Files, files, everywhere.....

Today started with a meeting about files - where to advise users to store them mainly. Prompted by an upgrade we're doing soon to our collaboration service, uSpace, which allows uploaded documents (and spreadsheets, pdfs, powerpoint) to be previewed and annotated in the browser. Currently we advise users not to upload documents etc, but to create them as uSpace documents using the wiki-like editor. They're easier to view that way, and collaboration, comment etc is much easier. We also want to keep the environment as a collaboration space, not a document repository. But - it's easy to upload documents, so people do. And the upgrade will make it easier to view them. So, the discussion this morning was on policy - and what to advise users. There are many different places to store files - personal hard disc, uSpace, shared filestore, individual filestore, portal groups, VLE - as well as the many places in the cloud including Google apps and MobileMe. Developments we're making to our portal and document management will solve some of the issues, but we need to map out how everything fits together. The diagram above is the first attempt. That's clear then.

LHC and Digital Worlds

Yesterday was an exciting day if you're a scientist (or even if you're not), as the Large Hadron Collider successfully completed the first collisions of proton beams at speeds and energy far in excess of what's been achieved before. I don't pretend to understand it all , (I might have a science background but was never very good at Physics), but I appreciate the scale and the importance of what happened. It was exciting watching it happen, and another answer to people who still don't seem to get Web 2.0, especially Twitter. I followed the @cern feed and their rapid fire tweets had me on the edge of my chair:


The hashtag #cern had several hundred people commenting, and I ended up following some of the scientists who were actually there making it happen, as well as more famous commentators including Professor Brian Cox. Then there was the live web cast which I had open in the top corner of my screen so that I could continue working (on an audit report, so needed some light relief....). It was good to see so much input from British Scientists, and I hope that the investment in science is maintained through what could be difficult financial times. Investment in science will be key to our economic recovery.

I had another brush with science yesterday when we had a follow up meeting with our Professor of Digital Worlds, and how we might work together to take forward some of his projects. These include analysing the masses of data we hold on such things as purchasing, and student progression, and also looking at how we can take advantage of the Digital Region Project which is currently bringing high speed broadband to South Yorkshire. Will be good to have some involvement in research projects. We already do of course provide a lot of input into our High Performance Computing projects but this will be something different.

Other meetings over the past few days include more discussions on change management, and a look at progress on using our collaboration tool, uSpace to handle information on our institutional contacts overseas. Some good progress been made, and it's been a good use of an existing tool, and avoided us having to write or buy a new system.