Institutional Web Management Workshop 2007:
Next Steps for the Web Management Community
Innovation Competition: Submissions

[IWMW Home] [Timetable] [Sponsors] [News]
[Sitemap] [Session Details] [Innovation Competition] [Workshop Wiki]

 

IWMW 2007 Innovation Competition: Submissions

This year we have invited IWMW 2007 participants to submit lightweight examples of innovative uses of Web technologies which may be of interest to IWMW 2007 participants.

This could include:

Submissions

The following submissions have been made:

1. Timeline for IWMW events

Title (Permalink)
Timeline for IWMW events
Name and Affiliation
Owen Stephens, Royal Holloway and Brian Kelly, UKOLN
User Benefits
This provides a simple example of how a timeline can be produced. It is intended as a demonstrator for this technology.
Ease of Use / Ease of Development
Intuitive to use, we feel. Development involved tweaking existing JavaScript code. Debugging was required which identified an error in the data (no data validation is performed). Total effort was about 2 hours (Brian Kelly) and 30 minutes (Owen Stephens). This work was carried during the last week in May 2007.
Coolness!
Possibly ahead of the game within the institutional Web management community.
Background to the Work
This example was developed specifically for the IWMW 2007 event.
Other Comments
Based on an initial idea by Brian Kelly which has been enhanced by Owen Stephens.
Demonstration
See the demonstration
Openness
The data is free for others to reuse.

2. Community Focus Mashup

Title (Permalink)
Community Focus Mashup
Name and Affiliation
Paul Walk, UKOLN
User Benefits
The idea is that an ad hoc community of interest/practice, such as delegates at a particular conference, can be expressed in terms of where it is from (geographically), what it is blogging about, and what others are blogging about these subjects.
Ease
This was created by hand in Ruby on rails as an exercise in learning to use this programming framework.
Coolness!
It uses two separate external services (Technorati and GoogleMaps) as well as the local delegate data.
Background to the Work
Developed as a proof of concept, as an exercise in Ruby on Rails, and as part of an ongoing investigation into the usability of remote APIs.
Demonstration
See the demonstration
Openness
The application is public domain.

3. Yahoo! Pipes For IWMW RSS Feeds

Title (Permalink)
Community Focus Mashup
Name and Affiliation
Julie Allinson, UKOLN
User Benefits
This is intended as a simple example of use of Yahoo! Pipes to aggregate RSS feeds associated with IWMW events. It is provided to allow others to build on this initial prototype.
Ease
This took about 15 minutes to develop.
Coolness!
There is much interest in the potential on Yahoo! Pipes.
Background to the Work
Yahoo! Pipes was originally used to filter RSS feeds of interest to Julie.
Demonstration
See the demonstration
Openness
The application is public domain.

4. Data-Driven Event Web Site

Title (Permalink)
Data-Driven Event Web Site
Name and Affiliation
Paul Shabajee, HP Labs / ILRT, University of Bristol
User Benefits
This entry is intended to demonstrate a data-driven Web site for an event (the event in question being the UK Museums and the Web Conferences held in 2006 and 2007) using a tool by the Simile project called Exhibit. Exhibit is a research project that explores how to make it easy for non technical developers to create effective websites that allow end users to explore their information about 'exhibits' i.e. anything :-) people, events, museum objects, books, ...
Ease

My motivation in producing this was simply to play with Exhibit and see how it works and how easy it was. I choose the UK Museums on the Web conference data simply because I was attending the event later that week.

The actual process is very straightforward if you have the data in a structured form e.g. a spreadsheet - However in my case the data was only in HTML and so most of the processing to get a spreadsheet format was by hand. The Simile Babel tool will take data from a tab-delimited format (e.g. cut and paste format from Excel) and convert it directly to the Simile Exhibit format (Exhibit JSON). It also gives you a default rendering of the data in Exhibit.

Once that's done you need to create the HTML template page to customise the layout and information presented - that is straightforward for those with experience with HTML. The documentation is ok for a basic setup but a bit too sparse for more detailed customization. However by looking at the examples it's fairly easy to work out how to get the effects you want.

Coolness!

Once I had the data and had worked out how to use the simple templating language it was very easy. The faceted browse interface over the data is a great way to explore it and also see patterns in the data. The ability to pop-up cross referenced information about other exhibits is also cool.

One of the coolest features of Exhibit isn't used in this example because it has no interesting date or geographical information. But if you look at the other examples e.g. the US Presidents the map and timeline views of the data is very effective and very easy to implement.

Background to the Work

The data which drives this application was originally only in HTML on the event Web sites 2007 and 2006 conferences. This had to be entered into a spreadsheet (which was a pain), but once that was done the data is easily converted, using the Simile Babel application, into the Json format that Exhibit uses. The application is currently driven by data which is integrated within a JavaScript program. But an alternative approach which could be used would be to store the data in a Google Spreadsheets database and to drive the application from this directly using a Google API.

Demonstration
See the demonstration
Openness
The application is public domain.

5. Mashed Museum Directory

Title (Permalink)
Mashed Museum Directory (v 2.0)
Name and Affiliation
Mike Ellis, The Science Museum
User Benefits
Easy to use "find out more about a museum" interface which will be modified into version 3 with loads more cool stuff and further mashups.
Ease
See Mike's blog post and links from it for technical details and time spent
Coolness!
It was developed in around 11 hours end to end and has huge scope for improvement. It looks at museums (or will, in the next version) in a more interesting, less formal light.
Background to the Work
Was developed as part of the UK Museums on the Web mashup day workshop.
Demonstration
See the demonstration
Openness
I am happy to share details of code with anyone but the data set is owned by 24hr museum and at present can't be shared.

6. A Searchable Repository Map

Title (Permalink)
A Searchable Repository Map
Name and Affiliation
Stuart Lewis, University of Wales Aberystwyth
User Benefits
The obvious benefit is allowing users to not only see search results from searching UK repositories, but to see where the results are. For example this might help you find other institutions where research in a specialist area similar to your own is taking place.
By making use of an OAI-PMH powered search engine, the user can know that they are searching quality sites with good metadata.
So unlike a standard Google search, the search is purely of good quality metadata, and can be visualised in a more useful form than a plain list.
Ease
Very easy - the data for the mashup comes from:
  • RAOR: an OAI-PMH data provider
  • OpenDOAR: Has its own API
  • Google maps: Has its own API
  • MASS: UK repositories' OAI-PMH data providers
No screen-scraping etc required! :)
Coolness!
The mashup is truly interactive! Rather than simple filtering of a pre-defined finite list of similar resources, the results are pulled, dynamically using AJAX calls from an external search engine, collated and displayed on a map.
Background to the Work
The work is a logical extension to the original 'Repository Mashup Map' (http://maps.repository66.org/) allowing the user to not only visualise repositories, but also to search them, and draws inspiration from the award-winning Aktive Space
Demonstration
See the demonstration
Openness
The mashup is in the public domain, and licensed under Creative Commons (by-attribution share-alike).

7. Mash up of the Service Oriented approach by JISC and Personal Learning Environments

Title (Permalink)
Mash up of the Service Oriented approach by JISC and Personal Learning Environments
Name and Affiliation
Graham Attwell and Einion Daffyd, Pontydysgu
User Benefits
The mash up of the two videos allows users to see the argument for Services approaches from two different viewpoints - that of institutional management as epitomized by JISC and the learners viewpoint as explained by Graham Attwell.
Ease
The innovation was in taking the two videos and mashing them together. Pretty easy - if you know Final Cur Pro!
Coolness!
It is a lot of fun - and after the fun it raises a lot of questions as to different ways of developing educational videos.
Background to the Work
To have some fun and out of curiosity to see what the results would be. Also to contrast cheaply and quickly made home video with expensive and professionally made videos.
Demonstration
See video on YouTube
Openness
Pontydysgu are very open - but we haven't asked JISC!

8. Whack A Speaker!

Title (Permalink)
Whack A Speaker!
Name and Affiliation
Dan Wiggle, University of York
User Benefits
Putting names to faces of IWMW speakers while easing the stresses of the day playing a silly game.
Ease
The game was created in the Microsoft Popfly alpha and is based on the new Silverlight framework (plugin unfortunately required). Popfly allows drag-and-drop creation of mashups and the whack-a-mole template simply needs pointing at a URL from which to scrape images - it took around 30 seconds to put together. (And note this was not created in work time!)
Coolness!
Erm... you can whack IWMW 'moles' for fun?
Background to the Work
The Popfly environment is an impressive drag-and-drop mashup builder and while I tried several more sensible projects none seemed more worthy of submission than this one!
Demonstration
See the demonstration
Openness
The project is shared within Popfly and anyone is welcome to 'rip' it (to use the Popfly terminology).

9. MyNewport - MyLearning Essentials for Facebook

Title (Permalink)
MyNewport - MyLearning Essentials for Facebook
Name and Affiliation
Michael Webb, University of Wales, Newport
User Benefits

MyLearning Essentials is the VLE/portal used by our staff and student, including course material, news, blogs, forums, library access etc. MyNewport is a Facebook application that allows students to access to MyLearning Essentials resources from Facebook.

In effect this allows students to start creating their own personal learning environment in a platform other than the one provided by the University. We've targeted Facebook at the moment as it's the fastest growing community, but if our users like the idea but want to work in another environment then that is fine - we can create applications for them as well.

Ease
It took about a day and half from conception of the idea and joining the Facebook developer community on 10th July to launching it as a viable application for our students to use (or comment on) on the 11th July. It was straight forward as our VLE is built from components that can easily be repurposed, and uses open standards such as RSS to allow information to be passed to the Facebook application.
Coolness!
Is Facebook cool this week? Also, surely it's cool to give students and other 'friends' (to use Facebook terminology!) a choice of what environment they use to interact with the University!
Background to the Work
There is huge amount of debate about the future of VLEs, whether the successor should be PLEs (personally learning environments), and if so what should these look like? Where do social networking sites fit into this? Is it VLE vs Facebook? The only way we are going to get answers to these question is to try different things out - hence the creation of MyNewport for Facebook.
Demonstration
See http://apps.facebook.com/mynewport/ if you are a Facebook user, or http://mycommunity.newport.ac.uk/blogs/michael/archive/2007/07/11/6204.aspx for a picture of you aren't.
Openness
Anyone can create a Facebook application - it's easy, free, and there is already a huge developer community.

10. How To Find Us

Title (Permalink)
How To Find Us
Name and Affiliation
Michael Nolan, Edge Hill University
User Benefits
Better interface to driving directions, locations of campuses
Ease
Pretty easy - good example code from Google plus a bit of Ajax goodness c/o jQuery.
Coolness!
It uses APIs from Google, Ajax and a Web framework (symfony) and geolocation!
Background to the Work
Looking for a better way of showing our locations and Google's UK geocoder came online just in time
Demonstration
See the demonstration
Openness
All the Google samples are available in their docs and I'm happy to share the (20 or so!) lines of code I wrote!

11. Hi from Edge Hill

Title (Permalink)
Hi from Edge Hill
Name and Affiliation
Michael Nolan, Edge Hill University
User Benefits
Building a closer community
Ease
More difficult than the How to find us one - integrates with our backend users system to allow them to store their own location using the Google Geocoder to help them find their location more easily. Custom markers and draggable location marker (only available to applicants - see screenshot).
Coolness!
It uses APIs from Google, Ajax and a web framework (symfony) and geolocation! Again!
Background to the Work
I'm guessing we can't submit the whole of the Hi website... so just the mapping stuff will have to do. Been playing around with Google Maps API for a while and wanted to do something to show where applicants to Edge Hill are coming from. Following the success of the Face Wall, I wrote the "Face Map"
Demonstration
See the demonstration
Openness
The Hi website isn't open source! The face map is built on Google APIs and I'm happy to share the implementation details.

12. IWMW News Aggregator

Title (Permalink)
IWMW News Aggregator
Name and Affiliation
Michael Nolan, Edge Hill University
User Benefits
Almost all your IWMW news in one place!
Ease
Very easy. Symfony - my web framework of choice - provides easy ways of manipulating feeds allowing us to pull them in, cache them and spit them out in any way you like.
Coolness!
Okay, on it's own it's not all that cool. But the idea of embedding feeds into the core of all the systems you develop is key. It allows us to easily reuse information written for other sources and publish data out in the way that users want to use it. Email if you want your feed included.
Background to the Work
Quick demonstration of the power of RSS feeds.
Demonstration
See the demonstration
Openness
Happy to publish full source code.

13. Mobile Learning Objects

Title (Permalink)
Mobile Learning Objects
Name and Affiliation
Stuart Smith, Mimas, The University of Manchester
User Benefits
Users will be able to be released from the classroom, lecture theatre or lab and learn anywhere!
Ease
Well I used three basic methods to create mobile learning objects. The easiest was mobile video and the hardest was XHTML-MP mobile web pages. I also used J2ME templates. you can read more here.
Coolness!
Well this is mobile, there are loads of Wikis and blogs and social networks. Most portable stuff is done on PDAs, which is a businessman's toy not a students!! My work is on mobiles- that is just cool way cooler than anyone else!
Background to the Work
Well basically I was interested in looking at new ways of using a Mimas hosted service with students outside of Computer clusters and in their workplace.
Demonstration
See article about this work.
Openness
The work is published so I happy for people to see the link and contact if they are interested.

14. Wiki-Powered Self-Serve Meeting Scheduling

Title (Permalink)
Wiki-Powered Self-Serve Meeting Scheduling
Name and Affiliation
Jeff Barr, Amazon.com
User Benefits
The benefits accrue to two parties: mine, and the developers and entrepreneurs that I meet with, On my side, I get to have more interesting meetings, with less work, than I would otherwise. On the other side, developers and entrepreneurs can easily get onto my schedule.
Ease
Overall this was really easy -- create some Wiki pages, announce them, and let our audience do the rest.
I created this innovation by simply populating a simple Wiki page with a skeletal schedule for one of my trips and then invited interested developers in the destination area to simply put themselves on my schedule. Over time, working with my team at Amazon, we have refined the process and now have a complete directory of upcoming trips, a page for each past and future trip, and pages where people in particular geographies can express their interest in hosting us for an individual or user group meeting. This can all be found at http://evangelists.wetpaint.com/
Coolness!
This is cool because it empowers our users to set up meetings with me and the other members of my team of evangelists. We get to meet with lots of interesting people that we would otherwise not know to meet with. We reduce the amount of email preparation needed to create a worthwhile trip. And our users are very cool, suggesting flights, taking possession of entire days and setting up complete agendas, and being very respectful of our time and our energy. The system also opens the door to all sorts of serendipitious meetings and increases our prominence in search engines, leading to even more opportunities.
Background to the Work
This work was done to reduce the amount of email needed to plan a good evangelism trip and to allow users to express their interest in meeting with us.
Demonstration
There's a full story at http://www.jeff-barr.com/?p=1045
Openness
This is open and I would like to see more people using this technique.

15. Alternative course discovery using calendars and maps

Title (Permalink)
Alternative course discovery using calendars and maps
Name and Affiliation
Sebastian Rahtz, Oxford University Computing Services
User Benefits
People who want to attend Oxford University continuing education and computing service courses can find what they want by looking at a calendar or consulting a map, as well as the usual methods.
Ease
Mostly simple XSL transformations from Atom RSS and XCRI records. The XCRI was scraped from Web pages.
Coolness!
Look, it's cool to use standards, OK?
Background to the Work
This work is part of the ongoing JISC XCRI effort. We have a mini-project to look at XCRI for continuing education, and I wanted to show we could do more than just generate dull XML files.
Demonstration
See http://www.oucs.ox.ac.uk/itlp/calendar.xml and http://maps.google.co.uk/?q=http://www.oucs.ox.ac.uk/oxcri/conted.xml
Openness
The code will be released under an OSS licence as part of the JISC work.

16. Life On Sram (or Adrian Stephenson's Travels in Time in Historic York)

Title (Permalink)
Life On Sram (or Adrian Stephenson's Travels in Time in Historic York
Name and Affiliation
Adrian, Claire, Joel, Brian, ...
User Benefits
Last night Adrian was caught in a time portal (the Way Back Machine) which took him back to IWMW 1997. He was trapped in time. The only way to return to the present was to make money to buy the parts to develop a time machine.
He wondered what to do. He found a Web browser (Netscape 2) and went to Google.com - "Domain not found!" He first panicked - then realised there was an opportunity - invent Google before Brin and Page. So he went to JISC for funding for the hardware and for a small team. Harvesting pages on a University Web site is probably illegal, they said. But we could set up a pilot and you could report back in 2 years time. But 2 years in the 1990s was too long for Adrian.
He remembered a guy called Stephen Emmott who he though could help him. Adrian sent an email in which he predicted that the future would lie in content management systems. Unfortunately Stephen though this was having a content? Management system - so he hired Adrian to play some laid-back chill out music for the managers.
Will Adrian escape from the 1990s? See next week's episode ...
Ease
Several pints consumed last night.
Coolness!
Didn't we all love "Life On Mars"?
Background to the Work
It's a joke - but reinterpreting the past might help us plan for the future. Would any of us get a job in we went back in time 10 years?
Demonstration
You'll have to wait until the TV programme is produced :-) But note that a video clip is available (37 mins, 28 seconds into video).
Openness
Feel free to develop your own scenarios based on this concept.

Prize Winners

Please note that the prize-winners were:

[IWMW Home] [Timetable] [Sponsors] [News]
[Sitemap] [Session Details] [Innovation Competition] [Workshop Wiki]

 

Last modified: 26th June 2008

Valid XHTML 1.0! Valid CSS! Locations of visitors to this page