Computing News
The New Penn Web
The Penn Web is the University's public face on the Internet. It is also a
communications medium for users with differing information needs and
degrees of familiarity with the University. The
redesigned Penn Web, which replaced the current Web on October 1, 1997, addresses
both functions: It makes evident Penn's richness as an institution, while
providing several ways to navigate University information. The entire community
was invited to try out, and comment on, the new Web. Feedback will be used to
refine the site and help set the agenda for development.
Navigation
The new Penn Web offers four distinct ways to navigate University information:
- a new topical menu structure,
- highlights for various constituencies (based on the previous "explore a view" structure),
- a powerful, campus-wide search utility,
- and Penn A-Z, a straightforward, searchable list of sites of all departments and other
named entities at Penn.
Randomly selected links from Penn A-Z are displayed on the
search query page
under the heading "Featured Penn Site." A new featured site is
displayed every time the Search query page is reloaded, allowing users to
sample the range of Penn's Web resources.
Topical menu structure
The topical categories on the new home page are organized into two
groups: the list of categories to the left of the rotating graphics
relate primarily to Penn, the Academy, and those on the right, to Penn, the
Community. On lower-level pages, organization follows a set of
principles,
approved by the Penn Web Steering Committee, intended to make the structure predictable
and scalable.
The Penn Web Team analyzed several sources of information to arrive at an
initial draft
of the top-level menu structure. Statistical analysis of 49 university Web sites resulted in the
development of a ranked list
of most-used-top-level categories, which served as a starting set of potential topics for
organizing access to University information. Analysis of Penn Web
Survey results
from approximately 2,000 respondents provided data on tools
and categories of information most important to Penn Web users.
Focus groups and e-mail addressed to the Penn webmaster provided, and continues to provide,
a steady flow of information about user concerns and the types of information they are
seeking. The "Jobs and Employment" category is an example of one created
in response to the Penn Web Survey and
focus group requests.
Through extensive consultation within Penn, the top- and lower-level menu
pages were further refined to balance efficient information retrieval
with the need to present Penn as a multifaceted institution and meet the
information needs of diverse audiences . The categories on
the home page, for example, were revised to include "Health System" and "Arts and
Culture," in recognition of their importance as community resources and
the unique ways in which they enhance Penn's mission. Decisions such as the number and grouping of
choices on the home page represented careful tradeoffs between the differing navigation needs of
first-time, often external, users and frequent users in the Penn community.
There were other tradeoffs as well. How prominent should a link to emergency contacts be?
Some argued strongly for inclusion on the home page. Others wanted to omit the
link altogether. This debate brought into relief such competing goods as just-in-time information
for the community and not sending an alarmist message to casual browsers or prospective
students. The link now appears near the top of the "Campus Life" menu.
Design and appearance
The new design assumes the widespread availability of monitors
displaying at least 800 pixels in width. Placement of elements on the page
accommodates printing on 8.5"x11" paper without truncation. On the home page,
all links are constructed with HTML text using font face tags, a technique that allows
some typographical control, yet makes links accessible while other page
elements are loading on slow network connections. This use of text mandates
a design with some elasticity to accommodate the wide difference in the default
width of text on Macintosh and Windows platforms. Typographical consistency and the
ghosted Franklin "watermark" image visually link the home page and menu pages.
The home page's blue background provides a rich backdrop for the rotating inset pictures,
contributes to its more contemporary look, and differentiates Penn's site from those of
its peer institutions. Click on any rotating inset picture to link to captions.
Tools and features
A discussion of all the tools and features on the new Web appears in the
overview
section of the Web Guide, available on the toolbar. New this year to the toolbar
are the popular student resource Penn InTouch and a Directories page.
The new prominence of these tools directly reflects their high priority among
respondents to the Penn Web Survey. The Penn Web Team is working to
further improve delivery of directory-type information.
This revision of the Penn Web includes no changes to the Penn interactive
calendar. A general review of calendar information on the Penn Web and its
supporting processes is planned, with the goal of making it easier to
submit, track, and find events on the Penn Web.
Search
A major change in the new Web is the adoption (after
evaluation
and testing)
of a customized version of AltaVista Intranet as the search utility.
Penn Search now covers all 200+ servers* at Penn and can find all documents
not specifically excluded by a provider.
The fact that the new search returns
large numbers of hits emphasizes this expanded coverage. To interpret search
results efficiently, both users and providers should consult the search help
to understand how documents are retrieved and ranked. Web authors should also
consult resource web developer's site to Penn's Web Developer site to
learn how to use the META tag and
other elements to ensure that their documents are appropriately retrieved and
ranked.
Continuous improvement
With a new structure in place, the Penn Web Team expects to introduce
refinements, enhancements, and new features to the Web as they become
available at intervals over the coming year.
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Please note: This material is no longer current and appears
online for archival purposes only.
Use the search and navigation tools above to locate more up-to-date materials, if they exist. |
|
Please note: This material is no longer current and appears
online for archival purposes only.
Use the search and navigation tools above to locate more up-to-date materials, if they exist. |
