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Content GovIntranet Redesign

Intranets: Oxford City Council doing it right

…. It’s no wonder that the biggest complaint I hear about Sharepoint and document-based intranets is that the search engine is poor. We are seeing better search results and happier users on intranets where we have rewritten content that is buried in Word documents and PDFs, into bite-size pieces of HTML content. And we don’t include documents in search results. Staff profile data A good people directory is one of the keys to a useful and engaging i…

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Information architecture Social

Evolution of an information architect

…ernment facility during WW2. The tour included a visit to the National Museum of Computing, which evoked some old memories. Since returning from the trip I’ve been reminiscing about the world of computers and information when I was a kid and what it’s like for me now. Old photo of Bletchley Park I consider myself blessed to have gone to a school where I could take Computer Studies as an O Level. I remember our computer room with one Commodore PET…

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How to Search

How we improved our intranet search experience

…ately, the UK set comes with American spellings so I had to change all the -ize, -ized, -izing to -ise, -ised, -ising. Again, I use this functionality for dealing with problems with internal language. Query expansion differs from key matches and related queries in that the GSA will incorporate the expanded search terms into the initial query. Example: I search for *organogram* and GSA will also include *org chart* and *organisation chart* into my…

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Social

Proving the case for a task-based intranet

…THEIR OVERALL VALUATION OF THEIR INTRANET: Complete online forms Upload or download documents Find instructions for completing work tasks And With 94% confidence, we can conclude that: THE MORE OFTEN EMPLOYEES USE THEIR INTRANET TO PROVIDE FEEDBACK OR COMMENTS ABOUT INTRANET CONTENT, THE HIGHER THEIR OVERALL VALUATION OF THEIR INTRANET. To me, this says that a task-based intranet that allows staff to find instructions and complete tasks online, is…

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Social

I woke up in London 2012

…till can’t navigate my way around the backstreets of Victoria. So, iPhone a-go-go, I tune into Jen’s beacon and start walking with my earpiece turned up. The girls left 15 minutes ago to get the table and I’m late as usual. I send an automated message to Jen with my tracking beacon and ETA. We’re on a strict timetable today. They’ll know what to get me for lunch, I always share the vegetarian platter. 2.09PM I’ve been following one of the core int…