Peering Into “The Portal”
Is it possible to construct a GO link to usurp all GO links—a comprehensive, definite link that captures the campus’s online community in a single webpage? Over the past summer, the College’s Communications worked in collaboration with Web Application Development with this very goal in mind. Their result?
Well, just type go/portal into your Internet Explorer Google Chrome search bar. For those off campus, follow this link: http://portal.middlebury.edu
Apart from amalgamating campus news, events, blogs, dining menus, along with many other student and faculty resources, the new “Portal” service marks Midd’s first significant foray into mobile technology. Again, open a new tab, and type go/mobile into your browser’s address bar. Looks familiar, right?
Have you taken the Portal plunge?
According to LIS’s Joe Antonioli, the “Portal” concept came about following three separate discussions:
1) A need for customized homepages. The Portal service allows members of the Middlebury community to subscribe to and arrange information in a way that they prefer.
2) A need for a mobile website. Middlebury’s current website boasts rich content and an equally nuanced interface; consequently, it is cumbersome to navigate on a smartphone device.
3) As well, Antonioli cited the fact that “faculty, staff and students’ pages receive a high amount of traffic, but the links are rarely clicked on, and most visitors leave the pages immediately.”
