EVOLUTIONARY BIOLOGY OF SPECIES AND ORGANIZATIONS
http://www.orgs-evolution-knowledge.netmailto:[email protected]
1
Managing Knowledge in Scholarly
Collaborations: eScholarship's
implementation of BSCW
William Hall
National FellowAustralian Centre for Science,
Innovation and Society University of Melbourne
10 June, 2008VERSI eCoffee
Slide 2
Overview
eScholarship and eResearch not the same and need different support systems
Some theoretical background– Information vs knowledge– Knowledge in three worlds (tacit/explicit)– Knowledge processing in scholarly organizations
Support systems for collaborative knowledge work
Survey and best of breedBSCW demo
Slide 3
Who am I?
Evolutionary biologist by training– PhD Harvard 1973– Univ. Melbourne Research Fellow in Genetics 1977-1979
25 years experience with organizational content/knowledge mgmt– Computer literacy education– Documentation manager - computer software house / bank– 17½ years with Tenix Defence
• mainly associated with the $ 7 BN ANZAC Ship Project• 10 warships finished on time, on budget, every time
– “Retired” in July 2007 to full-time (unfunded) research Since 2000 have studied organization theory and
epistemology– Have established an “invisible college”
• Advised 3 PhDs (100% virtual, 90% virtual, 100% physical)– S. Else, org studies – Denver University International Affairs (2004)– P. Dalmaris, process improvement – UTS Info Systems Sydney (2006)– S. Nousla, tacit KM – RMIT Engineering (2006)
• Collaborators from (Adelaide, Sydney, USA, France, Italy, Spain)– mostly practitioners
– Findings apply to development of scholarly / scientific knowledge
Slide 4
Knowledge is “solutions to problems” (Karl Popper)
Army IS point of view– Transformation and aggregation processesadd value
Not generally acceptedin KM community– But they cannot even agree on a definition of knowledge!
Background – Data, Information, Knowledge
eResearch
INTELLIGENCE(AI)
Artificial Intelligence
Documents(CMS)
(Knowledge)
INFORMATION(data base) SYNTA
X
WISDOM
POWER
"INFO WARFARE"
AWARENESS
INFLUENCE
DECISION/ACTIO
N
from INTELLIGE
NCE
CONTEXT
Unstructured Data/text(not integrated)
Documents(CMS)
(Knowledge)
SYNTAX
WISDOM
POWER
AWARENESS
INFLUENCE
DECISION/ACTIO
N
from INTELLIGE
NCE
CONTEXT
Unstructured Data/text(not integrated)
eScholarship
Slide 5
Background - 3 worlds ontology after Karl Popper
World 1 includes physics and dynamics of everything
World 2 includes living control information and knowledge
World 3 includes persistently codified knowledge (e.g., genetic heritage, electronic and paper documents)
Scholarship involves the cycling and sharing of knowledge in transfers and transformations between worlds 2 and 3
EnergyThermodynamics
PhysicsChemistry
Biochemistry
Cyberneticself- regulation
CognitionConsciousness
HeredityLogical artifactsComputer memory
Expressed languageRecorded thought
Reproduction/Production
Development/Recall
Drive/Enable
Regulate/Control I nfe
rred
logic
Desc
ribe/
Pred
ict
TestObserve
Existence/RealityWorld 1
Organismic/PersonalKnowledgeWorld 2
Emerges fromWorld 1 processes
Objective KnowledgeWorld 3Produced /
evaluated byWorld 2processesEnergy
ThermodynamicsPhysics
ChemistryBiochemistry
Cyberneticself- regulation
CognitionConsciousness
HeredityLogical artifactsComputer memory
Expressed languageRecorded thought
Reproduction/Production
Development/Recall
Drive/Enable
Regulate/Control I nfe
rred
logic
Desc
ribe/
Pred
ict
TestObserve
Existence/RealityWorld 1
Organismic/PersonalKnowledgeWorld 2
Emerges fromWorld 1 processes
Objective KnowledgeWorld 3Produced /
evaluated byWorld 2processes
After Hall, W.P. 2003. Managing maintenance knowledge in the context of large engineering projects - Theory and case study. Journal of Information and Knowledge Management, Vol. 2, No. 2 [Corrected version reprinted in Vol. 2, No. 3, pp. 1-17].
Slide 6
Background – knowledge processing in orgs.
Development and formalization of organizational, scientific, scholarly knowledge involves numerous cycles between living personal knowledge and published “authorized” knowledge as shown in the next figure.
Slightly modified from Vines, R., Hall, W.P., Naismith L. 2007. Exploring the foundations of organisational knowledge: An emergent synthesis grounded in thinking related to evolutionary biology. actKM Conference, Australian National University, Canberra, 23-24 October 2007
Slide 7
Background – knowledge processing in orgs.
eMail, seminars, conferences, web pubishing and peer-reviewed publication are all means for developing and transferring formal knowledge in the academic environment
All of these processes benefit from a support system
(Vines et al. 2007)
Slide 8
Support system for large engineering organization
CrossbowValidates and integrates/Normalises data across15 legacy systems
SAIC TeraTextContent management
AMPSNavy'smaintmgmt
CSARSProvides correctivefeedback from AMPSinto supplier/Navy knowledge developmentactivities
DESIGN / ENGPRODUCT DATAMANAGEMENT
• Product Model•CAD / Drawing
Mgmt• Config Mgmt• Eng Change• Workflow Process Control
• Doco Revision& Release
DOCO CONTENTMANAGEMENT
DOCUMENTAUTHORING
LSARDATABASE
LOGISTICANALYSISTOOLS(prime)
PRODUCT CONFIGMANAGEMENT
• Product Model• Drawing Mgmt• Config Mgmt• Change Request• Workflow Process Control
• Doco Revision& Release
MAINTENANCEMANAGEMENT
• Schedule• Resource Reqs• Procedures• Completion• Downtime• Resource Usage
RECORDINGREPORTINGANALYSISTOOLS(prime)
•••
SUPPLY SYSTEM
change request
config change
doco change
ECO
change effected
docochangeorder
releaseddocochange
EC /docochangerequest
maintenancehistory
docoserver
Analysis &optimisation
orders receipts
change task
doco change
shared systems?
data change
& Release
UPDATEMAINT DATA /
PROCEDURE
UPDATECONFIG
Navy Systems
15 legacysystems!
MRPSYSTEMPlanFabricateAssemble
config changes
Hall, W.P., Richards, G., Sarelius, C., Kilpatrick, B. 2006. Organizational management of project and technical knowledge over fleet lifecycles. Australian Journal of Mechanical Engineering, 5(2):81-95
Slide 9
Content authoring workflow
Client Review/Annotate
Release for Delivery
Identify Requirement and Create Work Item Supervisor
Authors
QA/Supervisor
AcceptCheck Out• modify metadata
line itemsCMCstriggers
• update• open in FrameMaker+SGML;
Check In• modify metadata• complete check inAuthor Release for Peer Review
View
Sign-Off as Reviewed
Stage 1(Draft)
Stage 2(Peer Review)
Stage 3(Rework)
AcceptCheck OutCheck InRelease for QA Review
Annotate
Supervisor Sets Peer Review Completion
Circulate for Client Review
Stage 4(Client Review)• register/link source documents
Slide 10
Teratext implementation for ANZAC Ships
ASPMIS Delivery
Upload Navy supplied files for Validation.
Upload ILS DB data.
Upload Graphics files.
ILS DBDaily
Navyvalidation
data
Graphics
External Data Upload
Content Management
SIM DCMS Configuration
Document Management
Process Management
ASPMIS files
Review Comments,
Graphic files,
Source Reference Data
Document Viewing through WEB browser FrameMaker SGML
editor
WEB Fill-In Forms
WEB Electronic Intray
On-Line Validation against Tenix and
Navy Supplied Data
As provided
Managed Objects Authorised Viewer Authoring Processes
Teratext automation(RMIT product) ASPMIS
Data IntegrityChecks
ASPMIS files
Configuration, parts data
Registersource docs
artist
supplier
Slide 11
Academic authoring
Peer reviewers
IndividualAuthor
Collaboratingauthors
Informalreviewers
Journal editor
Stage 1Draftobservatio
ns
Sourcedocuments
-prior
knowledge
Author• (W2) Develop
hypothesis/plan• (W3) Find & retrieve
source documents• (W2) Observe & interact
with W1 • (W3) Print & circulate
drafts to collaborators
Collaborators• (W2/W3) Review, comment,
edit, markup• Circulate drafts back to
author (W3)
Author• (W2/W3) Collate changes• Circulate to collaborators
More collaborator comments?
Stage 2Informal Review
Collaboratingauthors
IndividualAuthor
Reviewers• (W2/W3) Review, comment,
edit, markup• Circulate drafts back to
author (W3)
Author• (W2/W3) Collate comments• (W3)Circulate to
collaborators
Collaborators• (W2/W3) Review, comment,
edit, markup
Author• (W2/W3) collate changes• More collaborator
comments?• (W3) Print & submit to
publisher
Stage 3Peer Review
Collaboratingauthors
IndividualAuthor
Editor• Assess & circulate to
peers• (W2/W3) Collate
comments
Author/Collaborators• (W2/W3) revise, print
and resubmit to publisher
Journal• Print• Publish• Distribute
Stage 4Add to Knowledge base
New knowledgedocument
Readers• (W3/W2) Read
contribution(s)• (W3) follow links
to prior knowledge• Etc.
Become authors
Academic readers
Slide 12
Just like engineers, academics need a support system!
Imperatives– Maintain/improve top raking of university– Personal
• Publish better papers!• Publish more papers in less time!
Support system requirements– Correspondence management, search & retrieval (threaded
discussions)– Collect & share source material (IP / copyright / fair
use issues)• Acquisition• Access control• Search, retrieval and concept building
– Team building & maintenance– Drafting
• Access control• Version management• Workflow• Tracking
– Linking and annotation– Review management– Web publishing
Slide 13
Support system options
Teaching-based sytems– MUSE / SAKAI– edna (http://www.edna.edu.au/) – eCollege (http://www.ecollege.com/index.learn) – Blackboard (http://www.blackboard.com/products/Academic_Suite/index) – Unimelb LMS (http://www.lms.unimelb.edu.au/staff/guides/)
Genuine Web-based enterprise collaboration environments ($ M implementations)– Collaborative engineering products, e.g., Enovia Matrix 1
(http://www.3ds.com/products/enovia/products/enovia-matrixone/products/)
– Content management, e.g., EMC²Documentum Platform (http://australia.emc.com/products/category/subcategory/documentum-platform.htm)
– Collaborative Authoring, e.g., XyEnterprise Content@ (http://www.xyenterprise.com/products/)
University spun off collaboration environments– CommonGround Publisher (http://www.cgpublisher.com/) – Fraunhofer Institute of Technology/OrbiTeam BSCW (Basic
System for Collaborative Work) (http://www.bscw.de/english/index.html)
– SAIC TeraText / REORIENT (http://www.teratext.com)
• Based on joint UoM/RMIT research, commercialized by RMIT• Front-end issues
Slide 14
BSCW as eScholarship support system
End user capabilities– 100% web-based– password secured access (authentication)
• role based access rights– document oriented functions
• central document storage, comfortable document upload via integrated upload clients
• tagged and metadata indexing• full content indexing with SWISH++ or Microsoft Indexing Service (must be enabled)
• document version management and locking mechanisms
• integration of desktop applications via WebDAV• direct editing of web and office documents• synchronization of offline documents• annotations and ratings• e-mail document distribution
Slide 15
BSCW as eScholarship support system (2)
End user capabilities (cont.)– Collaboration functions
• circulation folders for sequential coordinated access to documents
• user defined workflows for task coordination• task calendars• scheduling for re-submission of documents• full time planning/project management (extra cost)
– Social facilitation• blogs and mini websites• indication of online presence of other workspaces members
• personal and group calendars• shared contact folders• import and export of contacts and appointments• synchronization of contacts and appointments with MS Outlook (extra cost)
• reminder service for appointments• polls and discussion forums• moderated public folders
Slide 16
BSCW as eScholarship support system (3)
System administrator features:– support for multiple server platforms– easy to install and maintain– minimal administrative effort– cost efficient deployment– application programming interface– web-based interface for most administrative features
– comprehensive set of command line tools for administration
– optional configuration of user storage allocation– SSL and LDAP support– compatible with existing single sign-on infrastructure
– authentication with X.509 client certificates
Slide 17
BSCW LIVE DEMO
TOMOK Project in MUSE (https://muse.unimelb.edu.au)
TOMOK area in BSCW (http://bscw.otok.esrc.unimelb.edu.au/bscw/bscw.cgi/320)
Slide 18
Concept of annotation
Explicit and implicit links encode contextual knowledge
Links are 2-way connections Annotations are the key to converting implicit
contextual knowledge to codified explicit knowledgeCONTENT MANAGEMENT REPOSITORY
ANNOTATION
METADATA-------------------------
PRIMARY LINK-------------------------
ANNOTATIONTEXT
-------------------------SECONDARYLINKS
ANNOTATION
METADATA-------------------------
PRIMARY LINK-------------------------
ANNOTATIONTEXT
-------------------------SECONDARYLINKS
SOURCEREGISTRY
PRIMARY DOCUMENT
METADATA---------------------------------
CONTENT
PRIMARYOBJECTS
(i.e., <para>)
PRIMARYOBJECTS
(i.e., <para>)
1:1
Documentelement
(i.e., <para>)
PRIMARYOBJECTS
(i.e., <para>)
PRIMARYOBJECTS
(i.e., <para>)
PRIMARYOBJECTS
(i.e., <para>)
0:many
OTHERDELIVERABLES
ANDSOURCE
DOCUMENTS
SOURCE REPOSITORY
ANNOTATION
METADATA-------------------------
PRIMARY LINK-------------------------
ANNOTATIONTEXT
-------------------------SECONDARYLINKS
Documentelement
(i.e., <para>)
Slide 19
Author annotations (Tenix proprietary)
Select source registry items to include with the annotation
Capture author knowledge
Create 2-way links between source data and deliverable
Explain/qualify reference use
Slide 20
Using the Source Registry
Document tracking metadata Binary copy of document
can be preserved in source repository
Extensions may provide to launch appropriate viewer
Annotation explains source use
2-way links!– Detect source changes– Where used reports show
potentially affected documents
Slide 21
Conclusion
BSCW as a standalone toolBSCW as the front end to an integrated environment (e.g., BSCW + TeraText)
eScholarship project for major grant funding
eScholarship support system potentially able to be marketed to universities and industrial research instutions worldwide
