KnowledgeBook User Documentation

Chapter 1: Overview

Chapter 1: Overview

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1.1 About the KnowledgeBook

The KnowledgeBook is a multimedia, remotely-viewable, computer-based, shared notebook developed by Corporate Computer Services, Inc. with support from the Fermi National Accerator Laboratory (Fermilab) in Illinois. The KnowledgeBook was conceived as a solution for improving the timeliness and quality of information distribution within an organization or between geographically separated professionals in a particular field. It functions as a flexible, expandable but also structured repository of knowledge and information allowing its users to communicate with each other efficiently.

The KnowledgeBook is an outgrowth of the Control Room Logbook (see http://www-cpd.fnal.gov/CRL/), a software application also developed at Fermilab by Corporate Computer Services, Inc. The Control Room Logbook was designed to manage logbook entries in high energy physics experiment control rooms, and to make those entries searchable and available to collaborating physicists located anywhere in the world. Java and XML were used to create both the KnowledgeBook and the Control Room Logbook. These development tools offer portability, ubiquitousness and rich functionality.

The KnowledgeBook is comprised of:

• the KnowledgeBook application, installed on the user's desktop or laptop computer; it is used to create, manipulate, log and retrieve "chunks" of information, called entries.
• the optional KnowledgeBook Web Access, used to browse and annotate logged entries from virtually anywhere in the world using a standard web browser.

The KnowledgeBook is potentially compatible with any SQL-based relational database management system (RDBMS); currently it supports FirstSQL. The Web Access portion of KnowledgeBook uses only the relational database and the HTML entries.

The KnowledgeBook itself is quite generic and adaptable. It is designed such that it can be specialized for various types of scientific, commercial, government or other applications in order to optimize its usefulness for each field.

1.1.1 A Collaborative Notebook

The KnowledgeBook application is designed to function as a collaborative notebook, i.e., one notebook accessible to many in order to share information. A notebook can of course be used for entering and referencing information on any subject, wide or narrow, or on many subjects. Some people use one notebook to keep track of all their notes, some use one notebook per subject.

To separate subjects in a notebook, we typically use tabs, and label them according to subject. To separate individual topics within each subject, we might write a heading at the top of a page, then skip a few pages before entering a heading for the next topic. In the KnowledgeBook, the notebook structure expands into a multi-level tree structure analogous to a computer's file system.

The KnowledgeBook can be implemented with virtually any level of complexity, from functioning as a collection of libraries of notebooks, all the way down to acting as a simple, single-subject, shared notebook. Authorization to read from and write to particular branches of the KnowledgeBook tree can be tailored to individual users or groups of users within an organization.

In a paper notebook, we enter information by writing, drawing, pasting in pictures or graphs, and so on. Analogously, the KnowledgeBook supports a wide variety of electronic data types for information entry, e.g., text, image files, LaTeX equations, forms, files generated in external applications, and so on.

1.1.2 Hierarchical Information Storage

The hierarchical tree structure of the KnowledgeBook is composed of building blocks similar in organization to a computer's directories and files. This structure is used to organize the information that users enter. Given appropriate permissions, users may add/rearrange/delete building blocks in the hierarchy. The terminology used to label these building blocks varies depending on several factors, primarily on the professional field and environment in which the KnowledgeBook is being used.

The Repository

The top building block of this hierarchy has been given the unvarying label of "repository". Think of a repository as a file system or volume. The user may see multiple repositories in the application window. Each KnowledgeBook installation has a personal repository local to the user's system, and typically one or more remote repositories are mounted in addition to that. A repository may consist of one or more libraries of notebooks, or of a single notebook. Repository administrators have a lot of freedom in structuring the repositories.

The Building Blocks

The structure underneath a repository consists of building blocks of four types. Each building block has an associated icon of a given shape and color. The name we give to each building block varies, as mentioned above. In this section we'll define them using generic names:

entry

a self-contained "chunk" of information entered by the user; e.g., some text, an attached file, etc. An entry consists of auto-generated header information plus user-entered data. This is the lowest level building block; it is the "leaf" of the "tree".

or , container

literally, a container into which entries can be inserted. Visually, it is a window in the application working area. Organizationally, it is the final level of categorization of entries; the last branch before the leaf.

There are two implementations of containers: (1) a container that is a building block under a desktop (this type can be resized in the working area, and may be one of many containers under the desktop), and (2) a container that is its own desktop (this type is full-size only).

desktop

an entity which can contain (organizationally) and display (visually) multiple, resizable containers.

A desktop that consists of only one container (sized to fullscreen) and a full-size container are equivalent.

folder

an entity used for organizational grouping; can contain lower level folders, desktops, and/or containers

Organizing Information using the Building Blocks

Each repository can be organized into a multi-level set of folders in order to organize information in a hierarchical fashion. The container represents the final level of organization for the information; it provides the subject-specific, task-specific, person-specific, gadget-specific, you-name-it-specific topic headings. Users with appropriate authorization can add to the existing set of repositories, folders, desktops and/or containers; collectively these items are referred to as "nodes".

1.1.3 Making Notes (called "Entries")

In a paper notebook, say we've left a few pages blank for further notes on a specific topic (the topic being the lowest level in the organizational hierarchy). In the KnowledgeBook, each topic at this level gets what we call a "container".

Each note made in a container is called an "entry".

When opened, a container becomes a window on the desktop, labeled with its "path", which indicates its place in the hierarchical structure. Users can make multiple entries in a container. Users in different locations can pull up the same container and make simultaneous entries into it. All the entries are saved in the repository, ready for immediate or later retrieval by any authorized users in the organization.

The KnowledgeBook stores the entries' content and metadata1 in both XML and HTML formats in a local or remote repository, and/or in a shared file system. In addition, it uses a relational database to store indexed metadata for entry identification and retrieval, which allows for quick searches.

1.1.4 Finding and Reviewing Notes (Entries)

The KnowledgeBook contains a flexible and powerful entry search facility. You can search for entries in one repository or search across multiple repositories. You can search by date/time, by the entries' sequence numbers, or via a filter (keywords, author, path, or words contained in the entry).

1.2 About the HEPBook

The HEPBook is a specialized implementation of the KnowledgeBook for high energy and nuclear physics. It supersedes the Control Room Logbook, at least for new installations.

1Metadata is data that describes other data. It is information about the core data, including things like the time the data was collected, the location of the data, and so on.

The KnowledgeBook was developed by Corporate Computer Services, Inc. in cooperation with Fermilab under the DOE's SBIR program.

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