Content Modeling 101

1. Content Modeling 101 A Cross Agency Study Don Bruns June 14, 2006

2. Define Content Modeling • Identifying the data elements, metadata elements, relationships, and reuse patterns that are inherent to an information product. • Often applied within the context of a CMS implementation • Informs requirements for CMS design, selection, and implementation • Often includes development of a taxonomy • Drives content reuse • Crucial step in running a successful CMS implementation • Think of content as collections of discrete chunks of information. • Captured separately • Stored centrally • Reused, rearranged, and redeployed according to business logic

3. Content Strategy Framework

4. Process for Content Modeling • Perform content inventory • Identify content types • Find representative samples • Identify chunks • Document the content model • Confirm with stakeholders at every step

5. Content Inventory • Different from traditional UCD content inventory: • Less emphasis on identifying navigation, site structures, page names, and ownership. • More emphasis on identifying content types, metadata, and opportunities for reuse.

6. Identify Content Types • Information products with a common set of metadata and common purpose. • Aim for high value content types first. • Supports large amounts of content • Has high audience exposure • Has high potential for reuse • Crosses organizational lines • Recognize that 80% of content is unstructured (aka Generic web pages). • Confirm your analysis with stakeholders.

7. Find Representative Samples of Each Content Type • Choose several examples per content type. • Cross organizational lines if possible. • Find instances of reuse. • Look for difficult cases. • Confirm examples with stakeholders.

8. Identify Chunks • Separate content from presentation – • Draw boxes around possible data and metadata elements (a.k.a. “chunks.”) • Dig deeper – Many chunks won’t appear on the page (keywords in source code, content lifecycle dates). • Take a step back – Look for additional chunks wherever content is reused.

9. Identify Chunks (continued) • Approach metadata from all angles. • Elemental (Title, Body) • Descriptive (Subject, Intended Audience, Content Type) • Lifecycle/Administrative (Publish Date, Expiration Date, Refresh-by Date) • Be realistic about chunking. • Over-enthusiastic chunking can create a burden for content contributors. • Do you really need 47 fields for a press release? • Are you really going to reusethat?

10. Identify Chunks (continued) • Chunk appropriately – Granularity is mainly dictated by reuse requirements. • Avoid under-chunking • Excessively coarse level of granularity • Inhibits content reuse • Avoid over-chunking • Excessively fine level of granularity • Imposes a burden on users • Can complicate reuse

11. Document the Content Model Press Release • Things to capture: • Shared fields – common to all content types • Additional fields unique to this content type • Points of relationship between this and other content types • Keep it conceptual at first. • Don’t infer database structures from this… yet. • Try to break the content model. • Confirm with your stakeholders.

12. Case Studies

13. Office of Justice Programs (OJP) • Grant-making branch of DOJ • Federated web presence • Main OJP website • Five bureau-level offices with websites • Two program offices with websites • Each website has its own design, navigation, content, web managers, content contributors, etc. • Little content reuse across websites • Some content out-of-synch across websites

14. OJP Example 1 – State Administering Agency Contacts • State Administering Agency (SAA)Contacts - Government officials in a particular state who administer federal grants on behalf of one or more OJP bureaus. • The Problem: • Each of the five bureaus and HQ maintained separate lists. • Lists were often out-of-synch with each other.

15. The Solution • Worked with web council to develop common content model for SAA Contact • Parsed content chunks for contact person • Included required dropdown lists for OJP Office and for State. • Captured SAA Contacts within the content management system • CMS deploys query-driven pages that display contacts by state, by agency, or both

16. OJP Example 2 – Topic pages • The Problem: Very little content from the five bureau level offices was appearing on the main OJP website. • The Goal: • Unify OJP’s web presence. • Dissolve content silos. • Promote content reuse across organization lines.

17. First Attempt • Web manager developed topic pages • Linked off main OJP site • Topic driven • Draws content from all bureau level sites • Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) recruited to act as Topic Page editors. • Why it failed: • Topic page editors required to keep track of new content on multiple sites. • Required manual updates. • Editors couldn’t keep up. • Content became stale.

18. Second Attempt • CMS implementation between July 2004 and October 2005. • Led web council in developing cross-agency content model • Led web council in developing cross-agency taxonomy • Six facets to taxonomy • Topic • Crime Type • Language • Information Type • Geography • Demographic

19. Drug Crime Drug Related Crime Manufacturing Possession Trafficking Gangs Hate Crimes Organized Crime Property Crime Arson Burglary Electronic Crime - Cybercrime Fraud Identity Theft Larceny/Theft Motor Vehicle theft Stolen Property White Collar Crime Public Order Offenses Alcohol-related Offenses Antitrust Conspiracy Driving Under the Influence Environmental Offenses Immigration Offenses Money Laundering Prostitution and Commercialized Vice Racketeering and Extortion Regulatory Offenses Weapons Violations Terrorism/Mass Violence Trafficking in Persons Violent Crime Assault Carjacking Domestic/Intimate Partner/Family Violence Gun Violence Homicide Kidnapping Rape and Sexual Assault Robbery Stalking Crime Type Facet

20. Applying Taxonomy within CMS • Authoring interfaces for all major content types include Taxonomy fields. • Most workflows include editorial / tagging step. • Taxonomy terms and relationships managed within the CMS.

21. Tagging OJP Content Using the Taxonomy • Topic Facet • Drugs • Legal Substances • Alcohol • Juvenile Justice • Child Health and Welfare • Underage Drinking • Law Enforcement Crime Facet • Public Order Offenses • Alcohol-related Violations

22. OJP Topic Pages Redux • Query-driven topic pages – CMS updates pages whenever relevant content is published. • Dynamic content reuse – Made possible by having a unified content model and taxonomy applied cross-agency. • Empowers bureau-level content managers act as stewards for larger OJP site. • Required special training for taggers – This taxonomy actually does something.

23. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) • Independent Federal agency • Regulates Futures and Options markets in the US • Strong emphasis on preventing and prosecuting fraud • Diverse content reuse needs • No technical infrastructure to support content reuse • Web team working manually to meet reuse requirements

24. Legal Pleadings • Court documents • Complaints • Opinions • Orders • Decisions • Pertain to specific cases initiated by CFTC against accused violators

25. Enforcement Press Releases Specialized media releases pertaining to ongoing cases Dynamic Reuse • Legal Pleadings

26. Case Status Reports • Updates on court cases initiated by CFTC against violators • Intended for general public (particularly victims of fraud) • Dynamic and manual reuse: • Legal Pleadings • Enforcement Press Releases

27. The Solution Press Release • Included “Defendant” attribute in the content models for: • Legal Pleadings • Case Status Reports • Enforcement Press Releases • Value added – Good example of how one metadata attribute can add lots of value to content.

28. The Solution (continued) • Probably will involve a combo box or custom GUI control • Content contributors can add new defendants. • Content contributors can also select from existing defendants. Worldwide Commodity

29. Top 10 Best Practices • Process leads technology decisions. • Don’t skimp on your content audit. • Separate presentation from content. • Think reuse. • Chunk appropriately (i.e. level of granularity.) • Think of your users’ needs and pain points. (47 fields for a press release?) • Add value to content (especially unstructured content) by applying a global taxonomy. • Base the content model on Dublin Core Metadata Standards. • Unify the content model across organizational lines as much as possible. • Involve key stakeholders at all levels at every step.

30. Contact Information • Don Bruns • Lead Information Architect • Don.Bruns@aquilent.com • 202-415-1284 • Peter Fogelsanger • Director of Marketing • Peter.Fogelsanger@aquilent.com • 301-939-1706