Content concerns: posting potentially offensive content

I was energized last night after attending some student presentations in a seminar class. (There is probably no better haven for those who love to learn and share knowledge than an institution of higher learning!) The topics covered were about religion and popular culture--and the students did a fantastic job. We were able to arrange for audio, video and photography of the class and plan to make this information (in some format) available on the Web.

So, here I sit with really interesting and thoughtful "intellectual property"--both the professor's in her idea for the seminar and how she covered the material, and the students in their own ideas for how to present their topics which include PowerPoint presentations and videos. Can't wait to get this information out on the Web! But wait, there are some aspects of these presentations that may make viewers/listeners cringe. (How exactly does one talk about religion and South Park without being repulsed by not only the extreme representation (or misrepresentation) of religious material, but also by the embarrassing fact that despite the offensive content, we laugh.

Although the content of the presentations is related to a learning experience in a course approved by the University, does that protect us from the possibility that someone may stumble on the material and find it offensive? Will a general outcry occur if a viewer sees the comparisons between Oprah and Jesus and is offended. Should the content of our Web site be restricted by the potential reactions of sensitive viewers/listeners or are we free to present information without fear of repercussions.

Second thought, there's no way to protect the information. Not that anyone actually cheats, but couldn't a less-than-honest student use the information on the Web to copy the ideas or even the actual presentations? Does it matter? Am I the first person to think of this...doubtful since I'm no genius.

The Web is a hazy, nebulous world that's hard to negotiate. I need to check for guidelines and to see how or if other universities deal with these issues.

Reaching out through podcasts

Podcasting peaks my interest. The multi-tasking mindset lends itself to them. I listen to the WSJ podcast while I'm working on something else. I hope the information is seeping into my subconscious, because I find I'm often not paying attention. Subliminal messages finding their way into my knowledge bank while I'm putting a Web page together. One day I may find that instead of handling the topic at hand, my Web page contains typewritten copy from the podcast I've been listening too.
"Faculty team discovers cure for cancer. And the online Wall Street Journal Web site is now subscription free!"

Yikes.

The university connection with the community fires my imagination. Shouldn't a university be a resource for the community. A place where we can go to find comments and thoughtful reflection on social, economic, and environmental issues. Where can you get details or explanations on the meaning of life? (which is 42--see Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy for more information.) Is it coincidental that universe is in the word "university?" Though getting bodies in the chairs is essential to the survival of the institution, can we also be a resource and refuge for people who are interested in learning, growing and chewing on more than just the "spoon-feed me now" pablum we're accustomed to?

Could the use of podcasts open the door to the local community who may not have the time to come to lectures and panel discussions but might want to have a brief synopsis or some points to reflect on regarding issues that affect everyone?

"We get it done!" Eventually."

There's something so fun about a work day when everyone is in a good mood--relaxed...usually on a Friday! I heard my colleague talking on the phone this afternoon about a web project someone requested. (I'm not eavesdropping. Really. My office is an outer room to my colleague's and so we will naturally overhear each others conversations.) As he was hanging up the phone, the last thing he said to the caller was to apologize for the delay in getting to the project and saying, "We get it done, eventually."

This struck me so funny. The web department motto. "We get it done! Eventually."

But slow and steady wins the race, right! And maybe it's better to focus on taking care of one thing at a time.

Hey nonny nonny!

"Then sigh not so, but let them go
and be you blithe and bonny,
Converting all your sounds of woe
Into hey nonny nonny!"

After a long hiatus, I watched once again Kenneth Branagh's Much Ado About Nothing and suddenly I thought that Hey nonny nonny! might be an appropriate thing to say when work is frustrating. Somehow the Web lends itself to this response. Who knows how long a particular thing that is all the rage now will stay popular. What will be the newest Facebook or SecondLife to come along and replace all that we thought would be around for longer. Flexible, fun, flirtatious...one day it's one thing another day it's something else. There's no catching up or outrunning it. The capricious Web is as tumultuous and changing as life itself. It's rather funny really as we all race to keep up with and surpass each other's presence on the Web. A carefree and lighthearted approach might spark the imagination and help me realize that what's here today is gone tomorrow! Boy I love a good glass of wine! All is right with the world.

Juggling skills required

Much time is spent trying to juggle schedules and rooms and equipment for audio recordings I'm hoping to post online. The cart definitely is before the horse in this process, because I know what I want the end product to be but getting the pieces together has me running for the Nice 'n Easy box.

Several hours last week were spent coordinating a professor, a student, a room, a facilities work order and procuring a digital recorder from a neighboring department for a photo gallery/slide show project. The house of cards came tumbling down when my professor needed to reschedule. I've been able to get the student, the professor, the room and the facilities work order but I don't have a digital recorder because the one I was going to use is not available.

Our photographer is planning on ordering a digital recorder for our office but I don't know if it will be here by Friday. Borrowing a recorder from the communications department may be possible but I understand through the grapevine that this is similar to infiltrating Fort Knox.

Other universities must also be feeling this frustration as we scramble to pull together interesting things for the Web with limited resources.

Hurry up and spit it out!

I was reading copy for a magazine story and felt myself getting really annoyed. Working in the Web world for the last 12 months has made me an impatient reader. When I pick up my night-stand novel before bedtime, I am happy to relax and enjoy the slower pace of Bleak House. In my day life, however, there is a definite aggravation factor involved in reading the longer piece. I read and read (two whole paragraphs) and still did not discover the point of the article. Why is the writer doing this to me? It felt like the author was disrespecting my time. This is not a good thing when I put on my print-publication editor persona. To resolve, I think I'll need to put the alumni magazine printout on my nightstand and read before bed!

Faculty glimpse

Last night I put together some Q and A pages on faculty members. The original idea was "short and sweet"-quick somewhat personal glimpse into the real lives of faculty members. I had three in the hopper. Two of which really are short and sweet and one longer version where a professor spent a good deal of time responding to questions. I have a feeling that the longer one will be the one that gets the most interest because it has more words and "looks" better but in my web mind, it's the short, quick Q and As that are more fast and fun. The shorter ones are more like what I imagine I'd have the time to look at. Quick questions, quick answers, in and out, know a bit more than I did, finished. The longer version, just says too much. I have to read to find answers. Again the dichotomy between what I'd like to think my reader is interested in and how much time she has to devote to the page and the truth that my reader has about 10 seconds before having to move on.

Campus blogging for collaboration

If communication is a problem on campus--the right hand not knowing what the left is doing--would a blog help? My newest brainchild is creating a blog where people on campus could write about their ideas, plans, events, with the end result being that faculty/students/staff around campus might be able to lend resources or help with making an idea a reality. There might be possibilities for cross-campus collaboration that would not have been discovered through the normal route. But I'm wondering how to create a blog that people want to contribute to...one that is vibrant, lively, and used. Will need to research this!

Thinking outside of the office

Archival issues abound in our office. Once a story moves off of our main news well, it's time to type your keyword in the searchbox and hope your result turns up somewhere in the top 50.

I told my colleague that I could never find the results I needed using our search. I was looking for an education story and typed in "education" or some generic-type word like that and got results that were far too broad. But what was I expecting? My colleagues enjoyed a good laugh at my expense. "Why didn't you just type in the person's name in the story?" At the time, I agreed I needed an IQ test and the meeting moved on.

This morning, however, it occurred to me that if we thought like our Web page visitors who have no knowledge of our institution, we might find that the search I requested wasn't far off the mark. The scenario: Visitor from outside our University comes to our Web site on the day we run a story about our teacher education program. Reads the story and moves on. Two weeks later, the visitor remembers reading something on our web site and wants to find the story again. The visitor cannot remember anything about the details of the story except that it was about education or teacher education. What are going to be the search results for this visitor?

Archiving our past stories in a place where we can set our search to search only our main news well archive and not all over the entire institutional web site is critical. Maybe not for us but definitely for people who don't work in our office. If the person we wrote the story about couldn't find the story when she did a search, there's no way the audience we want to reach outside the university will have any luck!

Castles in the air

In a meeting about what we'd like to accomplish on our Web site, I notice again that the Web content editor has to straddle the fence between the tech and editorial worlds. I can dream up all kinds of content for my Web pages but I can't make it happen alone. So cooperating with the one person we have on staff who might be available to help with programming is essential. I need to respect the programmer/developer's time but also need to push the content envelope to make progress with our site. But how hard do I push for what I want in content before I push away the very people I need to make my projects happen?

The wild, wild west

When desktop publishing first made its appearance, people went crazy with the different typefaces, sizes and characteristics and how all of them could be used in one piece. Wasn't it better to communicate with big type, small type, several fonts, underline, bold and italic mis-mashed on the same page? It took awhile for the dust to settle and for general guidelines to reach the Lone User and now most of the Wild West has been settled—-at least in the professional field.

Video, podcasts and blogs. Where do these things really fit in. Because they are available should they be used with abandon? Taking time--time we often do not have--to determine the best use of these options seems hopeless as we rush to create the next multi-media Web page. The stampede is on and I can't help but imagine myself accidentally leaping off the not-yet-noticed cliff. But planning these videos and blogs takes time and if I don't start now, I might be crushed under the competition.

Confessions

My educational background included reading long novels; spending many hours combing through text for shades of meaning, foreshadowing, ambiguity and paradox; and writing lengthy papers where thousands of words addressed the burning importance of the symbolic nature of the Sir Lancelot's sword. (I doubt I need say more on that subject.)

For the past eleven months, I've taken on the responsibilities of a web content editor and none of my illustrious past accomplishments are very helpful in fulfiling my new responsibilities which basically are to provide copious amounts of information to web page visitors who have only about 60 seconds to spend looking at our page before leaping off into the World Wide Web for something more interesting.

I wonder if most writers, like myself, picture the following scenario: A visitor to our Web site notices the link to my story on Professor Soandso and her groundbreaking research. Eager to learn more, the visitor leans closer in to the computer screen, eagerly clicks the button and is presented with my story. She carefully ruminates over all of my precisely chosen words--thinking to herself what a nice turn of phrase she has just read--then, upon reaching the end of my story, she says, "My, that was an amazing read. I really want to find out more about Professor Soandso."

But of course, the truth is, my visitor has the attention span of a toddler, reads the first sentence or two (if I'm lucky) and then wanders off to play in someone else's backyard.

How do web content editors say what must be said in the short time we have before our guest leaves? How do we make the impression that keeps a visitor coming back to check out our site on a regular basis--even if she doesn't stay long?