In the last Website update we reported that several projects were being instigated to progress the transition of the University’s website content onto a new platform and content architecture. The intention is to create a website that is more efficient to curate and maintain as well as being more effective in providing information for all our audiences.
Research centres, groups and institutes
The most significant of these projects is the transition of content for Research centres, groups and institutes. After the successful trial of keyword tagging to enable academics and their related research to be linked and published more comprehensively across the site, we recently adopted a new approach to migrating the content. This ‘self-drafting’ method responded to faculty colleagues’ preference to identify their own relevant research content, and then moves it more quickly to publication on the new web pages.
There are 272 research entities identified by the faculties, of these, 114 are now live on the new site with 20 at proofing stage and another 30 in the pipeline. The aim is to have 90% of the research entities on the new website by the end of May. This is a challenging timeline, but where colleagues have already engaged the effort has been worthwhile. As more research entities are published to the new site the more effective the ecosystem of research content will be.
To support our academic colleagues in this work and the ongoing maintenance of local data and content, the University has invested in two new posts for each faculty operating service. Recruitment to these new positions is going well and six colleagues have been appointed with the remaining four to be secured shortly. In the meantime, the existing FOS colleagues who have been doing this work will continue to provide support.
Staff finder and Staff profiles
The Staff Finder tool has now been implemented so that colleagues can be found by association to their school or via their research group. There are a couple of data-related issues that are being investigated by data systems colleagues; names currently being ordered alphabetically by first name rather than last name and the title Doctor rather than Dr.
All academic Staff Profiles that have an entry in Pure are live, as are Professors Emeritus. Due to the way that Visitors have been categorised over the years, there is a separate piece of work being conducted to rationalise and update the underlying data so that staff profiles for these colleagues can be created by faculties. It is also acknowledged that additional categories of staff such as part-time academics, technical staff and professional service colleagues in faculties will need to be addressed.
Subject web pages
A review of the new subject web pages provided useful performance insight. The recommendations and other updates have been discussed with faculties and implemented.
School web pages
A review of school web pages has been undertaken with a range of external users and the findings are being discussed with the Heads of School during May to ensure that they agree the way forward. The final proposals will be submitted to the Web Oversight board for approval.
Technical Review of the web site
An independent consultancy has been commissioned to review the technical infrastructure of the new web site. They will conduct a comprehensive review of the website’s Drupal configuration, including data ingestion, content types and templates against the current and future requirements of the University, making recommendations for any necessary changes to meet those requirements. An important constituent of requirements is the recognised need to move from our current, highly centralised publishing model to a more devolved publishing model. We cannot instigate this devolution until the system has been appropriately re-configured to enable risk-free local editing.
This review is due for completion by July 2023.
Development Roadmap
In addition to the current focus on academic research, there are a wide range of demands for change and development of content and features on the website. The Web Oversight Board recently agreed the priority work that needs to be undertaken over the next 3-6 months including: Developing data-driven solutions for presenting Modern languages undergraduate degree pathways, News and events, supporting the implementation of new content for Modernising the Governance and creating new content for scholarships, Open Days and Clearing.
A more detailed view of the priorities.
Web Insight Forum
This group includes two academic representatives from each faculty as well as a number of core professional service colleagues and serves as a critical friend. The Forum has met twice and provided invaluable guidance on proposed developments as well as raising important website issues from a faculty perspective. The academic members of WIF are:
Arts and Humanities:
Adam Proctor, Principal Teaching Fellow, WSA
Associate Professor Helen Spurling, History
Engineering and Physical Sciences:
Professor Periklis Petropoulos, Zepler Institute
Professor Geoff Merrett, Electronics & Computer Science
Environment and Life Sciences:
Professor Claire Foster, Professor of Psychosocial Oncology, Nursing, Midwifery & Health
Professor Mark Moore, Head of School, Ocean and Earth Science
Medicine:
Susan Patrick, Head of Enterprise Partnerships, School of Healthcare, Enterprise & Innovation
Dr. Jane Gibson, Cancer Bioinformatics & Genomics, Medicine
Social Sciences:
Assoc. Professor Jan Spakula, School of Mathematics
Assoc. Professor Harry Annison, Southampton Law School
Graduate School:
Professor Chris Howls, Director
Further details on recent and ongoing website developments are available.
Your patience and engagement with this complex and ongoing project is very much appreciated.
