Internet portals are increasingly becoming a primary source of information. A portal is a gateway to information on the Internet or a hub from which users may locate relevant information (Strauss, 2000). Because university Web sites have various user classes, universities are beginning to adopt the portal concept for their Web sites. The study conducted aimed to determine the effect of tailoring information content and presentation style on a university Web portal. User ratings of information design on three metrics and user task performance measures of time and errors were compared for four prototypes. Three prototypes were built on the basis of user requirements and two Human-computer Interaction (HCI) theories and one was a replica of an existing academic information portal. The three metrics were derived from the HCI theories. The contributions of the study are a determination of user acceptance of and user performance with the tailored presentation styles and three metrics derived from HCI theories that can be used to compare alternative information presentation styles for portals. An important contribution is the remote data collection technique that was used in the study and a time-stamping technique that recorded clicks on hyperlinks. / Master of Science

O presente trabalho apresenta um estudo referencial de características elementares de um repositório de recursos educacionais digitais reutilizáveis, visando à otimização de recursos na produção realizada pela esfera pública. Apóia-se em elementos da Teoria da Atividade, apresentada por Yrjö Engeström (1987), da teoria das Comunidades de Prática (CoPs), segundo Etienne Wenger (1998), e dos modelos de desenvolvimento de Software, conforme Eric Raymond (1999), objetivando uma produção voltada a uma maior democratização de acesso e ao reaproveitamento de materiais didáticos, especialmente em cursos na modalidade de educação a distância ofertados pela Universidade Aberta do Brasil (UAB). Para os estudos referenciais de gestão da produção e repositórios de recursos educacionais digitais reutilizáveis foram levados em conta principalmente os estudos de David Wiley (1999, 2000, 2001, 2002), Stephen Downes (2001, 2002, 2005) e Robby Robson (2004). Realiza um levantamento das iniciativas do governo federal de livre compartilhamento da informação e do conhecimento, e faz um comparativo, por meio da pesquisa bibliográfica, dos critérios elencados no trabalho com as características encontradas nos portais educacionais de conteúdo digital apoiados pelo Ministério da Educação (MEC): o Portal Domínio Público, o Portal do Professor, o Banco Internacional de Objetos Educacionais (BIOE) e a Rede Interativa Virtual da Educação (RIVED). Sinaliza possibilidades de otimização do processo atual de autoria dos materiais didáticos digitais, em cursos na modalidade de educação a distância ofertados pela UAB. As características selecionadas nesta pesquisa podem servir como referencial para futuras construções e remodelamentos dos repositórios já existentes. Foi realizada uma pesquisa bibliográfica do tipo exploratória. / This paper presents a study of basic features of a repository of reusable digital educational resources, aiming at the optimization of resources in the production held by the public sphere. Is based on elements of the Theory of Activity, by Yrjö Engeström (1987), the theory of Communities of Practice (CoPs) by Etienne Wenger (1998), and models of software development, as Eric Raymond (1999), targeting a production geared to greater democratization of access and reuse of materials, especially in courses in distance education modality, offered by the Universidade Aberta do Brasil (UAB). The studies concerning production and management of reusable digital educational resources repositories were taken into account mainly the research of David Wiley (1999, 2000, 2001, 2002), Stephen Downes (2001, 2002, 2005) and Robby Robson (2004). Conducts a survey of the initiatives of the federal government to free sharing of information and knowledge, and make a comparison, through the literature research, the criteria listed in the work with the features found in the portals of educational digital content supported by the Ministério da Educação (MEC): the Portal Domínio Público, the Portal do Professor, the Banco Internacional de Objetos Educacionais (BIOE) and Rede Interativa Virtual da Educação (RIVED). Indicates possibilities of optimization in the current process of authorship of digital learning materials in courses of the distance education modality offered by the UAB. The features selected in this study may serve as reference for future construction and remodeling of existing repositories. Was performed a bibliographic research of the kind exploratory.

The overall theme of the thesis is the current state of Internet portals (gateways) dedicated to electronic information resources at Czech academic libraries. The purpose of such portal (or sites within academic library web pages) is to form a gateway to every electronic resource available within the university. In the theoretical part of the thesis history, purpose and components of such portals are described followed by the typology and organization of electronic information resources used at library portals in the USA and other mainly English speaking countries. The following part of the thesis is a practical application where 6 selected portals are first analyzed then compared with each other according to 5 criterions described in the previous part: organization of its resources, readability, consistency, usability and presence of additional functions or services. Subsequently by applying the method called "Thinking Aloud" usability testing of two selected portal is performed. The aim of the paper is not only to map the current state of portals but also to present methodology for analysis of other similar portals. Powered by TCPDF (www.tcpdf.org)