Why use TWiki for the Atlas - Loren Evey 05/15/07

Non-computer geeks will collaborate on development of this atlas. I don't want the longevity of the Atlas to be dependent on me. That is, if I get hit by a truck, the Atlas must go on.

My plan is for the atlas to be ultimately hosted on a remote server having mission critical status. Thus, please assess whether the atlas can be entirely handled by the TWiki engine. If so, this project will be positioned to grow as a collaborative effort regardless of whatever might become of you, me, or my kitchen (current server).

The TWiki engine evolved as a collaborative tool for project management within corporations. We are on the cutting edge of demonstrating an Academic implementation of this technology. This gives us a competitive advantage. I am confident that the development time for the atlas will be decreased by the Wiki technology. At the same time, the quality of content will be increased.

Our development of the atlas demonstrates the viability of Wiki technology to host collaborative efforts in general. This is especially relevant to the collaborative demands of program project grants, translational research, and geographically separate institutions. Indeed, the Wiki engine we are using (TWiki) is the same engine chosen by NIH to host their future collaborative activities.

There are a number of faculty/staff/students who are monitoring your efforts. They will provide helpful comments, corrections, and suggestions about the content, development, and presentation of the atlas. This is where the Wiki technology will shine.

Please encourage our contributors to use the Wiki as the main tool for collaborative communications. My hope is that we minimize the use of email for communications of general interest. Indeed, NIH required that neither email or conference calls be the main communication for our project program grant. Wiki technology is ideal as a modern collaborative tool.

Loren

Ps. The TWiki generates an RSS feed. Thus, create a "live bookmark" in your browser to quickly monitor contributions to the project. The thumbnail tool I used has to be run as a local user on the linux server. Thus, I have to do it. Even so, there is merit to creating thumbnails in this manner for the early development phase of this project.