Objective
Agree on working methods and design of the VRE
Before the researchers start working in the VRE, it is advisable to organise a workshop in which the various possibilities of the VRE can be demonstrated.
This workshop can also be used to discuss the way in which the work within the VRE will be organised. Ideally, the entire user group of the VRE should be present at this meeting.
Discussions about the working methods and the design of the VRE work best when the researchers can actually see each other.
In addition, the workshop is best held in a computer lab in which researchers can experiment with the tools that are discussed.
Agenda
Below is a list of items that can be placed on the agenda for such a workshop.
- Brief demonstration of the functionalities of the VRE. If the environment has been configured on the basis of a prioritised list of functionalities, the discussion can be restricted to the most important functionalities. When requirements have been classified using the MoSCoW method, the demonstration can focus on those functionalities which have been marked with ‘M’ and ‘S’. During the workshop, researchers should be able to practice with these possibilities themselves so that they can effectively evaluate whether or not the tools meet their needs. If there are still issues with the software, or if the VRE does not fully meet the expectations of the researchers, workshop leaders should make a note of this and plan additional configuration work.
- Discussion of the organisation of the VRE. Workshop leaders can explain the general structure of the VRE. Which document libraries and subsites have been defined? Is there a need for additional libraries? Which documents will actually be stored in the various document libraries? It is also useful to explain that the documents within each library may be organised further through the use of keywords or structured metadata, and that users can receive updates on all activities in these libraries by creating alerts.
- Discussion of the communication tools. How will the researchers communicate? Who will write announcements and in which situations? Will the team continue to use e-mail for discussions about the research? Or should the team predominantly share their ideas and experiences on a web log or in a discussion board? Who will be the moderator of the weblog of the discussion forum? Does the team want to send questions to the VRE support team? How should this be organised? Will this take place through a discussion forum in the VRE or does the team prefer to send e-mails to the library?
- Discussion of public website. Which information should be placed on the public website? What does the group want to share with the rest of the world? Can visitors of the website also contact the research group? Which e-mail address should be used for this purpose? The team can also be asked to write a brief text about the research team to be used on the home page of the VRE. The support team may prepare a brief text prior to the workshop, using information that was given during the intake session.
- Discussion of roles and permissions. To make the work within the team and the collaboration with the library more efficient, a number of roles should be assigned to different members of the team. The roles of VRE manager and the main contact person for the library are essential. These roles may or may not be assigned to the same person. Next to these roles, team members may also be assigned a responsibility for the overall site organisation, a responsibility for the use metadata and keywords, responsibility for the specific subsites in the VRE, responsibility for the public website, moderation of the discussion board. The roles that users take on also have implications for the permission structure. In most cases, the users who have been assigned a specific role should be added to the group of “site owners”.
Results
The workshop may result on the following:
- Acceptance of the VRE as implemented, or, alternatively, a list of issues that need to be solved.
- Brief description of the planned use of document libraries and of communication tools.
- Brief description of the contents of the public website.
- List of role and names of users to whom these roles have been assigned.
After the workshop, a brief summary may be written to remind the researchers of the procedures that have been proposed. If necessary, a new meeting can be arranged after the researchers have worked in the VRE for a few months to encourage members to exchange experiences: what goes well, what could be organised better?