Article

Background

In the 6 years that the Penn State University Libraries has been using its current enterprise Content Management System, the number of author/publishers has grown to over 200, the number of pages has increased from 5,000 to over 10,000 and the number of media files now sits at several thousand. When the libraries made the decision to switch to a Drupal platform, the time was right for a shift: to fewer editors, to a surefire way to keep content fresh, and to a dead simple workflow that won’t get in the way.

Goals

The primary goal in redefining the workflow is to avoid content “ROT" (Redundant, Outdated and Trivial) on the site. Hundreds of authors, contributing content with no oversight, has naturally led to a bloated site with lots of unnecessary, duplicate, and obsolete content. We conducted a full content inventory prior to our move to Drupal, and after having analyzed 10,000 pages of content, page by page, we clearly understood the importance of managing and maintaining content control. It is critical that every piece of content on the site has an owner, is easily reusable across the site, meets all copyright guidelines, and is fully accessible to users with any disability or learning difference. Many areas of the site have content that changes regularly; therefore, minor edits to the site need to be taken care of without delay. And, if there’s a problem identified with the site, it needs to be easily reportable and quickly addressed.

Workflow

So what's the key to making all of this happen? A simple, streamlined workflow that doesn’t get in the way or allow changes to get stuck in limbo. Our new workflow involves a small group of frequent users who are empowered to make regular content additions and changes, and a content board led by a content strategist that will review these changes after-the-fact, in batches.