| Why are
Community Information Platforms Important?
Local information is critically important in any
community -- a school, a neighborhood, a hospital, a
town. Whether its a directory of people, maps
of the area, lists of health care providers, social
networking, course materials, newsletters, or
podcasts, every community has
the need to convey information and stories to each
other.
In the past, it
has been possible to add content to
eGranary, but this was a task best left to those with technical skills. Intel’s
sponsorship of the Community Information Platform makes it
possible for anyone to add content to eGranary using
simple tools and without needing technical training. |
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Details The
main goal of the CIP project is to make it possible
for eGranary users to add, edit, catalog, and search
local content, thereby allowing for personalization
and community information sharing. It capitalizes on
open source software and Web 2.0 technologies to
create easy-to-use interfaces for content creators
and catalogers. The beta version of
the eGranary Community Information Portal was
released in February, 2009 with the capacity to host
unlimited Local Information Silos that can be added
and removed like cartridges. It integrates
various home-grown software and third-party software
that works together under the eGranary Framework,
like MySQL Database Server, support for PHP, J2EE,
ASP, Drupal CMS, Moodle LMS, basic LDAP services, a
PHP-based file browser and free Web page editors
Managers of a CIP can set up unlimited Web sites for
their patrons. Patrons can then use built-in
software to upload and manage files, as well as edit
Web pages in a WYSIWYG environment.
The CIP beta also includes Application Templates,
customizable templates (or "boilerplates") for
common community information that users can populate
with information to create their own websites.
Prototypes include:
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