Contribute to KnowledgeBase

Why contribute to the KnowledgeBase?

The success of any open-source project lies with the community contributing its collective energy, knowledge, enthusiasm, and effort. The KnowledgeBase is a resource developed and monitored by the user communities to benefit potential, new and existing DSpace or Fedora users. Join with us in the effort and become a content contributor or a content moderator.

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KnowledgeBase Structure and Navigation

The primary delivery framework for the KnowledgeBase is the text-based wiki guide. The DuraSpace KnowledgeBase includes three separate Confluence wiki "spaces":

1. the umbrella DuraSpace KnowledgeBased, used for general content and information (such as this guide)
2. DSpace KnowledgeBase
3. Fedora KnowledgeBase

Each KnowledgeBase has a left-hand navigation menu which provides an easy way to find your way around to various topics and sub-topics, represented as separate pages and sub-pages, as well as the ability to jump between the different KnowledgeBase "spaces". A fully expanded view of the navigation menu or site map can be viewed here: DSpace Site Map, Fedora Site Map. The topics and sub-topics can be further developed or changed by creating new pages and/or new children or sub-pages. You may propose new subjects by creating a blank page in the appropriate location, a title, and copying and pasting the text-based template to/from the Wiki Markup editor. 

In addition to the navigation menu of topics, the KnowledgeBase has been seeded with a small sampling of content. Contributors can use these samples to get an idea of how to create new content as well as reviewing this page for guidelines and suggestions for content development. 

We welcome all contributions and ask that you please make use of the guidelines and suggestions in this section. If you have any questions or feedback, please contact Valorie Hollister at vhollister@duraspace.org.

Using Comment Section

Because monitoring the content is a community effort there is a possibility that something may be missed. If you see something out-of-date or erroneous, please either update the information or use the "Comment" section at the bottom of each page indicate the information is "incomplete", "out of date" or "erroneous". There is an Work In Progress page for both the DSpace KnowledgeBase and the Fedora KnowledgeBase which identifies the pages currently identified as "incomplete". Other search pages can be built to navigate other status dimensions.

Using Status Banners

We are exploring ideas for using banners to indicate the status of content (e.g. if content is considered current, complete, or needs amplification, incomplete, etc.). For now all the pages with missing content have a status banner that indicates

Standard inclusions

There are few standard content, wiki syntax fragments and status banners that you can include to indicate common messages or formats on KnowledgeBase pages. These can be found on the Page Inclusions page. 

Content Contributors

KnowledgeBase content is created by individuals from the user communities. Contributors do not need to be a developer or even an expert in order to develop content. If you have experience using DSpace or Fedora, know a lot about a particular feature/functionality and/or if you know how to communicate information effectively, we welcome your contribution. We are always looking for content contributors (people to willing to write/present/edit content) as well as content moderators (people who review and provide feedback to content contributors).

All KnowledgeBase content, like the rest of the DuraSpace wiki, is licensed under a a Creative Commons Atrribution-Share Alike 3.0 License and is created by members of the user communities for the benefit of other users. Anyone is free to share and remix the content, with the hope that any remix will also be shared and appropriate attribution footnoted. All contributors are encouraged to include an author attribution footnote on content they create. Contributors are encouraged to include a hyperlink/s to their personal profile and/or their organizaiton's website.

Delivery Tools

The KnowledgeBase is designed to communicate information using a variety of modalities. Since not all people take in information in the same way, the intention is to offer a text based guide, short recorded screencasts, presentation slides as well as available webinar recordings. All of the content can be found in the KnowledgeBase wiki, integrated into the Table of Contents framework. 

Text-based Content and Images

Text content and relevant images (screen shots, diagrams, etc.) are the foundation of the KnowledgeBase wiki. The KnoweldgeBase uses the Confluence "Documentation Theme" and has been customized to provide a unique look and feel. The information is organized based on a draft Table of Contents proposed by DuraSpace in consultation with community members. Community members should feel free to change/add topic items as they see necessary. Detailed guidelines/recommendations for creating text based content, including a template, can be found here.

Screencasts

Screencasts are available to provide users with a quick visual 'how to' reference. Screencast videos appear as embedded links through out the KnowledgeBase and are generally stored on Youtube.com. Detailed guidelines/recommendations for creating screencasts can be found here.

Presentation Slides

There are many useful conference presentations which take a deep dive on topics. While the usefulness of some presentations can be time sensitive, many have long term value to the community. Slides files appear as embedded links throughout the KnowledgeBase and are generally stored on Slideshare. Detailed guidelines/recommendations for posting slides can be found here.

Webinars

There are several useful recorded webinar presentations which provide an in-depth discussion on topics. Webinars appear as embedded links throughout the KnowledgeBase and are generally stored on Youtube.com. Detailed guidelines/recommendations for posting slides can be found here.

Content Moderators

Content moderators help to manage to the content contributions to the KnowledgeBase. They review content and help ensure it is either accurate or flagged as being out-of-date or erroneous. They may also provide feedback and suggestions to content contributors as well as help to find content contributors. Because monitoring the content is a community effort there is a possibility that something may be missed. If you see something out-of-date or erroneous, please either update the information or use the "Comment" section at the bottom of each page indicate the information is "out of date" or "erroneous".