Alfredo Gaitan

Sharing experiences with using next generation knowledge portals for advancing web communities

In this article, we discuss the development of two repositories of shared knowledge using intra- and inter-tagging functionality. The functionality enables web user communities to upload, search, navigate through and tag multiple documents in multiple ways at a macro and micro level. Users can tag the whole document as well as parts there-in, as they deem appropriate. Our development process employed a unique, specifically designed community user needs approach (CUNA) to allow elicitation of diverse user communities needs. This included an iterative, rapid application development approach, which in turn, allowed lessons learned from the testing phase to be implemented in the following building phase. Results from in-house testing and an independent consultancy suggest that the web communities perceive the portals as beneficial not just during the project lifecycle but quite likely in future ventures.