Fact, Fiction and Fraud in the Digital Age: Project

Length: 1500-2000 words for all students. Due date: Monday 8 November 2004.

Focus of project

You are an information consultant and are required to submit an expression of interest for the design and construction of a subject gateway in <insert your domain here>. Alternatively you may submit an expression of interest for the redesign of an existing gateway or for an organisation's intranet. The gateway will cover both online and print, primary and secondary resources in the selected domain.

Time will be allocated to discuss the project in the tutorials from week 9. You should email tfac@austehc.unimelb.edu.au by Friday 15 October 2004 with details of the subject gateway you wish to work on. All emails should begin with the code TFAC in the subject line and any emails containing attachments will be deleted unread.

Requirements

Secondly, you need to ensure that your expression of interest for the subject gateway has a strategy to deal with resources that are not available on the web.

Thirdly, you must address how your gateway will meet minimum functional requirements for web based design as mentioned in the lectures, i.e. The four Cs - Citability, Coherence, Communicability and Compliance.

Your Expression of Interest should:

• demonstrate knowledge of the existing state of play your chosen domain;
  • You should look at existing web resources in your domain and identify how your subject gateway will integrate and complement them. If redesigning an existing site you should identify the problems with the existing site and then show how your redesign will address them.

• identify the benefits the gateway will deliver;
  • You will need to define your user community or communities - e.g. who, technological level, skill level, knowledge of area level - expert to novice or all. However don't be too exclusive.
  • You should identify a set of goals/objectives, both short and long term. If applicable, you may even like to address how performance against those goals is to be monitored or measured.

• describe the systems architecture, such as structures, search and retrieval protocols;
  • How are you going to structure your site? How do users navigate around it, e.g. menus and search functions
  • Consider using diagrams or mockups of what key pages will look like.
  • Minimum should be able to map out how the resource will look on the Web and what navigational elements/options will be available to the user - e.g see OHRM Web structure.
  • Also consider how users are going to find you and how your structure and presentation of information will facilitate search engine and directory indexing, e.g. static versus dynamic pages

• describe the content management requirements - e.g. identification and selection of content, maintenance tasks, etc.;
  • How are you going to identify, evaluate, select and describe resources in your gateway? Spell out the criteria for selection and protocols for describing the content.
  • What sort of tools do you need to manage your content?

• identify any key technologies - hardware, software, standards etc.
  • Metadata strategy, XML strategy
  • Balance between static, dynamic pages and use of databases
  • Existing software tool versus creation
  • Content standards

Assessment

• The project is worth 40% of the assessment and must be submitted via the essay chute outside the History and Philosophy of Science office in Old Arts.
• You will be assessed against the requirements listed above.
• Marks will be deducted for late submission and for failing to follow the procedural requirements.

Additional

• Report format - clear, concise sentences; use of dot points; structure and use of headings; Executive summary.
• Identify issues for further consideration where appropriate - e.g. XML strategy
• Email to tfac specifing your chosen domain - use it as the opportunity to write the first section of your report - i.e. define your domain, your users, and the goals/objectives of your gateway.
• Reference and acknowledge your sources appropriately. Include a bibliography.