Knowledge management is a survival skill

We must recognize that knowledge is everywhere in the organization, but we won't have access to it until, and only when, we create work that is meaningful, leaders that are trustworthy, and organizations that foster everyone's contribution and support by giving staff time to think and reflect together.

comment  trackback []  5:40:08 AM    

Using weblogs in business

• The Weblog As Filing Cabinet - Using weblogs as a mechanism to coherently codify and "publish" in a completely voluntary and personal manner the individual worker's entire filing cabinet, complete with annotations, marginalia, post-its, and personal indexing system.
• A Weblog-Based Content Architecture for Business - outlines a content architecture that could enable the publishing of a worker's "filing cabinet" to occur.
• Finding The Right Niche - suggests a process for integrating weblogs profitably and productively into companies that already have well-established knowledge management systems.

Dave Pollard also has a mockup of an employee knowledge-log (or k-log), with an expanded picture of the parts of the k-log.

For more articles on this subject, see Dave's Blogs and Blogging table of contents.

comment  trackback []  5:59:07 AM    

Knowledge worker reading list

comment  trackback []  5:36:45 AM    

Development ideas for OutlineBlogger Tool

Add other renderers

The renderer I am using in the current tool is a modified version of user.html.renderers.twoLevelOutline. There are a total of 19 outline renderers in the Radio UserLand root database. One way to allow other renderers to be used could be to add a preference setting to allow the user to select the renderer.

Add permalinks for each item

In the OPML Editor, most if not all of the items have a permalink at the end of each outline element posted. Currently, the OutlineBlogger Tool does not add any permalinks, but it could be added (don't have any ideas right now on how to do that).

Edit previously posted entries in the outliner

The current design is that the outline text is rendered in HTML and posted. The text is stored in Radio UserLand's content management system. To be able to edit previous entries in the outliner, I would probably have to save previous entries as outlines, which would make the tool more like the OPML Editor, which saves all content as OPML files. I do not know if there would be a way to take the text and convert it back to an outline.

comment  trackback []  9:38:13 PM    

First users for OutlineBlogger Tool

Raymon has also tried out the OutlineBlogger Tool.

comment  trackback []  10:42:43 PM    

OutlineBlogger tool for Radio UserLand

I have enjoyed using the outliner in Radio UserLand for writing and organizing information. I wrote a Radio UserLand tool (DirectoryTool) to create directories for Radio UserLand weblogs from outlines. When I saw Dave Winer's OPML Editor, I began to think about how to use the Radio UserLand outliner to make weblog posts. The result is the OutlineBlogger Tool for Radio UserLand.

Installation

1. Click here to download the OutlineBlogger Tool and save the download file to the Tools folder or directory within your Radio UserLand program folder or directory.

2. An entry for OutlineBlogger should show up in a minute in the Tools menu within the Radio UserLand application. If it does not show up, quit Radio UserLand and restart, and the entry should appear.

3. Go to this prefs page while Radio UserLand is running, uncheck the check box for enabling the WYSIWYG editing tool, and click on the Submit Button. After this step is complete, you are ready to start using the OutlineBlogger tool.

Making a post

1. Create a weblog post in an outline

Bring the Radio Userland application to the foreground. From the Tools menu, select the OutlineBlogger entry, then select the "Open weblog post outline" sub-menu entry. A window will open with the default outline to be edited. When you first edit the outline, it will not contain any text. You can add text by clicking on a line and typing. To start a new line, press Return. When you have finished editing the outline, close the window by clicking on the window close box or button. If you want to edit the outline again, select the "open weblog post outline" command again, and the text you entered before will appear again.

To learn more about how to edit outlines, you can read this overview of using the outliner in Radio Userland. There is also an overview of the Outline menu and HTML menu commands. A description of how to add links and make text bold will be given later in this post.

2. Render the outline as HTML and put the text in the edit window on the Desktop Website Home Page

After you have completed editing the outline and closed the outline window, you need to send the outline text to the Desktop Website Home Page for posting. Bring the Radio Userland application to the foreground, if it is not the foreground application. From the Tools menu, select the OutlineBlogger entry, then select the "Send weblog post to home page" sub-menu entry. The OutlineBlogger Tool will load the Desktop Website Home Page in the active web browser window and insert the outline text as HTML into the edit window. Note that the button that appears at the bottom of the weblog post editing window says "Post Changes" instead of "Post to Weblog" (for one-button publishing option). If you have title/link enabled, you can enter those at this time. Also, if you have categories selected, you can choose the categories or category to publish the weblog post.

3. Post the HTML text to your weblog

To post the HTML text to your weblog, click on the "Post Changes" button on the Desktop Web Site home page.

Getting help on the OutlineBlogger tool

To get more information on using OutlineBlogger, go to the Tools menu, select the OutlineBlogger entry, then select the "Help" sub entry. This will load the tool website in the active web browser window.

How to add HTML to your outline

To add a link to text in your outline:

1. Bring up the web page you wish to link to in a web browser and copy the URL.

2. Go to the outline and select the link text.

3. From the HTML menu in Radio UserLand, select the "Add link..." menu entry. You will see the link text change color from black to blue.

To make text within an outline bold:

1. Go to the outline and select the link text.

2. From the HTML menu in Radio UserLand, select the "Style" menu entry, then the "Bold" sub-menu entry. You will see the link text change from normal text to bold text.

For more information on HTML menu commands, consult the HTML menu overview.

OutlineBlogger Tool advantages

Edit a weblog post using the built-in outliner in Radio UserLand

Publish the contents of that post within the existing Radio UserLand content management system

OutlineBlogger Tool drawbacks

Only the previous weblog post outline is saved (in the Tool database)

No support for saving weblog posts as OPML files

Cannot use WYSIWYG editing mode in Radio UserLand editor (although editing in an outline is nice!)

If you want to edit the post again after publishing, you cannot edit it as an outline, you have to use the Desktop Website home page edit window

Summary

The OutlineBlogger Tool gives Radio UserLand users the ability to create weblog posts using outlines. This initial release has the basic capabilities to support outline blogging, but there is always room for improvement. Feel free to comment on this post with feature requests or feedback (I don't have the comment counter set up correctly to provide a count, but comments are working). I will also monitor the Radio UserLand discussion group and answer questions there as well.

Let's hear from you!

comment  trackback []  5:57:00 AM    

Simple RSS Hacks Part 5 - Finding Music/Video of Interest

In part 5 of this series, I will look at resources that will allow you to track music and video of interest. Just a reminder - links to all of the hacks in this series are available as a OPML file and as a HTML directory for later ease of use. If you have any hacks you wish to contribute, feel free to add comments or trackbacks to the posts, and I will add them to the list.

41. Tracking music with Feedster

Feedster performs podcast searches as a feature. You can search either for the podcast show you want to subscribe to or for a podcast episode you want to hear right now.

To get started, go to the podcast search page, enter a search term or terms in the text box marked "What to search for", select either "Shows" or "Episodes" in the drop-down box marked "Where to Search", and click on the Search button. A results page will appear with a list of podcast sources whose description matches some or all of your search terms. At the right of each podcast listed in the results page is an orange XML button. You can add the link from this button to your RSS reader or aggregator to subscribe to that podcast feed. In the upper left corner of the page, there is another orange XML button. You can add the link from the button to subscribe to the RSS feed for your search query.

42. Tracking music with Podcast Alley

Podcast Alley hosts a searchable podcast directory. From the home page, you can select a podcast genre (16 groupings, including technology, news, and others). If you select one of these genres, a new page will appear with a list of the genres and the first 50 podcasts in the genre you have selected.

Another way to search for podcasts is to type a search term or terms in the text box on the home page below "Search for a Podcast" and clicking on the "Go" button. A results page will appear with podcasts whose description contains one or more of your search terms. You can click on the podcast title to get more information on the podcast, to subscribe, or to vote on the podcast.

43. Tracking music with Podcast.net

Podcast.net is a searchable podcast directory. You can perform searches on title and description, keywords, host, location and episode. To perform a search, go to the home page, enter a search term or terms in the text box, select the type of search from the drop-down box next to the text box, and click on the Search button. A results page will appear with a list of podcasts. You can click on the titles to see a list of episodes for that podcast. There will be a red RSS button at the top of the page. You can add the link from this button to your RSS reader or aggregator to subscribe to that podcast feed.

From the home page, you can also select from a list of directory topics for ease of browsing. When you click on a category, you will see a list of subcategories or a list of podcasts for the category (if there are no subcategories). There will be a red RSS button at the top of the page. You can add the link from this button to your RSS reader or aggregator to subscribe to that category to keep track of additions to the category.

Finally, you can also browse podcasts by tags. You can browse tags by letter from the home page (click on the letters under the search text box) or go to the Top 100 tags page to browse tags. When you look at the page for a particular tag, you can also subscribe to a RSS feed for additions to that tag. There will be a red RSS button at the top of the page. You can add the link from this button to your RSS reader or aggregator to subscribe to that tag to keep track of additions to the tag.

44. Tracking music with iPodderX

iPodderX is a podcast client application for Macintosh and Windows, like iTunes or any other application that can play MP3 files. iPodderX also maintains a podcast directory which can be searched in several ways.

From the iPodderX directory page, you can browse categories by selecting a category from the drop-down box at the top of the page marked "Choose a Podcast Category". The default selection is "What's New". When you select a category, a results page will give you the number of podcasts in that category and a list of podcasts in that category with descriptions and links to the podcast websites.

Another search method is to enter a search term or terms in the text box marked "Search Podcasts" and press Return/Enter. The search results page will show a list of all podcasts with your search term or terms in the title or description for the podcast.

Note: iPodderX is changing its name to Transistr and will be moving to www.transistr.com soon.

45. Tracking music with ipodder.org/indiepodder.org

iPodder.org was one of the first podcast directories and is still one of the largest directories available. Also available under the domain indiepodder.org, the site serves as a weblog of new podcasts and an entry point into the directory.

To browse the directory, go to the main directory page. You will see a list of folders with the category names. Click on any of the folders to see what podcasts are within the category. If the cetegory is broad, there may be subfolders listed. Within each category, there will be a orange XML button at the top right of the category page. This button contains a link to the OPML file containing the links for this directory. On each directory page, each listing starts with a link to the RSS feed for that podcast.

46. Tracking music with Yahoo Podcasts

On the Yahoo Podcasts home page, you can view a list of podcasts picked by Yahoo editors, a listing of of podcasts voted on by Yahoo users, browse a list of podcasts categories, or perform searches for podcasts.

To search for podcasts, enter a search term or terms in the text box at the top of the home page and click the Search button. A results page will appear with a list of podcasts with your search terms in the title or description for the podcast. You can select "Series and Episodes", "Series", or "Episodes" to refine your search. To get the widest variety of results, you should select "Series and Episodes".

To browse podcast categories, click on any of the category links on the right side of the home page.

To browse by tags that Yahoo users have selected, scroll down and click on any of the tags listed on the right side of the home page.

47. Tracking music with Podcasting News

Podcasting News is a weblog covering the podcasting industry. It also has a podcast directory and offers search capability for podcasts.

To browse the directory, go to the directory page. A list of the top level directory entries and their subcategories are shown. You can get more detail on a category by selecting the category in the drop-down box at the top of the page. A results page will appear with a list of subcategories for that category, and a partial list of podcasts within that category.

To search for podcasts, go to the search page. You can enter a search term or terms in the text box at the top of the page. A results page will appear with a list of podcasts whose title and/or description match the search terms.

Finally, Podcasting News has pages for new podcasts, top 25 podcasts, and top rated podcasts.

48. Tracking video with Vlogdir

Vlogdir is a directory for videoblogs. The site provides lists of recent and random videoblogs on the home page, search capability, and browsing by category.

To search the directory, go to the home page and enter a search term or terms in the text box at the top of the page. An advanced search page is also available.

49. Tracking video with Vodstock

Vodstock is a directory for video weblogs. The site provides search capability and browsing by category.

To browse categories, go to the category page and click on any of the category topics on the left side of the page. A results page will appear with a list of videoblogs, short descriptions, and an orange "Feed" button. You can add the link from this button to your RSS reader or aggregator to subscribe to the video feed for that weblog.

To perform a search, go to the home page, enter a search term or terms in the text box at the top of the page and click on the Search button. A results page will appear with a list of videoblogs that match your search terms, along with short descriptions, and an orange "Feed" button. You can add the link from this button to your RSS reader or aggregator to subscribe to the video feed for that weblog.

50. Tracking video with other video search engines

Yahoo video search engine supports simple search from the home page, and also offers advanced search options.

Google video search supports simple search from the home page.

Altavista video search supports simple search from the home page.

SingingFish video search from the home page.

Blinkx video search from the home page.

Other Resources

Rocketboom - Video links

comment  trackback []  11:48:47 PM