IMA discussion notes from Jack
Hi Gang,
It's been a week since we adjourned, so before any more time flies by I better get you my notes from our discussion. Please regard this as a starting point. Hopefully I captured the essence, but if I missed or mis-stated something please point out my errors.
I hope we can keep the discussion going, and actually get something done. I'm pretty darn certain I won't give up. Here goes:
Suggested Agenda: (What we started with over dinner)
1) Initiate discussion of methods for nationwide content sharing
2) Metadata standards
3) Open Source principles
4) Interface design to get at content
5) Methods of ongoing collaboration
Open Content Management System: (The big project we began to outline)
A digital media collaboration system for sharing content throughout public broadcasting.
Purpose:
To facilitate sharing of produced content and content elements between local and national producers for online publishing.
Principles:
Open source design.
Creative Commons-like licensing. (see http://creativecommons.org)
Ground-up organizational model.
Means:
Sharing is based on a universal metadata standard for describing content.
Content can be stored anywhere, just like the Internet.
Interface design allows producer access to whole features, or feature elements.
Extension of interface to user public would allow for "power searches" of public broadcasting content.
OK, a little discussion. I deliberately left it sparse and simple, hopefully even clear. But one might wonder what the heck "ground-up organization model" means. It doesn't mean we turn ourselves into hamburger, but that we build the pieces of this system at the local level. If we can be consistent about how we describe our bits as we create them, they can then interact coherently on a larger scale. Then we don't need a big expensive (and proprietary) CMS or a national command structure.
We do need a common metadata language, and a shared understanding of how to use basic tools like a local CMS.
Another feature of our discussion is Bill and Dale's content management system at North Country Public Radio, and their work to share it as an open source solution. (Note to Bill: Please sign me up.)
And probably the most essential immediate thing is to set up a space for online collaboration. Email is great but we need something with less noise. I believe Bill agreed to establish some webboards on a server he's got. (Hey Bill, while you're doing all this work, can you redesign my site for free?)
I'll leave it there for now, except to say, was anyone else totally astonished that the conference wrap-up featured so many of the ideas we talked about? Almost spooky...
Cheers,
Jack Brighton
WILL AM-FM-TV
It's been a week since we adjourned, so before any more time flies by I better get you my notes from our discussion. Please regard this as a starting point. Hopefully I captured the essence, but if I missed or mis-stated something please point out my errors.
I hope we can keep the discussion going, and actually get something done. I'm pretty darn certain I won't give up. Here goes:
Suggested Agenda: (What we started with over dinner)
1) Initiate discussion of methods for nationwide content sharing
2) Metadata standards
3) Open Source principles
4) Interface design to get at content
5) Methods of ongoing collaboration
Open Content Management System: (The big project we began to outline)
A digital media collaboration system for sharing content throughout public broadcasting.
Purpose:
To facilitate sharing of produced content and content elements between local and national producers for online publishing.
Principles:
Open source design.
Creative Commons-like licensing. (see http://creativecommons.org)
Ground-up organizational model.
Means:
Sharing is based on a universal metadata standard for describing content.
Content can be stored anywhere, just like the Internet.
Interface design allows producer access to whole features, or feature elements.
Extension of interface to user public would allow for "power searches" of public broadcasting content.
OK, a little discussion. I deliberately left it sparse and simple, hopefully even clear. But one might wonder what the heck "ground-up organization model" means. It doesn't mean we turn ourselves into hamburger, but that we build the pieces of this system at the local level. If we can be consistent about how we describe our bits as we create them, they can then interact coherently on a larger scale. Then we don't need a big expensive (and proprietary) CMS or a national command structure.
We do need a common metadata language, and a shared understanding of how to use basic tools like a local CMS.
Another feature of our discussion is Bill and Dale's content management system at North Country Public Radio, and their work to share it as an open source solution. (Note to Bill: Please sign me up.)
And probably the most essential immediate thing is to set up a space for online collaboration. Email is great but we need something with less noise. I believe Bill agreed to establish some webboards on a server he's got. (Hey Bill, while you're doing all this work, can you redesign my site for free?)
I'll leave it there for now, except to say, was anyone else totally astonished that the conference wrap-up featured so many of the ideas we talked about? Almost spooky...
Cheers,
Jack Brighton
WILL AM-FM-TV
3 Comments:
Jack,
Thank you for the focused outline of our convertation.
As an FYI, Jacob Smullyan, from WNYC, also expressed an interest in making his content management system open source, you can download the base platform here: http://skunkweb.sourceforge.netI'd also be interested making my work in Zope available, and I understand some folks at PBS are developing for this platform as well.
While it's not essential, since data can always be exchanged between platforms, for the sake of sharing code and working together to develop larger applications, I'd consider adopting another CMS, such as Jacob's or Michael and Dale's or even Jasons's WAMU (if he were to make it available). Perhaps an overview of available platforms would be useful.
Along the lines of metadata, perhaps we could put together a few simple and useable examples (of the PBCore Metadata Dictionary) to use as a basis to build from: http://www.utah.edu/cpbmetadata/PBCore/QuickStartGuide.html
Additionally, I'd be glad to contribute a corresponding xsl stylesheet as one way to display this information once it's shared.
Along the lines of Interface Design, is anyone using the Adaptive Path/PBS best practices template, or NPR's design as a basis for their next redesign?
Best regards,
John Tynan
KJZZ.org / KBAQ.org
480.774.8462
By Stefanie at VPR, at 3:31 PM
Hi John et al,
Brilliant of John to follow up with some helpful links to resources...and to cc a few other folks who should be in this conversation. Let's keep doing that.
The BPCore reference took me to previous work on content sharing via metadata (Current, May 2002) which I hadn't been aware of. My own ideas are apparently merely derivative, but that's okay. We still need to get it done.
The discussion of a "best" CMS solution needs time, and more learning on my part at least. Although Skunkweb sure has a cool logo. We need that online discussion forum for this and other web development issues.
The idea of an xsl stylesheet might be way ahead of the game, but certainly would be needed. The problem of interface design provides plenty of room for creativity, and different solutions for different purposes. At the risk of revealing my fondness for theory (and perhaps distance from reality), there's a great book by someone at the MIT Media Lab which describes a process for designing an interactive user interface for things like news.
If you share my illness check out: http://mitpress.mit.edu/catalog/item/default.asp?sid=374E016B-37D5-4D15-8389
-486718814DF2&ttype=2&tid=9089I'll be buried for the next week in a swamp of routine stuff they hired me to do. But let's keep the discussion going, and find a more robust space for it soon.
Cheers,
Jack
By Stefanie at VPR, at 3:35 PM
How about we ask the folks at PBS if we can use their discussion board?
http://discussions.pbs.org/I believe the contact person at PBS is:
Winnie Lim
Production Editor
PBS Interactive
wlim@pbs.org
By Stefanie at VPR, at 3:36 PM
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