1. Chef Larry’s Intranet Café
Creating an Internal Web Site for Staff
Music
Welcome

2. Menu du Jour Apéritif Hors d’oeuvre Salade verte Entrée Dessert
Digestif
Well I love computers and cooking, so I thought I’d combine the two and have twice the fun. I’ve come up with a hearty 6-course menu for you today. We’ll look at recipes that didn’t work, the ingredients to make an intranet, a fresh, live demonstration, what to think about before you make one creating content, and then questions. The handout is intentionally minimal. You can find detailed information at the Web site listed on the back

3. Apéritif Recipes that didn’t quite work! 1. Paperless Office
2. Staff Yellow Pages
3. Internal Web Pages
So now, some food for thought!
Let’s start with some recipes that didn’t work.
Does anyone here remember reading Business Week, June 30, 1975, edition? Anyone? According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the was the first documented use of a particular word: “Some believe that the paperless office is not that far off.” Library automation systems have helped to deliver on this vision. But as for the rest of paperless office there’s a bit of a problem with the recipe:
Add one monitor.
Add one CPU with some memory chips.
Don’t forget some keyboard.
Add some software, oh yes, and be sure to peel off the cover before inserting.
Then the 1980’s came along and no recipe could be complete without--- tail of mouse!
So we stirred this all together, let it simmer, and then tasted it, but something was missing.
Oh yes, we’re missing, hmm, ribbon, toner, or inkjet cartridge.
So, with our recipe for the paperless office complete, what did we get? More paper and printed documents created faster than ever before! Better yet, not only did we have multiple versions of paper documents, it became easy to distribute and create multiple electronic versions as well.
Okay, I’ve got two more recipes, these are shorter.
In 1994 I was put in charge of our staff in-service day. The theme centered around improving communication between our staff and the various departments. We had recently moved into a new facility three times larger than the previous one and there was a feeling of distance. With 100 full and part-time employees, it’s hard to know sometimes who is an employee and who isn’t! By doing short tours of the departments, we could become reacquainted with the services each department offers. Through brief exercises such as running one of the Mack Truck vacuums, using wheel chairs to maneuver around the building, and shelving books, we gained a new appreciation for what each other was doing.
As part of this day, I had the brilliant idea of coming up with something called the Staff Yellow Pages. Staff were asked to complete a survey of unique jobs they performed, their reading interests, and their hobbies. We also requested a current picture, so that it could be scanned and included in this booklet. The final product was beautiful. One hundred faces with phone extensions and brief biographies and a master list of who did what. It failed miserably:
It took a long time to print out even on a fast printer, so we had to copy the pages. The copier took everyone’s worst features and made them even worse. Dark photos turned solid black.
Then came the biggest problem. Can you believe the fact that people have the nerve to leave? The least they could have done was find someone with the same last name as a replacement! The lovely Yellow Pages died a quick and quiet death. At least we had lots of staff photos on file to use for our Employee of the Month posters.
The last failed recipe came in One of my jobs is to manage the facility, contracts, etc. Happily, we have a very capable staff, but every time I would go on vacation, I felt like a parent having to leave the phone number for every tradesman I could think of. I wanted a way to make it easy for everyone to access all of the contractors’ names and have directions for troubleshooting the great variety of systems in the building.
I was part of our Internet Web team and as we were launching our home page I thought, “wouldn’t it be great to have an “internal Internet Web.”
As the concept of an internal Web caught on, it became dubbed the “intranet.” Note, it’s a lower case “I” instead of a capital. What’s the definition of an intranet?

4. Hors d’oeuvre Definition ·In’ tra net
- n. “A computer network connecting an affiliated set of clients using standard Internet protocols, especially TCP/IP and HTTP, connected by secure, possibly virtual, networks.”
<get volunteer to read>
Kind of a technobabble definition, but accurate. Fundamentally it is truly a Web designed for private use within an organization. It can span multiple sites, but the target audience is the staff of that organization.

5. So, isn’t
this
just
like
our
Internet Web site?

6. Yes 1. Uses a Web server to deliver content
2. Requires organization and guidelines
3. It requires maintenance

7. No 1. Small, known audience and want to keep it that way!
2. Easy to forget if it isn’t often used
3. Security permissions very important
4. You know the capabilities of your users

8. So, am I not
just
DOUBLING
my work?

9. No! We all have documents in electronic format
We all need to share information
There are great ways to organize it, but do we?
Some of the information may already be on your public Web site, but could be rearranged for staff use

10. What types of things would you put on your
library’s intranet?

11. Salade Verte Where does it belong? Internet, intranet, neither?
List of library hours, general phone numbers, addresses
Staff work phone list
Staff home phone list
Meeting room schedule
Public service policies
Personnel policies
Press releases
Photos of staff party

12. What format? 1. Print versus screen 2. HTML versus native file format
3. Adobe PDF versus native file format
4. Paper versus electronic
5. One file versus two
Paper versus electronic

13. Guarding the Recipes 1. Unpublished URL
2. Login with username and password
3. Authenticate by IP address
Paper versus electronic

14. Things to Remember! 1. Modify work patterns, don’t add work
2. Determine best file format
3. Store data in one place
4. Don’t duplicate Internet site
5. Organize directory structure
6. Determine security permissions
7. Develop content guidelines
8. Create style guides and templates
9. Experiment with advanced features
10. Keep them coming back!

15. 15-minute break

16. Entrée
A demonstration of CMPL’s Intranet

17. How to Build Outsourcing Intranet in a Box From scratch
Microsoft Sharepoint

18. Outsourcing
Pros
Don’t have much staff expertise in running a web server
Don’t have the hardware/software
In a hurry, can be happy with a generic solution

19. Outsourcing
Concerns
Do you feel comfortable with someone else safeguarding your data?
Is the customer service of the provider adequate?
What happens if you want to take your data and switch providers?
What are the guarantees regarding uptime, security, etc?
Are you creating extra work by having to transfer documents to a second location?

20. Out of the Box Pros Ready to go Saves time
Don’t have to understand how it works

21. Out of the Box Concerns Canned look and feel
Might be hard to fix if it “breaks”
May not exactly match your organization’s style

22. From Scratch Pros Custom design can exactly match your needs
Can have the “look and feel” of your organization’s culture
Can be designed for maximum appeal

23. From Scratch Concerns Can be time consuming to setup
Can require programming skills

24. Miscellaneous
May need to train staff how to author Web pages who may not know HTML (e.g. Policies)
New windows for whole documents?
Some documents everyone may want to “write” on and will need permissions
Prepare documents for search engine results
Dates in documents may update to current date making them look newer than printed

25. If I
build it
will
they
come?

26. No!

27. If we
build it
will
they
come?

28. Maybe!

29. Dessert Keep them Coming Back
A. This is something for every department!
B. Make it fun, yet informative
C. Use staff names and photos
D. Keep it current!
E. Pack it with information and promote it

30. Maybe Subtle force - word of mouth
Moderate force “available exclusively on the intranet
Create a portal worthy as browser startup
Make part of Active Desktop
Offer sufficient access, e.g. lounge

31. Fromage Comments from a RHPL Web user
“I am definitely not computer literate, so the RHPL Web makes the ‘big gray box in front of me’ less intimidating. It is also a nice way of learning more about other employees in this huge building, especially those who work on another floor entirely. The set-up is really attractive and unique; I don’t know how anybody can keep from using this service. In conclusion, it must be great for patrons who walk by the Web-equipped terminal at the Information Desk; the new ‘toy’ has the employees smiling and looking riveted, so they must see how much fun we have working here!”

32. Digestif
Questions

33. Further information is available at:
La Fin
Further information is available at: