
  visitors and the institution

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OmniUpdate Educational Implementations

• Experience Counts

• The John Marshall Law School
• Mills College
• Simpson College
• Fielding Graduate Institute
• Louisiana Tech

• Cal State Long Beach
• Copper Mountain CC
• El Camino College
• Estrella Mountain CC
• Muskegon CC
• Oxnard College

• University of Chicago
• Dartmouth College
• Pepperdine University
• Tulane
• State University of New York

Our Clients are Partners in Development
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The John Marshall Law School

• Case Study
• Site developed in early 90s
• Maintained by a single volunteer faculty member
• Web Coordinator hired
• Site grows to few hundred pages
• Content Bottleneck
• Basic solution implemented
• Evaluation of CMS requirements
• Implemented OmniUpdate Campus

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What Have We Learned?

• Recognize Unique
• Educational Requirements
• Longest standing sites on Web
• Large amount of content
• Need for Consistent Design
• Ease of Navigation
• Accessibility Requirements Expectations