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The Joined up Web - Newcastle University, a case study

Dr Tony McDonald

Faculty of Medicine Computing Centre (FMCC)Medical School

University of Newcastle upon Tyne


Background

• Networked Learning Environments (NLE) project (TLTP 3-86)

• Four Consortium partnersNewcastle University Medical Programme

scalability issues led to development of curriculum database

Nottingham University Medical Programme

Durham University Biomedical Sciences

Northumbria University Subjects Allied to Medicine

‘non-funded’ partner - Sheffield University Medical School

• Scalable Systems- eg no individual web pages written

- extract from Database and output to other formats (HTML, RTF, PDF, XML-RPC, SOAP, etc)


DevelopmentSoftware/Hardware systems

• Core System - Zope– Object orientated web delivery system

• Rapid development of systems (Sheffield site created in < 1 week).

• Excellent database connectivity / very rich permissions structure. Plug-in ‘products’, separation of code/content

• Extensive use of ‘open-source’ / free software– Zope, Python, PHP, MySQL, Omnimark– UNIX servers / Solaris– Important for moving to other sites


Choice ofContent Management System

• Project start - July 1998• System requirements:

– Low cost, scalable, easy to use

• System chosen - Zope– Freedom from file ‘tyranny’ (.php3, .pl, .html etc.)– Excellent permissions system– Extensive database connectivity– Novel features - ‘undo’, ‘versions’


Integration -MIS

• Pivotal to a scalable system– Eg module codes, works for 10, works for 10,000

• Possible users/Simultaneous users distinction

• Data Dumps - preferable to ‘live’ systems– Data warehousing– Student & staff info.

• Leads to authentication systems

• DON’T– Write single pages for a course, derive from

database


Integration -Other ‘MLEs’

• Data dumps from MIS• Need primary key

– eg Module code, student UCAS number

• Reuse existing management material– eg module -> exam info, student-> course taken– Don’t reenter student data– Don’t reenter module, course data


Working with other sites

• Scalability– Entering data a ‘no-no’– Data source of staff/student/module information is

essential– Zope allows editing site wherever a browser is

available– Data Ownership (hosting our data at Newcastle? - no

chance!)

– Different Data structures not a problem


NLE in action

• All sites hosted at Newcastle– Designed for portability in mind

• Notts bought server to run their NLE• UNIX backend, MySQL, Zope, Python, PHP3• Consortium sites have great autonomy• Can use ZEO to distribute load over other

servers


Successes

• Newcastle using NLE technologies extensively– MOFS (6200 modules, authenticated editing,

resource upload and PDF output)

• Nottingham purchased server• Addition of non-funded partner - Sheffield

University• Generally high regard from staff/students• Remote Admins taking to Zope quite well


Problems

• NIH?– Not generally a problem

• Data Ownership– Reluctance to share data, eg staff ‘pet’ projects– Not always evident who owns the data

• Resistance to change– Senior mgmt might agree, but at ground zero…

• F2F communication - Invaluable


The ‘NLE’ way

• Scalability• One source of data, ideally one data owner• Repurpose existing data• Create conduits (eg editing/uploading

screens), not terminii (eg “I’ll upload that for you”)


Summary

• Obstacles (data ownership, data structures) can be formidable, but committed people at the sharp end make a real difference

• Open source systems help greatly– Easy to move to other sites, open data structures, lower

cost

• Need bottom-up and top-down driving– Staff/student & Dean/PVC

• Hosting many sites at one location– No big deal (disk, processor and OS permitting)


Information Sources• Zope - Object Orientated Web Delivery Platform

– http://www.zope.org/

• MySQL - Open Source RDBMS– http://www.mysql.com/

• Python - Scripting Language– http://www.python.org/

• Omnimark - Text Processing Language– http://www.omnimark.com

• Roxen - Graphically Rich Web Server– http://www.roxen.com

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