avoiding stale sites: preventing content from going out-of-date

Avoiding Stale Sites

John LazosCascade Server Engineer

#csuc13 @hannon_hill

Content Review Strategies in Cascade Server

About Me

Cascade Server Engineer since December 2012

Prior Experience:● BS Computer Science (Rensselaer

Polytechnic Institute)

● 3+ years Software Engineering Consultant

● Meteor 4.0: National Student Clearinghouse

#csuc13 @hannon_hill

In This Hour

● Intro to Stale Content● Content Review in Industry

○ Government○ Higher Ed

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• Review Strategies Summary

• Stale Content in Cascadeo Walkthrougho Feature Roadmap

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Intro to Stale Content:“House of Horrors”

THIS SLIDE COMING SOON!

http://www2.warnerbros.com/spacejam/movie/jam.htm

“By using CNN.com, you agree to comply with all of the terms and conditions hereof.”

Detrimental Impacts

● Marketing brand image● Information accuracy

○ Event calendar○ Contact info

● Legal compliance○ Terms of service○ Privacy policies

● Search engine optimization (SEO)○ “Low quality” content○ Search engine algorithm updates

#csuc13 @hannon_hill

#csuc13 @hannon_hill

Content Review in Industry

In Higher Ed

● Content by semester, academic year● Multiple content tiers

○ School○ Department○ Class○ Student Organization

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In Higher Ed

Needing review:●Academic calendars

•Course schedules

•Assignments•Cafeteria menus

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Imperial College of London

From Maintaining the Currency of Web Content:

●Objectives○ High visitor interest and retention○ Consistency with College, department

priorities○ Consistent course information between

departments○ Protection from legal action

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Imperial College of London

● Content Manager○ Responsible for specific sites or content○ Approves content before publication○ Monitors site traffic (site use and popularity)○ Accepts feedback from visitors○ Monitors for stale content

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Imperial College of London

● Review schedule○ Review date-sensitive information daily○ Review every 3 months:

■ 10 most popular pages■ “All web pages that could form a

contractual relationship for Imperial College”

○ Review every 6 months:■ 50 most popular pages

○ Conduct complete review every year

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WEATHER ALERT: The campus will be closed Monday, January 31 due to the impending snowstorm.

Imperial College of London

●Faculty should review sites and report issues to content manager

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In Government

Needing review:●Policies and procedures●Forms●Meeting notes●Online services

Federal regulations:●National Archives

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National Archives Guidelines

From NARA Guidance on Managing Web Records:

●Identify website○ Publication repository○ Limited communication tool

■ e.g. contact form○ Query-based information access○ On-demand services

■ e.g. public forum

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National Archives Guidelines

● Perform risk assessmentHow difficult is it to maintain:

○ Reliability■ completeness, accuracy of content

○ Authenticity■ written by subject matter expert

○ Integrity■ audited, unaltered without approval

○ Usability■ accessibility and communicability

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National Archives Guidelines

● Mitigate risk○ Establish content review process(es)○ Train staff○ Put new and existing content under review

process

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#csuc13 @hannon_hill

Review Strategies Summary

What To Review

● Accuracy of information○ Text○ Dates○ Links○ Images

● Audit logs● Presentation, usability● Search engine optimization

○ Freshness of content○ Suspicious SEO practices

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Periodic Content Reviews

● Set review frequency based on:○ Content importance/popularity○ Date-sensitivity of content

● Mark “Reviewed Date” on website

● “Event-driven” content reviews

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Content Ownership

An Owner is: ●Responsible for reviewing and

maintaining content●Point of contact for content●An individual or group

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Archiving Old Content

Preserve outdated content for historical reference

Consider:●When content should be archived●When old archived content can be

removed

#csuc13 @hannon_hill

#csuc13 @hannon_hill

Stale Content in Cascade

Feature Roadmap

● 7.4, 7.6 (current)○ Overview chart○ Date threshold

filter○ Actions

■ Notify by Email■ Schedule

Review Date

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● In Development○ Content ownership○ Export CSV and other formats

● Planned○ Advanced filtering

■ Path, folder○ Exclude content

References

Maintaining the Currency of Web Content

● http://www3.imperial.ac.uk/webguide/strategyandpolicies/policiesandstandards/maintainingthecurrencyofwebcontent

NARA Guidance on Managing Web Records

● http://www.archives.gov/records-mgmt/pdf/managing-web-records-index.pdf#csuc13 @hannon_hill

References

HowTo.gov: Keep Content Current● http://www.howto.gov/web-content/manage/keep-

content-current

Space Jam movie site● http://www2.warnerbros.com/spacejam/movie/ja

m.htm

CNN Terms of Service● http://www.cnn.com/interactive_legal.html#csuc13 @hannon_hill

References

Google Panda + Penguin● http://googlewebmastercentral.blogspot.com/2011/

05/more-guidance-on-building-high-quality.html● https://support.google.com/webmasters/answer/35

769?hl=en#3

Google Privacy Policy● https://www.google.com/intl/en/policies/privacy/

RPI 2013 Academic Calendar● http://www.rpi.edu/academics/calendar/#csuc13 @hannon_hill