Foreign Literature
According to Wikipedia.org, “a web portal, also known as a link page, presents information from diverse sources in a unified way. Apart from the standard search engine feature, web portals offer other services such as e-mail, news, stock prices, information, databases and entertainment. Portals provide a way for enterprises to provide a consistent look and feel with access control and procedures for multiple applications and databases, which otherwise would have been different entities altogether.”
Nickles (2007) describes using Work Action Analysis (WAA) as a method for identifying requirements for a web-based portal that supports a professional development program. WAA is a cognitive systems engineering method for modeling multi-agent systems to support design and evaluation. This model is used to identify many system elements that are acted on by the different roles in the system and should be supported by a portal. While the current portal used by the center supports some of these functions, to support all of them, it must be modified or replaced. This technique for developing web portal requirements can be used by other professional development programs.
In the study of Fuangvut (2005), he stated that a campus portal is an exciting recent phenomenon forming part of the new generation of online services for all stakeholders in institutions of higher education. He added that the general notion of a portal should be to be distinguished from that of other web-based application and the traditional intranet of the institution. Fuangvut indicates the two major distinguishing characteristics of a campus portal, they are as follows: (1) personalization, by which end-users are only able to access information and online services pertinent to their activities, and (2) customization, by which end-users are able to select their preferred information channels and optional online services.
Barlett (2006), in his study used a layered approach incorporating four progressively-informing steps. First, an initial exploration was performed using informal, free-form interviews to examine what members of the Moggill CommunityAssociation (MCA) perceived the needs of the community to be. Second, a design survey was developed to test the usefulness of technology to communicate ideas garnered in the interviews. This survey was a simple web-based interface to information previously distributed by the MCA Executive. Third, a participatory design exercise was run to help participants describe what they thought was needed to assist their communication and collaboration tasks. Fourth, prompts from the participatory design exercise were used to improve the design survey.
The results taken from the exercises and the usage statistics of the design survey implied that sections of the community were interested not only in receiving the information the site supplied, but also in creating new information for distribution. This finding of Barlett provides tentative support fora theory that web technologies positively affect community-expressed needs for better communication and collaboration, and a basis for supporting the further investigation of the phenomenon with larger samples.
Local Studies
According to Pestano (2005), he stated that website is intended to publicize the client organization and its activities to its internal and external target audiences. The website is also intended to facilitate PPI’s internal and external information exchange, and dissemination with its geographically separated target audiences. The primary target audience of the project is the PPI members. The secondary target audiences of the website are:(a) people in the field of journalism (ex. Non-member journalists, journalism students, and researchers); (b)news subjects (individuals and groups who are commonly featured in the news); and (c) entities interested in funding PPI’s future activities. The Web site’s features includes: (a) an archive; (b)on-line and downloadable forms; (c) member account management; (d) a discussion board; and (e) member directory.
GCC Student Information System 