Educause 2010

BGSU on WordPress MU:

A One-Stop Campus Shop for

Blogs, Database-Driven Websites, and Catalogs

Terence Armentano - Center for Online and Blended Learning

Gwen Evans - Library Information and Emerging Technologies

Kellie Tilton - Project Technical Assistant, University Libraries

Faculty & Staff

• 830 full-time faculty on main campus;
• 45 full-time faculty at BGSU Firelands
• 1,915 full- and part-time non-teaching staff members

Students

• More than 20,000 students from 50 states and about 70 foreign nations
• 3,000 graduate students

Databases are a particularly difficult need to supply

The Integrated Library System (ILS) is an enormously complex relational database with intricate rules,complex procedures, and is networked to other important systems (vendors, campus financials, HR, Reg & Records) and for many libraries, is involved in massive scale cloud computing systems (consortiums and OCLC). In addition, there's the "lipstick on a pig" problem.

PROBLEMS FOR USERS

• different locations
• different hours
• different rules
• different standards

and the librarians

can't answer user

questions about the materials.

?

Built In

OUR CASE STUDY

www.mybgsuonline.com

Under the Hood

OPEN SOURCE

Unlock the Creative Power

Topics

Presentation

1 - Intro

2 - Admins Wants

3 - Users Wants

Universities, colleges, libraries and other learning

organizations have an increasing need for technology

platforms that can support a variety of learning and

discovery activities....

ADMINS WANT

• Easily Administered Multiples
• Authenticated Access
• Easy to support, simple to learn for end user
• Burden of customization, administration

for single instance falls on the end user

• Free is good!

4 - Library Problem

USERS WANT

themes

• web visibility
• easy multimedia support
• commenting
• rss feeds
• custom look and branding/themes
• easy to learn and use
• plug ins, widgets, gadgets
• control over the administration of

their own site/blog/database

• search capability

5 - The Case Study

• Some knowledge of HTML
• Subtle differences between full-blown WordPress
• Overwhelming

plugins/addons

http://spreadsheets.google.com/pub?key=tLkK-hDkDv6eUFN_tMxaC1Q&output=html

PROBLEMS FOR STAFF

http://blogs.bgsu.edu/gishvideocenter/

COMPLEX

LIBRARY PROBLEM

Requests to put satellite collections

into the library catalog

Web Designers

Wordpress Admin

6 - Why Wordpress

Server and

Database Admin

PHP Programmers

http://blogs.bgsu.edu

7 - Under the Hood

THE CASE Study

The Wolfe Center Video Catalog

All

Why

it was already there (thanks Terence!)

Wolfe Wanted

8 - Plugins & Themes

• Local control
• Web accessible
• Searchable
• Structured Data
• Easy for student staff to maintain
• Web 2.0 features -- commenting, reviews
• Circulating collection in the future
• Ability to put things on reserve for particular class
• Low cost or free

Library Wanted

• Not to repeat the ephemeral experiences of the past
• No continuing staff involvement for record

creation, training, or support.

• A way to say yes, we'll help you!

http://blogs.bgsu.edu

Copyright Terence Armentano, Gwen Evans, Kellie Tilton 2010. This work is the intellectual property of the author. Permission is granted for this material to be shared for non-commercial, educational purposes, provided that this copyright statement appears on the reproduced materials and notice is given that the copying is by permission of the author. To disseminate otherwise or to republish requires written permission from the author.

9 - Creative Power

Faculty & Staff

830 full-time faculty on main campus;

45 full-time faculty at BGSU Firelands

1,915 full- and part-time non-teaching staff members

Students

More than 20,000 students from 50 states and about 70 foreign nations

3,000 graduate students

10 - Examples