The Myth of Migration, or uh-oh, does this mean more work?

Years ago, during my first content management system implementation, I kept hearing about migration.

?When does the migration start?? was the frequent question.

?After the schemas are built,? was the answer.

But my question was,“What are we migrating??

The site architecture had changed radically; the new interface didn?t support the old, long, scrolling pages of dense copy; the nomenclature had shifted to more user-friendly terms. The new navigation sets had changed the relationships between pages, and therefore the content of those pages. The new CMS technology had eased the updating process and increased the possibilities for syndicating content, and therefore changed the content of top-level pages. There wasn?t going to be much of a one-to-one correspondence, page for page, old site to new site.

This wasn?t time for migration. It was time for a comprehensive review of existing top-level content at the paragraph?not the page, not the subsite—level.

That’s a hard thing to face, and most institutions resist it. Who wouldn?t? The institution in question had 18,000 web pages, many of them orphans to be sure, but many of them containing content that was half-relevant, partially up-to-date, or (happily!) very good and usable, if edited to take advantage of the new site’s interface and navigation.

What’s a college or university to do?

Start with a specific idea of what the new site is going to be like in terms of content and architecture. Then start reviewing the existing site. It’s helpful if this review involves“content owners??the people who will be responsible for maintaining this content on the new site.
Some tips:
—- Some high-level college subsites actually are candidates for migration. My experience: they tend to be Financial Aid, Scholarships, Career Services, the President’s Office, and a few other self-contained and well-maintained areas.
—- Some subsite authors/managers will benefit from looking at the college’s viewbook, which is likely to have information structured to meet the reader’s needs, rather than along institutional lines. It’s possible your public content has already been restructured and rewritten for you!
—- Ensure that there’s a content project manager for the whole institution in place’someone who understands the overall structure, vision, and functionality of the new site. That person should be able to assist various on-campus authors in identifying how old content might fit into the new, streamlined, and improved website.
—- Be patient. When a college or university launches, it frequently links up to old pages in the old interface. Their time will come later in the process, perhaps a much as a year or two later.