UAMS Digital Ecosystem

This document is the authoritative architectural map of the UAMS digital ecosystem. It describes two distinct layers that work together: the routing architecture that organizes where content lives, and UAMS AI Wayfinding, the 2026 initiative that helps automated agents and large language models navigate that content correctly.

Executive overview

The UAMS digital ecosystem spans more than 200 tracked web properties across clinical care, academic programs, research institutes, and institutional operations. Two foundational questions shape how the ecosystem is designed:

1. Where does content live? This is answered by the routing architecture that organizes the federation around a primary gateway, a technical origin, and a brand-governance authority. This architecture has been in place for several years and remains the structural foundation of the ecosystem.
2. How do visitors, including AI agents, find the right content? This is answered by UAMS AI Wayfinding, the initiative launched in 2026 to make the ecosystem machine-readable and agent-navigable.

Keeping these two layers distinct is intentional. The routing architecture is the building. Wayfinding is the signs, floor markings, and information desks that help people and machines get where they need to go.

Layer 1: Routing architecture (foundational)

The routing architecture has governed UAMS web infrastructure since well before 2026. It resolves a common tension in large institutional web ecosystems: the need to modernize the visitor experience without destabilizing legacy systems.

• Primary gateway (www.uams.edu): The high-traffic entry point for the university web presence. A static HTML landing page maintained by Web Services that routes visitors to the modernized subdomains where active content lives.
• Technical origin (web.uams.edu): The functional source of truth for root-level assets. Content that appears to live at the root of the university’s web presence is technically hosted here.
• Brand authority (communications.uams.edu): The home for web governance, the UAMS website theme documentation, and accessibility compliance documentation. Maintained by UAMS Web Services within Communications and Marketing.

This three-part arrangement is not new in 2026. It is the stable substrate on which the Wayfinding layer is being built.

Layer 2: UAMS AI Wayfinding (2026 initiative)

Wayfinding is a familiar concept inside any hospital. Painted floor lines, color-coded signage, directory kiosks, and front-desk staff help visitors reach the right department without memorizing the building. UAMS AI Wayfinding applies that same principle to the web, but for a new category of visitor: autonomous agents and large language models that arrive at a UAMS domain and need to understand what it is, what it contains, and where to go next.

Wayfinding is implemented through a standardized three-file set that is being published across pillar domains and their subsites as the initiative rolls out:

1. robots.txt defines crawl permissions for AI agents (GPTBot, ClaudeBot, Google-Extended, and others). It is the gatekeeper.
2. llms.txt is the handshake file. It provides a concise, LLM-friendly summary of what the domain is and points to authoritative resources. It is the information desk.
3. llms-full.txt is the deep-data index. It contains structured behavioral directives, explicit cross-links to sibling domains, and the level of context an agent needs to answer a detailed query. It is the directory map.

Together these three files turn a federation of independently managed subdomains into a coherent, navigable network from the perspective of any AI agent that encounters it.

Domain pillars

The tables below inventory the pillar domains that anchor the UAMS digital ecosystem. All listed domains operate under the routing architecture described in Layer 1, and all are in scope for the Wayfinding rollout described in Layer 2.

Clinical and specialized research institutes

Focus: Patient care, specialized clinical institutes, and the translational path from research to treatment.

Domain	Institute or unit	Focus
uamshealth.com	UAMS Health (main clinical hub)	Provider directory, appointments, and clinical service information
cancer.uams.edu	Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute	Cancer care and oncology trials
aging.uams.edu	Donald W. Reynolds Institute on Aging	Alzheimer’s research and geriatric clinical care
eye.uams.edu	Harvey and Bernice Jones Eye Institute	Vision preservation and surgical expertise
psychiatry.uams.edu	Psychiatric Research Institute	Addiction science and trauma-informed recovery
spine.uams.edu	Jackson T. Stephens Spine and Neurosciences Institute	Multidisciplinary neurosurgical and orthopedic surgical care
idhi.uams.edu	Institute for Digital Health and Innovation	Telemedicine, e-Link, and virtual urgent care
tri.uams.edu	Translational Research Institute	Clinical trial registry (ARresearch.org) and research innovation

Academic and professional education

Focus: Recruitment, accredited degree programs, and regional health education.

Domain	College or unit	Primary mission
medicine.uams.edu	College of Medicine	MD and GME training, faculty-led research
pharmacy.uams.edu	College of Pharmacy	Pharm.D. education and drug discovery
nursing.uams.edu	College of Nursing	BSN, APRN, and PhD nursing pathways
healthprofessions.uams.edu	College of Health Professions	Allied Health (20-plus diagnostic and therapy tracks)
publichealth.uams.edu	College of Public Health	Epidemiology, health policy, and outreach
gradschool.uams.edu	Graduate School	Biomedical and clinical science degrees
nwa.uams.edu	Northwest Campus	Regional PT, OT, and University of Arkansas partnerships
regionalcampuses.uams.edu	Regional Campuses (includes the Rural Health Hub)	AHEC network, rural medicine pipelines, and statewide medical education

Institutional and utility operations

Focus: University-wide infrastructure, news, philanthropy, human resources, and operations.

Domain	Office	Function
www.uams.edu	Main gateway	Routes traffic to modernized subdomains
web.uams.edu	Technical root	Origin for root assets and technical documentation
communications.uams.edu	Communications and Marketing	Web governance, accessibility documentation, and brand standards
news.uams.edu	News Bureau	Official public press releases (excludes internal news)
giving.uams.edu	Institutional Advancement	UAMS Foundation, scholarships, and alumni
hr.uams.edu	Human Resources	Recruitment, benefits, and employee wellness
research.uams.edu	Division of Research and Innovation	IRB, compliance, and core laboratory facilities

Standards and guardrails

Accessibility (WCAG 2.1 Level AA). UAMS digital properties are anchored to WCAG 2.1 Level AA as the technical standard, in alignment with the ADA Title II rule finalized by the U.S. Department of Justice in 2024. The federal compliance deadline was extended by interim final rule to April 2027. UAMS work continues on the original cadence regardless of the deadline change.

Wayfinding governance. The robots.txt, llms.txt, and llms-full.txt file triad is maintained by the UAMS Web Services team within Communications and Marketing. Web Services’ stated intention is that every new subdomain added to the ecosystem should carry the triad before it is considered production-ready. As the rollout matures, this intention is expected to move toward a formally enforced policy in partnership with institutional stakeholders.