Dmlis 540 Spring 2004 Information System Project mecca pop and Jazz Music For Family Learning and Enjoyment All Team members participated in the development of the spec Project Manager: Carolyn Karis Information Architect: Emily Wheeler



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3.Value Proposition

The Mecca organization will fulfill its goal of consultancy with the Music School of the University of Oregon by helping to implement a music search and retrieval site focused on home-schooling families and managed by the students of the Music Education Department at the U of O. Besides receiving income for the project from the U of O, the Mecca organization will also gain recognition and experience within the field of website design, especially for educational institutions.

The music education students will gain an understanding of the uses of music in education. They will better grasp the connections between music and curriculum. The website will also offer the Music Students a chance to explore creative ways to teach music skills, the fundaments of music, and music appreciation. The website will also offer them the opportunity to write “educational” or “instructional” songs, e.g., ones that teach mathematical concepts, times tables, grammar rules, etc. As envisioned by the Music Education Department of the Music School of the University of Oregon, the website will integrate music education into the curriculum in such a way that music education will no longer be viewed as an extra in education. Hopefully, this new vision will cause funding for the music programs in schools not to be subject to budget cuts, but to rather receive greater endorsements and increased budgets.

The website will initially be aimed at home-schooling for elementary aged children and their parents; however, the approach could be expanded through college level and perhaps find users among the general adult population. A family, such as the Garners, will have the opportunity to use this site in ways that will expand their conceptions of using music for home-schooling. This experience and use will ultimately lead to a better quality of education for their children. Since the site offers unique ways of connecting different musical genres, styles, performers and instruments with musical history, artist biographies and instrument information, it is a natural resource for home-schoolers interested in exploring the interdisciplinary aspects of music and using those aspects as part of their curriculum.


In order to gain a better understanding of the home-schooling parent and child, Mecca interviewed parents who home-school their children. After interviewing, Team Mecca developed the User Persona (child and adult) for the Music Education Website. (See User Persona 2.1.) Working together with Ms. Van Rysselberghe, a select group of graduate music education students and Team Mecca brainstormed ideas for the website that would meet the needs of the home-schooling parents and children. Among the ideas discussed were the following:

  • Music that teaches (basic for home-schooling)

  • Multiple forms and types of music (to attract both parents and kids)

  • Musical connections to the ethnic history and culture of countries

  • Lyrics to songs

  • Jazz music and instruments

  • Pop music connections to folk and country cultures (to attract children and parents)

  • Classical music—listening, background, evaluation or reviews of recordings, connections to local musical events.

  • Additional ideas for future development were suggested.

Directed by Mecca consultants, the music education students in the project have decided that instead of attempting to develop a website for the needs and desires of the entire world or even the whole home-schooling community, they will limit their initial efforts to the local community of home-schoolers and use one family as its typical user. The University of Oregon Music Education Department agrees with Team Mecca on this approach and has authorized the development of the spec for the Information System Project, “Mecca… Pop and Jazz music for family learning and enjoyment.” The document developed by Team Mecca will be presented to Ms. Van Rysselberghe, the faculty of the Music Education Department of the University of Oregon, and the OFAM sponsors for approval. Once feedback and approval has been obtained, Team Mecca will continue consulting through the development and deployment of the Mecca website. The Garner family will be among the home-schooling families who will test the usability of the site and its usefulness for home-schooling. By initially focusing on the local (Eugene, OR) home-schooling community, Mecca hopes to build support for the website’s concept of integrated music education.


4.Use Modeling

4.1. Site Path Diagram





Notes about site path: [Drawing of children is from fltnc.cjb.net/.] The scenario depicted here shows the user directly going to the search box and typing in an artist’s name (Nelly Furtado) into the search box. The user can also search by song title or lyrics. The user also has an option to browse a page by musical instruments and styles. From the search result page, the user can take one or more actions to detail pages– looks at cover art, listens to audio clips of song recordings, clicks on link to artist’s bio or website, links to reviews of the album or to related musical instruments. From the homepage, the user can also choose to learn more about a featured artist or recording or music-related event in history, or can click on links to musical happenings or music education resources or read more about the host website.

    1. Topic Map




The Mecca website is focused on educating our users about music and the use of music as an integral part of their broader education. We are starting with a focus on pop music and jazz, because we feel that pop music is a good way to attract children. The connections between pop and jazz can be easily drawn, and we hope that children and parents will see these connections as well. We will expand our musical topics according to the demands of our home-schooling families. Although we have kept many of the topics found in a commercial music site, such as album and artist information, we have tried to incorporate educational tools along with the standard topics. As a result, our site provides educational information on musical styles and instruments alongside the information about an album or artist. We have also included audio samples or images wherever possible, appealing to the visual and auditory nature of children. Finally, because we want to provide parents with resources for home-schooling their children about music and the means to integrate music into the learning experiences of their children, we have included upcoming events, news, and other curriculum links in the structure of our site.




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