BIRN provides various services to help BIRN users and projects.
Wiki Hosting
Wikis are websites that enable multiple users to create and edit web pages easily, collaboratively and with fine degrees of security. These interlinked web pages can range from fully public web sites to secure, internal project sites. Such internal sites may be as expansive as many public sites, or as narrow as single-purpose data repositories, sounding boards or online scratch pads.
Individual research projects are invited to create their own space on BIRN’s wiki, which runs on enterprise-level Confluence software. Creating a wiki can enable your team to consolidate knowledge, coordinate research and meetings, draft papers and presentations, and carry out other vital tasks in a single, online location. The wiki concept maps directly to BIRN’s more-participation-for-better-outcomes ethos.
Status: In production
Contact: Cristina Williams (cristina at isi dot edu)
Mailing Lists
BIRN’s Working Groups, organizational infrastructure and users frequently communicate via online mailing lists. As a BIRN user, you’re welcome to join existing lists for announcements and discussion in your research specialty or areas of interest. You also can request lists to help target questions and conversations to specific audiences, and easily can manage that information through a web-based interface. BIRN currently uses open-source Mailman list management software.
Status: In production
Contact: Cristina Williams (cristina at isi dot edu)
Capabilities Registry
The BIRN Capability Registry will allow us a formal system for registering and tracking the capabilities available in BIRN. The capability definition registry includes descriptions and documentation, and the deployment registry tracks the availability of each service. Registry data will be available via the BIRN website (for casual browsing and queries) and via web APIs for autoconfiguring other tools
Status: In development (forecast for early 2010)
Contact: Lee Liming (liming at mcs dot anl dot gov)
Verification & Validation
The Verification & Validation (V&V) tool monitors all formally registered capability deployments to ensure they are working as advertised. The goal is to promote consistent quality in BIRN-wide capabilities (consistent with documentation) and to build confidence in the system.
Status: In development (forecast for early 2010)
Contact: Lee Liming (liming at mcs dot anl dot gov)
