Enabling Tools and Methods for International, Interdisciplinary and Educational Collaboration

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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
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Outline

• Current status of data network
• Current status of human-human connection
• Virtual Wiki Workspaces
• DataSpaces
• ActivitySpaces
• ToolSpaces
• Conclusion and Summary

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Emerging Air Quality Data Flow Network
OGC WCS Data Access Protocol
GEOSS Provides SOA for Coupling for Autonomous
Nodes Facilitates Publishing, Finding and
Accessing Data
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The Information Interoperability Stack
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The Information Interoperability Stack
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Prototypical Virtual Workspace
Purpose
Discussion
Resources
Product/Outcome
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Prototypical Virtual Workspace
Product/Outcome
Discussion
Resources
Purpose
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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.

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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

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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.

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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

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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

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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

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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.

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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

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Community Data Sharing - DataSpaces

• Semantic Wiki Structured (RDF and Unstructured
  Content
• Open, Standard Matadata - RDF
• Ready for Export/Harvesting by Registries,
  Catalogs

Catalog - Find Dataset
Describe Dataset
Discuss Dataset
Earth Science Information Partners (ESIP)
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Communal Event Analysis Southern California Fire
Smoke

• Approach (Blogs, Flickr, YOuTube)
• Use app to perform coarse filtering
• Controlled tagging in del.icio.us
• RSS feed from del.icio.us

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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.

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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!
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Acknowledgments
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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