Web Governance Washington Office (WO) and National Center Specific Policies

UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIORBUREAU OF LAND MANAGEMENTWASHINGTON, D.C. 20240http://www.blm.govSeptember 27, 2008In Reply Refer To:1120 (600) PEMS TRANSMISSION 10/11/2007Director’s Office Instruction Memorandum No. 2007-006Expires: 9/30/2008To: All Washington Office and National Center EmployeesFrom: Deputy Director, OperationsSubject: Web Governance- Washington Office (WO) and National Center Specific Policies Program Area: Internet Web GovernancePurpose: This Instruction Memorandum (IM) transmits the Bureau of Land Management's (BLM's) policy regarding either the creation of new or modification of existing National and National Center pages, maintenance and updating of the BLM National Online Directory page and inclusion of items for the “In The Spotlight” section on the main National page.Policy/Action: The policies described below affect all Washington and National Center employees who author or will author external web pages. With the implementation of Communiqué (CQ), it is necessary to modify certain work processes and establish new policies and processes.

1. All new static pages shall be authored in Communiqué by the appropriate Directorate/Office. Changes to existing static pages that are on the “old” web site are no longer authorized. If pages on the “old” web site require modification, they shall be first transitioned to Communiqué, and then the content modified and treated as “new” pages.
   1. The responsibility for transition lies with the appropriate Directorate, Office, or National Center and not with either the IT staff in Denver or the WO Communications Directorate. IT staff in Denver will no longer approve ‘push’ requests for either new or modified ‘old’ static pages. 
   2. As pages are transitioned, a list of “old” pages to be archived and removed from the web server shall be provided to Peter Ertman, WO-600.   
   3. In designing the content of new or especially “old” pages, do not include page design elements from the ‘old’ page design (such as footers, links to Adobe Acrobat, phraseology like “Page prepared by XX Directorate/Group/Office, etc.”)
2. Changes to the “Director's Office, and Washington Groups” or the future National Operations Center sections of the National Directory (at http://cq.blm.gov/author/wo/en/info/directory/wo_directorates_and.html) shall be made by the appropriate Directorate/Office or the National Operations Center when it is implemented. WO Public Affairs will approve the changes through the normal CQ workflow process.
3. In no case, shall any non-Communications Directorate/Office or National Center employee make any modifications to any language or component on the BLM National front page (www.blm.gov) or other pages that they are not authorized to modify.   
   1. Should a Directorates/Office wish to include an item of interest in the “In The Spotlight” section of the National front page, suggested language shall be provided to WO Public Affairs who will be responsible for final approval of the language and modification of that section of the front page. Directorates/Offices will assure that the item of interest links to either a page in CQ or to a DOI website. Links to existing “old” pages will not be approved.
   2. Similarly, if Directorates/Offices wish to post a longer narrative item on another part of the “white space” on the front page, suggested language shall be provided to WO Public Affairs who will be responsible for final approval of the language and modification of that section of the front page. Directorates/Offices will assure that any links link to either a page in CQ or to a DOI website. Links to existing “old” pages will not be approved.

Timeframe: Effective upon issuance.Budget Impact: Positive. Elimination of duplication of pages as well as the automated posting process in CQ will reduce end to end costs of web page authoring and maintenance.Background:  While IM 2007-001, Change 1 mandates a BLM-wide transition date of December 31, 2007 for all static pages to be transitioned into CQ, WO should set the example for States in this process. A number of WO staff have been trained and are available for complying with these policies. Considering the constrained budget resources available to WO, it is more efficient to require the transition to CQ before modifying an “old” existing page. This means an author will need to process a page only once, rather than twice (modify the existing page, then transition into CQ later).In regards to policy 1.a, requests to the NIRMC Internet Support Group staff for page changes/updates/modifications should greatly diminish and eventually become completely unnecessary. This is because one of the strategic objectives of CQ implementation is to move the content and page authoring responsibility to the person who is most knowledgeable. This policy addresses and advances that objective. Policy 1.b should free up storage space in Denver for other needed projects. Policy 2 will assure that the Directory is maintained in a timely manner by those who have direct knowledge of the changes required. Finally, policy 3 clarifies the new work process for inclusion of information on the National front page.If special circumstances arise that require a waiver from the above policies, please see the Assistant Director, Communications directly.Manual/Handbook Sections Affected: None.Coordination: This IM has been coordinated with the Directorates.Contact: Celia Boddington, Assistant Director, Communications, 202-208-6913 or Peter Ertman, WO-600, 202-452-7706.  Signed by:                                                                   Authenticated by:Henri R. Bisson                                                           Robert M. WilliamsDeputy Director, Operations                                      Division of IRM Governance,WO-560