Web content for Cornell University’s academic and administrative departments competes for digital attention with student, faculty, and staff interests such as food and entertainment. Since the 1990s, university websites have evolved organically to meet the increasing demand for easily accessed information, resulting in a mixed bag of content management platforms, security, and brand alignments. To better understand Cornell’s digital landscape and identify abandoned pages, the Custom Development team hired interns like Lily Yang to begin compiling an inventory of the university’s websites.

“The Web Inventory Initiative involved cataloging and analyzing over a thousand ‘.cornell.edu’ websites, many of which hadn’t been updated in years,” said Yang, an Information Science major at Cornell. “Faced with an extensive dataset, I developed web scraping scripts using my Python expertise to analyze and categorize thousands of websites into domains efficiently. I also contacted website owners to gather contact details for future reference.”

Yang’s major in Information Science and her interest in web development made the next project phase particularly exhilarating. “We embarked on developing a website using Drupal as a domain database center for the Web Inventory Initiative. I delved into the basics of Drupal using Pantheon, honed my skills in CSS and Twig for theming and styling, and learned to create a local environment,” she said.

Reflecting on her experience, Yang realized her team and supervisor quickly trusted the interns to produce actionable results. “What surprised me most was the practical, hands-on nature of the work and the collaborative team environment,” said Yang. “Being part of a team, sharing meeting updates, and listening to colleagues discuss their projects felt natural and engaging. This experience highlighted the importance of teamwork and communication in a professional setting.”

The internship not only strengthened Yang’s technical skills but also inspired her to seek similar opportunities in the future. “I expect to explore technologies such as PHP and WordPress further, enhancing my technical skills and broadening my expertise. The internship solidified my interest in continuing to work in web development and data analysis, and I am eager to apply what I have learned in future projects,” she said.

Yang’s summer contributions were made possible through Cornell’s Alliance for Diversity and Inclusion Summer Intern Program. Launched in 2008, the program recently expanded from a few internships for Cornell students to over 30 opportunities for students from any college or university in the United States.