[quote="Lisa-Cespedes"] TOPIC 2 Managing a portal with thousands of resources and users: Are communities "attracted" to quality, like bees to honey? [/quote] Thousands of resources could be very usefull to attract users, and a different variety of users. But they will only be there and will be faitfull to the portal if there is enought quality in the information delivered. We will be able to see if it's quality information based on is comming back to get further information - trust on the portal. So our main job is deliver quality to the portal!
[quote="Lisa-Cespedes"] TOPIC 2 Managing a portal with thousands of resources and users: Are communities "attracted" to quality, like bees to honey? [/quote] The availability of information is constantly improving, thanks to the rising facilitation of internet and communication tools. Therefore, users who have access to a personal computer and are capable of using it are provided with enormous amounts of information. Unfortunately, this information is not always accurate, updated and relevant but still exists in various repositories, digital libraries, portals etc. As a result, the user is responsible for "filtering" this wealth of information, in order to keep only the high-quality one. This is not an easy task, since it requires a wide and deep knowledge in the specific area of knowledge and this is not always possible, due to the educational level of the user. Therefore, if a user finds a web portal that can convince him that the quality of the available material is of high-quality, he will probably stick to the specific portal, ignoring other portals with resources of questionable quality. This one user will share his experiences with other users, leading to groups of users that facilitate the same web portals, acting as advertisements for this portal. To conclude: Yes, users and user communities are attracted to quality, because quality is not easy to find in the abundance of available resources.
[quote="jorgemaia"] [quote="Lisa-Cespedes"] TOPIC 2 Managing a portal with thousands of resources and users: Are communities "attracted" to quality, like bees to honey? [/quote] Thousands of resources could be very usefull to attract users, and a different variety of users. But they will only be there and will be faitfull to the portal if there is enought quality in the information delivered. We will be able to see if it's quality information based on is comming back to get further information - trust on the portal. So our main job is deliver quality to the portal! [/quote] In my opinion, that's an on to the point comment, if you don't mind me saying so, but what are, one or two ways, with which we could bring quality to the portal? Will this be attempted through users involvement, or will it be a process, built in to the system?
[quote="nikospalavitsinis"] In my opinion, that's an on to the point comment, if you don't mind me saying so, but what are, one or two ways, with which we could bring quality to the portal? Will this be attempted through users involvement, or will it be a process, built in to the system?[/quote] I believe that it would be better to implement a quality assurance process into the system/repository/portal, because this would provide a standard quality level, equal for all the available resources. It would set a minimum (or a wider range) of requirements for contributing/sharing a resource. In contrast, if the system for the quality assurance was based on the users, and since each user might have different perspective for the quality of a resource, I am afraid that this would lead to a number of resources with different quality attributes. In this case, there is a possibility that not all predefined quality criteria would be met by the contributed resources. However, the users should be encouraged to upload their own resources, as this would strengthen their perception of being active members of the community, while populating the educational content at the same time.
[quote="vprot"] [quote="nikospalavitsinis"] In my opinion, that's an on to the point comment, if you don't mind me saying so, but what are, one or two ways, with which we could bring quality to the portal? Will this be attempted through users involvement, or will it be a process, built in to the system?[/quote] I believe that it would be better to implement a quality assurance process into the system/repository/portal, because this would provide a standard quality level, equal for all the available resources. It would set a minimum (or a wider range) of requirements for contributing/sharing a resource. In contrast, if the system for the quality assurance was based on the users, and since each user might have different perspective for the quality of a resource, I am afraid that this would lead to a number of resources with different quality attributes. In this case, there is a possibility that not all predefined quality criteria would be met by the contributed resources. However, the users should be encouraged to upload their own resources, as this would strengthen their perception of being active members of the community, while populating the educational content at the same time. [/quote] Agree that user involvement needed and quality will come with time as more users upload their own resources.
Lisa McLaughlinInstitute for the Study of Knowledge Management in Education (ISKME)United States of America
Dear colleagues, Initiating the discussion on Phase 2, Topic 2, we would like to provide you with a set of questions that focus on various aspects of the proposed topic. As you will see, some of the questions are more generic, whereas others focus on specific stakeholder groups (i.e. content/course creators, users of the content, etc.). The idea here is to start elaborating on these topics, clarifying and delving into the topic in hand. To facilitate the discussion, we would like to ask you to start replying by indicating the question number addressed (i.e. Q1), so that our colleagues that read you answers can easily identify the question you refer to. It's not obligatory to answer all of these, so feel free to choose the ones you want to answer. It would be nice, to answer with separate "posts" on each question. In this way, we will be able to follow up on your questions more easily. 1. As a portal owner / administrator, how do you ensure that the learning resources accessible from your portal, are high quality? Do you have any mechanisms for reviewing and re-assessing the resources you curate? 2. As a user of such portals, what do you value most when you visit them? For example, simple searching interfaces, accurate results, possibility to interact with the resources (rate, review, tag)? Anything else? 3. As a content creator, do you feel that making resources available on educational portals would interest you? Are you already doing this? If yes, how do you handle intellectual property rights (IPRs)? If not, what are your reasons for not sharing? 4. What are the practical problems that arise during the creation and maintenance of a portal with thousands of resources, from the portal owner side? Which are the most common ones? Are there any that you have yet to address? With kind regards, Lisa McLaughlin, ISKME OER Commons Manager [email protected]
Hi and thanks for the spot-on questions! Q1. As a portal owner / administrator, how do you ensure that the learning resources accessible from your portal, are high quality? Do you have any mechanisms for reviewing and re-assessing the resources you curate? I am the content manager for the FAO Capacity Development Portal (www.fao.org/capacitydevelopment) which acts as a repository for FAO's learning resources aimed at helping our member countries develop their national capacities. The Learning Resources which are on the Portal come in many forms- manuals, guidelines, best practices, case studies, etc. Obviously, it is impossible to check and verify each one. These are tools and methods that have been used by the Organization and, in theory as well as in practice, are valid. I feel that an important aspect of sharing resources of this kind is to make clear that they are documented successful outcomes relevant to the work of FAO, but in no way are they to be interpreted as the only or best methods for achieving results. The CD Portal showcases and shares FAO's learning resources from within the entire organization, and I rely on my colleagues, that is, the data owners, to ensure quality resources. Q2. As a user of such portals, what do you value most when you visit them? For example, simple searching interfaces, accurate results, possibility to interact with the resources (rate, review, tag)? Anything else? Portals are entry points to a vast array of information. It is paramount that this information is organized simply and made accessible at-a-glance without wasting too much time looking for it. Search functionality should be simple and the possibility of accessing abstracts or information summaries is a plus. Q4. What are the practical problems that arise during the creation and maintenance of a portal with thousands of resources, from the portal owner side? Which are the most common ones? Are there any that you have yet to address? One of the major tasks in collecting thousands of FAO learning resources is getting colleagues from all over the house involved in identifying and uploading their resources for possible inclusion on the Portal. Although not extremely time-consuming, this task does entail a certain degree of commitment on part of the Portal Focal Points responsible for submitting their resources for approval and subsequent publication on the Portal. In the case of FAO this is the first Portal of its kind - a one stop shop of learning resources categorized by resource type, language and subject area. We are currently working on simplifying the resource submission process by designing a more user-friendly submission form. Once the resources are published, it is a challenge to ensure that the links remain active. This is probably the most common problem. Our next step will be to include non-FAO capacity development learning resources. But that's another discussion! [quote="lmclaug"] Dear colleagues, Initiating the discussion on Phase 2, Topic 2, we would like to provide you with a set of questions that focus on various aspects of the proposed topic. As you will see, some of the questions are more generic, whereas others focus on specific stakeholder groups (i.e. content/course creators, users of the content, etc.). The idea here is to start elaborating on these topics, clarifying and delving into the topic in hand. To facilitate the discussion, we would like to ask you to start replying by indicating the question number addressed (i.e. Q1), so that our colleagues that read you answers can easily identify the question you refer to. It's not obligatory to answer all of these, so feel free to choose the ones you want to answer. It would be nice, to answer with separate "posts" on each question. In this way, we will be able to follow up on your questions more easily. 1. As a portal owner / administrator, how do you ensure that the learning resources accessible from your portal, are high quality? Do you have any mechanisms for reviewing and re-assessing the resources you curate? 2. As a user of such portals, what do you value most when you visit them? For example, simple searching interfaces, accurate results, possibility to interact with the resources (rate, review, tag)? Anything else? 3. As a content creator, do you feel that making resources available on educational portals would interest you? Are you already doing this? If yes, how do you handle intellectual property rights (IPRs)? If not, what are your reasons for not sharing? 4. What are the practical problems that arise during the creation and maintenance of a portal with thousands of resources, from the portal owner side? Which are the most common ones? Are there any that you have yet to address? With kind regards, Lisa McLaughlin, ISKME OER Commons Manager [email protected] [/quote]
Dear colleagues, On Monday 25/10, Mrs Amee Evans Godwin, from the Institute for the Study of Knowledge Management in Education, gave a Keynote, addressing some of the main questions of the e-Conference. More information on the Keynote and ISKME activities, can be found in the Resources section, HERE To replay the Keynote, please click HERE and choose the "Replay" option in the popup page. With kind regards, Nikos Palavitsinis
[quote="lmclaug"] Dear colleagues, Initiating the discussion on Phase 2, Topic 2, we would like to provide you with a set of questions that focus on various aspects of the proposed topic. As you will see, some of the questions are more generic, whereas others focus on specific stakeholder groups (i.e. content/course creators, users of the content, etc.). The idea here is to start elaborating on these topics, clarifying and delving into the topic in hand. To facilitate the discussion, we would like to ask you to start replying by indicating the question number addressed (i.e. Q1), so that our colleagues that read you answers can easily identify the question you refer to. It's not obligatory to answer all of these, so feel free to choose the ones you want to answer. It would be nice, to answer with separate "posts" on each question. In this way, we will be able to follow up on your questions more easily. 1. As a portal owner / administrator, how do you ensure that the learning resources accessible from your portal, are high quality? Do you have any mechanisms for reviewing and re-assessing the resources you curate? 2. As a user of such portals, what do you value most when you visit them? For example, simple searching interfaces, accurate results, possibility to interact with the resources (rate, review, tag)? Anything else? [/quote] Hi Lisa, as regards the quality of the resources available in our own repository/portal, there is a team of experts on the specific area (in our case Organic Agriculture & Agroecology) that review the resources before they become available to the public. They follow a standard procedure that includes the quality assessment of both the resource itself and the metadata. As for the portal attributes, I prefer a simple interface with various search options and the ability to filter the search results (that is what differentiates the results of a search in the portal and the results from a google search after all!). The quality matter is subjective so I will have to evaluate the available resources myself and see if they are good enough for the specific purposes. Tagging and reviewing options are more than welcome because they provide another way to evaluate a resource based on the users' opinions.
Dear Colleagues My Name is Taraneh and I am working as Portal admin of Agricultural Research, Education and Extension Organization(AREEO)in Iran(www.areo.ir). 1.I think that first of all we should know and trace our users very well; by recognizing their needs, we can evaluate the quality of our portals and we can improve it. Our AREEO Portal has about 100 sub-portals which includes its affiliated research institutes and training centers. It's really difficult to evaluate the quality of all these sub-portals ; so we decided to write a standard or a guideline which through it , our sub-portals' admin can follow the rules and evaluate their sub-portals themselves. Each sub-portal has its own admin who is responsible for the content management and quality control. Based on this Standard guideline we indicate some "must issues" which should be available easily on the sub-portals as soon as a user reach to them; some of these issues are: *About us *Mission & Vision *Departments *Achievements *Research Projects *Staff *Library anf Information Center *Databases *Contact us These are some immediate issues which each user in the first step may look for them. none of them should be empty link. all links should be controlled by admins to have the necessery data with high quality. Each year we evaluate all these 100 sub-portals based on the above mentioned standards(which is developed by AREEO as a guideline for sub-portal admins). each item has a point(1 or 2 ) and then we calculate the total points for each sub-portal. our highest score is 20 and the lowest is 5. of course all our sub-portal admins try to be the best and this kind of competition to control the content quality leads them to manage their data more carefully and based on the needs of their users. I try to talk about the other mentioned questions later on this discussion group. Thanks to all and bye for now! :-)
[quote="Lisa-Cespedes"] TOPIC 2 Managing a portal with thousands of resources and users: Are communities "attracted" to quality, like bees to honey? [/quote] Thousands of resources could be very usefull to attract users, and a different variety of users. But they will only be there and will be faitfull to the portal if there is enought quality in the information delivered. We will be able to see if it's quality information based on is comming back to get further information - trust on the portal. So our main job is deliver quality to the portal!
[quote="Lisa-Cespedes"] TOPIC 2 Managing a portal with thousands of resources and users: Are communities "attracted" to quality, like bees to honey? [/quote] The availability of information is constantly improving, thanks to the rising facilitation of internet and communication tools. Therefore, users who have access to a personal computer and are capable of using it are provided with enormous amounts of information. Unfortunately, this information is not always accurate, updated and relevant but still exists in various repositories, digital libraries, portals etc. As a result, the user is responsible for "filtering" this wealth of information, in order to keep only the high-quality one. This is not an easy task, since it requires a wide and deep knowledge in the specific area of knowledge and this is not always possible, due to the educational level of the user. Therefore, if a user finds a web portal that can convince him that the quality of the available material is of high-quality, he will probably stick to the specific portal, ignoring other portals with resources of questionable quality. This one user will share his experiences with other users, leading to groups of users that facilitate the same web portals, acting as advertisements for this portal. To conclude: Yes, users and user communities are attracted to quality, because quality is not easy to find in the abundance of available resources.
[quote="jorgemaia"] [quote="Lisa-Cespedes"] TOPIC 2 Managing a portal with thousands of resources and users: Are communities "attracted" to quality, like bees to honey? [/quote] Thousands of resources could be very usefull to attract users, and a different variety of users. But they will only be there and will be faitfull to the portal if there is enought quality in the information delivered. We will be able to see if it's quality information based on is comming back to get further information - trust on the portal. So our main job is deliver quality to the portal! [/quote] In my opinion, that's an on to the point comment, if you don't mind me saying so, but what are, one or two ways, with which we could bring quality to the portal? Will this be attempted through users involvement, or will it be a process, built in to the system?
[quote="nikospalavitsinis"] In my opinion, that's an on to the point comment, if you don't mind me saying so, but what are, one or two ways, with which we could bring quality to the portal? Will this be attempted through users involvement, or will it be a process, built in to the system?[/quote] I believe that it would be better to implement a quality assurance process into the system/repository/portal, because this would provide a standard quality level, equal for all the available resources. It would set a minimum (or a wider range) of requirements for contributing/sharing a resource. In contrast, if the system for the quality assurance was based on the users, and since each user might have different perspective for the quality of a resource, I am afraid that this would lead to a number of resources with different quality attributes. In this case, there is a possibility that not all predefined quality criteria would be met by the contributed resources. However, the users should be encouraged to upload their own resources, as this would strengthen their perception of being active members of the community, while populating the educational content at the same time.
[quote="vprot"] [quote="nikospalavitsinis"] In my opinion, that's an on to the point comment, if you don't mind me saying so, but what are, one or two ways, with which we could bring quality to the portal? Will this be attempted through users involvement, or will it be a process, built in to the system?[/quote] I believe that it would be better to implement a quality assurance process into the system/repository/portal, because this would provide a standard quality level, equal for all the available resources. It would set a minimum (or a wider range) of requirements for contributing/sharing a resource. In contrast, if the system for the quality assurance was based on the users, and since each user might have different perspective for the quality of a resource, I am afraid that this would lead to a number of resources with different quality attributes. In this case, there is a possibility that not all predefined quality criteria would be met by the contributed resources. However, the users should be encouraged to upload their own resources, as this would strengthen their perception of being active members of the community, while populating the educational content at the same time. [/quote] Agree that user involvement needed and quality will come with time as more users upload their own resources.
Dear colleagues, Initiating the discussion on Phase 2, Topic 2, we would like to provide you with a set of questions that focus on various aspects of the proposed topic. As you will see, some of the questions are more generic, whereas others focus on specific stakeholder groups (i.e. content/course creators, users of the content, etc.). The idea here is to start elaborating on these topics, clarifying and delving into the topic in hand. To facilitate the discussion, we would like to ask you to start replying by indicating the question number addressed (i.e. Q1), so that our colleagues that read you answers can easily identify the question you refer to. It's not obligatory to answer all of these, so feel free to choose the ones you want to answer. It would be nice, to answer with separate "posts" on each question. In this way, we will be able to follow up on your questions more easily. 1. As a portal owner / administrator, how do you ensure that the learning resources accessible from your portal, are high quality? Do you have any mechanisms for reviewing and re-assessing the resources you curate? 2. As a user of such portals, what do you value most when you visit them? For example, simple searching interfaces, accurate results, possibility to interact with the resources (rate, review, tag)? Anything else? 3. As a content creator, do you feel that making resources available on educational portals would interest you? Are you already doing this? If yes, how do you handle intellectual property rights (IPRs)? If not, what are your reasons for not sharing? 4. What are the practical problems that arise during the creation and maintenance of a portal with thousands of resources, from the portal owner side? Which are the most common ones? Are there any that you have yet to address? With kind regards, Lisa McLaughlin, ISKME OER Commons Manager [email protected]
Hi and thanks for the spot-on questions! Q1. As a portal owner / administrator, how do you ensure that the learning resources accessible from your portal, are high quality? Do you have any mechanisms for reviewing and re-assessing the resources you curate? I am the content manager for the FAO Capacity Development Portal (www.fao.org/capacitydevelopment) which acts as a repository for FAO's learning resources aimed at helping our member countries develop their national capacities. The Learning Resources which are on the Portal come in many forms- manuals, guidelines, best practices, case studies, etc. Obviously, it is impossible to check and verify each one. These are tools and methods that have been used by the Organization and, in theory as well as in practice, are valid. I feel that an important aspect of sharing resources of this kind is to make clear that they are documented successful outcomes relevant to the work of FAO, but in no way are they to be interpreted as the only or best methods for achieving results. The CD Portal showcases and shares FAO's learning resources from within the entire organization, and I rely on my colleagues, that is, the data owners, to ensure quality resources. Q2. As a user of such portals, what do you value most when you visit them? For example, simple searching interfaces, accurate results, possibility to interact with the resources (rate, review, tag)? Anything else? Portals are entry points to a vast array of information. It is paramount that this information is organized simply and made accessible at-a-glance without wasting too much time looking for it. Search functionality should be simple and the possibility of accessing abstracts or information summaries is a plus. Q4. What are the practical problems that arise during the creation and maintenance of a portal with thousands of resources, from the portal owner side? Which are the most common ones? Are there any that you have yet to address? One of the major tasks in collecting thousands of FAO learning resources is getting colleagues from all over the house involved in identifying and uploading their resources for possible inclusion on the Portal. Although not extremely time-consuming, this task does entail a certain degree of commitment on part of the Portal Focal Points responsible for submitting their resources for approval and subsequent publication on the Portal. In the case of FAO this is the first Portal of its kind - a one stop shop of learning resources categorized by resource type, language and subject area. We are currently working on simplifying the resource submission process by designing a more user-friendly submission form. Once the resources are published, it is a challenge to ensure that the links remain active. This is probably the most common problem. Our next step will be to include non-FAO capacity development learning resources. But that's another discussion! [quote="lmclaug"] Dear colleagues, Initiating the discussion on Phase 2, Topic 2, we would like to provide you with a set of questions that focus on various aspects of the proposed topic. As you will see, some of the questions are more generic, whereas others focus on specific stakeholder groups (i.e. content/course creators, users of the content, etc.). The idea here is to start elaborating on these topics, clarifying and delving into the topic in hand. To facilitate the discussion, we would like to ask you to start replying by indicating the question number addressed (i.e. Q1), so that our colleagues that read you answers can easily identify the question you refer to. It's not obligatory to answer all of these, so feel free to choose the ones you want to answer. It would be nice, to answer with separate "posts" on each question. In this way, we will be able to follow up on your questions more easily. 1. As a portal owner / administrator, how do you ensure that the learning resources accessible from your portal, are high quality? Do you have any mechanisms for reviewing and re-assessing the resources you curate? 2. As a user of such portals, what do you value most when you visit them? For example, simple searching interfaces, accurate results, possibility to interact with the resources (rate, review, tag)? Anything else? 3. As a content creator, do you feel that making resources available on educational portals would interest you? Are you already doing this? If yes, how do you handle intellectual property rights (IPRs)? If not, what are your reasons for not sharing? 4. What are the practical problems that arise during the creation and maintenance of a portal with thousands of resources, from the portal owner side? Which are the most common ones? Are there any that you have yet to address? With kind regards, Lisa McLaughlin, ISKME OER Commons Manager [email protected] [/quote]
Dear colleagues, On Monday 25/10, Mrs Amee Evans Godwin, from the Institute for the Study of Knowledge Management in Education, gave a Keynote, addressing some of the main questions of the e-Conference. More information on the Keynote and ISKME activities, can be found in the Resources section, HERE To replay the Keynote, please click HERE and choose the "Replay" option in the popup page. With kind regards, Nikos Palavitsinis
[quote="lmclaug"] Dear colleagues, Initiating the discussion on Phase 2, Topic 2, we would like to provide you with a set of questions that focus on various aspects of the proposed topic. As you will see, some of the questions are more generic, whereas others focus on specific stakeholder groups (i.e. content/course creators, users of the content, etc.). The idea here is to start elaborating on these topics, clarifying and delving into the topic in hand. To facilitate the discussion, we would like to ask you to start replying by indicating the question number addressed (i.e. Q1), so that our colleagues that read you answers can easily identify the question you refer to. It's not obligatory to answer all of these, so feel free to choose the ones you want to answer. It would be nice, to answer with separate "posts" on each question. In this way, we will be able to follow up on your questions more easily. 1. As a portal owner / administrator, how do you ensure that the learning resources accessible from your portal, are high quality? Do you have any mechanisms for reviewing and re-assessing the resources you curate? 2. As a user of such portals, what do you value most when you visit them? For example, simple searching interfaces, accurate results, possibility to interact with the resources (rate, review, tag)? Anything else? [/quote] Hi Lisa, as regards the quality of the resources available in our own repository/portal, there is a team of experts on the specific area (in our case Organic Agriculture & Agroecology) that review the resources before they become available to the public. They follow a standard procedure that includes the quality assessment of both the resource itself and the metadata. As for the portal attributes, I prefer a simple interface with various search options and the ability to filter the search results (that is what differentiates the results of a search in the portal and the results from a google search after all!). The quality matter is subjective so I will have to evaluate the available resources myself and see if they are good enough for the specific purposes. Tagging and reviewing options are more than welcome because they provide another way to evaluate a resource based on the users' opinions.
Dear Colleagues My Name is Taraneh and I am working as Portal admin of Agricultural Research, Education and Extension Organization(AREEO)in Iran(www.areo.ir). 1.I think that first of all we should know and trace our users very well; by recognizing their needs, we can evaluate the quality of our portals and we can improve it. Our AREEO Portal has about 100 sub-portals which includes its affiliated research institutes and training centers. It's really difficult to evaluate the quality of all these sub-portals ; so we decided to write a standard or a guideline which through it , our sub-portals' admin can follow the rules and evaluate their sub-portals themselves. Each sub-portal has its own admin who is responsible for the content management and quality control. Based on this Standard guideline we indicate some "must issues" which should be available easily on the sub-portals as soon as a user reach to them; some of these issues are: *About us *Mission & Vision *Departments *Achievements *Research Projects *Staff *Library anf Information Center *Databases *Contact us These are some immediate issues which each user in the first step may look for them. none of them should be empty link. all links should be controlled by admins to have the necessery data with high quality. Each year we evaluate all these 100 sub-portals based on the above mentioned standards(which is developed by AREEO as a guideline for sub-portal admins). each item has a point(1 or 2 ) and then we calculate the total points for each sub-portal. our highest score is 20 and the lowest is 5. of course all our sub-portal admins try to be the best and this kind of competition to control the content quality leads them to manage their data more carefully and based on the needs of their users. I try to talk about the other mentioned questions later on this discussion group. Thanks to all and bye for now! :-)