Content Comparison

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Topic page: Content strategy

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In OneDrive

The topic pages are set up in a shared OneDrive area. There is a template document there (called Template) that you should review as it has helpful notes about writing the page, and some relevant content examples that you can re-use or modify.

Many topics have the Careers - and sometimes the subjects - pre-written from existing publications and other resources. Various people around the place have done this work to give us a head start - it helps a lot. You may need to modify this content a little after the interview - the interview is the authoritative version.

Setting up the interview

We are writing new content. To create this, we're carrying out short one-to-one interviews with the main subject-matter expert (SME) in the relevant school.

Organising interviews

When we start working with a faculty, we first contact the Comms Advisor, let them know what we'll be doing and discuss how to approach identifying SMEs to work with.

Ideally, we'll only work with one person - such as a HOS or programme director. But for complex topics, we may need to interview several academic staff members.

What we'll need from themNotify the comms advisor for the faculty that you will be carrying out interviews and make sure they know what the project is about. They will guide you on how to go about approaching people - they may advise you to ask the faculty or school manager for names of interviewees. Also let the comms advisor know that after the interview, you might get them to help with sourcing media or writing lecturer profiles.

Make sure you interview a senior academic person - programme director, senior lecturer or head of school - someone who has the authority to review and sign off the content later. (For complex topics, you may need to interview several people.) Don't interview a faculty or school administrator, such as a faculty or school manager - we need subject-matter experts. 

What you need from the SME:

• • Interview (book 1 hour).
  • Review the draft and provide feedback.
  • Approve the final version. 

Because the person we work with will sign off the content, they need to be senior enough to be able to do this.Send the email below to the SME - then call them if there is no response. Book out a time in their calendar - you can usually meet in their office.

Before the interview with each SME, the WIP2 project manager will email them background information that explains the broader project, topic groupings and the concept of the topic page. The notes below may help - please also see the topic page content strategy.

Interview questions

The interview is conversational but needs to cover the content areas that appear in the topic page. 

We record the interviews unobtrusively (but with consent). 

Interview script below: last updated 29 October 2015.

At the start of the interview

Spend a few minutes giving them an overview of the project, but don’t go into it in depth - that communication is happening alongside the interview process by Jane and Paul.

This is what I say: Thank you for taking the time to meet with me. I’m part of a project that is writing much better content for the Victoria website, for prospective undergraduate students who are thinking of studying here. [Show them current subject pages - three paras at the top - “we want to give you more space to market and explain what you teach”.] Show them the new Explore page and explain mega topics and topic groupings. Tell them the links will go to the new topic pages. Describe how a topic page works - describe each of the four tabs/pages and what it’s for.

Introduce the personas - Mattie and Henry. Stand one or both of them up on the desk - I tend to use Mattie. Throughout the interview, say to the academic: “Tell Mattie - talk to him” “How would you explain to Mattie what xxx is” (etc).

If you strike someone who is resistant or negative in some way, take time to explain the project and get them on board - you can always come back and do the interview another time. If that doesn’t work, politely leave, then inform Jane.

Ask if you can record the interview. Explain that you won’t be quoting them - it’s just so you don’t have to write notes. I use a laptop (the MS record feature) as my main method, and I use a dictaphone as a backup. Plug in the laptop when you first arrive and set it up while you chat about the project - otherwise you’ll be waiting for it to fire up.

Let them know that the draft will come to them for review. 

During the interview

Use the interview questions (below). Make sure you cover all areas, but don’t let the interview go on for too long. Think about what you need, to write the page.

Be positive and interested. 

Remind them to talk to Mattie (or Henry).

After the interview

Save the recording.

Thank them.

Transcribe the interview as soon as possible. I recommend putting the transcript in a separate document and saving that to the Topic page folder in OneDrive.

Use a copy of the transcript to write the page. Draw on the content from our publications if you need to - but the interview is the authoritative source.

Gathering media 

The comms advisor will be able to help with identifying video, images and you find student work examples we could use - where appropriate/relevant. They will need to ensure we have student permission to use any work examples.They will probably be able to write any extra profiles that are needed, such as a profile on a featured lecturer.and other media. They might be happy to interview a lecturer and create a lecturer profile.

• If they're creating a lecturer profile, don't forget to ask for a photo to go with it. 
• If they're providing student work examples, ask them to also provide an outline of the project, a caption for each image, and signed permission forms from the students.

Contacts:

Review and sign off

(email text to come)

(upload process doc)

We'll be communicating the following message, to help manage the scope of the review:

The topic page has been tightly written for online readers, with a focus on the target audience and a marketing approach. While feedback about the tone/style is welcome, what we are seeking from your review is confirmation that:

• it reflects Victoria’s strengths in this discipline (as relevant to a secondary student)
• the wording is accurate (while allowing for the use of ‘everyday’ language that makes sense to a secondary student)
• you’re happy with the way the media items (stories and project examples) have come together.

We'll also communicate this message, to help manage the number of reviewers:

• Past experience indicates that review works best when it’s carried out by just one or two people:  when a document is circulated widely, successive layers of diverse input can increase the risk of the document losing its purpose and focus. Also, the timeframe and amount of negotiation required increases significantly. For those reasons, we’d prefer it if you could carry out the review - perhaps consulting with the comms advisor where necessary. (Please get in touch if you’d like to propose an alternative approach.)

 Flowchart showing the review process

Email to SME for review

Email to SME for sign off