Enabling Tools and Methods for International, Inter- disciplinary and Educational Collaboration E. M. Robinson, K. Hoijarvi, S. Falke, E. Fialowski, M.

Enabling Tools and Methods for International, Inter-disciplinary and Educational Collaboration

E. M. Robinson, K. Hoijarvi, S. Falke, E. Fialowski, M. Kieffer, R. B. Husar Washington University, St. Louis

Spring AGU, May 29, 2007, Ft. Lauderdale

Outline

• Current status of data network• Current status of human-human connection • Virtual Wiki Workspaces

– DataSpaces– ActivitySpaces– ToolSpaces

• Conclusion and Summary

OGC WCS Data Access Protocol

GEOSS Provides SOA for Coupling for Autonomous Nodes Facilitates Publishing, Finding and Accessing Data

Emerging Air Quality Data Flow Network

The Information Interoperability Stack

The Information Interoperability Stack

Prototypical Virtual Workspace

Purpose

Product/Outcome

DiscussionResources

Prototypical Virtual Workspace

Purpose

Product/Outcome

DiscussionResources

Wiki as a workspace

• Organize/collect distributed material and provide context for a topic

• Collaboratively create a document (report, proposal, presentation etc…)

• Discuss issues relating to topic• Act as an archive for the topic and group interactions

surrounding it. • The wiki platform is conducive for this because it allows

material distributed all over the web to be virtually 'mashed' together in one place through RSS feeds or iframe tags and elaborated on with relevant context and discussion. Because all of these elements are brought together in a workspace, the critical community knowledge is often captured as it is created.

Wiki as a workspace

• Examples: Wikis, google groups, myspace, facebook ... • Collaboratively write and discuss

– Versioning/archive – open

• User-defined layout/Structure – Relational - tag-based, not hierarchical folders

• Organize different kinds of content - wiki can harness and integrate other services but it's up to user to assemble the parts in an innovative way - Situational applications – Small pieces loosely joined – Mash through RSS feeds or URL – upload docs – creating "records" on wiki pages

DataFedwiki

• How does this resemble prototype? What makes it different – form and function? Inputs/outputs?

• Known group – our research group that uses it• Provides a place to stash ideas during discussions, share with

members not present and remember/re-use later• Archives presentations, with additional metadata like notes made

when preparing the presentation or other pieces that also were included (KML, screencast, links etc)

• The wiki is the user-maintained workspace of the federated data system DataFed

• Problems we've had with the wiki: – Create pages, but can't find them – Hierarchical Structure – Date and Geo tagging doesn't fit the category tags very well.

GEOSS AIP Workspace

• How does this resemble prototype? What makes it different – form and function? Inputs/outputs?

• Ad hoc group formed around common interest in having input into the Air Quality Scenario CFP

• Collectively wrote the CFP • Captured key dialogue and discussion pertaining to the

scenario development… Key in creating a reusable scenario is having archive of process

Data Summit/ Community AQ Data System

• How does this resemble prototype? What makes it different – form and function? Inputs/outputs?

• Invited group formed pre-Summit in order to profile the existing data systems

• Meeting activities were captured and workgroup/space evoloved

• Now Use wiki to capture group decisions, discussions, documents

CF Naming Conventions

• How does this resemble prototype? What makes it different – form and function? Inputs/outputs?

• Proposed names, discussed, modified and then submitted names• Because it was open, we have pointed others to these pages as a

process for creating standard names.

• Purpose - Develop a list of standard air chemistry names • Approach - Open, participatory, collection of ideas and resources • Maintanence - Initial set-up at CAPITA, site maintanence and

development by Christiane Textor, Paris. • Features - Considerable discussion, collection of ideas and resources • Finite 5 month lifetime

Sustainable Air Quality Class Workspace

• How does this resemble prototype? What makes it different – form and function? Inputs/outputs?

• The class harvested resources, gathered data, and wrote a class report using the wiki;

• Their workspaces were different from the others described, because the output on each space was a final report. The history of the page, shows the evolution that each group took as they gathered data, wrote, and modified throughout the semester.

NSF Proposal

• Focused on single topic - writing of proposal text • Approach- Open, Participatory writing of the document • Shallow structure - links only one layer deep, containing

proposal relavent items • Finite 2-week lifetime for the collaborative writing project -

progress and schedule monitors

Community Data Sharing - ‘DataSpaces’

Catalog - Find Dataset

Describe Dataset

Discuss Dataset

Earth Science Information Partners (ESIP)

• Semantic Wiki: Structured (RDF and Unstructured Content

• Open, Standard Matadata - RDF

• Ready for Export/Harvesting by Registries, Catalogs

Communal Event Analysis Southern California Fire Smoke

Approach (Blogs, Flickr, YOuTube):

Use app to perform coarse filtering Controlled tagging in del.icio.usRSS feed from del.icio.us

Benefits of the workspace

• Collect distributed content and provide context. – Currently, there is flickr for photos, del.icio.us for links provide URL

for metadata about photo or link – workspace provides URL for a project.

• Workspaces can be easily set up and evolve for the group needs

• Allow new users to easily be caught up to speed in as little or as much detail

• Provides rich archive of discussion, resources and process the group took as well as the outcome

• Because it is web-based unanticipated others may be able to use some part of the work.

Summary

• The participatory web architecture and technologies are here

• Standards are emerging for sharing previously unstructured data

• The entry resistance to any particular Web 2.0 tool is rather low

• However, many cultural, legal and other barriers remain

• The challenge is to learn how to apply these tools for Earth Science

Thank You!

Acknowledgments

AQ Science Problems Complex

• Needs tp connect: – Multiple datasets– Multiple Tools – DIVERSE Community of People

• Underlying data infrastructure is being developed to accommodate data flow, still need for higher level information transfer