Agriculture Information Technology

Advisory Group (AITAG)

Ag IT Advisory Group – May 1, 2009

Margaret Tweten, Grand Forks County and Northeast District; Gordy Bradbury, Williston REC; Sheila Wiesz, Wells County; Randy Grueneich, Barnes County; Chris Schauer, Hettinger REC; Cindy Selstedt, Rural Leadership/Food Systems; Les Backer, Ag and Biosystems Engineering; Jon Fry (representing Jeff Gerst), ITS; Christina Hargiss, Natural Resources; Bob Bertsch and Becky Koch, Ag Communication

Chair Margaret Tweten asked everyone to introduce themselves. The January minutes were accepted as printed.

Web Strategy

Bob Bertsch shared the Web Strategy document, which was developed by the internal Ag Web team of Roger Egeberg, Mary-Anne Fiebig, Dave Haasser, Becky Koch and himself. Content management system work is the priority if staff time is limited. Moodle is eXtension’s learning/course management system that is easily available to the public. Chris shared concern about continually staying up-to-date with social networking sites. Bob said we’re following the philosophy of collaboration, though specific tools may change. If people are using a tool, the demand will be there for it to continue. The threshold for entering any of these sites is simple. NDSU can step in with accurate information if there’s inaccurate info on social network sites. Becky shared how she’s using Twitter to market the flood Web page. Chris wants to make sure these kinds of sites don’t become the backbone of NDSU’s online work. Bob provided a Web resource for the Ag CMS during the field staff training, and that is the main communication. Twitter, blogs, etc. supplement that.

Second Life is an immersive virtual world that uses an avatar (a character that represents yourself). eXtension has two educational islands in Second Life where they’re creating projects that will eventually educate people. There’s a turfgrass ball that the avatar can go into and a café where you can find food safety problems. Jon said many companies and organizations hold educational seminars in Second Life.

Content Management System

When Bob started in November, the goal was to have Agriculture and University Extension use NDSU’s TYPO3 CMS. The Web group developed a list of functionalities that Ag needed, such as the eXtension Ask an Expert widget, which sends questions directly to that office but provides for backup help. This is considered embedded content. Another was incoming feeds, such as RSS and Atom, that alert subscribers to updates. Feeds are already available for our news releases. When Bob met with the ITS TYPO3 team, the response was that these functions might be added in 12 to 18 months or will never be included. After that discussion, using Plone (the CMS already used for news releases) for a CMS alternative was explored. Plone can have nearly the same look and feel as TYPO3. It won’t replace TYPO3 but is an option.

Bob said Roger Egeberg estimates 100,000 Ag Web pages. County Extension offices are low-hanging fruit. Bob worked individually with REC staff about how overwhelming it will be to convert all their information. The Ag server can handle the quantity. Bob suggests converting some of the front pages to CMS and linking to many old stagnant pages that are there for archival purposes. How do we handle data/content-heavy sites? Bob will work with offices to streamline re-entry. There’s no limitation to hosting on the Ag servers.

Ag CMS (Plone) sites can use the www.ndsu.edu if the pages have the same look and feel as TYPO3 pages. Faculty and staff may use TYPO3, Dreamweaver, whatever to get to the NDSU look.

Bob explained that everything put into a content management system has a template applied to it, so the look and feel are automated. You can’t change typeface, color, size. The header looks similar, though photos are personalized. The navigation along the left is controlled.  NDAWN is a Web application rather than just a Web page, so the site could develop similar headers, footers, navigation, etc.

Margaret said some off-campus support staff have had training, but what about others? Bob will be scheduling some face-to-face training and even more via distance technologies over the next few weeks. Some will be 3 hours and some 6 hours. He’s developing an online quick-start guide and screencasts that show his screens as he talks through the process. Maybe Bob should offer an in-depth pre- or post-conference training or even offer face-to-face for agents, other REC staff and other support staff across the state.

Free and Web-based Programs

Margaret pointed out that potential employees check organizations’ Facebook pages. But if you identify yourself as an NDSU employee, are there liability issues for the university? There are no NDSU policies/guidelines re: NDSU representation on social networking sites. Ag Communication is offering a blog tool, and staff are working on a template that will automatically brand NDSU. The University of Wisconsin has a Twitter background. Chris asked how we “police” NDSU branding. The line between personal and professional use of social networking sites is fuzzy.

Personal @ndsuext.nodak.edu E-mail

Cindy moved, Chris seconded, that personal @ndsuext.nodak.edu e-mail addresses be turned off  July 1. Motion carried.

Web Strategies

Chris moved, Christina seconded, that the Web strategies be accepted. Motion carried.

Online Staff Directory

AITAG members supported the online staff directory with photos and said Ag Communication should start promoting that it’s available to get staff to start entering their data. Units can pull information, including photos, from the database to use on public Web pages.

Linking to Other Sites

Cindy asked about a request they’d received to link to an organization that wasn’t very related to their mission. Becky said NDSU Web pages shouldn’t be linked to others unless the owners choose to because of a specific purpose. Permission isn’t needed to link to Web pages.

Margaret will schedule the next meeting.

Notes submitted by Becky Koch

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