DataONE:Tips and reflections on OWW

I've been asked to write down some tips and reflections about my experience, to date, with OpenWetWare. Here they are.

Tips for getting started

Look around

Look around other people's pages to see how others use OWW and what is possible. Some places to start:

• http://openwetware.org/wiki/Special:RecentChanges
• http://openwetware.org/wiki/Physics307L:People/Franco/Rough_Draft_for_Final_Report
• http://openwetware.org/wiki/User:Carl_Boettiger/Notebook/Stochastic_Population_Dynamics/2010/02/02
• http://openwetware.org/wiki/Koch_Lab:Notebooks

Request a login

http://openwetware.org/wiki/OpenWetWare:How_to_join

Read a bit

http://openwetware.org/wiki/OpenWetWare:Getting_started

Edit your user page

http://openwetware.org/wiki/OpenWetWare:Getting_started_2

Choose a "lab" name, or join one that already exists.

Could be PI last name or a project like "DataONE." You'll want to keep it short, because it will be in every URL! http://openwetware.org/wiki/Help:Starting_a_lab_wiki

Set up a lab notebook

We learned that it is easiest if you create a "Lab" notebook rather than a user one: http://openwetware.org/wiki/Lab_Notebook

Establish some standard ways to annotate each other's records

Will you comment on "talk" pages, or inline, or in comment boxes, or ??

• what we came up with: http://openwetware.org/wiki/DataONE:New_Contributor_Tips
• some alternatives: http://openwetware.org/wiki/Physics307L:People/Franco/Rough_Draft_for_Final_Report

Test and publicize your RSS feed

It will be this, where DataONE is substituted with your lab name:

• http://openwetware.org/index.php?filter=DataONE&feed=rss&title=Special:Recentchanges

Tips

• put your notebooks under the lab rather than personal name
• look at other people's notebooks for tips! View Source (or Edit, then Cancel) to see. Some helpful ones:
  • http://openwetware.org/wiki/Physics307L:People/Franco/Rough_Draft_for_Final_Report
  • http://openwetware.org/wiki/User:Carl_Boettiger/Notebook/Stochastic_Population_Dynamics/2010/02/02
  • http://openwetware.org/wiki/Koch_Lab:Notebooks

What OWW says about its strengths

• http://openwetware.org/wiki/OpenWetWare:Why_join%3F

My experience

What I really liked

• it worked
• embedding (google docs, Mendeley, gists, FriendFeed, Evernote shares, pubmed ids, etc)
• notebooks, protocols, etc where a useful framework for thinking about things
• a "well-known name" in the open notebook field, respected and understood as a hosting choice

What hasn't worked well for me

• can't view or update offline
• can't to some private, some public
• awkward to post images
• can't save drafts or bundle mini updates
• OWW tools, syntax not generalizable to other things
• hard to browse
• RSS diffs hard to read
• user vs lab space was confusing
• wasn't clear how to separate notebook vs static page content
• no way to automate posts, use local tools
• "talk" pages made it hard to see comments and content at the same time
• not a good fit for my workflow

Sustainability

Stats

• http://openwetware.org/wiki/Special:OWWStats

So it is still being used, but growth in number of users and notebooks is linear not exponential

• DataONE accounted for 8% of the activity in July

Long term future

• worrying
• very few recent blog posts, community group posts, comments from leadership, funding plans
• not innovating at this point