Australian Wildlife Centre
“A highly sophisticated animal welfare management system, onsite Information Pods to inspire people to connect with wildlife and a content management driven website for the new Australian Wildlife Centre at the Healesville Sanctuary.”
Summary
In 2005, the Healesville Sanctuary unveiled the Australian Wildlife Centre - a working veterinary hospital where the sanctuary visitors can view an animal operating theatre, laboratory, post mortem area and much more. This world-class animal welfare facility not only provides the long term care of animals but also assists in the protection of Australian wildlife by encouraging visitor interaction and sharing information about animal care.
Challenge
The centre provides an opportunity to achieve Zoo Victoria’s aims of increasing visitor numbers, providing a powerful visitor experience and building enduring relationships between people and wildlife.
One of the key challenges was to find a way to use IT and the online environment to offer a range of learning opportunities for all ages as well as providing a journey of discovery that encouraged people to connect with nature.
The centre provides an opportunity to achieve Zoo Victoria’s aims of increasing visitor numbers, providing a powerful visitor experience and building enduring relationships between people and wildlife.
One of the key challenges was to find a way to use IT and the online environment to offer a range of learning opportunities for all ages as well as providing a journey of discovery that encouraged people to connect with nature.
Maximising the use of data was also a major challenge as data had to be shared across all three components of the project including
- the integrated animal welfare management system which included a massive veterinary database
- onsite touch screen or information pods
- a website which was content managed and incorporates multi-layered profiling capabilities.
Solution
The solution, which is almost completed, is a great example of a project where all components are driven by a powerful information database.
This was achieved by applying the following steps:
Planning:A detailed planning phase was undertaken and included numerous stakeholder sessions and thorough planning documentation.
Design process: The design was developed to reflect the strong “nature” theme of Healesville Sanctuary and inspire users with empathy towards the wildlife. Testing of designs with potential users, and adherence with accessibility guidelines, ensured its usability.
Identifying the best CMS solution for Website and Information Pods: The Website and Information Pods have been developed using a Net based architecture via Sitecore Content Management Framework Version 4.0. The Web Development Group is a certified solution partner with Sitecore and in addition our technical developers have acquired Sitecore Authorised Training qualifications.
Both the website and Information Pods derive data from the Veterinary Database.
Creating a Multimedia Experience:A rich multi-media experience is provided through the Information Pods and the Website using Flash to create online games and interactive activities.
Developing a sophisticated database: Treating more than 1,500 native animals and performing over 5,000 procedures, the Veterinary Database is the central store of animal patient history for the Healesville Sanctuary. Transferring existing data and providing search functions, analysis capabilities and detailed reporting were key elements of our database solution.
Training: Onsite training and providing a detailed training manual for the CMS Sitecore solution was provided.
Result
- The Veterinary Database is essentially the heart of the IT function for the Australian Wildlife Centre. It provides a repository for all animal patient codes, numbers, diagnosis, details of treatment, results and final outcome. There is also an animal photo library.
For users it is easy to input information and provides sophisticated reporting. It also has an advanced search capability.
The information in the Veterinary Database can be easily accessed and loaded into the Content Management System for use on the Website and in the Information Pods.
- The creation of six Information Pods, or touch screens, situated at the Healesville Sanctuary. Each information pod relates to a different area of the Australian Wildlife Centre such as the laboratory, care and recovery, research and post mortem. They are designed to provide further information and hands-on activities for visitors.
Information on the touch screens is content managed by Healesville Sanctuary staff, which means it can be almost in “real time” and relate to what is happening on any particular day within the centre.
Users can also email a page from the touch screen facilitating the spread of information.
- The website www.awhc.zoo.org.au is content managed by staff at the Sanctuary. It also has a direct data feed from the Veterinary Database including daily animal treatment information.
Other features include online chat facilities, a student art gallery and interactive educational games.
Technical Description
This project was carried out by ResultMedia and WDG.
It used Sitecore Content Management Framework Version 4.0.
Six Information Pods provide detailed animal information and hands on activities – offering visitors an unprecedented level of involvement.
The content management driven website, can be easily updated by staff and receives information directly from the Veterinary Database.
Related Links