System Analysis



System Analysis

Task 1

Preparation

The purpose of this survey is to determine user requirements for a knowledge portal at the University. The goal of the knowledge portal is to provide a virtual space that is easily accessible and searchable that will facilitate synergy through collaboration in research, innovation and the creation of new knowledge. The other goal is to create an awareness of knowledge, expertise, research and events within the University. This may create new collaborative efforts, possibly reduce duplication of efforts and increase a sense of community within the university. In order to create an effective learning experience, the project was based on fundamental system analysis and design principles with some deviations to accommodate the unique aspects of the project (Djilas 2007).



Task

Description

Timeline

Benchmark against research portals of excellence

Surfed the Web to find research portals throughout the world and saved those that were excellent in terms of organization, content, and navigability.

Approx. 2 weeks

Marketing research

Interviewed faculty members from different disciplines across the university to determine their needs / user requirements for the portal

Approx. 3 weeks

Develop conceptual model of portal

Developed an entity relationship diagram to show how the parts of the portal are interrelated.

Developed a flowchart to reflect the user requirements and organization of the site.

Approx. 2 weeks

Build portal prototype

Developed a storyboard for site development.

Downloaded the content management system (CMS) to use as functional shell for portal

Customized CMS to reflect needs of users.

Approx. one month.

Portal demonstration

Presented portal prototype to top management for organizational buy-in.

Last week of project

Interview questions

How would you characterize your computer skills?

Novice 0 Intermediate x0Expert 0

Are there any websites you use regularly that help you gain knowledge or collaborate with colleagues effectively? Yes x0 No 0

If yes, are there any characteristics of those sites that are particularly valuable that you can share with us?

Literature lists, job lists, events and conferences, ideas for forwarding the field are shared. Links can be useful, but not always.

Are you satisfied with the availability and accessibility of research projects throughout the University? Not sure what you mean?

If not, what is missing or what types of research information would you like to see? Research information such as access at the library to important journals? That is what is important to me and not adequate at this time.

Similarly, what sources of information would be helpful to you in your research endeavors? Again, journals with full text. Help with negotiating NIH and NSF opportunities. Help with the technical aspects of submitting grant (Cliff Webber has been great, but we need more secretarial support waste of time for the researcher to spend so much time on the administrative part of grant submission. Many universities have AAs helping actively and taking over this work which is extremely time consuming. Should be at the department level as in Johns Hopkins.

Do you know everyone in the university research community who may have similar or related research interests?

For the most part. You can always expand connections creatively and we try to do that we also collaborate inter-institututionally with Hopkins, UConn, EMMC, ...