We currently offer the following tools to help researchers exchange information and ideas.  If you know of other collaborative tools in use at Cincinnati Children's or the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, or if you are interested in installing a new tool on our servers, please contact the BMI Help Desk.

Information/file sharing

SharePoint

A licensed technology from Microsoft®, SharePoint® is a platform for hosting and developing collaborative, document-centric web sites.  It is closely integrated with the Microsoft Office suite, so if you are interested in collaboratively developing Word®, Excel®, PowerPoint® and other Office documents, SharePoint may be an ideal solution.  SharePoint also enables you to quickly create announcement lists, discussion boards, surveys, calendars and other site features, and to customize how these features are displayed in the user interface.

• Available to: CCRF faculty and staff
• Cost: $200/project/year (covering up to 4 hours of initial setup and support)
• New site requests: BMI Help Desk
• Examples: SharePoint sites at Cincinnati Children's

Plone

Plone is an open-source content management system for creating web sites. Whereas SharePoint is suitable for creating document-centric, interactive sites, Plone is more suitable for developing traditional informational sites. With Plone, it is easy to create and organize HTML pages, and to enable multiple users to add and edit content. With some assistance from BMI, you also can customize the look and feel of your site.

• Available to: CCRF faculty and staff
• Cost: $200/site/year (covering up to 4 hours of initial setup and support)
• New site requests: BMI Help Desk
• Examples: Plone sites at Cincinnati Children's

Xythos

Xythos is a licensed tool for secure file sharing. Using a web interface, you can upload files of any type or size, organizing them into folders as needed. You can send anyone, anywhere a "ticket," or email invitation to view your folders and files, setting conditions such as permissions, password-protection and expiration dates if desired.  Those receiving tickets need only click a secure URL to access shared resources; they don't need Xythos accounts themselves.

• Available to: CCRF faculty and staff
• Cost: 1 GB quota for free; quota increases: $2/GB/year
  
• New account requests: BMI Help Desk

MediaWiki

For anyone who has used Wikipedia, this resource will look familiar.  It enables you to add and edit web content using the wiki markup language, a simplified alternative to HTML.  Unless a page is protected, anyone with an account can edit it directly from the wiki user interface.  No special software or skills are required.  At the same time, a complete history of each page is stored in the database, making it possible to easily revert to a previous version if necessary.

• Available to: CCRF/UC College of Medicine faculty, staff and students
• Cost: None
• New account requests: BMI Help Desk
• Web address: http://bmiwiki.cchmc.org

Scheduling

WebCalendar

WebCalendar is an open-source tool that enables you to keep track of your own appointments and events, and to view those of other users.

• Available to: CCRF faculty and staff
• Cost: None
• New Account requests: BMI Help Desk
  • Note: Please specify whether you would like to join the group of Cincinnati Children's and UC researchers using a public version of the calendar, or if you would like your own instance of WebCalendar -- for example, for your department or research group.
• Web address for public calendar: http://bmicalendar.cchmc.org

MRBS/Research Equipment Booking System

To meet the scheduling needs of labs and other groups with equipment available to other researchers, we have installed an open-source tool called MRBS. Via a web interface, investigators can view calendars for available resources and book open times. The Developmental Biology Imaging group, for instance, is using this tool to schedule time on multiple microscopes.

• Available to: CCRF faculty/staff
• Cost: None
• New account requests: BMI Help Desk
• Web address: http://research.cchmc.org/mrbs

Mailing Lists

Mail lists are a way to easily manage email communication -- for example, among members of a committee or users of a common resource.  Lists can be set up in a number of different ways.  For example, list membership can be open to anyone or controlled by an administrator.  Similarly, the ability to send messages may be granted to all subscribers or a select few.

• Available to: CCRF/UC College of Medicine faculty and staff
• Cost: None
• New list request: BMI Help Desk
• Web address: http://mailman.cchmc.org/mailman/listinfo

Web Conferencing

Using web conferencing technology, you can conduct online meetings and conferences complete with audio, video and other features. Cincinnati Children's employees have access to web conferencing services from iLinc (which is replacing WebEx as our preferred provider).

• Available to: Cincinnati Children's employees
• New account requests/more information: Digital Classroom CenterLink site