1. The OUCS Portal Project
OUCS Portal Implementation Group
29 April 2003

2. Essentials of a portal Provides a framework for
Portal hypertension (The Cleveland Clinic)
Essentials of a portal
Provides a framework for
Retrieving, aggregating (and integrating) information
From distributed remote services
Presenting information according to user preferences
“Building portals is not about creating content. It is less about developing functionality than it is about building a coherent presentation of existing content and applications tailored to specific users.”
Users in this context include both end-users and admin/content configurators

3. Essentials of an institutional portal
Claude Monet Le Portail (Effet de Matin). 1894
Essentials of an institutional portal
Portal providing an integrated view (“pocket guide”) of a university’s information resources
For students, teachers, researchers, academic-support, alumni…
From information exposed by departments, colleges, academic services, VLE, student/staff records, external resources

4. And what a portal is not Not A portal is only as good as its content.
Content creation/management system
Replacement for existing processes
A portal is only as good as its content.
The content is only as good as the processes to create/manage it
Developing a portal may result in changing processes but it is not an aim.

5. Information sources in Oxford Student

6. Information sources in Oxford Staff

7. Information sources in Oxford Everyone

8. Aims of the OUCS PIG
To gain more experience of portals, Web Services and associated standards
To investigate streamlining existing services and offering a user-centric view of OUCS+ information
To encourage the migration of OUCS internal office processes to the digital information age
Disseminate our and others experiences to the University

9. Project Plan Establishing a hardware and software base
Development/demonstrator environments
Service definition
Consultation and catalogue of services
Service standards
How to expose content for channels
Layout and delivery design
Developing XSLT styesheets etc
Access management
Integrating authentication/authorization
OUCS internal office
Audit of information flow

10. Service definitions National survey said: Our survey* said:
Search your favourite resources
Library administration
Access/update teaching materials
Personal information
Digital resources alerts
access
Handbook
Deadline alerts
Access/update reading lists
Campus news
OUCS news of all kinds
Alerts/Access to Weblearn
Access to WING
My OxLIP/OLIS
Themes/channels by college/dept.
Events aggregator
Job vacancies
Bookmarks
Classified adverts
Weather
* Survey based on small number of interviews combined with usefulness and feasibility

11. uPortal Open Source portal framework
Developed by JA-SIG HE institutions (with help from Mellon)
Co-ordinates output of content from channels
Implemented as Java servlets; XML/XSLT

12. Personalised portal interface
Edris Eckhardt Portal to Immortality
Joining it all up
Personalised portal interface
XSLT
Authentication
Authorization
RSS SOAP XHTML …
Data Channels
Metadata
Services
VLE, OXAM, Herald, OUCSweb, Admin, OLIS, OXLIP, etc
People
Courses
News
OUCS Data
Library Data
Data
Athens

13. Progress to date Assembled a PIG from across OUCS
Eugène Atget Old Courtyard, rue Quincampoix
Progress to date
Assembled a PIG from across OUCS
(Lou Burnard (chair), Sebastian Rahtz (secretary), Matthew Dovey, Francisco Pinto, Chris Cooper, Peter Robinson, Bruce Shakespeare, Stephen Quinney)
Defined a potential list of services for integration
Parallel investigation of authentication services
Installed uPortal and enrolled in uPortal training
Commenced configuring a demonstrator
Organised a series of portal talks

14. Demo http://charlotte.oucs.ox.ac.uk:8080/uPortal
Screenshots in case the demo fails

15. uPortal and Weblearn FAQ: what is the proper relationship?
Weblearn = VLE = place where learning takes place
Portal = framework = channel for alerting; access; based on common AMS
VLE might offer portal-like functions
E.g. what is the relationship between the VLE and Library resources?
Avoid locking content into blackboxes
Does the VLE/Portal/Records System support Open Standards?

16. Timetable Feb 2003: planning March 2003: basic templates & RSS
Charles Marville Cathedral de Reims, figures du Grand Portal
Timetable
Feb 2003: planning
March 2003: basic templates & RSS
April 2003: integration of LDAP
May 2003: development of selected Web Services
June 2003: demonstrator launched

17. How you can help Are you an information provider?
Fragment: Man in a Portal 4th-6th century
How you can help
Are you an information provider?
Consider supporting RSS newsfeeds or other XML standards - talk to us about your services
Are you a likely portal user?
Consider expressing an interest in evaluation or consultation - we want to know your needs
Are you a technical developer?
Consider assisting with channel development

18. A different type of portal