Latest revision as of 04:03, 3 April 2009

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Content Workflow

Hundreds of thousands of logical collections of media exist that could be in bundles for the XO. OLPC has countless hundreds of volunteers who want to help. But relatively few bundles have been created, why?

The answer is roughly that the process for creating a bundle is not clear. Also, not everyone is capable of completing all of the technical or organizational tasks needed to make a bundle. It makes sense to complete document the steps of this process and try to flesh out tools, processes and even groups to facilitate this process. It is not and has never been a hard task, just a few little ones.

Content Workflow Diagram

                     Found Content------License Vetting
                         |                     |             |----Translate----
Search for Content       |                     |             |                |
            |            |                     |             |                |
          Add Content to Wiki     Initial Review/Prioritize-------Transcode--------Content Bundling--Content Stamping
            |            |                     |             |                |
Wanted Content           |                     |             |                |
                         |                     |             |----Edit---------
                     Created Content----License Release

Steps

The above diagram is a little rough, so lets walk through the steps in order.

Raw content

The process starts with raw content from a source. This could have been created specifically for OLPC or re-purposed from any one of thousands of existing content collections. There are a number of steps that have to be done to this content before it can be made into a library bundle.

Document the content

The first step is to add the content to the wiki. This is an important first step for many reasons:

Its unlikely that this way that two people will duplicate effort
If you (the finder or creator) stop working on the project, the work can be picked up by someone else

This initial documentation should contain some basic information:

Name of Collection	Filetype(s)	Language	URL to Content	Submitted by	License
Diveintopython	http, pdf, xml,	it, fr, es, cz, kr, ru,	http://diveintopython.org/	Seth	GFDL

This example for Dive into Python isn't a bad example of what this data should look like. It doesn't quite satisfy all of the information that is needed but it is a start.

Check the License

One of the most important pieces of information would be the current license status of the work. Content for OLPC must be in some acceptable form of Open-Content license like Creative Commons or the GFDL. Content that has an unknown status, or is of unacceptable license should a special tag and/or place on the wiki.

A group of users need to watch this page and track down of copyright information on content, manage correct attribution, and in some cases, opening discussions with the copyright holder on releasing the content into an acceptable license.

Format

At this point the material needs to be cleaned up for loading on the XO. A lot of these steps don't have to happen, but ideally we send kids the best possible and most useful content for it's size.

Edit

Simple enough, the material must be edited and shaped to fit on the XO. This includes resizing images for the screen of the XO, fixing spelling errors, etc.

Transcode

A lot of material needs to be Transcoded. Trancoding is the conversion from one filetype to another. For instance media that is in mp3 will need to be trancoded to ogg, and whenever possible flash video needs to be transcoded to ogg video.

Translate and Localize

Here comes the hard part. Most, if not all, or our content needs to be translated if it is going to be useful in our deployment countries. See Translate for details.

Bundling

Examples

Photos

I am a non-profit with a large digital stock of scanned historical maps from Africa
I have a series of photos of puppets from around the world

Internet Archive

www.archive.org has hundreds of thousands of scanned-in books -- 50,000 live concerts -- hundreds of thousands of movies, animations and videos -- all freely licensed or in the public domain. They are actively interested in transcoding all their videos into Ogg Theora so they can be played on the XO. Almost all of the music is in lossless formats, so it would transcode well into Ogg Vorbis or into Speex.

nasaimages.com has thousands of photos in the public domain, taken of space or by space or about space and rockets and stuff like that. Also some movies. It's managed by the Internet Archive in collaboration with NASA.

Vetting of Content

Depending on how much information was recorded by the content's finder and initial logger to the wiki, additional information will likely need to be recorded.

Cross Posting

The last step involves cross posting any materials to other websites that the content may belong on. For instance an audiobook could go to archive.org or to librivox. An illustration would be uploaded to Wiki Commons.

@@ Line 2: / Line 2: @@
 {{draft}}
-== Idea ==
+= Content Workflow =
-Some examples of ideas are...
+Hundreds of thousands of logical collections of media exist that could be in bundles for the XO.  OLPC has countless hundreds of volunteers who want to help.  But relatively few bundles have been created, why?
-* Wouldn't it be great if there was an open resource to teach children how to do X?
-* I loved this book as a kid... I wish something like it was available to kids in other countries.
-* I made this thing - I wonder if it's useful to other students for learning?
+The answer is roughly that the process for creating a bundle is not clear.  Also, not everyone is capable of completing all of the technical or organizational tasks needed to make a bundle.  It makes sense to complete document the steps of this process and try to flesh out tools, processes and even groups to facilitate this process.  It is not and has never been a hard task, just a few little ones.
-== Finding and Entering Content ==
-=== Going on a content hunt ===
-==== Gather your picks and shovels ====
+== Content Workflow Diagram ==
-#Open your favorite browser window (or several).
-#Open your favorite text editor as a scratch pad, you'll want to copy/paste links from the browser and make notes.
-:Simply relying on browser history or bookmarking is probably not the best strategy, you'll want to capture your findings and get them recorded on the wiki at the end of your search.  Editing directly into a wiki page is also less-than-ideal as you don't want to get distracted by formating and the like while the hunt is on.
+                      [[Found Content]]------[[Content/License|License Vetting]]
-#If you are doing this collaboratively (in real-time) you'll probably want to open an IRC chat session on a suitable channel.
+                          |                     |             |----[[Translate]]----
+ [[Content_Searching|Search for Content]]       |                     |             |                |
+             |            |                     |             |                |
+           Add Content to Wiki     Initial Review/Prioritize-------[[Transcode]]--------[[Content Bundling]]--[[Content Stamping]]
+             |            |                     |             |                |
+ [[Wanted Content]]           |                     |             |                |
+                          |                     |             |----[[Edit]]---------
+                      [[Created Content]]----[[License Release]]
-==== Focused content hunt ====
-You've got an idea of what sort of content you want to find.
+= Steps =
-Searching with your favorite search engine on carefully chosen terms is likely to return a lot of links, and you can't necessarily visit them all. One good strategy is to use this search to find super-nodes from which to do more focused browsing.  For health and science content: government agencies/ministries, NGO's, patient and research advocacy groups and universities are all likely to have produced suitable content or gathered together links to high-quality content.  Furthermore, as these are all generally non-profit organizations, the chances of finding content that is (or can be) made available under suitable licensing terms are substantially improved.
+The above diagram is a little rough, so lets walk through the steps in order.
-==== Surprise content discovery ====
-Sometimes when you are looking for one thing, you stumble across something else entirely.  Serendipity is a wonderful thing.  Open a fresh text window and paste the link with some notes on topic, copyright, that will allow you (or someone else) pick up that thread.  If you working collabaratively with a group on a focused content hunt, it's best not to get distracted by another topic, no matter how rich a vein of content you've found; but don't lose track of it either.  It could become the starting point of a new focused content hunt you launch later on, or you can drop it onto an appropriate wiki page for someone else to follow up.
-=== Existing materials ===
+== Raw content ==
+The process starts with raw content from a source.  This could have been created specifically for OLPC or re-purposed from any one of thousands of existing content collections.  There are a number of steps that have to be done to this content before it can be made into a library bundle.
-=== Source materials ===
-=== Collaborators ===
+=== Document the content ===
+The first step is to add the content to the wiki.  This is an important first step for many reasons:
-=== Reviewers ===
+* Its unlikely that this way that two people will duplicate effort
+* If you (the finder or creator) stop working on the project, the work can be picked up by someone else
-=== Users ===
+This initial documentation should contain some basic information:
-=== Entering Content into the OLPC Wiki ===
+{| border=1 style="border-collapse:collapse;" cellpadding=2 cellspacing=2
+|-
+! Name of Collection
+! Filetype(s)
+! [[Translate|Language]]
+! URL to Content
+! Submitted by
+! [[Licensing_petitions|License]]
+|-
+|width="12%"| Diveintopython
+|width="5%"| http, pdf, xml,
+|width="5%"| it, fr, es, cz, kr, ru,
+|width="20%"| http://diveintopython.org/
+|width= "8%"| [[User:sethwoodworth|Seth]]
+|width="40%"| [[GFDL]]
+|}
+This example for [[Dive into Python]] isn't a bad example of what this data should look like.  It doesn't quite satisfy all of the information that is needed but it is a start.
-For any other work to be done, content must have some sort of a home at the wiki.  This 'Content-Page' should contain some standard basic information about the work including format, language and most importantly a URL or current location of said content.
-== Vetting of Content ==
+=== Check the [[Licensing_petitions|License]] ===
-Depending on how much information was recorded by the content's finder and initial logger to the wiki, additional information will likely need to be recorded.
-=== License ===
 One of the most important pieces of information would be the current license status of the work.  Content for OLPC must be in some acceptable form of Open-Content license like Creative Commons or the GFDL.  Content that has an unknown status, or is of unacceptable license should a special tag and/or place on the wiki.
-A team should be formed for tracking down of copyright information on content, correct attribution, and in some cases, opening discussions with the copyright holder on releasing the content into an acceptable license.
+A group of users need to watch this page and track down of copyright information on content, manage correct attribution, and in some cases, opening discussions with the copyright holder on releasing the content into an acceptable license.
-== Creation ==
+== Format ==
+At this point the material needs to be cleaned up for loading on the XO.  A lot of these steps don't ''have'' to happen, but ideally we send kids the best possible and most useful content for it's size.
-=== Brainstorming ===
-=== Drafting ===
+=== Edit ===
+Simple enough, the material must be edited and shaped to fit on the XO.  This includes resizing images for the screen of the XO, fixing spelling errors, etc.
-=== Editing ===
-=== Useful tools ===
+=== [[Transcode]] ===
+A lot of material needs to be [[Transcoded]].  Trancoding is the conversion from one filetype to another.  For instance media that is in mp3 will need to be trancoded to [[ogg]], and whenever possible flash video needs to be transcoded to ogg video.
-* plaintext editors
-* inkscape
-* wiki
+=== Translate and Localize ===
-== Curation ==
+Here comes the hard part.  Most, if not all, or our content needs to be translated if it is going to be useful in our deployment countries. See [[Translate]] for details.
-=== Categorization ===
-=== Bundling ===
+== Bundling ==
-=== What teachers are looking for ===
-== Adaptation ==
-How to transform existing works into something new, and how to make your work something other people will transform.
-=== Licensing ===
-=== Translation ===
-=== Editing ===
+= Examples =
+== Examples ==
+=== Photos ===
+* I am a non-profit with a large digital stock of scanned historical maps from Africa
+* I have a series of photos of puppets from around the world
+=== Internet Archive ===
+www.archive.org has hundreds of thousands of scanned-in books -- 50,000 live concerts -- hundreds of thousands of movies, animations and videos -- all freely licensed or in the public domain.  They are actively interested in transcoding all their videos into Ogg Theora so they can be played on the XO.  Almost all of the music is in lossless formats, so it would transcode well into Ogg Vorbis or into Speex.
+nasaimages.com has thousands of photos in the public domain, taken of space or by space or about space and rockets and stuff like that.  Also some movies.  It's managed by the Internet Archive in collaboration with NASA.
+== Vetting of Content ==
+Depending on how much information was recorded by the content's finder and initial logger to the wiki, additional information will likely need to be recorded.
-=== Creating new works ===
-== Deployment ==
-How to get your stuff actually tested with real kids in a classroom.
-== Feedback ==
+== Cross Posting ==
+The last step involves cross posting any materials to other websites that the content may belong on.  For instance an audiobook could go to archive.org or to librivox.  An illustration would be uploaded to Wiki Commons.
-How to get it, encourage it, and react to it.
 [[Category:Content]]

Content workflow: Difference between revisions

Latest revision as of 04:03, 3 April 2009

Contents

Content Workflow

Content Workflow Diagram

Steps

Raw content

Document the content

Check the License

Format

Edit

Transcode

Translate and Localize

Bundling

Examples

Examples

Photos

Internet Archive

Vetting of Content

Cross Posting

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