Blog Archives: New Media
I can't tell you how truly proud I am to have won the coveted Damen's Favorite award for my towering "Blue Almond Trees" cookie sculpture. What many are calling a "work of art" and others call "breathtaking," these cookies took years to concept and minutes to bake. This recognition of my years of culinary research and experimentation is a wonderful start to the holidays.
One evening last year on my way home from work, I listened to a podcast of an interview with Tiffany Shlain, the founder of the Webby Awards. While she talked about the awards ceremony, I wondered what it would be like to win a Webby and spend an evening with the Web's most accomplished visionaries and creative pioneers.
A year later, the Indiana University Office of Creative Services received notice that one of our Web sites was among the top five finalists in the “School” category. For nearly a month, we wondered about our chances of winning. Then, the day the winners were announced, I got a call just after 7:00 a.m. No, it wasn't the International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences. It was Jane Below, the information architect for the project. We had won. She had checked the site twice before calling me.
The Webby Awards ceremony is held in New York City on Wall Street, the financial center of the world. It was fitting for David-Michel Davies, executive director of the Webby Awards, to speak about the financial impact of the Web, especially to an audience that included Meg Whitman, the CEO of eBay, and Steve Chen and Chad Hurley, co-founders of YouTube.
Whitman accepted her award along with a few hand-picked eBay millionaires, Chen and Hurley joked about their billion-dollar deal with Google, and after the ceremony we walked outside to see Fritz Grobe and Stephen Voltz conducting one of their Diet Coke and Mentos experiments. It's mostly how they are making a living now.
The Web has certainly affected the U.S. economy and culture in the past decade. (Did I mention that David Bowie and the Beastie Boys were in attendance to receive awards for their pioneering methods of connecting with fans?) In fact, it's even difficult for me to remember a time before the Internet (but I do remember Gopher). My first job after college was writing a newsletter for the Indiana Higher Education Telecommunication System about how new technologies such as BITNET and even e-mail were being used to foster communication among researchers in higher education. We've come a long way since then, and I'm proud that IU has been at the forefront since the beginning.
No one knows what the future of the Web holds, but I have a feeling we'll be ready. We really liked being part of the Webby crowd.
If you are a Web professional at Indiana University, you might want to attend the June IUMMUG meeting.
We will be discussing a new committee tasked with investigating and recommending solutions for the following issues: accessibility, creative commons licenses, IU web servers, IU search engine, visual identity, RSS feeds/multimedia, privacy/disability information, vision/outlook/Web 2.0, integrating institutional data, calendaring, and intranets. This committee will be launching a Web site in fall 2007 with resources for IU Web managers. Visit the IUMMUG site for details.
And yes, Bob will be giving away prizes :)
Wednesday, June 20
1:30 to 3 p.m.
Kelley School of Business Room CG1034
Last week, it came to our attention that we—gasp—had no set style regarding punctuation usage in links. Now, this might not seem like a huge deal, but "to punctuate or not to punctuate" (like right there, for instance) actually is important from both usability and editorial standpoints. It can affect the semantics of your Web page, the way readers scan text, and how screen readers treat the text for visually impaired users. Taking all of these aspects into consideration made the decision a tricky one.
But we were up to the task. Armed with our Chicago Manual of Style, various examples from other Web sites, usability recommendations, and of course, our geek pride, we discussed the issue at our editors' meeting this afternoon.
After a lively debate, we, the editors, have set a new style regarding punctuation usage in links. I'd like to thank our two honorary editors—Jane Below, our information architect, and Ashley Callahan, our interactive technologist—for their input and expert opinions on the matter, as well as Margaret Londergan at Adaptive Technology Services for her usability recommendations. I'd also like to thank the Academy. Well, not really. But see what I did there?
Now I know you're all wondering, "So what's the rule? Do I ever use punctuation in the link?"
Check out our updated style guide for the answers. If you're also wondering, "What the heck are jots and tittles?" you can e-mail Linda Stephenson, senior writer-editor, and beg her to write a blog about her expertise on the matter. Or you can just check it out on Wikipedia. That's what we did.
IA - what is it and how does it affect my world?
These are just some of the topics we will discuss at the next IU Multimedia User Group meeting scheduled for Wednesday, April 25, 1:30-3 p.m. You can read all about it here.
We are currently working on a new Web site devoted to the visual identity standards resulting from the Integrated Image Program. The Visual Identity site will include downloads and information for print and electronic publishing as well as audio and video materials. We hope that our university colleagues will find this site a useful resource for information and publishing tools.
To simplify the available information and graphics, we will be merging some of our current Web pages into this new site:
:: The IU Web Policy site will be removed from the server. Information from that site will be updated and moved to the Visual Identity site. When the IU Gateway is redesigned, new templates and standards for that site also will be available in the Visual Identity site.
:: The Logos, Colors, and Wordmarks pages currently on the Creative Services site will be removed and all the downloads and information will become part of the Visual Identity site.
As always we welcome your ideas and suggestions. Please let us know how we can help you manage this transition smoothly.
Update: The IU Visual Identity Guidelines
If you are considering a Web redesign or a new site, you might be interested in reading, "Fighting the Good Fight: How to Build a Web Site Everyone Loves." In November 2005, Rebecca Salerno and I published this white paper and presented on this topic at the American Marketing Association Symposium for the Marketing of Higher Education.
The Abstract:
Too many college and university Web sites are battlegrounds. This dissention among marketing, IT, and faculty makes it difficult to create effective Web sites. The objective of this paper is to identify what university marketers and Web developers need to do to build consensus on campus before building a Web site.
