September 9, 2009
Writing for the Web is a different beast. Those of us who live, breathe, eat, and sleep electronic communications must respect the differences and help others who are not as familiar with the online world.
For some great ideas on how to tame the beast and provide sharp, attention-grabbing content, check out "20 tips for writing for the web."
~Jennie
P.S I'd love to know if you think Web should be capped. Is it Web or web? Thoughts?
August 31, 2009
Updates to the Publishing Information on the WWW policy are continuing. It feels like it's very close. We're working with the Office of the General Counsel to make sure we've considered all things appropriately from a legal perspective.
Once we have the OGC's blessing, we will be in touch via e-mail to invite interested folks throughout all University campuses to attend a policy presentation. At that time we'll gather feedback and make changes that seem necessary before passing the policy on to the U's policy committees.
Assuming the committees approve the policy, and after the mandatory 30-day review period, we should have a new policy in place in early 2010.
May 26, 2009
When the review process for the WWW publishing policy began, we realized that this policy should expand to cover more than just the Web. All electronic communications needed to be represented, just as they are on the eCommunication Standards site. With that in mind, some sections of the policy are being updated and new sections are being created.
The sections that are being updated and clarified include the paragraphs about sponsorship, the online advertising space paragraph, and the paragraph related to use of personal Web space. We are discussing the sponsorship issue with a number of colleges and centers. The two main questions related to sponsorship are branding (can the site be in the University templates?) and site location (should the site be on a umn.edu server or should it be a .org?). We are talking with OIT about personal Web space on central servers vs colleges providing personal Web space to their students, faculty, and staff.
New sections that are being written and discussed include those on social networking; audio, video, and slide shows; and mass e-mail. We already have an extensive amount of information regarding mass e-mail on the eCommunication Standards site. Some of that will make it into the policy, particularly the information on the Mailing Lists page.
To help units easily identify what is required, a bulleted list of requirements—similar to what can be seen on the first page of the current policy—is being created for each type of communication.
We're still in the beginning phase of this policy change and, depending on when we're able to fit in the University's policy review schedule, don't anticipate having all the changes approved until fall '09 at the soonest. If you would like to share your thoughts on changes to the WWW publishing policy, please comment here or send an e-mail.
March 5, 2009
The current policy is being updated and many additions will be made to address things like social networking, multimedia, student organizations, subdomain naming, cosponsored sites, and more.