Table 3 Description of the features available for Vhub groups
From: Vhub: a knowledge management system to facilitate online collaborative volcano modeling and research
Group feature | Description |
|---|---|
Overview | This section provides a general description of the group. It may also inform about membership restrictions and have announcements to the members. Subpages within this section may be created, for example to have a version of the overview in a different language, or to organize specific information about the group. The overview can only be edited by the managers of the group. |
Members | List of all the members of the group. It includes the status (whether the member is a managers of the group or not) and the role of the member if it has been assigned. Managers can send messages to one or all members. |
Wiki | Wiki pages are single pages that any member can create and comment on. It supports wiki formatting and allows the insertion of figures and documents. The content of these pages depends on the scope and organization of the group. |
Resources | Presentations, data, documents, etc., that are uploaded by members of the group. When the resource is uploaded the author must select the group that the resource belongs to in the Group ownership section of the uploading process. Since all resources on Vhub have a unique url, members can add a direct link to the resource in any of the other group features. |
Discussion | In this section a member can start or follow up on a discussion in any topic relevant to the group. Once a discussion has been started, other members can add comments, questions, answers, or further information on the topic. The managers can create categories to maintain the discussing organized. In other websites this capability is known as Forum. |
Messages | This section contains all messages sent by the managers of the group to all group members. |
Blog | This feature allows members to add communications of interest to other members of the group. Other members can add comments to the original posts. Similar to other blog services on the web, the posts are organized by date and the most recent and popular blogs are highlighted. |
Wish list | A group wish is generally a suggestion for improvement that focuses on the content and work within the group. Any member can send a wish, comment and like or dislike existing wishes. A wish can then be accepted, rejected or granted. |
Calendar | To add and discover upcoming events or activities related to collaboration and communication within the group. |