CLE Content Management BOF

[John Leasia]

Jim - I agree with your points. I was creating a reply but you have 
expressed it well. Maybe the issue is more with the semantics - Clay's 
description sounded a little like flipping a switch and poof no more 
Resources. I think though that changes will come in phases, and we will 
always have to provide some of the existing capabilities in addition to 
anything new. There will still be the need for file management as more 
abstracted content management comes to the fore. Aside from project site 
requirements, some instructors even prefer a minimalist approach to 
resources.  But I think that is all part of the discussion, as Clay 
notes in the 'whether and how...' items below.

John

Jim Eng wrote:

> Since I can't make this meeting today and Clay's message implies that  
> it is jumping into the agenda I thought was scheduled for Friday, I  
> want to comment on a couple points.
>
>> - some declaration of intent: essentially that Resources and its
>> helpers, along with CHS, are largely on a path of obsolescence over
>> the medium to long term, and Fluid and Sakai are jointly working on
>> what will arise in its place.
>
>
> I think I disagree with this statement, but I'd like to hear a little  
> more of what Clay is thinking.  We have outlined some significant  
> changes in CHS for 2.6, but I don't think we're talking about  
> retiring CHS any time soon.  The plan is that it will be backed by a  
> JSR-170 repository instead of the existing database implementation.   
> We are also planning to trim a lot of cruft from the API and begin to  
> surface some JSR-170 capabilities in the API.  There is no plan to  
> retire CHS.
>
> Also, I don't believe the resources tool or dropbox are being retired  
> anytime soon.  Our focus for the next couple Sakai releases will be  
> on creating better support for finding, using and organizing  
> "resources" more directly in the context of user activity. It's  
> likely that the way in which people use the resources tool will  
> change. Many instructors might choose not to put the resources tool  
> in their course sites and instead place links to resources directly  
> in the context of assignments, modules, the syllabus and other  
> documents.  But it's likely that "resources" will remain an important  
> tool to many users for organizing collections of resources in user  
> worksites and project sites.
>
> The UI for the resources tool has gone through a lot of upheaval over  
> the past three years.  That needs to settle down now.  Since before  
> the release of 2.4, we've been trying to shift the focus to the  
> filepicker.  Hopefully we'll see improvement there for 2.6 and beyond.
>
> Dropbox is a specialized resources tool that is important to many  
> instructors for course sites and is also used in some project sites.   
> It needs some improvement and may even be replaced by a separate  
> implementation at some point, but it's unlikely to be retired in the  
> foreseeable future.
>
>> - An overview of the problem space
>> - An overview of the Image Gallery tool as a suggestive case study
>> - Fundamental questions we're wrestling with (to stimulate the
>> conversation if it's lacking at that point):
>> * whether and how to distinguish file management from more abstracted
>> content management
>> * whether and how to break the model of having each site serve as a
>> separate repository
>> * whether and how the model of central management of files/content is
>> appropriate, and where we need to instead emphasize "helper" modes in
>> other contexts.
>>
>> ~Clay
>>
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