Latest revision as of 21:02, 12 February 2011

Knowledge Management tools for forest management DSS's

Avatar (virtual)

• Description: An avatar is a computer user's representation of himself/herself or alter ego, whether in the form of a three-dimensional model used in computer games, or a two-dimensional icon (picture) used on Internet forums and other communities. An avatar is an image that a user chooses to represent himself in virtual communities, places of aggregation, discussion or online plays. The word, in Sanskrit and native of the Hindu tradition, means “incarnation”, exactly represents the assumption of a physical god’s body. In the Internet language, an Avatar is “the personage” that a real person chooses to appear to others people in the virtual world. This image, which may vary in theme and size (usually determined in advance by the regulations of virtual communities), can depict a fictional character (e.g. a cartoon, a comic), the reality (for example. vocalist or favourite actor), or even the most varied subjects, such as comic strips, text, and more. The place of greater use of avatars are the forums, instant messaging, and online role-playing games where it is customary to create an alter ego. Some sites asked to set up an avatar inspired by a particular theme to make it uniform to use in order to improve the sense of belonging to the virtual community. For example, the site of the Village of Ofelon requires an avatar of medieval inspiration, along with a nickname in the subject, tends to create a setting of knights of the Middle Ages.

• Other definitions: Search the web

• Examples for applications with Avatars: Horst Förster in Zukunftswald; Corpo Forestale dello Stato and Second Life; Virtual NOAA in Second Life

• Examples for tools to develop Avatars:

Agents

• Description:
  1. In the context of Data Mining (DM) agents are defined as: One of the most promising techniques for retrieving information from databases, especially external ones. The use of intelligent Agents is essential for that.
  2. In the context of Knowledge Management (KM) agents are defined: IAs (Intelligent Agents) are software systems that learn how users work and provide assistance in their daily tasks. Typically, they are used to find out and identify knowledge.
  3. In the context of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Expert Systems (ES): IAs (Intelligent Agents) are small programs that reside on computers to conduct certain tasks automatically. An IA runs in the background, monitors the environment, and reacts to certain trigger conditions. (Turban et al. 2008 )^[1]

• Other definitions: Search the web

• Examples of the application of Agents in forest management:

• Examples for tools for the development of Agents: Gentia Enterprise Performance Management; IBM: Intelligent Decision Server (IDS)

Best practices and lessons learned

• Description: Typically present the situation, the options, choices taken, and the results for a typical decision problem. Best practices are those attributes ( e.g., structures, disciplines, processes, controls, metrics, tools, and staffing qualifications) demonstrated to be effective guidelines for the successful management of diverse programs and projects. Lessons learned are experiences acquired in the execution of programs and projects which can provided value-added direction to the formulation and execution of future development and operational initiatives. They are widely used in natural resource management and can be extensively found on the internet. "Story telling" allow people to gain more understanding and have greater recall then they do from written reports. Stories can be used to capture lectures on a particular topic, to capture after action reports, to record difficult to codify tacit knowledge, and for many other purposes.

• Other definitions: Search the web

• Examples for the application of best practices in forest management: FAO Best practices - Forest management and conservation; American National Forest Foundation; Compendium of Best Management Practices for Canadian Urban Forests; Best Management Practices - Forest Stewardship Guidelines for Water Quality; GIS Best Practices; Buone pratiche forestali in Italia

• Examples for tools/guidelines to develop best practices:

Community of practice

• Description: Support groups of individuals with similar work responsibilities but who are not part of a formally designated work team. Many communities of practice communicate through a web-based system.

• Other definitions: Search the web

• Examples for applications of COP's in forest management: A COP on Forest Policy - Forest Practice ; Community of Practice for Forest Observations; Community of Practice on Forest Financing in Latin America

• Examples for tools to develope COP's:phpWebSite provides a complete web site content management system for easy maintenance of interactive, community-driven web sites;

Content management sites (scientific)

• 1) Description from the application perspective:

A Content Management Site collects knowledge in some kind of web-based content management system (CMS). A CMS based portal or site first goal is the information service based on data and information in the adott environment. A CMS portal can only be build with basic information and data. This means, if we follow our basic understanding, we will get the next orientation: data (rough facts) -> information (conceived data) -> knowledge (inserted information into context). If we took the portal into strong basics, then it will evolve workgroups and communities on the site. From this point the teamwork is much easier. Not all the users can use this website as a knowledge management system. A lot of people will see only a thematic portal, because they haven't the minimal qualification for the adott specialty. The principal part of a portal is the forum and the surfaces, where the users can change information and craftsmanship. The everyday use of will decise, that the basic CMS system will be classified a KMS or a Community of knowledge (COP) or not. The knowledge in a content management system is not only the words on the page. Instead, the knowledge is gained via users, the processes and opportunities used to capture organisational knowledge. Other definitions: Search the web

• 2) Description from the developer perspective:

A content management system (CMS), also called a Web management system, is software or a group or suite of applications and tools that enable an organization to seamlessly create, edit, review and publish electronic text. Many content management systems offer a Web-based GUI, enabling publishers to access the CMS online using only a Web browser. Also, a CMS designed for Web publishing will provide options and features to index and search documents and also specify keywords and other metadata for search engine crawlers. Other definitions: Search the web

• Examples of tools to develope a CMS: Web Content Management; OpenCMS
• Examples of CMS applications in forest management: Forest Encyclopedia Network; Inventario Nazionale delle Foreste e dei Serbatoi Forestali di Carbonio; The Portal for Research and Innovation in UK

Database

• Description: A common way to organize original source material in a database structure. It is irrelevant whether the data is numeric or graphic or computer files. Web-based methods have been developed to manage database online. Data mining techniques are useful in retrieving information from huge databases – several techniques are developed in order to find appropriate results and quick solutions with efficient search algorithms. Database store raw data and we need data mining (DM), because of its help useful information can be gathered from data. When data are transformed into knowledge, DM is a significant step in this process.

• Other definitions: Search the web

• Examples of the application of Databases in forest management: Forest Resource Databases hosted by EFI; Database on Artificial Forests in the Tropics; FSC Certificate Database; Online Wood Industries Database; DB dei Piani di Assestamento Forestale del Trentino

• Examples of tools for the development of Databases:

Expert System (or Knowledge-based system)

• Description: Expert systems are designed in such a way that a rulebase and an inference engine are interlinked to simulate the reasoning process that a human expert pursues in analyzing a problem and arriving at a conclusion. In these systems a vast amount of knowledge is stored in the knowledge base. The knowledge base could consist of "if then" statements that resemble the sequence of mental steps that are involved in the human reasoning process.

• Other definitions: Search the web

• Examples for the application of ES in forest management: Expert system on Douglas-fir Cone and Seed Insects; Expert System for Site Preparation and Vegetation Management in Southern Interior British Columbia; Outcomes; SILVAH - Decision support for managers of Allegheny hardwood and mixed oak ecosystems

• Examples for tools to develop an ES:NetWeaver;

Frequently asked questions

• Description: In the course of performing a job, people naturally identify questions that their coworkers or their clients ask repeatedly. It is worthwhile to document and develop useful and standardized answers for these types of repetitive questions. Web-based systems also exist that specialize in the management of these questions (e.g., knowledge management systems, below).

• Other definitions: Search the web

• Examples: FAQ on Phytophthora kernoviae a fungus-like pathogen; FAQ on Carbon Sequestration in Agriculture and Forestry; FAQ on Usal Redwood Forest Management; FAQ to Forest Management Bureau of Republic of the Philippines; FAQ on First Canadian Nations Forestry Program

Knowledge management systems

• Description: Network- or web-based systems for the entry, organization, storage, and sharing of knowledge in some knowledge domain.

• Other definitions: Search the web

• Examples: phpkb professional; KnowledgeBuilder; Knowledge Manager; Younicycle

Knowledge map (cognitive maps, mind maps)

• Description: Establish a classification scheme called a taxonomy of knowledge, provide a frame of reference for many knowledge management products, and serve as a critical first step for identifying available knowledge. The more sophisticated versions of tools in this category include ontology editors.

• Other definitions: Search the web

• Examples of the application of knowledge maps in forest management: Forest-related keywording & ontology efforts

• Examples of tools for the development of knowledge maps: Mind Manager; Decision Explorer; Compendium; FreeMind; Wikka Software; VUE; XMind; TopBraid Composer; Protege; CMAP

Online Scientific Journals

• Description: Managing and making accessible published books and scientific journal articles has long been the province of science libraries. These services are also available on the internet either free of charge. More and more scientific journals have placed all or part of the content of their original research articles online. Search engines allow to find relevant articles and the number of citations refering to them.

• Other definitions: Search the web

• Examples: SCOPUS; SCIRUS; Forestry - an International Journal of Forest Research; Canadian Journal of Forest Research; iForest; Forest@; WebOfScience

Simulation systems more

• Description: Are a popular way to organize specific problem solving knowledge and provide precise, quantitative answers to guide natural resource managers. Most such models have not yet been converted to execute over the internet, however, many simulation models can be downloaded from the internet and then executed on a stand-alone computer.

• Other definitions: Search the web

• Examples of applications of Simulation systems and models in forest management:Simulating Patterns and Processes at Landscape Scales (SIMPPLLE); SExI Forest Vegetation Simulator

• Examples of tools for the development of Simulation systems and models: Stella;

Social Network

• Description: Aid in finding hard-to-access tacit knowledge resources by providing access to experts. They also organize existing web sites and serve up a variety of explicit knowledge assets in understandable ways.

• Other definitions: Search the web

• Examples for the application of online Social Networks: Facebook; XING; hi5

• Examples of tools for the development of Social Networks:

Yellow-page directories

• Description: The term Yellow Pages refers to a telephone directory of businesses, categorized according to the product or service provided. As the name suggests, such directories were originally printed on yellow paper, as opposed to white pages for non-commercial listings. The traditional term Yellow Pages is now also applied to online directories of businesses.

• Other definitions: Search the web

• Examples: Yellow Pages; Pagine Gialle

Wiki

• Description: Free-content information collaboratories allow to create and distribute free information content, e.g., encyclopedias, wiki. Articles are edited by volunteers and are subject to change by nearly anyone. They cover a wide range of topics, but lack the authority of traditional materials and lack the chance of a quality control regarding the content.

• Other definitions: Search the web

• Examples: Wikipedia

Web portal

• Description: Provide links to many other sites that can either be accessed directly or can be found by following an organized sequence of related categories. The provider of a web portal is responsible for structuring and filtering of web-addresses relating to a special theme.

• Other definitions: Search the web

• Examples of web portal applications in forest management: The Web Portal of the Forest Service of the U.S. Department of Agriculture; Spatial Decision Support Knowledge Portal; Euroforest Portal; Forest Protection Portal; Forest Carbon Portal; Finnish Forest Cluster Portal; The Italian web portal of the forest sector; Forestry Portal for the Irish Forest Industry; The Belgian Web Portal Woodnet; The Walloon WebGIS Portal

Workflow Systems

• Description: With Workflow Systems (WFS) we can support standardized business processes. The WFS determine the information flow. The aim of WFS is to build the optimal process steps to persons in the right place for the specified task. A WFS has knowledge for processes: set of skills for the task, rules how should be work, guidelines, path of the information, etc. With other tools (Database Management Systems, Content Management Systems), WFS can contain additional knowledge, for example governmental and industrial standards.

• Other definitions: Search the web

• Examples: ARIS platform; Project Trident

Other tools

• Description:

• Other definitions: Search the web

• Examples: [http:// ]

References