A bit closer between posts this week since so much has gone on in the past three days since the start of the year. First off, we have made some progress with our Team Services site. We have sites setup to deal with Public Information, Technical Services, Curriculum Department, Instructional Technology, Human Resources, and the TAT committee along with all their sub groups. I had gone back to our original systems design as far as who would operate and own the main site. Joanna Babcock is our Public Information Officer but actually performs the duties of the Communications Department. While there actually isn't any communications department we are working in that direction over the next year or two so it is a logical choice to have her handle the SharePoint site. She also is the Eboards Manager as well as the district's website manager. http://www.gtps.k12.nj.us is a widely recognized production that serves both the "inside and outside" communication needs of the district. She has worked on the SharePoint project from its inception and she has been witness to quite a few failed attempts over the past few years and while that could have been a stumbling block in her inclusion in the latest incarnation, it hasn't. I am sure she will do a creditable job managing the use of this new and potentially "information changing" system for the GTPS district. Along the way towards implementation there will be many in the district that will be called upon to be not just readers but contributors to the system as it grows and becomes the backbone of the information distribution task for the district and I hope everyone embraces the potential of this system. It will be like seeing the "forest through the trees", (what really does that mean?)
I have not had much time in the last week to put that much time into the SharePoint site but I did take a few minutes to uncover some additional features that I was not aware were available in this release. First off is the use of the Meeting Space function. How many times have we been called to a meeting that was not very well planned out? I have been to them and unfortuneatly, have held them as well. The use of the meeting space gives the participants a means by which to plan and coordinate all the various tasks needing to be accomplished in order to have a successful meeting. There are ways to manage attendees and make sure they get on-line invitations, there is a direct connection to the public outlook folders and thier calendar functions so that particpates can check the public folders for meeting times and dates. In addition, there are objective and agenda sections for the obvious as well as the ability put in links for applicable web or intranet sites and each meeting space can have its own separate document library which will contain all the compiled documents needed for the meeting. Take a second and try to imagine a meeting space with complete preparation in all these functions. Then imagine if those that will be attending the meeting have taken the time to review all the necessary information pertaining to the meeting. What a wonderful world this would be. Think of what could actually be accomplished in that meeting the possibilities are endless and in the end this type of preplanning can be a real stimulus in the effort to boost productivity. I am testing out the meeting space function for our joint Curriculum and Technology Meeting scheduled for next week. The actual meeting will be conducted in our conference room with the projection system so that we can fully utilize the meeting space and everyone will actually be involved.
Another section of the system that I have just slightly tested is the Picture library and I quickly was able to populate a small library with some drawings that I had done for various projects we have accomplished over the past two years. Since they were Visio files I had to convert them to JPEG in order to view them in the thumbnail function but they came across crystal clear and there is even a slide show function available within the picture library that will play the slides in a PowerPoint fashion. There is a flimstrip option as well and I have not had a chance to test that out with some video clips yet but I have asked the Instructional Technologist, Betty Garrity, to put some of the instruction videos up on the site for testing purposes. The files that they have created in that area contain a number of AVI, WMV, Camtasia, and some WAV files that will fully test out the system. I have asked them to get the information on-line by next Tuesday since that will give me at least two days to work on the sites in order to get prepared for the rollout.
The real gem of this system is of course the document library and its ability to maintain the mountain of information that is being produced each day. I often have felt that I mostly alone in my feelings about this debriefing problem and the lack of an audit trail for the many various formal and non-formal functions that take place during and in document production. I am delighted with what appears to be a fully functioning library for any and all types of documents within the district. The diamond in this not so rough terrian is the searching aspect of each of the document librarys will open up the flow of information within the district. I had described document management as the "physical distribution of intellectual property". While that intellectual property may or may not belong to the district in its entirity (not for me to decide) it will now be available to everyone who takes place in the informaiton system within the district. I will work on putting together a more comprehensive review of the document library during the next few posts.
There is another big project looming this spring and it involves the Municipal complex at Galloway Township and the complete revamping of their computer system for all of the departments within that organization. It promises to be a great project with some very clear goals in sight and what will be a very much needed advance in the computing power of the Township.
On a final note, I wanted to thank everyone once again who participates in this little endeavor of mine. This is great therapy for me and it gives me a way to "debrief" myself each time I sit down to post some thoughts. I have gotten responses of all kinds with this blog, some supportive, some critical, some questioning. Trust me, I appreciate each of them, good or bad. I have received some off the wall comments on the writings as well. That is what this little message is about. If spending time dummying up email accounts and actually writing some of the dribble that I do recieve in the form of a comment from a select few is your idea of a good time well then, have at it. Even at my supposed expense especially at my expense. Till next post.
I have not had much
7:36:03 PM 
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