By Alex Brown, graduate assistant, Department for Information Technologies

(Brown is a graduate student in the College of Information Sciences and Technology and is a member of the Web Implementation and Management Team, WIMT.)

Web analytics is traditionally rooted in business, but the field has recently been expanding to several other fields including academic libraries. The expansion can be largely attributed to the free service Google Analytics. Since the release of Google Analytics, numerous web analytic studies within the context of academic libraries have been published.

While previous studies have proven elemental to improving academic library websites, these studies have also left a lot of room for growth primarily in terms of how web analytics can be interwoven with organizational strategy. Penn State University Libraries has recognized the need for implementing strategic web analytics and is one of the main focus areas, while migrating the website to a new content management system. The recognized importance of strategic web analytics will allow PSUL to emerge as a web analytics leader among academic libraries.

The process to implementing a strategic program has seen much success, but started by taking a step back from the data and asking questions such as: “What are our objectives? How can we measure the performance of these objectives? What technologies and methods are necessary to fulfill the plan?” Implementation has required organizational collaboration between management, web programmers, and analysts. This ultimately leads to the ability for data to provide actionable insight, not just for the present, but also sets in place a roadmap for future analysis as well.

Since the initiative to implement a strategic web analytics program has started, PSUL has implemented an overarching strategy, implemented new technologies and methods, and captured new forms of data. Despite success, the initiative is not complete, as web analytics is a process of continual improvement. Future methods, for example, seek to improve the efficiency of pixel space and measure the return on investment for databases. Web analytics is a powerful process that PSUL is committed to innovating and leading within academic libraries.

The Web Implementation and Management Team (WIMT) has posted its website mission and goals statement online.

Please go to https://psu.box.com/s/01zu5cqu4ekw35q2xx38c712urv2aw65 to read the statement and add your comments. For more information or if you have questions, email WIMT at ul-wimt@lists.psu.edu.

Guides Forum Recap: January 27, 2015

Thanks to all who participated in the Guides Forum on January 27! We had a lively and productive discussion about current guides and our planning for the transition into LibGuides. We talked about improving our guides through the LibGuides implementation, and how we might best leverage, develop and actively maintain our important Guides “Collection.” Thanks again to all for your thoughtful comments and feedback. For those of you who were not able to attend, we encourage you to submit your comments and ideas to ul-wimt@lists.psu.edu.

• The recording of the Guides Forum is here
• The notes from the Forum are here

More information about current guides usage can be found here:
https://psu.box.com/s/f6pbmmnqinnunfk1v6mfyt1rv13p9z0j

Submitted by Helen Smith and Binky Lush on behalf of the Web Implementation and Management Team

The Drupal migration project continues to move forward. Web Implementation Management Team (WIMT) chair Binky Lush and lead web developer Charlie Morris conducted a short presentation recently to highlight the progress that has been made to date. (Their presentation was part of the February 3 Tech Update and can be viewed on MediaSite Live.) The presentation outlined the following areas:

1. Drupal development: Morris is leading the technology portion of the migration. The three other web developers are Wayne Ellenberger, Andrew Calvin and Karen Schwentner. Currently, this group is working on migrating the following
   sites: ICIK, the Pennsylvania Center for the Book, The People’s Contest and
   ASEE Community Engagement Division. The look and feel of the old sites will be maintained, although the design will now be responsive (i.e. can be viewed
   correctly on any device).
2. Timeline and migration schedule: The entire Drupal implementation will be conducted over two years. A migration order has been planned and dates will be set soon.
3. Content strategy: A full content inventory of the Libraries’ 10,000-plus webpages was conducted and it was found that some content was duplicative, no longer relevant, or out-of-date. During the migration process, WIMT will consider analytics, do usability testing, and re-work pages for functionality as needed. In the long term, WIMT will be responsible for developing a strategic vision for the Libraries’ site, including the policies and guiding principles for creating pages.
4. LibGuides: LibGuides will replace the current guides. Helen Smith led a forum on LibGuides, which can be viewed on MediaSite Live.
   If you have questions, please email UL-wimt@lists.psu.edu. For more information on WIMT see the previous blog post: “Team to guide Drupal implementation.”

Over the next 24 months, the Libraries’ website will migrate from Adobe CQ CMS to Drupal. A team has been formed to guide this transition, sponsored by Dace Freivalds, head of the Department for Information Technologies and Lisa German, associate dean for Collections Information and Access Services. The Web Implementation and Management Team (WIMT), headed by Binky Lush, will work closely with I-Tech to evaluate and plan site functionality, prioritize phases of migration and develop a strategic vision for the Library’s web presence.

WIMT is made up of team members from across the Libraries, who will represent the following areas:

• Content Strategy
• Usability
• Discovery
• Technology
• Marketing
• Analytics
• Research
• Teaching and Learning

The team will define guidelines for the new website to ensure that it supports and facilitates an engaging user experience. These guidelines will include:

• User-centered, integrated interfaces for fast and easy information retrieval
• Structured websites with minimum clicks for user-desired tasks
• Information content and services packaged to meet user needs
• Information seeking as the central focus of website design
• Integration of more user-centered resources into web design
• Structured website and tools for better integration with other information
  portals
• Compliance with current information standards and conventions for web design
• Content that interoperates with University Systems
• Ongoing browser compatibility

Upon completion of the Drupal implementation, WIMT will continue to coordinate all web project proposals and formulate policies related to the web. In the coming weeks, regular updates from the WIMT will be posted in the Library News blog.

For more information, contact the team at ul-wimt@lists.psu.edu.

WIMT members: Binky Lush, Linda Klimczyk, Helen Smith, Chuck Jones, Lana Munip, Dawn Amsberry, Charlie Morris, Alex Brown, Bonnie Imler, Amy Rustic