Knowledge Base
A few links ... need for KB wiki thrust.
This entire area is somewhat troublesome. It is wonderful to have the time and leisure to consider the right way to implement a knowledge base, but the real world chews up and spits out 'smoke and mirrors' type of solutions. See below Rule Engine Myth versus Rule Engine Reality.
It's very difficult to sell companies on this type of solution and even harder to delivery tangible results in a short time frame ( say < 1 year ). The projects tend to dribble along for 3-5 years ...
Definitions
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knowledge_base
A knowledge base (KB) is a technology used to store complex structured and unstructured information used by a computer system.
The original use of the term knowledge-base was to describe one of the two sub-systems of a knowledge-based system ...
A knowledge-based system consists of a knowledge-base that represents facts about the world and an inference engine that can reason about those facts and use rules and other forms of logic to deduce new facts or highlight inconsistencies ...
The next evolution for the term knowledge-base was the Internet. With the rise of the Internet documents, hypertext, and multimedia support were now critical for any corporate database. It was no longer enough to support large tables of data or relatively small objects that lived primarily in computer memory. Support for corporate web sites required persistence and transactions for documents.
This created a whole new discipline known as Web Content Management ...
Knowledge management products adopted the term "knowledge-base" to describe their repositories but the meaning had a subtle difference.
In the case of previous knowledge-based systems the knowledge was primarily for the use of an automated system, to reason about and draw conclusions about the world. With knowledge management products the knowledge was primarily meant for humans, for example to serve as a repository of manuals, procedures, policies, best practices, reusable designs and code, etc.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Knowledge_bases
PythonTrac has some of the capabilities necessary for a knowledge base.
Knowledge Management
Is KM more than a corporate buzz word ?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knowledge_management
Knowledge management (KM) is the process of capturing, developing, sharing, and effectively using organisational knowledge. It refers to a multi-disciplined approach to achieving organisational objectives by making the best use of knowledge.
Knowledge management efforts typically focus on organisational objectives such as improved performance, competitive advantage, innovation, the sharing of lessons learned, integration and continuous improvement of the organisation.
A conceptual diagram to help clarify the definition:
I don't have an organization ... or maybe I do and don't know it yet. See DesignPatternsOrganization.
The Wikipedia definition makes it sound like knowledge is being 'developed', but I don't see the distinction from 'captured', with the exception of structuring it conveniently for sharing. I think it makes more sense to say that the processes of capture and share are being developed. 'Developed' may not be the right word, more like 'constructed'.
It's worth restating the organizational objectives:
- Performance
- Competitive advantage
- Innovation
- Lessons learned
- Integration
- Continuous improvement
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Knowledge_management
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wiki
Wikis can serve many different purposes both public and private, including knowledge management, notetaking, community websites and intranets.
Microsoft's take on the subject - https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb896740.aspx
Architecting a Knowledge-Management System ... Searching for past proposals ... Collaboration through communities of practice ...
Selecting the Knowledge-Management Platform
Document management. Provides for the tracking and storing of electronic documents and/or images of paper documents, and directly addresses issues of document storage, retrieval, filing, security, archival, retention, distribution, workflow, and creation.
Collaboration tools. Allow people who are involved in a common task to achieve their goals by providing e-mail, calendaring, text chat, Wiki, workflow management, and so on.
Wikis. Represent a type of Web site that allows visitors to add, remove, and edit available content easily—sometimes, without the need for registration. This ease of interaction and operation makes a Wiki an effective tool for collaborative authoring.
Federated search. Enables a user to search multiple independent, discretely mounted data sources or databases through a single search query. Federated search engines broadcast the user's query to a group of disparate data stores (documents, relational databases, file shares), merge the results, and then present them to the user in a succinct and unified format, and with minimal duplication.
Web portals. Allow for quick and easy access to the information that is stored in the knowledge-management system over the Web and on the corporate intranet.
Blogs. Are either company-hosted or personal Web sites that give employees the opportunity to communicate ideas in an informal environment. A typical blog combines text, images, and links to other blogs, Web pages, and other media that are related to its topic, as well as the opportunity for readers to leave comments in an interactive forum.
Personalization. The ability to tailor data automatically to specific user characteristics or preferences. For instance, top Web portals allow site visitors to customize their home—or "My"—pages with their preferred physical location and choice of news categories, local weather reports, and other features.
Good article, well thought out and well written ... if only their software were as well thought out and well written ... <- cheap-shot from a Linux partisan :-)
Rule Engine Myth Versus Rule Engine Reality
Also read MSDN article "The Rules Engine That Saved the Day (But Not the Application)".
https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc168638.aspx
It didn't save the application but it did save their job ... actually not so surprising, I had the same experience at least twice, maybe more ... with umpteen millions line of legacy code that nobody understands or knows what to do with, desperation is a form of wisdom.
Examples
Not sure what the term 'wiki knowledge base' actually means ... maybe no one knows.
OS-OL Examples
All implemented in PHP.
Note: as if my low opinion of PHP security needs more evidence, just mentioning 'Tiki' on this page has been enough to provoke thousands of Tiki attacks. The same attack pattern over and over again, first a normal GET KnowledgeBase and then GET /tiki-register.php, the same pattern over and over again, at least one hundred times per day. I may have to get rid of this Tiki section just to clear up my logs a bit. Amazing.
http://info.tiki.org/tiki-index.php
Tiki is the Free / Libre / Open Source Web Application with the most built-in features. So whatever feature you can imagine running in your browser window, chances are Tiki does it.
Knowledge base: Wiki, FAQs, File gallery, Photo Album, Tags, Search, Kaltura video management integration
Collaboration/Project Management: Wiki, Forums, Tasks, Permissions, Timeline, Proposals/Votes, Blog, Categories, Watch
Publishing/web site: News articles, Blog, RSS, Newsletter, Maps, Themes, Banners, WYSIWYG
Commerce: Shopping Cart, Payment, Membership, Credits, Accounting
Social networking/Community: Friends, Maps, Inter-user messages, Surveys, Polls, Chat, Share link, Comments, Calendar
CRM / Help Desk: User database, membership, Bug & issue trackers, polls
Office suite: Wiki, Spreadsheet, Slideshow, Drawings, Database (trackers) and Reports
Personal Information Management (PIM): Calendar, Webmail, Address book, Notepad, Time Sheet
E-learning: Quizzes, Slideshow, BigBlueButton webinar integration
Framework: App builder (forms & reports), Workflow, Profiles, Advanced wiki syntax
Was overly big and very slow 10 years ago ... now ?
TWiki is a flexible, powerful, and easy to use enterprise wiki, enterprise collaboration platform, and web application platform.
It is a Structured Wiki, typically used to run a project development space, a document management system, a knowledge base, or any other groupware tool, on an intranet, extranet or the Internet.
http://www.elegantthemes.com/blog/resources/an-overview-of-wordpress-wiki-knowledge-base-plugins
See: SemanticMediawiki
Commercial Examples
http://www.capterra.com/knowledge-management-software/
http://www.knowledgebase-manager.com/
Share knowledge on the web or intranet with Knowledgebase Manager Pro
Knowledge Base Manager Pro is a web-based knowledge management system developed to support and enhance the organizational processes of knowledge sharing, creation, storage, retrieval, transfer, and application. Improve customer care, decrease customer support costs, help staff to find necessary information faster, improve decision-making process, increase efficiency of employees, and preserve integrity of business knowledge with our knowledge management software solution.
Customizable and User-friendly interface
Multiple knowledge base publishing options
Powerful and multifunctional KM software
Multilingual interface
RSS syndication support
Variable feedback mechanisms
Built-in software updater
Active response system
Predefined themes and customizable styles
Multiple levels of data integrity preservation
https://confluence.atlassian.com/display/CONF53/Developing+a+Knowledge+Base+on+Confluence+Wiki
..including these features:
Using templates
Subscriptions (RSS or email)
Organising content (hierarchically or by label)
Populating data via templates
A 'was this helpful?' survey
Intelligent searching algorithms (higher ranked articles are promoted in search results)
Targeted searching across specified Confluence spaces and content types
How to show related content via labels
Extensive metrics and reporting
Re-using content for easier maintenance and consistency
http://www.lessonslearnedserver.com/
A lightweight knowledge base with a simple structure and powerful search features
http://www.knowledgebase-script.com/
PHPKB is a powerful and robust knowledge base software for your business to locate, capture and share information with your team.
Aspects Of The Theory Of
Many aspects to KB - including how 'things known' shape the knowledge 'schema'
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Knowledge_representation_languages
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knowledge_arena
A knowledge arena is a virtual space where individuals can manipulate concepts and relationships to form a concept map. Individuals using a computer with appropriate software can represent concepts and the relationships between concepts in a node-relationship-node formalism.
http://www.thefreedictionary.com/arena
An enclosed area for the presentation of sports events and spectacles, a building housing such an area.
A place or scene where forces contend or events unfold: withdrew from the political arena; the world as an arena of moral conflict.
Theories of Linking
Knowledge linking ... now what is that ?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intertextuality
Intertextuality is the shaping of a text's meaning by another text. Intertextual figures include: allusion, quotation, calque, plagiarism, translation, pastiche and parody. Examples of intertextuality are an author’s borrowing and transformation of a prior text, and a reader’s referencing of one text in reading another.
The term “intertextuality” has, itself, been borrowed and transformed many times since it was coined by poststructuralist Julia Kristeva in 1966. As philosopher William Irwin wrote, the term “has come to have almost as many meanings as users, from those faithful to Kristeva’s original vision to those who simply use it as a stylish way of talking about allusion and influence.”
