Content Creation: Web 2.0 Is Providing The Solution!

1
Content Creation Web 2.0 Is Providing The
Solution!
http//www.ukoln.ac.uk/web-focus/events/online/web
-2.0-200705/

• Brian Kelly, UKOLN,
• University of Bath
• Bath

About This Talk This talk argues that Web 2.0
services are providing solutions to many of the
requirements we are currently facing in
delivering services for our users. Thanks to Paul
Walk for ideas originally presented at the
recent Shock of the Social conference.
Email B.Kelly_at_ukoln.ac.uk
Resources bookmarked using web-2.0-200705' tag
UKOLN is supported by
This work is licensed under a Attribution-NonComme
rcial-ShareAlike 2.0 licence (but note caveat)
2
Third Party Web 2.0 Services The Future? (1)
Web 2.0

• Our users are using them anyway - at least, we
  think they are! (Note more data is needed)
• They can be more cost-effective ( greener?)
• Always difficult to measure
• Energy cost of hosting servers locally is
  increasingly a concern
• They can benefit from network effects unavailable
  to local services because they can become global
  in scale
• Can an institution build a local system with a
  social network large enough to be useful?

3
Third Party Web 2.0 Services The Future? (2)
Web 2.0

• They develop more rapidly - perpetual beta
  massive feedback
• Can our locally developed services compete with
  this?
• There is so much already available - e.g. Office
  2.0 Database at http//itredux.com/office-20/datab
  ase/
• Demonstrates viability of working with only a web
  browser and a network connection
• Itself is built on a Web 2.0 database, Dabble DB
  (http//www.dabbledb.com/)

Why arent we doing this to a much greater extent?
4
But What if the Service is Removed?
Objections

• This is a real risk, in the sense that it can
  happen. Locally installed software can have its
  own peculiar problems, but sudden removal is
  unusual....
• Addressing the problem
• Migration make sure you can export your data in
  a format which allows service to be re-deploying
  (e.g. tools exist for extracting del.icio.us
  bookmarks)
• Identify alternatives which can import your data
  and provide a comparable service
• Do the business research - you do do this anyway
  for locally installed software, dont you....?
• A radical thought perhaps this is simply a new
  reality - the downside of a new, generally better
  way of deploying services? Maybe our users will
  come to expect this and be able to deal with it?

5
Weve Been Here Before! (1)
Objections

• So whats new
• Transition from mainframes
• Transition from mini-computers
• Transition from BBC, Acorn, PET,
• Similarly for the software
• dBase, Lotus,

We just need to be able to be more agile.
6
Weve Been Here Before! (2)
Objections

• But Google may go out of business!
• Yer, right.
• Software services do disappear
• Home-grown stuff (the developer leaves, loses
  interest, )
• Project-funded deliverables (what happened to
  ROADS?)
• National services e.g. Mailbase
• Licensed application (what happened to WebCT?)

7
What if Service Suddenly Changes?
Objections

• Always beta makes me nervous!
• A good, commercial service will not threaten
  customer base by making sudden, significant
  changes, or removing important features
• However, unlike locally installed software (where
  you can at least choose not to upgrade), hosted
  services will tend to be upgraded steadily (this
  might be seen as a good thing)
• The notion of perpetual beta is being explored
  and argued about
• The customer needs to maintain an awareness of
  the services roadmap for future development
• Good IT support services will already be doing
  this for their locally installed software - they
  need to apply the same strategy to hosted services

8
What about Support, Security, FOI, SLAs ....?
Objections

• We cant be responsible if you decide to use
  Gmail
• Is this why we still issue an email address to
  our students?
• Security FOI issues
• May be issues of where the data is held, rather
  than who supplies the service
• Service maintenance
• SLAs - difficult to arrange in a distributed
  world
• Diagnostics are difficult if service relies on
  others outside your control You know you have a
  distributed system, when a company you didn't
  know you had a relationship with changes their
  business plan and your application stops working
• Do you actually have an SLA with your local
  service? How often does one of your institutional
  services go offline unexpectedly?

9
What About Our Brand, Domain Name....?
Objections

• Challenge
• If we encourage our students to use Fflickr, for
  example, for uploading their work, can we
  advertise ourselves as providing this facility?
• Service providers are aware of this issue
• Google have launched Google Apps for Domains
• If a remote service can be utilised in a
  machine-machine way, then it can possibly be
  wrapped in a local look-and-feel

10
Development In-house Developers
Objections

• What will developers do if there are no local
  systems?
• There will always be some locally developed
  systems - concentrate on developing solutions to
  problems where local/domain knowledge is crucial
• Integration - mashups! Leverage work which has
  gone into external services and add value locally
• Added-value work, rather than core services
• Experimental, evaluation, research,
• The last mile - the presentation layer for the
  institution (portals, personalisation)
• Customisation via APIs
• Consultation for colleagues - helping them to use
  available services, even outside the institution

IT services should be an enabling service, not a
barrier, but this requires a transformation in
the way IT personnel see themselves in the
organisation
11
New Opportunities for Non-Developers

• Does Web 2.0 offer the possibility of
  development to more institutional players - not
  just the developers?
• Yahoos Pipes - drag and drop RSS mashups for
  everyone
• Free hosted portals - NetVibes, Pageflakes
• Elgg spaces - DIY social networking in an
  educational context
• There is a (non-web) precedent spreadsheets are
  the most widely deployed and used development
  tool of all - almost anyone can develop useful
  functions with this technology

Opportunities
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Yahoo Pipes - Development Tool for the rest of us
Opportunities
13
Hosting, Deploying, Developing a Spectrum
Opportunities
14
Yes Things Can Go Wrong!
http//www.rss-info.com/

• Case study
• RSS-gt HTML conversion service used for UKOLN
  event
• On 21 Oct 2006 email received saying page had
  been hacked
• Service removed (and service restored later same
  day)
• Following day discovered service had admin
  problem in paying subscription for domain

• Reflections
• Problems fixed quickly (thanks to peers).
• A records management problem (has happened to
  MS!)
• A problem we could experience ourselves
• Learnt about use of whois for checking domain
  records

15
Do It!
http//www.slideshare.net/lisbk/content-creation-
web-20-is-providing-the-solution/

• I use Slideshare for hosting many of my slides
• Annotation service
• Maximising impact
• Resource discovery through like-minded people
• Master copy managed at UKOLN
• Why dont we do more of this?

16
Further Discussions
http//ukwebfocus.wordpress.com/

• UK Web Focus blog discusses many related issues
• New services
• Risk assessment
• Deployment strategies
• Web 2.0 Readiness Rating
• Note also UKOLNs 11th Institutional Web
  Management Workshop 16-18th July at the
  University of York (Google IWMW 2007)

17
Thoughts

• When considering new service developments, look
  carefully at what existing Web services have to
  offer
• Third party services may provide evaluation and
  prototyping and proof-of-concepts and not just
  final service delivery
• Consider management deployment costs
• Devise an exit strategy when using external
  services
• Manage, rather than avoid, the risk of using
  external services
• Have a risk management strategy and apply it to
  conventional approaches and doing nothing

18
Questions

• Any questions?