Web Review staff survey

Well, the Web Review staff survey has finally been released. To recap, we're seeking views on how we need to develop both the intranet and internet to meet the needs of all our users in the future. We'll also be surveying and talking to students and external users of the website. The results of this survey work will inform our website strategy, and will be the launch point for more detailed one-on-one interviews.

http://web1.yorksj.ac.uk/Survey//TakeSurvey.asp?SurveyID=mM3l934L996KG

The responses I've had already are flagging up a general confusion about what is internet and what is intranet. What I've been saying is that the internet site is the external-facing website at www.yorksj.ac.uk and the intranet sites include the Staff Homepage, the Student Homepage, the Document Directory, the Staff Information Point; sites that require users to log in, or are not generally intended for the public. The rule of thumb I've always gone by is that inter- is between or amongst, and intra- is within; the internet is stuff for everyone and the intranet is just stuff for us staff. I managed to identify 38 distinct websites or microsites within our total web presence, however we describe it, and I hope we don't get too bogged down with worries about assigning the correct label -- it's all stuff that needs sorting, that needs pulling together. What all these sites provide is valuable, useful content; it's just that it is all so awkward to find, difficult to navigate through, hard to digest.

Here's a quick question to illustrate my point. The hefty Your Rights, Rules & Responsibilities guide book that we distribute to all the students at the start of their programme; that contains all the policies and contracts, the regs and procedures; that they read from cover to cover and internalise fully; an important document they might need to refer to at any point in their time with us — where's that on the web?

Stick a link in the comments if you think you know.