JA-SIG and uPortal
Java in
Administration
Special Interest
Group
http://www.ja-sig.org
Own the Web







Resolution of disparate systems
Change business practices; easy, fast,
inexpensive
Ensure unique institutional presentation--Brand
Control own destiny
Avoid vendor obligations; ad banners, resellers
Avoid high risk purchase or partnership
Acknowledge culture of continuous change
JA-SIG Mission
communication of best practices, new technologies,
innovative methodologies and projects
peer review, collaboration, and group discussion
technology cross-fertilization between vendors and
institutions
JA-SIG Focus
Java in “Administration”
 Share Experience and Code
 Develop Common Direction
 Promote Java in Higher Education
 Leverage Higher-ed w/ Vendors

JA-SIG








Princeton
UBC
Delaware
Florida State
Cornell
UCSD
Boston
Georgetown
Members








Brown
Yale
Hawaii
Columbia
U Washington
Minnesota
UT Austin
…more
JA-SIG Activities
Conferences – Twice Annually
 Clearinghouse – Code Sharing
 uPortal – Collaborative Development

Conferences
December 1999; Orlando, FL
 July 2000, Monterey; CA
 February 4-6, 2001; Destin, FL
 June, 2001; La Jolla, CA
 East/West
 SUN Sponsorship

Clearinghouse
Members Only
 Announcement of Code to Share
 Conditions for Sharing
 Matchmaker, not Repository
 Standard Architecture

uPortal
Free Higher-Ed Portal
 Collaborative Effort
 Channel Framework
 Channel Content
 Tools for Web Community

uPortal
Yale, Princeton, Delaware, UBC,
Georgetown, Holy Cross, IBS
 Boston, Brown, Cornell, Washington
 Version 1.0 – Monterey - July
 Version 1.5 – Destin – February
 Version 2.0 – CUMREC - May

uPortal v1.0
Basic Authentication
 Channel Publish and Subscribe
 Personalization of Layout and Colors
 RSS, HTML, Applets
 Custom Channels Installed in Frame

uPortal v2.0
Role-based Authentication & Access
 More Robust Security
 Higher Levels of Pub/Sub Control
 XML/XSL Channel Rendering
 Channel Content Development
 PDA and Cell Phone Portal Access
 Competitive, Ready-for-Primetime

v2.0 Effort






Framework
Personalization
Layout Managemnt
Publish
Subscribe
Unsubscribe






Keyword
Security
Database
Utilities
Caching
Partnerships
Required Channels






Personalization
Layout Managemnt
Publish/Keyword
Channel Search
Page Rendering
HTML Rendering





RSS Authoring
PDF Display
Calendar
IMAP Mail
Administration
Strengths





Cost
No Advertising
By Higher Ed for Higher Ed
Institutional Control of Web Layer
Collaborative Effort




Framework
Community Tools
Content
You do not have to contribute to participate
Challenges
Funding
 Resources
 Community Source Process
 Not Turnkey

Support and Partnerships








SUN
IBS
Mellon Foundation
CampusFirst, Sallie Mae, Eduprise
UBC, Holy Cross, Hawaii…
Dept of Education… gov agencies
WebCT, Blackboard, BSR… vendors
Merlot, JSTOR, etc
Opportunities to Share
Design Ideas
 Framework Code
 Channel Content
 Community Tools
 Java Applications

Why not?
Jetspeed
 Blackboard
 Epicentric
 PeopleSoft
 Microsoft

Institutional Culture

Build vs Buy
Own the Web
 Avoid Proprietary Stuff
 Culture of Continuous Change

Foster Collaboration
 Higher-ed Clout


“get content providers to generate XML”
More Information

http://www.ja-sig.org
JA-SIG Organization
 Conferences
 Clearinghouse
 uPortal

carlj@udel.edu
 dwk@princeton.edu

J2EE Application Model