The new Unicamp Portal goes live this Wednesday (14), offering a series of improvements to the user. www.unicamp.br will maintain its journalistic character, but will be more responsive and provide better navigability. An important change was the implementation of news categorization, in order to make access to information faster. Another new feature is the inclusion of the social networks Facebook and Twitter, which will now have official Unicamp profiles.
The project also had as one of its main objectives the integration of the various media available in the institutional communication process and a new stance in the editorial line, more focused on scientific and cultural dissemination. “It’s not just about customizing the layout, but a reformulation of content along the lines of integrated communication”, says journalist Clayton Levy, coordinator of the Communications and Press Office (Ascom). “The changes were made with the aim of expanding the dissemination of the university’s activities, thus strengthening the dialogue between the institution and society”, he adds.
All development work for the new Unicamp Portal was carried out exclusively by Ascom professionals, with support from the Unicamp Computing Center (CCUEC), and without additional expenses for the University. The activities began last May, involving journalists, web designers, photographers and professionals from Ascom's administrative and information technology areas. “We consider it important to value internal skills and bring together this group of professionals around a common project”, explains Levy.
The work process included analyzing the weaknesses and strengths of the current portal, defining requirements and assembling the information structure. In addition to taking care of the technical aspects involved in this type of project, the team also carried out an extensive analysis of websites from other universities, both in Brazil and abroad. “We follow the main trends in this area, taking care to adapt solutions to our needs”, explains Laura Freitas Rodrigues, who coordinated actions related to information technology.
According to her, the portal's architecture was developed taking into account the user experience. The hierarchy of information was guided by the number of accesses to topics of interest recorded by Google Analytics. This new version will also feature greater responsiveness, which will allow the portal to be accessed from any platform, including cell phones, providing a user-friendly interface. Another new feature is the availability of an image bank.
The new portal has two top menus. The first one lists “Health Area”, “Faculty and Institutes” “Admission” and “Information for…”. In the second, there are “The University”, “Teaching”, “Research”, “Relations with Society” and “Media and Communication”. Through them, with just one click, the user can access the desired content.
The new version of the portal will also house the Jornal da Unicamp (JU), which has been published exclusively online since July 2016. Videos and audios will also be added to the content already listed. “It is worth highlighting that all this material will be integrated into the main social networks”, reinforces Levy. According to him, the new website will also allow the publication of more photos, infographics and illustrations, resources that make the news even more attractive. The last reformulation of the Unicamp Portal took place in April 2012.
This is the sixth reformulation that the Unicamp portal has undergone since its first version, in 1996. Unicamp institutionalized its communication area in 1982 with the creation of the Communication and Press Office (Ascom). It was up to this sector, over the years, to organize and systematize the University's communication policy, whether through dialogue with media outlets or through its own publications, for institutional purposes. Ascom considers institutional communication a strategic activity and not just an operational one.
Unicamp currently accounts for 8% of national scientific production, which results in a significant volume of information of public interest. For this reason, according to the Ascom coordinator, the University is no longer just a center that generates new knowledge but also consolidates itself as an important agent for the dissemination of science and culture. To get an idea of the importance of this activity, it is enough to mention that, from June last year to October this year, Unicamp was the subject of approximately 45 thousand reports published in the media. Of this total, 87% were considered positive news, 6% negative and 7% neutral, according to an internal survey.
Much of Unicamp's research published by the media was disseminated from Jornal da Unicamp. In the last twenty years alone, JU has published around five thousand research studies developed by researchers at the institution, in all areas of knowledge. According to the newspaper's editor, Álvaro Kassab, these are researches of public interest, carried out with public resources. The Unicamp Portal played an important role in this process, as it provided a multiplier effect on the information disseminated by JU. The expectation is that the new portal will become the main channel for integrating all media, expanding institutional capacity in the field of scientific and cultural dissemination. Currently, the Unicamp Portal records a monthly average of 730 thousand page views, according to data from Google Analytics.
Manual
Unicamp's Communications and Press Office (Ascom) has just launched the “Press Relations Manual”, a practical guide to guide University leaders, teachers, researchers and employees in contact with the media. The objective of the publication is to offer members of the university community, who are potential sources of information, elements that facilitate this dialogue.
The manual was also fully developed by Ascom professionals, at no cost to the University. The volume, which is already being distributed to directors and managers of faculties, institutes, bodies and departments, provides suggestions on scheduling and granting interviews and preparing articles, among others. According to Ascom coordinator, Clayton Levy, the publication is another important tool in the effort to bring Unicamp closer to society.
