One issue we keep wrestling with in ITS is how do we hide our organizational structure so that our Web presence can be more seamless to the non-ITS savvy user.
An interesting case is Studio 204. I must say it is a well-designed site and nowhere does it mention that it’s tied to ETS, TLT or even ITS. It just says it’s a video studio any student or instructor can access.
However…in order to access the site, I MUST know it’s a part of TLT because of the URL http://studio204.tlt.psu.edu/ (see that little “tlt” between “studio204” and “psu.edu”?). My first guess was “studio204.psu.edu”, but alas I got a 404 error.
I’m really not trying not to play a blame game here (in fact I can hear some of you grinding your teeth an muttering “I know I know”). I also know that you do have to go through “channels” to get a URL like “studio204.psu.edu” – although I also know that it’s not especially burdensome.
But if you’re ever wondering why people can’t find our valuable resources – maybe it’s because we’ve made some of our URL’s more exotic than people can digest.
I thought we fixed that by going to:
http://digitalcommons.psu.edu
Most of our new services that are University-wide are trying to embrace a more direct, non (traditional) University approach to namespaces … another few that come to mind:
http://podcasts.psu.edu
http://itunes.psu.edu
http://blogs.psu.edu
http://meeting.psu.edu
The Studio 204 of yesterday is now Digital Commons … maybe the issue isn’t a URL but our own inability to communicate. You work in the ETS space and next door to the people who make these resources go. I am embarrassed … what do we need to do better to help jump this gap? I am honestly all ears on this one!