Slides from the Sakai Boston Conference

1. Strategies to Support Your Users:
Custom Documentation and Help Files
Karen M. Campbell, Rutgers University
Mathieu Plourde, University of Delaware
Jonathan Bolte, Indiana University

2. Session Agenda
• Introduction
• Panel Presentations
• University of Delaware
• Rutgers University
• Indiana University
• Conclusion
July 2009 210th Sakai Conference - Boston, MA, U.S.A.

3. UNIVERSITY OF DELAWARE
Help Files and Documentation at the
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4. Types of Contents
• Help Files
• Support and Training Website
• Handouts
• Captivate Videos
• FAQs
• Practices
• News and Technical Updates
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5. Workflow
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USERS
HELP CENTER
Request
Answer

6. Workflow
July 2009 10th Sakai Conference - Boston, MA, U.S.A.
USERS
HELP CENTER
LMS TEAM
Request
Answer
Trouble
Ticket

7. Workflow
July 2009 10th Sakai Conference - Boston, MA, U.S.A.
USERS
HELP CENTER
LMS TEAM
Request
Answer
Trouble
Ticket

8. Workflow
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USERS
HELP CENTER
LMS TEAM
Request
Answer
Trouble
Ticket
Most Frequent
Requests
NEW/REVISED
DOCUMENTATION
TECH WRITER

9. Workflow
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USERS
HELP CENTER
LMS TEAM
Request
Answer
Trouble
Ticket
Most Frequent
Requests
NEW/REVISED
DOCUMENTATION
TECH WRITER

10. Help Files
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Help pages are hosted on another server,
allowing us to update the information
instantly without rebooting.

11. Support and Training Website
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http://www.udel.edu/sakai/training/

12. News and Technical Updates
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13. Rutgers University
Help Files and Documentation at
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14. July 2009 10th Sakai Conference - Boston, MA, U.S.A. 14
Background
• Use
• over 50,000 students,
8,000 fac/staff
• K12 use
• 40,000 unique users
per week
• 50% course sections
• Support
• 3 partial support staff
• 1 dedicated developer
• 3 partial developers
• 1-3 student staff

15. Background
• Open use of Sakai
• users create own sites
• add rosters
• choose tools, add content
• faculty, staff, & students create sites
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16. Goals
• Give users a chance to help themselves
• Give users resources to teach themselves
• Provide examples of ways to use Sakai
• Give users ideas for new things to try
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17. Structure
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• Getting Started
• Tool Overview
• FAQ
• Doc for each tool:
• Intro
• Comprehensive guide

18. Updates
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• Minor updates throughout year
• correct errors, clarify instructions, new
features
• user suggestions
• Annual overhaul
• coincides with system upgrade
• adjust structure & content, update
screenshots, reevaluate docs

19. Updates
Student Staff
Edits/rewrites docs
Incoming Staff
Edits/rewrites docs
Other Staff
Edits/rewrites docs
Docs Coordinator
Proofs docs
Checks docs in & out
Sakai Docs

20. Future (Immediate)
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• Fill in holes
• 1 page quick start guide
• “Alert” boxes
• Navigation within docs
• Printer-friendly versions
• How-to videos
• Redo general info & getting started

21. Future (Long-term)
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• More videos, examples, & pedagogy-based
content
• Example sites - challenge!
• Centralized collaborative repository
• Way to track docs use and helpfulness
• More advanced docs exploring other
angles

22. Reasons for Success
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• Use students
• Train new employees
• Invest resources
• Settle for what you can do
• Keep up with updates

23. Indiana University
Help Files and Documentation at
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24. Challenge #1
Course Project Portfolio
Instructor Organizer CIG Coordinator
Student Member CIG Participant
Teaching Assistant Evaluator
Content Assistant Reviewer
Custom
Guest Observer
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• Addressing different needs for different
users and site types.

25. Challenge #2
• Keeping track of all the changes and
establishing a workflow.
• Maintaining up-to-date documentation
which involve constant attention
(foreverism).
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26. Challenge #3
• Using community-contributed content.
• Branding is an issue for screenshots and
videos.
• Different tool sets are used in different
institutions.
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