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Content Management System

During the fall of 2005, Web and Library Application Services (in conjunction with functional and technical evaluation teams) began reviewing tools and services for web publishing at Brandeis. This work became the foundation for our Content Management (CMS) Project.

We've built this section of our site with the goal of sharing what we learned with both the Brandeis community and our wider community of peers in higher education and Information Technology (IT). Our hope is that the information we provide from our process will serve to assist others as they go about redefining their own web processes. In referencing these materials it is important to remember that each institution has its own set of needs, criteria, and goals - we recommend that these materials be used as guides and not as blanket adoption papers. Success will be achieved through customizing the process for each location.

We'd like to take this opportunity to acknowledge the many people who contributed to this project. Several dozen individuals from across the university were asked to participate and graciously donated significant amounts of their time. The project's successful outcome was a direct result of the this participation.

Project Phases and Approach

The model we used for the CMS project was based on a User Centered Design (UCD) model. For a technical project such as this, a more appropriate term might be User Centered Approach (UCA). To understand each of the phases we went through, we recommend that you review our foundation document:

• UCD/UCA project outline

At the March 2007 NERCOMP annual conference, WaLAS staff presented a session that discussed the UCA approach. At this session we demonstrated how the UCA could work for any technical project. The following resources relate to this presentation:

• Using a User Centered Approach to a CMS Adoption: Planning, Process, and Implementation presentation slides
• one-page diagram UCA approach used in the CMS project
• handout of tips when using an UCA approach - accompanied presentation at NERCOMP

Next steps

The subsequent pages will present associated documents for each phase of the project.

• Phase I - Users and uses
• Phase 2 - System selection
• Phase 3 - Implementation