Real World Example: Tools For Collaboration

• LionShare transcends digital boundaries and links numerous P2P networks and digital repositories, collecting reliable information

• The exchange of information between institutions will be facilitated by pre-existing federated network support

• Users will have the ability to designate which specific userIDs can access posted information, if they so chose, so that groups can maintain privacy

• To further promote collaboration, individual or group chat rooms will be available and secured to share specific files

Real World Example: Architecture classes at two universities in different countries are given an assignment to collaborate on a group project. Small groups within each class are given the assignment to compile a photo-documentary about architecture at different key sites within their respective countries. Tasks include taking original pictures and doing background research for all sites. The pictures and research for each site needs to be compiled into one cohesive digital slide show presentation containing the multiple sites from both countries.

Without LionShare: In creating the project, the students decide to communicate through email and send each other the picture files since it would be very difficult for even the subgroups within a given class to meet much less the whole group. With so many people working on different aspects of the project, in different time zones, the group realizes that communication between members is going to be very difficult. They can not share their pictures through email since the file sizes are too big for the server to handle and the jumble of emails and different versions of each file makes organized communications and editting difficult. In the end, one productive group member was stuck organizing all the digital slides and descriptive text given to her.

With LionShare: The students first setup discussion/sharing groups for each site specific group, a broader group for each country, and a top group for combining the sites from both countries. Students actually taking the site-specific pictures would be able to precisely describe and share the pictures they have taken and initially limit access just to the site specific group members. By placing the files on LionShare's permanent storage space the files will always be accessible even when the contributor is not logged on. The students doing the site-specific background research can then access these pictures and add their text.

From there the pictures and text would move up to the higher levels to first be combined with the other sites in the same country and ultimately with the sites from the other country. Groups can also create secure chat rooms and bulletin boards restricted only to group members where they can log on and post their comments in organized, threaded discussion topics at their own convenience. As a group they can fine tune and review each picture's description and the order of pictures within LionShare's built-in slide-show viewer. This would allow each member to contribute evenly to the project and avoiding a central collator. When complete, the group can decide to make the final slide-show available to both countries by simply changing the sharing attributes on LionShare.