Portals - Are We Going In Or Out?


Sandy von Allmen, Training & Publications, University of Tasmania Library [HREF1], GPO Box 252-25, Hobart, Tasmania, 7001. Sandy.vonAllmen@utas.edu.au

Kenneth R Deans [HREF2], Senior Lecturer, Department of Marketing [HREF3], University of Otago, PO Box 56, Dunedin, New Zealand, 9001. kdeans@commerce.otago.ac.nz

Izabella Bartosiewicz, Teaching & Learning Strategy Development Team, RMIT University Library [HREF4], GPO Box 2476V, Melbourne, Victoria, 3001. iza.bartosiewicz@rmit.edu.au


Keywords

Portals, customisation, personalisation, survey, census, adoption, use, World Wide Web, Web.


Abstract

Web portals have been around for several years and yet there is still a considerable amount of confusion surrounding this technology and its potential. In Higher Education institutions of Australia and New Zealand in particular, the interest in portals has been fairly minimal with less than ten institutions actually adopting portals as their campus-wide information and service delivery system (we specifically dealt with university-wide portals and were not limited to library portals).

To ascertain levels of adoption, future plans as well as canvass opinions about a number of portal 'issues', (e.g. pros, cons, costs and time-scales) we sent an electronic questionnaire to all 51 members of the Council of the Australian University Directors of Information Technology (CAUDIT). A response rate of 45% was achieved.

Key results suggests that adoption levels are likely to change as a growing number of our tertiary institutions embark on the often difficult task of deciding on the appropriate solution that will suit their often unique requirements.


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AusWeb01, the Seventh Australian World Wide Web Conference, Opal Cover Resort, Coffs Harbour, 21-25 April 2001 Contact: Norsearch Conference Services +61 2 66 20 3932 (from outside Australia) (02) 6620 3932 (from inside Australia) Fax (02) 6622 1954