Community Portals - The Library

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Community Portals - The Librarys
Rolewww.myhamilton.ca

• No Wrong Door for Hamilton Information and
  Services

• Connect Hamilton Create Community
• OLA, January 29, 2004
• Paul Takala

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Outline

• Context Provide an overview of the
  www.myhamilton.ca portal project
• Benefits of Portal Technology
• Why is it important that a Public Library play a
  leadership role in development of a Community
  Portal initiative?
• Keys to Success
• Sources for more information

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Connect Hamilton Create Community (CHCC)
Chronology

• Began June 2001 led by Hamilton Connects
• March 2002 - Received matching funding from
  Connect Ontario for Business Plan Development
• Business Plan Submitted March 2003
• Conditional Approval for 1M August 2003
• Signed Contract with Province October 2003
• Total Value 4.2 M - leveraging 3.2M in cash,
  staff and other in-kind contributions against
  Provincial cash contribution of 1M
• RFP issued on November 28, 2003, closed January
  16, 2004.
• Implementation September 2003 August 2005

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Connect Hamilton - Create Community Partners

• Lead Organizations
• City of Hamilton, (Hamilton Connects)
• Partners
• Community Information Services, FibreWired
  Hamilton, Hamilton Chamber of Commerce, Hamilton
  CommunityNet, Hamilton Public Library, Industry
  Education Council, Intermedium, McMaster
  University and Mohawk College

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Cash In-Kind Contributions
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Components of the Connect Hamilton Project

• Community Portal myhamilton.ca
• Portal infrastructure that will enable creation
  of thematic organizational sub-portals (i.e..
  rural portal)
• E-registration
• Beginning with the City Culture and Recreation
  Department
• E-commerce
• Online payment system that can be leveraged by
  City other organizations
• Integration with key municipal applications to
  facilitate single sign-on
• Web Casting
• Creating capacity for Web Casting and archiving
  of events, meetings

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CHCC Governance StructureSummary
Executive Committee
Steering Committee
Technical Coordination Implementation Group
GEOSmart (GIS)
Project Management Team
Project Control Group
Government Portal Advisory Committee
Community Portal Authority
Rural Portal Advisory Committee
Future Thematic or Organizational Portals
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What is a Community Portal?

• Personalized Gateway to information services,
  organized around life events, not around
  organizations providing service. No wrong door!
• Provides Collaboration Tools that enable
  community engagement discussion forums, events
  calendars and survey tools.
• Community Driven site that is governed by a
  multi-sector board.

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Our Vision of A Community Portal

• A safe public space for users that facilitates
  the free exchange of ideas. An independent
  Portal Authority will review content complaints
  and enforce acceptable use policies.
• The personal information of users will be
  protected. All transactions will be secure.
• People will be able to fully engage in the portal
  and its applications regardless of their
  location.
• The portal will provide several useful
  applications that will be leveraged to benefit
  the community and community partners.

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Portal User Benefits

• Single point of access to
• aggregated information and services
• robust search engine
• richer and more current content
• Single sign-on - authorization, authentication
  and secure access to information and services
• Personalization
• access to authorized content and services
• configuration according to personal preferences
• subscription services
• Web based access to applications

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Users Experience
myhamilton.caCommunity Portal
Survey Tools
News
OrganizationalSub-Portals
Content from other sites databases external to
the portal will be integrated with the Search
Engine
ClosedDiscussionForums
Thematic Sub-Portals

• Library

Public Discussion Forums
Rural Portal
OnlinePayment
Events Calendars
City
OnlineRegistration
myhamilton.ca
Federal Provincial Govt Info
mcmaster.ca
Other local sites..
mohawkc.on.ca
Other local sites..
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Portal Administrator Benefits

• Content Management
• Full lifecycle of publishing content
• Decentralized Administration
• Unified administration application (secure
  private)
• Allow for delegating tasks
• Provides an interface for roles and access
• Enables the creation of multiple sites
  (sub-portals)
• Standardized Integration Security
• Integrates with other corporate applications in a
  standard way to improve efficiencies
• Metrics - Logging, tracking, and performance
  metrics

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Connect Hamilton Project Infrastructure will
Enable
Portal Application
Rural Sub-Portals
Organizational Sub-Portals

• hpl.ca

Content from other sites databases external to
the portal will be integrated with the Search
Engine.
Integration with applications
hamilton.ca
myhamilton.ca
Federal Provincial Govt Info
Other Local Sites
City Intranet
Other Local Sites
Meeting grant requirements will require initial
focus on myhamilton.ca and the rural portal.
Policies, application requirements the relevant
governance bodies will determine how the portal
application is used by partner organizations.
Other Local Sites
Other Local Sites
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Keys to Sustainability

• Adoption
• Comprehensive coverage of information and
  services
• An end user experience that meets needs, user
  participation in design
• Maximizing investment
• Thematic/organizational portals that bring new
  functionality to partners
• Controlling software licensing application
  maintenance costs
• Identifying cost recovery opportunities where
  appropriate
• Governance
• An effective governance structure
• Clear policies governing acceptable use,
  privacy, and content contributions
• Technical Management
• Ensuring effective knowledge transfer
• A robust and flexible content management system
• City of Hamilton hosting application

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Importance of Library Leadership

• Library as honest broker, trusted Municipal and
  Community Partner
• Our information and technical expertise and
  strong service focus make us uniquely qualified
  to contribute
• Key to librarys future to play leadership role
  in developing a Smart Community
• Enhance position within municipal government
• Enhance position with community partners

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Keys to Success

• Support from Senior Administration and Library
  Board
• Alignment with Librarys Strategic Plan
• Ability to build partnerships
• Ensure project has strong alignment with needs of
  key organizations
• Connect with others facing similar challenges
• Commitment to getting the job done
• Willingness to take risks and overcome set-backs

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Useful URLs

• Connect Hamilton Project website-
  www.myhamilton.ca
• Business Plan, Vision on the About CHCC page
• RFP www.myhamilton.ca/rfp.htm
• Connect Ontariowww.ontariocanada.com/ontcan/en/r
  ts/rts_connect-ontario.jsp
• RNO (Regional Networks for Ontario)
  www.rno.on.ca/
• Portal Sites www.portalscommunity.com,
  www.portalsmag.com

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Contact Information

• Paul Takala, Virtual Library Branch Manager,
  Hamilton Public LibraryCommunity Portal Project
  Manager905-546-3200 Ext 3001 ptakala_at_hpl.ca
• www.myhamilton.ca