Overview Event for ISS Staff

Institutional Data Management for Personalisation and Syndication

IDMAPSIntroduction Sunil Rodger

Data Flow Jon Dowland

Personalisation Paul Thompson

Q&A and Conclusion Steve Williams

... Food

Introduction

Sunil Rodger

IDMAPSJISC-funded: improve organisational data flow

“Provide the data you want, more simply and more securely, with clarity of ownership”

But description doesn’t explain how...

CurrentlyLarge institution

19,000 students, 5000 staffComplex and diverse IT systemsSAP, CAMA, Active Directory, MOFS, S3P… etc.

Systems have grown dynamicallyNo overall roadmap/plan

Diversity of legacy data sharing methodsVarious file formats, frequencies, and levels of reliabilityInefficiencies and institutional habits

Present Data Flow

ProblemsLack of standardised interfaces

MaintenanceAdding new systems and integrating into a cohesive wholeUnsustainable

Data reliability and integrityRedundancies in dataQuestions over responsibilities

Lack of data policies and proceduresData Protection, Freedom of Information

Project AimsCreate information architecture

ExtensibleStandards-basedDocumentedSupported by policies and procedures for use

Build upon architecture with Web 2.0 mashupsIntegration of disparate systemsAdd value through increased usefulness to users

Proposed Data Flow

Project PhasesAudit

Information architecture

Implementation

Pilot

Integration

Audit: Stakeholders & Systems

StakeholdersStudent ProgressHRISSQUILTLibraryMedical ScienceComputer ScienceExaminations Office... etc.

SystemsSAPActive DirectoryPrint creditsCAMAExam papersFMSC VLEs, BlackboardNESSS3P... etc.

Audit: Data

Master Copy

Responsibility

Dependent systems and processes

The Wall of Data Doom...

Information ArchitectureBroad Aims

Flexible and standards-basedAdaptable and extensibleFocus on reliability and quality of data

Specific GoalsRobustCoherentFuture-proofedResponsiveTraceability and auditing

What’s next?Project Stages

ImplementationPilotIntegration

FeedbackWide-ranging projectAre we missing anything?See handouts

Case Studies

Jon DowlandPaul Thompson

Case Study: Data Flows

Jon Dowland

System ChangesDecommissioning “FTP service” 2006-2008

Producer (SAP)

nmis

UNIX systems

ftp

ncrr

ssh

nmisConsumers

ftp

?

?

Interim Solution

Producer (SAP) UNIX systems

Data Feed Re-use

Consumer

...

S3PCAMA SAPdata

30 Apr30 Apr1 May1 May2 May2 May3 May3 May4 May4 May5 May5 May

...

SolutionsData dictionary (what have we got, where)

Data transfer records (who is fetching what)

“Message queue” middleware

Case Study: Personalisation

Paul Thompson

Personalisation & Integration

Student homepageStaff homepage Blackboard & other VLEs

Systems present relevant information to users(and to each other)

My Course

Teaching Materials

Exam Papers

MOFs

Blackboard / VLE’s

ReCap

Reading Lists

My News

News and Events

Blogs, Wikis & Repositories

School & FacultyWebsites

Central Services Websites

Academic InformationMy Timetable

Business Diary

Syllabus +

My Contacts

CAMA

NUContacts

My Queries

Administrative Systems

Other Helpdesk Software

Student Services CRM

ISS Service Centre

Print Credits

My Project A

Research Community

Wiki

Website

Blog

Repository

My Project B

Wiki

Website

Blog

Repository

Data VisibilityMy Details

ISS Accounts

CAMA

MyProfiles

Student Profile

Q&A and Conclusion

Steve Williams