Institutional Web Management Workshop 2006:
Quality Matters
Access Grid For IWMW 2006

The document contains details of use of the Access Grid at the IWMW 2006 event.

Access Grid

Background

The Access Grid is a collection of resources and technologies that enables large format audio and video based collaboration between groups of people in different locations. In simple terms, it is advanced videoconferencing using large screen displays and with multiple cameras at each site (description taken from Wikipedia).

Access Grid And IWMW 2006

We made experimental use of the Access Grid at the IWMW 2006 event. The aims of this experiment were to:

• Gain experience of a collaborative networking technology.
• Demonstrate use of the collaborative networking technology to a wider audience.
• Engage with the wider audience in order to gain feedback on the strengths and weaknesses of the technologies.

Talks Available On The Access Grid

We made one or two of the plenary talks available on the Access Grid. The plenary sessions which were available were the Web 2.0: Behind The Hype panel session (14.00-14.45 on Thursday 15^th June 2006) and the What Does Openness Mean to the Web Manager? talk (11.00-12.30 on Thursday 15^th June 2006).

What Does This Mean?

The pilot use of the Access Grid was intended to provide greater access to talks on Web 2.0 and openness. These talks are likely to be of interest to many people within our community, including members of institutional Web management teams, software developers, elearning developers, etc.

The Access Grid trial will enable interested participants who can't attend the workshop (and the workshop is now fully subscribed) to listen in to the talks and to ask questions and give feedback.

If your institution has an dedicated Access Grid facility, you will be able to view and listen to the speakers and their PowerPoint slides and other applications.

If you cannot visit a dedicated Access Grid facility, access using the VRVS desktop application may be possible, but we are unable to provide any technical advice on this. If you are interested in exploring the possibility of using VRVS, please read the VRVS help pages.

Using The Access Grid

Institutions who wish to take part in this experiment are advised to talk to their local Access Grid support team. The technical information required is:

Virtual Location

Half Way House

Jabber Room

bristol@conference.mcs.anl.gov

Latest News

Any late-breaking news about the Access Grid will be available here (at the URL <http://www.ukoln.ac.uk/web-focus/events/workshops/webmaster-2006/access-grid/#news>