The entry of government ministries into
the era of information technology requires a definition of the employees
who are needed to enable a ministry to maintain a web site for the
information which it wishes to publish or obtain from the public.
The site must contain up to date and
reliable information. If the information on the site is not up to
date and reliable, damage might be caused and it will contribute
nothing. The existence of appropriate personnel is of prime importance
to the proper maintenance of a ministry information site.
The object of this document is to define
the employees who are necessary in order to maintain a ministry
information site and the powers and duties connected with their
positions. Some of the persons involved are already employed within
the system and others are being added to it. These employees currently
do, or in future will, work in the existing ministry electronic
data processing units. In certain cases the functions defined in
this document will be performed by a single person who will hold
all the powers and duties connected with those functions.
In addition to these employees, each
ministry should set up its own internet committee, composed of the
ministry personnel who are engaged in maintaining the site, the
persons responsible for the ministry's information unit and its
publications and the ministry's legal adviser and spokesman. The
committee should coordinate the ministry's Internet activity generally
and work together with the Government Internet Committee.
A distinction should be made between
a site which is physically resident on one of the ministry's computers
and a site which is kept elsewhere (for example with a commercial
company). In the case of a site which is resident externally, some
of the manpower needed to maintain the computer on which the site
is resident (mainly the function of the data systems manager) will
be saved. The ministry is responsible for the content of the site
and for its being up to date; that responsibility cannot rest with
an external company.
The ministry's Internet committee coordinates
the ministry's Internet activity together with the other government
ministries and lays down the ministry's policy and internal procedures
concerning the Internet.
The person responsible for the ministry's
information unit holds responsibility for all the personnel employed
in connection with the site.
In the main, information is passed between
those personnel as shown below:
System administrator <----> web
master <----> information specialist
1. System Administrator
Definition: responsible
for maintenance of the ministry's computer systems, having the
technical ability to resolve operating system software problems
with the ministry's computers. As regards the ministry web site
his duties are:
1.1 to ensure satisfactory
operation of the computer on which the site is resident;
1.2 to make regular backups
of information;
1.3 to attend to the security
of the information;
1.4 to see to the satisfactory
operation and maintenance of the information, electronic mail,
discussion group and file servers;
1.5 to generate the statistics
on the information servers' use;
1.6 to install information
servers or new applications as necessary for the operation of
the web site;
1.7 to define needs requiring
expansion of the computer system, if necessary;
1.8 to define post boxes for
new users and authorities for access to the information servers;
1.9 to hold regular meetings
with the web master and co-ordinate with him new site needs
which require his involvement.
2. Web Master
Definition: responsible
for the integrity of the site structure, for feeding information
onto it, for the satisfactory operation of its various elements,
including links to files and software installed on it, and to
keep the site dynamic and interesting. As regards the ministry
web site his duties are:
2.1 to assist in characterising
the site structure;
2.2 to build the site in accordance
with the agreed characterisation;
2.3 regularly to feed onto
the site new information given to him;
2.4 to check that the site's
links and software are satisfactory;
2.5 to hold regular meetings
with the system administrator and co-ordinate with him new site
needs which require his involvement.
2.6 to hold regular meetings
with the information specialist and co-ordinate with him the
structure of the site and the feeding of information onto it;
2.7 to write or install applications
enabling information to be obtained from or transferred to the
public (CGI) (in co-ordination with the system administrator);
2.8 regularly to maintain
site news pages and links to other sites.
3. Information Specialist
Definition: two different
functions - firstly, responsible for the content, editing, planning
and notional structure of the site and collecting the information
for it from the ministry's personnel; and secondly, assisting
the ministry's personnel in the retrieval and use of information
from the internet. As regards the ministry web site his duties
are:
3.1 to plan the site structure
in conjunction with the web master;
3.2 to collect the relevant
information from the ministry for publication on the site and
create standard procedures for the regular transfer of information
for the site;
3.3 to instruct the ministry
personnel regularly to transfer the information in their possession
for publication on the site;
3.4 to hold regular meetings
with the web master in order to co-ordinate the feeding of information
onto the site;
3.5 to work in conjunction
with the keyboard/scanner operators in turning information into
magnetic media;
3.6 to assist the ministry's
personnel in finding and retrieving information from the internet;
3.7 to oversee the content
of the site and ensure that the information on it is up to date;
3.8 to work in conjunction
with the site art designer and instruct him on existing needs.
4. Post Master
Definition: responsible
for the ministry's incoming e-mail from the site and distributing
it to the appropriate personnel. The position involves more
when all incoming mail is channelled through a single post box
and less when several persons in the ministry deal with incoming
mail. As regards the ministry web site his duties are:
4.1 day to read the mail received
from the public through the site's central post box;
4.2 to answer mail which he
has the ability and authority to answer (general information)
or forward it to the appropriate person in the ministry for
attention, in which case he is to notify the correspondent that
his mail has been forwarded for the attention of the appropriate
person in the ministry;
4.3 to co-ordinate an "FAQ"
in respect of the questions frequently asked through the post
box;
4.4 to notify the information
specialist and web master of mail from the public which requires
reference on the site.
