sharepoint for libraries: streamlining your intranet management sarah houghton-jan digital futures...

SharePoint for Libraries:Streamlining Your Intranet Management

Sarah Houghton-JanDigital Futures Manager, San Jose Public Library

Shannon StaleyDigital Technology Librarian, San Jose State University Library

What is SharePoint?

A robust content management system from MicroSoft offering not only decentralized editing but:

shared workspaces and document versioning wikis and blogs calendaring RSS & email updates & lots more – all in one software package

SharePoint has Multiple Personalities

Windows SharePoint Services (WSS) free add-on to Windows Server. Offers most SP features

with some workflow limitations.

Microsoft Office SharePoint Server [standard or enterprise] (MOSS) high-end portal, complete features.

What is the Market Reaction to It?

SharePoint is “a Swiss Army knife – best of breed solutions are available but they have a more limited range.”

- Bill Ives, FASTForward

Similar Products Alfresco Central Desktop Clearspace Invu O3spaces Oracle Collaboration Suite Nuxeo

Key SharePoint Benefits for Libraries

Integrate Web 2.0 into your site with one software service (more consistency, less training)

Facilitate collaboration Increase communication Integrate with Office (Word, Excel, Outlook) Reduce email attachment glut Remove “webmaster” bottlenecks Return power over content to content owners

http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/sharepointtechnology/FX101758691033.aspx

Feature Comparison Chart

Why SharePoint for the joint San Jose Public and State University Library?

Because of the two organizations, communication was difficult

Management wanted to increase institutional communication and collaboration

Various web 2.0 services were everywhere (each with their own interface and support needs)

Intranet updates took time and taxed the Web Team

Designing Our Library's SharePoint presence

Involving IT, Web Team and organizational input Piloting several small sites Evaluating the experience Integrating pilot sites into “new” permanent sites

referenced from the intranet to ensure one port of entry

Utilizing information architecture of the intranet to avoid disparate sites with no organization

Opening up site requests to the rest of the staff

Our Joint Library Intranet

By Clicking on an Intranet Link, Users Are Taken to the SharePoint Site

Not All Intranet Content Requires SharePoint for Content Management

We developed criteria for utilizing SharePoint through the intranet:

Needs to be updated frequently Requires group collaboration Other specialized information sharing

Accessing SharePoint

Windows Account database Users can access sites through their own

Windows login information (seamless from their own computers, manual login elsewhere)

No need to create a new database of users or new usernames and passwords!

Home access requires different URLs

Key SharePoint Features

Managing Documents

Meeting Workspaces

Announcements

Calendars

Blogs

Wikis

Discussions

Notifications

Users can sign up for alerts via RSS or Email Each section has to be separately signed up for

If on an authenticated site (e.g. Intranet), RSS feeds do not work in web-based feed readers.

Other Features Available

Surveys Task Lists Document Versioning Document Workflows Links Issue Tracking Photo Libraries

How easy is it to post information?

How easy is it to manage?

Some of the Neat Uses of SharePoint at Our

Library So Far

Committee Pages

Branch Pages

Dispersed Management

IT manages the server Web Team can assist in site set-up and

provides ongoing support Each site needs a site owner (site owners are

the first stop for support) Everyone else is a site contributor

Training Options

Video training modules Cheat Sheets for site owners and contributors A list of features Point to the online resources from others In-person classes on demand

Launching SharePoint

Address the institutional change of turning over content ownership/editing

Provide sample sites for viewing Offer training materials well in advance Ensure that there will be no access problems Be available for questions Try to keep the enthusiasm going

Some Compatability Problems

Requires IE use (problems occur in other browsers like Firefox or Safari)

Requires IE settings updates on some PCs.

Not friendly for mobile-device access

For non-Outlook users, the integration features are useless

Our Favorite Things about SharePoint

Provides an all-in-one package of features On-demand, instant editing Cuts down on email attachments Reduces multiple document version

problems Reduces Web Team workload in the long run Content Editor web part saves the day

What We Don't Like About SharePoint

Very complicated on the back-end Product navigation not intuitive for all levels

of users RSS problems with web-based readers Alerts have to be done one-by-one Alerts are non-specific Very hard to move/transfer sites once created

Lessons Learned

Beta never ends Integrate SharePoint into your existing

Intranet Budget plenty of time for IT & Web Team Start with one site that all can relate to and

champion the concept

Unsure if this is for you?

Recommended Resources

Microsoft SharePoint Team Blog CodePlex Project Directory (includes many

SharePoint resources including training) SharePoint Community Portal SharePoint Services TechNet WSS Demo Public SharePoint Websites SharePointKB.org SharePoint BUZZ

Questions?

Sarah Houghton-Jansarah.houghton-jan@sjlibrary.org

Shannon Staleyshannon.staley@sjsu.edu