ILC Community/Communications Issues

1. ILCCommunity/Communications Issues Tom Markiewicz SLAC 04 May 2005

2. After LC Technology Decision (August 2004) SLAC ILC group felt that • It was important that ILC have a common web-based platform to de-regionalize, de-lab-ify & foster collaboration • Each region, lab, group, person should not have it’s own mailing lists, forums and web pages, unified by Google • All should be “ILC” • It would be good for SLAC if SLAC were to serve as the knowledge warehouse • A new platform should solve some of the web-anarchy problems existing in any (NLC, TESLA, JLC, ALPCG,…) system • Uniformity of information storage is important, else archived info is impossible to find: i.e. same system should be used by all WGs in both accelerator and detector worlds • The documentation job is too big to ask for volunteer webmasters- systems should all for user posting of info

3. October 2004-March 2005 SLAC Security paranoia prevents DIY solutions • posting files prohibited, except through email, especially by users outside firewall • in any case do not want to reinvent the wheel • Many negative comments from SCS: cost, support, security,… Consult with SLAC pubs (Rebecca Reitmeyer) • Pubs document entry system cumbersome, SLAC-centric • email file with human firewall Begin ongoing collab. with SLAC communications (Ruth McDunn) • Investigate DIY: Access Meta-data + files stored in file structure • TWM & Ruth’s expertise • Investigate BaBar solution: Ray Cowan’s Meeting Manager • ORACLE/UNIX based equivalent • Investigate Microsoft SharePoint • Most of effort/time spent here as SLAC has site license • Investigate CERN CDS • Rapidly being embraced world-wide, but needs tweaking Fermilab launches PLONE-based Fermilab ILC site • Fermilab “offers” to host global ILC site using BTEV personnel as support

4. Enter SCS SCS declares that SLAC has an INSTITUTIONAL NEED for the kind of wiki-ware / meta-data tagged document control software we think we need • Meet March 10 w/ Andrea Chan & Brian Scott from SCS • Brian strongly favors commercial solutions • Sales presentations arranged for representatives of SLAC user communities • Interwoven (dropped) • Documentum: ERoom • OpenText (LiveLink) (seems to be favored by SCS gurus) • Test sites set up • TWM tests Interwoven & Eroom, emails report to SCS • Tony Johnson & TWM begin testing OpenText 5/3/05 • Meeting with SCS, AD, RD, AD, ILC, SSRL, LCLS, ES&H reps • Software Requirements solicited • Major inputs from ILC (TWM) & RD Seminar organizer (I think) • Tony & I successful re-open Open Source solutions as options that need to be seriously investigated • PLONE • CDS as implemented by DESY, NIU or D0

5. Current Status Continue to investigate commercial solutions via their test sites • ERoom • OpenText More in-depth evaluation of PLONE • TWM beta-tests Fermilab site: not a winner without modifications • Ruth has PLONE up on SLAC test server & is educating herself • Conversations with Fermilab web-czar & other knowledgeable PLONE user/advocates Possible test installation of CDS at SLAC • DESY contacted • trivial if there is a will • Testing of CERN LHC capabilities implies that we would like modifications of features

6. Elsewhere… ILC GDE Director • Only feels need for glossy web prescence now • Has been given web guy + admin at FNAL • Would like several solutions for collaborative software investigated so he can choose later DESY • GANCOMM report with software requirements meant to service ILC and XFEL (a real project) • Meeting management, Document control, Configuration control, email lists, forums, webcasts, VOIP, etc. Everywhere • Continued proliferation of flat html web sites • SLAC ILC Site • Continued emergence of PLONE + CDS solutions • Snowmass site, etc.

7. ILC Software Requirements Priority 1: • storage & management of talks • uniform filing / retrieval • platform / location independent • user driven (minimize need for web czars) • organized / searchable by • standing meeting or conference • (but NOT a conference organization tool) • working group (collection of standing meetings) • speaker Priority 1.5 • calendar / agenda system • standing meetings but with good flexibility for changing day/time/place • LC related conferences meetings w/ links to urls • calendar view with filters (regional, WG, etc.) • list view with indication of topics discussed at meeting

8. ILC Software Requirements Priority 2 • document management system • multiple authors per document • searchable by author/topic/keyword • handle different doc types • text: doc, pdf, ps, txt • image: jpef, tiff, .. • other: code repository • ability to x-ref to institutional doc mgmt system (SLAC-PUB, MFD, etc.) a real plus • Collaborative document writing management tools (CVS-like) Priority 3 • Configuration Management system • How to define/capture ILC design in a navigable manner? Bells & whistles: • Integrated emailing lists, bulletin/discussion/forum boards, change notification system, conference planning tools • webcast, vrvs, voip, video or phone meeting systems

9. DB Design Required to Support Needs(Partial copy, full DB available on request)

10. Mailing Lists

11. Forum or Bulletin Board

12. Wiki-ware: MS SharePoint

13. Wiki-Ware: GNU-based: CERN CDS

14. Arbitrarily Large Tree-Unified by Search

15. Unification Via Search

16. Home-Designed DB+File Structure Based Systems: SLAC BDIR, BaBar, SiD,….

17. OpenText Screens