The new web site went live on Tuesday night this week (18th March 2014).  

The site has been redeveloped from the ground-up.  The new web site is the first stage of an ambitious programme to deliver enhanced services to members that will culminate in the implementation of a new, secure, on-line membership information management system and electronic delivery of an expanded range of AIG publications, including AIG News.

The web site has been re-designed to provide improved, timely access to information regarding AIG activities and events throughout Australia.  The AIG Publications Committee, over several months, worked closely with Victorian web site development and graphic design firm MRGraphics to develop a visually appealing and easy to navigate web site that delivers information to AIG members. The MRGraphics team was led by Fiona Makin, the business owner, geologist and AIG Member, and the graphic design of the site is the work of Wency Luong, MRGraphics’ graphic designer.  The design of the site incorporates experience and feedback received from previous versions of the AIG web site which has been on-line for almost 10 years.

The appearance and navigation of the site has been greatly improved.  The latest news articles appear on the home page and previous posts are organised month by month in the News menu accessed directly from the home page.  Information regarding AIG and kindred society events has also been significantly enhanced.  An events calendar accessible from every page of the web site clearly shows what’s on and when.  The detailed listings for each event include a map of the event location and clearer descriptions of event details.  In a few weeks this will be expanded to provide on-line RSVP, registration and invoicing for events.

The news articles are now grouped by calendar month under the News menu.  The information bar at the right of the page provides access to each month’s archive and lists the keywords associated with the news items currently on the site.  The more common the keyword, the larger the text.  Check out the News for this month – quite a bit of content was added to the new site that didn’t appear on the old site as the changeover drew nearer, including analysis of the results of the latest employment survey.

Specialist portals for student and graduate members are currently being developed.  The content available through these portals will be added progressively over the next few weeks.

AIG Journal, the Institute’s on-line avenue for the publication of technical articles by members, has been reinvigorated as “Field Notes”.  The aim of this section of the web site is to provide a means for members to rapidly publish short, topical articles dealing with any aspects of professional and technical practice such as new geoscientific techniques, geological descriptions of interesting outcrops to mineral deposits, sampling and analytical methods, information geoscience, professional ethics ….. the diversity of content will reflect that of contributions.  “Field Notes” is intended to fill a gap in the current geoscience publication landscape and provide credible exposure of members’ skills and experience.

Implementation of a new, secure, Australian developed and supported membership system has commenced.  The system will provide the ability for members to maintain their personal data,  review all information held by AIG about themselves and subscribe to AIG newsletters and publications, including AIG News.

The web site will also provide access to an increasing range of presentations from AIG technical talks, seminars and conferences; and videos of AIG meetings which will also be available on AIG’s You Tube channel.

Visit the site regularly for updates, or follow progress via the AIG LinkedIn Group or like the AIG page on Facebook.  Let us know what you think of the new site and what else you’d like to see.