From SwissExperiment
Content Organization
The idea of a wiki is to describe a self-contained (i.e. "closed") topic on a webpage (e.g. an explanation of a term in the case of Wikipedia). Since this closed topic may use terms explained on other wiki pages, a link to those wiki pages is added for these terms.
In the project environment as we are using it in SwissEx, there are different classes of Wiki content:
General project description
This content refers to wiki pages stating the objectives of the project, the work plan, the people involved, funding agencies, publications related to the project, etc. This is generally static content that could also be hosted on a project web site. The challenge here is to establish clear relationships between the different pages in a wiki style. Alternatively, a menu structure can be defined and maintained.
Meeting minutes and agendas
An agenda or a minute represents a closed subject and can easily be maintained in a single wiki page. In cases where documents or other wiki pages have been discussed in a meeting, links to the corresponding resources can be established.
Working documents
Working documents include draft versions of reports, discussions on project-related topics, management documents, etc. As this content is not static, it can be much more difficult to maintain a clear structure in the wiki. As a consequence, it is necessary to maintain the pages and to restructure the content after the authors have a better understanding of how the different documents relate to each other. We are currently working on developing an approach to annotated wiki pages using free tagging that should facilitate collaborative editing.
Instrument descriptions
This content refers to the technical specification of instruments, such as calibration curves, resolution, and measurement instructions. This information can easily be described in a single page; the challenge is that different projects are using the same instruments, thus, only one party has to describe the instrument, while the others should be able to access this page; the challenge is that there is only one description of an instrument.
- sensor station description: documentation of which instruments are installed on a given station and where the station is positioned (geographical coordinates); this content can be described in a single page
- sensor station data: access to the data will be provided by a template of the wiki, thus no additional editorial work is needed here; however, authors should include information about what data is available, the granularity and time frame of the data, and which group of users has access to the data.
- processing instructions of data: descriptions of processing instructions and workflows with which specific data can be processed; this only covers how the processing works and not the actual results.
- processed sensor data: processed sensor data describes data, pictures, movies, GIS models etc, which have been generated by a specific processing instruction using specific data.
