Culture Portal, connecting you with Australian culture online

culture.gov.au

Connecting you with Australian culture online

Review of add a website policy 2006–07

Contents

Objectives | Background | Rationale for the Review
Key Review findings and recommendations | Detailed Review findings
Guidelines for Portal website collection | Comment

Objectives

The objectives for the Culture and Recreation Portal Review of its 'Add a website' Policy (the Review) for the Website Administration Database (the Database) were to:

  • evaluate the extent to which the Database is covering the culture and recreation sector to determine areas of strength and weakness in the Database;
  • prepare updated criteria for the assessment of websites to be included in the Database; and
  • update guidelines and procedures setting out the Portal's website collecting methods and priorities.

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Background

The Database is an online collection of information about Australia's culture and recreation sector.

The inclusion of a website in the Portal's Database means that, in most cases, all of the text content of the website can be searched by the Portal Search Engine 'Bluey' via an index. Websites unable to be indexed are 'listed', which means the website name and brief details are listed in the Portal search results, with a direct link to the website.

The Portal Search Engine 'Bluey' presents a customised list of results from the websites listed in the Database in response to a search enquiry. The website information pages listed with the Portal are also used by other search engines such as Google and Yahoo. The Portal's high search engine rankings usually means optimised search engine results for the website information pages.

Website information is stored within the Database under one or more of 21 sectoral categories of:

  • Architecture and design;
  • Archives and libraries;
  • Built, natural and historic heritage;
  • Collecting institutions;
  • Community arts;
  • Cross-media arts;
  • Exhibitions;
  • Festivals and events;
  • Film, video and digital media;
  • Galleries and museums;
  • Government organisations and services;
  • History;
  • Indigenous arts, culture and heritage;
  • Literature;
  • Music;
  • Peak organisations and networks;
  • Performing arts;
  • Print, radio and TV;
  • Science;
  • Sport and recreation; and
  • Visual arts and crafts.

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Rationale for the Review

When the Portal was launched in its current format in 2000, it was important that it quickly achieved broad coverage across diverse sectors in order to deliver an effective and efficient service. To assist the Portal with 'collecting' relevant websites, an online form was established to encourage the public to submit websites for inclusion in the Database. To date, website submissions have been assessed against criteria of currency, clarity and the Portal's guiding principles which aim to 'enrich the lives of Australians and the wider global community by promoting online access to Australia's culture and recreation sectors'.

By 30 June 2006, the Database included about 3,700 websites and indexed nearly 2.3 million pages. However, an assessment of the public submissions received through the online form highlighted that this process had lost much of its initial effectiveness.

For example, over a three-month period to 30 March 2006, 574 online website form submissions were received. Of these; 199 (35 %) were identified for further assessment against existing criteria and only 119 were assessed as meeting the criteria. Thus, only around 20% of submissions were generating appropriate content for adding to the Database.

The resources that the Portal has allocated to assessing and indexing new websites need to be allocated more efficiently in order to better reflect the culture and recreation sector and to better promote access to the sector.

In April 2006, the public website submission process was put on hold. Users of the Portal were advised that a review was in progress. This Review undertook a statistical appraisal of the scope and focus of websites being included in the Database in respect of the culture and recreation sector generally.

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Key Review findings and recommendations

  1. When benchmarked against external reference data (as follows), the Portal had achieved coverage of around half of the estimated Australian culture and recreation sector websites across most Database categories.

  2. However, the spread of websites across the Database categories was found to be disproportionate, with a number of categories under-represented relative to the estimated number of websites operating.

  3. Further, by analysing Portal user search trends, there was evidence of strong unmet demand for information in particular categories.

  4. Five categories were identified as potential priority collection areas due to both under-representation and user search demand:
    • Architecture and design;
    • Film, video and digital media production;
    • Built, natural and historic heritage;
    • Indigenous, arts, culture and heritage; and
    • Print, radio and TV.

  5. It was recommended that collection and maintenance of the Database should focus on improving coverage in the above priority collection areas, as well as maintaining coverage in popular categories according to the essential and desirable quality website criteria.

  6. It was recommended that essential and desirable criteria for the collection of websites be defined to make the website collection process more transparent, in order to encourage website managers and developers to understand and apply best practice standards for the online environment and the cultural sector.

  7. The essential criteria for a quality website was defined as:
    • accessibility;
    • authenticity;
    • community benefit; and
    • functionality.

  8. The collection process for adding websites to the Database is to be undertaken primarily through the additional measures of periodic harvesting and thematic collection.

  9. Periodic harvesting can be done through related Portal activities such as weekly updates to the Portal's 'News and Events' pages and 'Australian Stories'. Thematic collection can be undertaken by the selection of websites available through trade journals, search engines and specialist databases.

  10. The website collection priorities and processes are to be reviewed annually and further advice can be issued on the intended approach for applying quality website criteria to the existing websites (more than 3,700) currently included in the Database.

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Detailed Review findings

Coverage

A statistical comparison of websites listed in the Website Administration Database (the Database) as at 30 June 2006 was undertaken against available reference data including the most recent ABS statistics (2002 and 2003), the online Yellow Pages (2006) listings of websites for relevant categories, the DCITA Indigenous Visual Arts and Crafts Resource Directory 2006 and the Australian Film Commission online Indigenous Media and Arts Directory.

Comparison with this data showed that the Portal's Database covered:

  • between 75-100% of culture sector categories (described in the Database) as Collecting institutions, Galleries and museums, Exhibitions, Literature, Music, and Performing arts;
  • between 50-75% of culture sector sub-categories, such as historic properties, performing arts venues, sports clubs, TV stations, commercial galleries, artists, Indigenous artists, art centres and cultural resource organisations; and
  • 20% on average of the culture sector website categories of Architecture and design; Built, natural and historic heritage; Film, video and digital media production, as well as the sub-categories of radio stations and photographic clubs.
Popularity

The most popular Database categories with users based on the top advanced search queries for 2005-06 and the use of the 'go-to' links in 2005-06 were:

  1. Visual arts and crafts;
  2. Festivals and events;
  3. History;
  4. Music;
  5. Sport and recreation;
  6. Film, video and digital media;
  7. Peak organisations;
  8. Indigenous arts, culture and heritage;
  9. Performing arts;
  10. Collecting institutions;
  11. Print, radio and TV;
  12. Literature; and
  13. Architecture and design.
Collection gaps

Based on a comparison between Database coverage and the most popular user search categories, a number of collection gaps were identified as follows:

  • Architecture and design
    (especially the sub-categories of furniture, architecture and graphic designers);
  • Film, video and digital media
    (including the sub-categories of photographic clubs and societies);
  • Built, natural and historic heritage
    (especially the sub-categories of historic sites and properties);
  • Indigenous arts, culture and heritage; and
  • Print, radio and TV
    (especially the sub-category of radio stations).

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Guidelines for Portal website collection

The process for developing guidelines for the collection of websites involved examination of the website collecting policies of other Australian Government portals, the significance assessment principles used by the key collecting institutions (archives, galleries, libraries, and museums) as well as other comparable website selection frameworks, such as the Pandora website archive.

1. Working with 'significance'

The policy for selecting and collecting Australian culture and recreation websites across the Database categories should be based on an assessment of their 'significance', a concept investigated by the former Heritage Collections Council.

Assessments of significance can help to clarify the values or underlying reasons why an item should be collected or maintained. Values which may be identified as significant for the collection of websites include:

  • historical significance by association with people, events, places and themes;
  • aesthetic significance based on craftsmanship, style, technical excellence, beauty, demonstration of skill and quality of design and execution;
  • research significance if there is major potential for further examination or study; and
  • social significance where there is evidence of community value or esteem.

These high level concepts used by archives, galleries, libraries, museums and other collecting institutions can be used to inform criteria setting out the attributes of 'quality websites' that will be collected by the Portal.

Specifically, the Portal website collection guidelines will also aim to take account of significance assessments which have already been undertaken within the culture and recreation sector.

As a collection, the database aims to reflect the 'interwoven elements' of collections that together document, interpret and contribute to Australia's history, identity and culture.

2. Defining a quality website

Drawing together from a range of information and resources available, a quality website was broadly defined as:

delivering up-to-date, comprehensive and easy-to-use online services based on acceptable publishing and technical standards and which improves access to information significant to the culture and recreation sector.

3. Essential criteria for quality websites

There are common and essential criteria for determining quality within the culture and recreation sector which can be applied to determining quality in the online environment as follows:

  • accessibility, which is apparent in respect of usability, publishing standards, and document formats;
  • authenticity, which is evident in terms of authority, authorship, accuracy of content and documentation of sources;
  • community benefit, which is clear from the significance values, relevance, currency, and timeliness; and
  • functionality, which is apparent in terms of navigation, accuracy, and links.
4. Desirable criteria

There are also desirable criteria for distinguishing quality websites within the culture and recreation sector and many of these are relevant to the online environment:

  • aesthetics and design - products that work, combine fun with function, have aesthetic impact, appeal and identity;
  • continuity - evidence of focus on continuity within the site;
  • implementation - demonstration of plans put into effect, of collaboration, and satisfying identified requirements or conditions;
  • innovation - showing distinctiveness, uniqueness, originality, overcoming challenges and introducing new methods or items; and
  • synthesis - making the complex look simple, providing context.

Where appropriate, the Portal's website collection and maintenance procedures will take into account the desirable criteria for a 'quality website'.

5. Priority categories

In addition to assessing quality websites for inclusion in the Portal Database coverage, the following categories will be enhanced to overcome gaps identified in the following areas, especially:

  • Architecture and design;
  • Film, video and digital media;
  • Built, natural and historic heritage (especially historic);
  • Indigenous arts, culture and heritage; and
  • Print, radio and TV.
6. Popular categories

The Culture and Recreation Portal will continue to assess and collect websites based on the definition of a quality website and the criteria of significance in the popular categories such as:

  • Festivals and events;
  • Music;
  • Peak organisations;
  • Performing arts; and
  • Visual arts and crafts.
7. Selection methods for collecting websites for the Database

The main ways that websites will be selected for assessment will be via:

  • periodic harvesting, through weekly updates to the Portal News and Events pages and in preparing Australian stories;
  • thematic collection, by drawing on a range of available resources including trade journals, search engines and specialist databases; and
  • public submissions lists, compiled through submission of websites to the Portal Editor.
8. Process for consideration of public website submissions

The online form for public website submissions will not be restored at this stage. Instead, the following interim process will available for website submissions:

  1. submissions will be considered through Editor's email;
  2. preliminary assessment of websites against priority and popular categories and essential criteria by Editor;
  3. submission of full details of website requested by Editor;
  4. final assessment by Editor;
  5. there will be no correspondence entered into after final assessment; and
  6. the time frame for assessment of submissions will be two months from the initial email request to the editor to upload to the Database by the Editor.
9. Annual review

The priority categories for website collection and guidelines will be reviewed on an annual basis with an invitation for public comment.

10. Application of the new guidelines

The new website collection and assessment guidelines will initially be applied to websites to be added into the Portal Database.

11. Future application of the guidelines

The Portal will take a staged approach in applying the new website collection and assessment guidelines to websites that have been listed within the Portal Database since it was established.

The staged approach will involve identifying sectoral categories or groups of categories for review. Advice on the intended application of the guidelines to existing sites will be made available on the Portal for public comment.

12. Future directions

Online options for Portal Database maintenance and submission tools will be investigated further.

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Public Comment on this Review

Public comments were requested by Friday 4 May 2007.

  • All people commenting on the review paper will receive confirmation of receipt for their submission or comments;
  • all comments will be considered and analysed;
  • it is intended that the new guidelines be published and implemented after consideration of public comment;
  • copies of the new guidelines will be made available online as well as forwarded to those people who made comment; and
  • privacy and security requirements will be observed throughout the process.
Process for Comment

Comments on the Review were invited from 3 April to 4 May 2007 through an online survey. This survey was promoted in the site through a navigation link visible from each page and in a notification email to the 4,500 subscribers of the ‘ausculture’ newsletter. This online survey generated 3 responses.

A concern was raised in the online survey regarding the definition of ‘quality websites’. The survey respondent was concerned that websites with excellent content quality but poor design would be excluded, or conversely, websites with poor content but excellent design would be included. Careful analysis of essential and desirable criteria of quality websites, as stated in review findings, should avoid this problem. This will be addressed by a plain English version explaining the application of the policy.

Another issue raised by a survey respondent was improved cross-linking between the Portal and key resource and peak body websites in the culture sector. This is being addressed through forthcoming discussions currently with stakeholders and through finalising the Portal’s communication strategy for 2006-07 by writing to key institutions and peak body websites.

Last updated 15th June 2007

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