Wiki Strategy

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Last updated: Mar 31, 2009 by AnonymousVersion comment
2 min read

Wiki Strategy

This is an ad hoc project that arose from a discussion of sharing of wiki infrastructure within UC.  We will make some recommendations to the IETLC for a strategy for wiki services at UCD that could be extended to a broader community through UCTrust / InCommon.

DRAFT Vision / Proposal

SmartSite should needs a better tool for collaborative development of content by both UCD and non-UCD users.  Since it does not appear that one is available in the near future from the Sakai community, and it is not appropriate for us to create such a Sakai-based tool, UCD should "align" an off-the-shelf wiki into SmartSite. This will require:

  • Selection of the wiki
  • In order to support non-UCD users, there are two strategies:
    • UCTrust / InCommon integration for Sakai and the wiki
    • Inclusion of UCD's Sakai guest users into the identity management system
    • Notes:
      • These integrations need to include both users and groups.
      • This becomes a strategy for integrating other non-Sakai tools into SmartSite.
  • Ensure that SmartSite's current policy of allowing any UCD person to create a site can be implemented in the selected wiki.
    • We need to define what we mean by a "UCD person."  Is it anyone in the identity management system?  Faculty, staff, and students?  ??
    • We need to ensure sufficient capacity in the wiki to provide good performance to the community.
  • Note that this "alignment" will not allow for use of the wiki to generate content for SmartSite directly.  Just as with the current Sakai-based wiki, content would need to be exported from the wiki and reposted within SmartSite, say as HTML or PDF.

Integration and Alignment of SmartSite Tools

SmartSite is currently implemented completely in Sakai, so new SmartSite tools must be integrated into Sakai.  We have defined the term "aligned" in this context to indicate a SmartSite tool that is is integrated enough with Sakai to enable an appropriate level of interoperability with the rest of SmartSite.

  • Integrated into Sakai: The tool has been integrated into Sakai.  It uses Sakai's access to UCD's middleware services for identity management, presentation, etc.
  • Aligned with Sakai:  The tool has not been integrated into Sakai, but it uses UCD's standard middleware services for identity management and other services like workflow and service bus, as needed to support appropriate interoperability with the rest of SmartSite.