Information Architecture of University Web portal

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1 Information Architecture of University Web portal Veselina Nedeva 1, Zlatin Zlatev 1 1 Faculty of Engineering and Technology, Trakia University, Yambol, Bulgaria Tel: , s: veselina.nedeva@gmail.com; zlatin.zlatev@trakiauni.bg Abstract: A Web portal can be defined as a Web site that aggregates an array of content and provides a variety of services including search engines, directories, news, and chat rooms. Portals have evolved to provide a customized gateway to Web information [6]. A high level of personalization and customization is possible. We strived to further develop this web concept to function as a sophisticated Web interface that can support the main tasks of academics, namely teaching and research. The Trakia University web portal is presented in this paper, and some specific features, arising from the necessity to provide quality services to the portal users, are shown as well. According to the specific tasks, the web portal has been identified as a part of the developed Integrated Management Information System of Trakia University. Keywords: web portal, student services, academic staff services 1. Introduction Web portals collect large volume of information from various distributed sources and present them to the users. Various portals have been developed for various purposes. Portals are useful as they provide a centralised application to access information from various sources distributed across the Web [4]. The university web portal supports the implementation of the services, which are offered to the students, and is an important tool for the consumers. It allows customization of the information, library and electronic services in both the Intranet and Internet, which are available for all students. The university web portal offers friendly interface for accessing a wide range of resources, which are integrated into single common information architecture. The web portal can quickly turn into a university information center, by knowing the needs and expectations of its visitors and users. Depending on the volume of information sources and their purpose we can use different approaches - one can either construct a common web portal or create various university web portals categorized by subjects. The university web portal offers a web-based collaborative environment for the students, lecturers and all of the people who work in various fields of scientific research. This interactive environment is accessible and easy ISSN

2 to use for public users who want to learn and use the resources available in the web portal. The university web portal supports the students contacts with different companies, in regard to their future employment, and stimulates the easier level of communication with companies that can assist in a nonbiased assessment of the level of graduates expertise. 2. Web portal and information architecture A Web portal can be defined as a Web site that aggregates an array of content and provides a variety of services including search engines, directories, news, and chat rooms. Portals have evolved to provide a customized gateway to Web information [6]. A high level of personalization and customization is possible. We strived to further develop this web concept to function as a sophisticated Web interface that can support the main tasks of academics, namely teaching and research. The portals are considered to be the advanced tools of information retrieval where the information can be personalized, customized and integrated in a web based environment for the user s individual preference [5]. The distribution of activities by time can be covered in stages. One of the ways, in which the stages of the development of a website/portal can be formulated, is the following [3]: 1. Information Architecture analysis; 2. Create/Update content; 3. Visual design mock-ups; 4. Set up content-ready site; Add text and images to content-ready site; Implement visual design; Build custom functionalities; Proofread and approve text and images; 5. Functionality testing and quality assurance; 6. Site goes live to limited audience; 7. Site goes live to all; 8. Update content to keep site current (ongoing). Many of the steps can be implemented simultaneously. Due to the specifics of each project the duration of such project cannot be precisely specified. The web portal creator can, depending upon the specifics of the project for creating a web portal, extrapolate how long each stage will take, taking into account the whole project duration. Providing the information architecture covers the first two stages of a web ISSN

3 portal development- namely Information Architecture analysis and Create/Update content. The information architecture [9] of the site determines the method for organizing and presenting the information to the web site users - web pages, documents, lists and data. The information architecture is often recorded as a hierarchical list including site content, search keywords, data types, and other elements. The term "information architecture" has a different meaning in the area of information systems and in the area of information technology. 1. The structural design of shared information environments [8]. 2. The art and science of organizing and labeling web sites, intranets, online communities, and software to support findability and usability [7]. 3. An emerging community of practice focused on bringing principles of design and architecture to the digital landscape [3]. 4. The combination of organization, labeling, search and navigation systems within websites and intranets [3]. While the definition of information architecture is relatively wellestablished in the field of systems design, it is much more debatable within the context of online information systems (i.e., websites). Andrew Dillon refers to the latter as the "big Information Architecture (IA).- little Information Architecture debate [1] In the little IA view, information architecture is essentially the application of information science to web design which considers, for example, issues of classification and information retrieval. In the big IA view, information architecture involves more than just the organization of a website; it also factors in user experience, thereby considering usability issues of information design. Information architecture is a specialized skill set that interprets information and expresses distinctions between signs and systems of signs. More concretely, it involves the categorization of information into a coherent structure, preferably one that the intended audience can understand quickly, if not inherently, and then easily retrieve the information for which they are searching [8]. The organization structure is usually hierarchical, but can have other structures, such as concentric or even chaotic [8]. Typically this is required in activities such as library systems, content management systems, web development, user interactions, database development, computer programming, technical writing, enterprise architecture, and critical system software design. Information architecture originates, to some degree, in the library sciences. Many schools with library and information science departments teach information architecture [2]. In the context of information systems design, information architecture refers to the analysis and design of the data stored by information systems, concentrating on entities, their attributes, and their interrelationships. It refers to the modeling of data for an individual database and to the corporate data models that an enterprise uses to ISSN

4 coordinate the definition of data in several (perhaps scores or hundreds) distinct databases. The "canonical data model" is applied to integration technologies as a definition for specific data passed between the systems of an enterprise. At a higher level of abstraction, it may also refer to the definition of data stores. 3. Discussion and results The first basic requirement to create a good web portal is to know the needs, interests and expectations of the users of this specific site. The organization, design, text and navigation should work together in unison to allow visitors to find key information and fulfill their orders quickly and easily. The information in the web portal should be logically organized and contain adequate for the purposes of the portal content. The documents should be formatted in such a manner that allow to open the most appropriate section at the place where the user is located and should be also formatted in such a way as to find the necessary information without reading through everything. The web portal can be based either on the work processes or on the structure of the organization. The main portal sites are planned on the basis of the horizontal and vertical structure of the organization. Each of them should contain the information necessary for the project or the departments within the respective organization. These sites are associated with the joint work sites corresponding to the departments or projects. The web portals of the applications organize the work group processes and provide mechanisms for their implementation. The applications' portals often contain panels for monitoring and different functions for data use that connected to the purpose of the web portal.. In such cases the data, received by the web portal, comes from multiple sources. This step of Information Architecture analysis is accomplished by a preliminary study of the users of the Integrated Management Information System of Trakia University. One of the main tasks of the system is to combine all resources into an exhaustive Web portal of Trakia University. The study is by itself divided into two groups, in order to accomplish its purpose: first group Student Education activities and second group - Scientific and International activities. Each of these two groups examine three types of users based on their interests, needs and expectations: type one - students and PhD candidates, type two - lecturers and type three - experts. Five hundred sixty three (563) questionnaires were processed and the results were used in the preparation of the requirements. The web portal of Trakia University is designed based on the university organization. In this case it will correspond directly to the structure of the university and its faculties, branches and structural departments. This part of the portal will provide information from the university website and its ISSN

5 different units, which now all have their own websites. This part of the portal will be the connection to the cumulative academic information, such as rules, regulations, documents, etc. It will include panels for access to personal information about students and lecturers as well. On the other hand the applications part of the web portal will provide access to the databases of the Integrated Management Information System of Trakia University. It will also provide access to tools for typical services related to web portal for the academic staff, integration with library databases and their services. This part will be connected with customized presentation of data such as e-portfolios of students and lecturers, and the integration with communication tools to conduct web conferences and events. The analysis of the information that will be presented on the Internet via the Web portal is the first step in the designing process and requires the determination of: 1. The structure and the grouping of the data in the different unit sites; 2. The data presentation in the web site; 3. The navigation of the users on the website; 4. Targeted information for the different user groups of the Web portal; 5. Setting up and optimization of the search in the Web portal. The designing process goes through several stages: A study of the existing structure of the content and the website. Analysis of the logs and the information collected, concerning the site visitors, allows the separation of the content that was most frequently accessed by the information users. Study of the user requirements. The study of the visitors and their preferences is the basis that determines the type of information they create or use, the access to this information, the assessment of the current structure of the web site, the missing information, the problems that occur in finding and using the current architecture of the site. Study of the business processes and requirements associated with their analysis. They should be reflected in the web portal. Its creator has to explore the possibilities for providing information for the current and prospective students and possibility to get acquainted with the available products and services. As a result of the research, analysis and planning in advance it was discovered that the main business processes that need to be reflected in the web portal of the Trakia University are as follows: 1. Student-Applicant Campaign for the degrees of "Bachelor", "Master", "Doctor/PhD"; 2. Planning, management and monitoring of the education process including testing procedures, practices and internships; 3. Planning, reporting and monitoring of research of lecturers and students; ISSN

6 4. Administrative services for students; 5. Management and monitoring of projects; 6. Development of the academic staff; 7. Questionnaires and students feedback to assess the quality of educational services; 8. Evaluation, accreditation and monitoring of subjects in professional fields; 9. Online portfolio for students; 10. Online portfolio for lecturers; 11. Management of the regulations, rules and regulatory documents at the university level; 12. Registration, management and monitoring of international activity; 13. Performance assessment of the academic staff, administrative and technical personnel. The tasks to be solved by creating a university web portal are directed to improving the services for students and the improvement of the quality of educational services: 1. Information services and resources that will be presented on the web portal; 2. Presentation of educational activities at Trakia University: for prospective students, students - applicants, current students, PhD students, alumni. 3. Presentation of research activity at Trakia University: projects, publications, scientific events; 4. Feedback with students and future users of personnel: online questionnaires, assessment and monitoring of the quality of education; 5. Personal presentation and management of academic results and information from students and postgraduates. The impact of Internet on scientific knowledge cycle and student achievement and progress. 6. Personal presentation and management of academic results and information from lecturers. The impact of Internet on scientific knowledge cycle and the progressive development of academic staff. 7. Communication with the users of the web portal via , web forums, online surveys, online questionnaires; 8. Information search 9. Requirements to the integrity of the Web portal resource 10. Connection with the E-learning platform 11. Connection with the integrated management information system of Trakia university 12. Web site of Trakia university ISSN

7 Library resources; Access to paid scientific databases; Online social Networks in Internet. Levels of integrity of the web portal: 1. Integration of resources - universal information with varied content, search functions and connections; 2. Integrating content - previous information, detailed search, directories, personalization; 3. Workplace integration consumer services, transactions, corporate resources, profiles based on roles, ERP (enterprise resource planning), integration 4. Marketplace integration e-services for users of the web portal, supply chain management, e-marketplace integration, advanced personalisation, e.g. EDI, XML and Java. 4. Conclusion The specific characteristics of the university web portal based on the experience of Trakia University - Stara Zagora, Bulgaria are examined in the paper Information architecture of the Web portal that includes the main activities, relationships, segments and sources of information of the Web portal was created. The work covers only the first two stages of the creation of a university Web portal. The other stages are forthcoming. References [1] Dillon, A (2002). "Information Architecture in JASIST: Just where did we come from?". Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology 53 (10): doi: /asi [2] Education. IA institute. "Schools Teaching IA". [3] Guide to Creating Website Information Architecture and Content, [4] Holton, D.R.W., M. Younas, I.U. Awan, Priority scheduling of requests to web portals, The Journal of System and Software 84 (2011) , [5] Kumar, P. Dharani, Gayathri K. N., Designing and Development of Biochemistry Subject Portal using Bluevoda Web Building Software: A Practical Approach [6] Pienaar, Heila, Design and Development of an Academic Portal, International Journal of Libraries and Information Services, 2003, vol. 53, pp [7] What is IA? (PDF). Information Architecture Institute. [8] Rosenfeld & Morville [9] ISSN