Minutes for October 1, 2008 wiki planning meeting

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MHCC Wiki Meeting Minutes | October 1, 2008 | Albin O. Kuhn Library & Gallery Special CollectionsAttendees

Barbara O'Brien, Rob Jenson, Rob Shindle, Lindsey Loeper, Susan Graham and Michael Scott 

Overview of ConfluenceLindsey introduced the attendees to Confluence, the wiki software.  She discussed the possibility of putting the existing MHCC blog onto the wiki through an RSS feed, or moving the blog into Confluence, which has blogging capability, so that both the blog and wiki are in the same place.  She showed how to use the wiki in rich text and wiki markup, how to add a page, adding images and hyperlinks.  Confluence has a good user guide that offers more instruction:  http://confluence.atlassian.com/display/CONF26/Confluence+2.6+User+Guide 

Tagging
The concept of labeling wiki documents was discussed.  This could be useful for bookmarks, links, and repository pages.

Discussion points raised:

  • Can we control the vocabulary?

  • Who can tag?

    • There are permissions and restrictions that can be set on a page by page basis. 

    • Public editing may be useful for repositories, we don't know yet.

    • We could have an internal group that edits, and allow the public to view, but not edit.

Shibboleth
Shibboleth allows cross-institutional authentication to enable collaborative work, without the need for a new password from the hosting site (in this case, UMBC). 

  • If your institution does not have Shibboleth, there is a trusted third party that will give you a Shibboleth ID.  You can register to get your Shibboleth ID at:  www.protectnetwork.org

  • Once you have your Shibboleth ID, inform Lindsey Loeper or Susan Graham at UMBC and they will add your login to the list to give permission to edit the wiki.

  • After UMBC has added you to the permissions list, you can use the wiki.  When you login, there will be a dropdown list and you will choose your institution.

  • OpenID:  also allows systems to authenticate  behind the scenes so that you have one ID on the internet with which you can logon to many sites. 

    • Rob Jenson will investigate OpenID and check which systems are covered (e.g. gmail, aol, yahoo).

Content

  • Repository List

    • Contact Information, types of materials

      • Discussion: 

        • Certain portions of the site can be delegated to an individual who will be responsible for that section

        • Free form or controlled tags?  Authority file for names and materials?

        • If we use the sample template, there is already a list of types of materials.  People can cross off what they don't have in their holdings.

        • Break it down so that someone from Pratt contacts public libraries, someone from a historical society contacts other historical societies, someone from academic libraries contacts other academic libraries, etc.

        • Are we looking at repositories located in Maryland, or repositories with items about Maryland?

        • Do we want a topical list of subjects in addition to format types?

        • If we go with tagging, we should post a tagging guideline to explain recommended tags and tag formats (e.g. Baltimore_sun, not Baltimoresun)

      • OUTCOMES

        • Keep it simple!

        • We can use the sample template so that contributors are not overwhelmed.  The group modified the template, editing the format categories and combining the "types of documents"  and the "detailed descriptions of materials" into one section, where people can elaborate on the materials and add subject area descriptions under the name of the materials. (see: https://spaces.umbc.edu/display/mhcc/SAMPLE+TEMPLATE+HERE).

        • Later on we can go back and do tagging.  We can send out a call to MHCC members about subject areas (e.g. broad topics by region, subjects like genealogy, etc.), but for now, that can be added under the "types of materials" section.

        • We want repositories to describe their Marylandia collections, e.g. a larger library with a smaller Maryland collection should focus on those MD collections in their description.

        • We can get names of all the institutions and at least put links to their websites.  MARAC Maryland Caucus and the MD State Archives may be good places to get the list of repositories.

  • History Day page

    • This would be a page that lists History Day topics and national themes. 

    • Students and teachers need a place where they can find materials by subject, and by repository.

  • Home page

    • Should have a short introduction page about what the collaboration is (would be more like an "About" page.  We can use the existing "About" section from the current blog for the wiki home page.

    • "In the Works" was meant to describe ongoing collaborative projects. 

      • The MHCC wiki group changed "In the Works" on the left navigation to "Events" and put "In the Works" on the home page.

  • "For MHCC Members" page

    • This page would have the meeting agendas and minutes, a list of MHCC members, and the blog (either fed from the existing blog or have the entire blog moved to Confluence).

    • This would replace the "About" on the left navigation bar.

  • Blog

    • We could copy the existing blog now hosted at UMD to Confluence, so that both the blog and wiki are in one place.

      • This option seemed to be favored by the group.

    • Or, we can get the MHCC blog through RSS on the wiki site.

  • BAROC (The Baltimore Art Research & Outreach Consortium) http://www.marylandartsource.org/about/index.html

    • BAROC may not be able to sustain itself and therefore wants the information they collected to be put into the MHCC wiki, so that it is not lost.

    • BAROC would transfer the results of their archives survey.

    • Questions arose regarding the content of the survey and whether the information was current.

    • Update: October 1:  Lindsey Loeper spoke with Marianne Laino at MICA, current president of BAROC (Baltimore Art Research and Outreach Consortium), regarding the transfer of repository contact data to the MHCC for inclusion in the wiki. BAROC aimed to create an extension and update of the survey completed previously by Thomas Hollowak (UB) with an emphasis on artwork collections; at this date they were able to create a database for collecting information, a listing of organizations, and some contact information.  They created a survey but the response was very low. The listing of organizations was worked on over the summer of 2008, so it is fairly recent.  The information, if included in the MHCC wiki, does not need to be seperate or contain a BAROC citation.  Marianne will send the content to Lindsey via e-mail.  Lindsey invited Marianne to attend the January MHCC meeting if available. * 

General

  •  

    • We don't want the site to be boring, but don't want it to be difficult to maintain.

    • Using the wiki could be confusing or difficult for smaller organizations with less staff, so it may be a good idea to have a contact person whom they can ask questions or who can upload materials to the wiki for them.

    • We should limit making groups, because if someone leaves, we have to update it.

    • It would be best and easiest to allow registered MHCC members edit and everyone (e.g. the public) can view it.  We can track changes in the wiki.

    • We will look into a plug-in for Recaptcha for comments.

    • We can look at the Philadelphia and New Jersey consortium sites for other ideas.

    • We should ask other MHCC members for comments about what else they want on the wiki.

    • The MHCC wiki group will present the wiki to the MHCC at the January meeting.

      • Members will populate the sections and show how to use the wiki, and ask members to review the information on the wiki pages.