VolResource Blog

We're experimenting with turning some VolResource pages into 'wiki' format, where people can make their own contributions. (We'll be keeping the old stuff too for the moment at least!)

We've transferred a couple of pages to start with, which might particularly benefit from outside input (there has been some already fed into the existing pages). Namely Taxonomy, Planning and Monitoring.

Take a look at www.voluntarynews.org/wiki. Comments and suggestions welcome, on the wiki, here or by email.

Posted by John Howes at 08:43 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

From PublicTechnology.net

Dorset For You, the pioneering online portal launched by five local councils this February to replace individual council websites, has adopted taxonomy-based technology from APR Smartlogik to boost information 'findability' through the site and make it even easier for citizens to access the information they need quickly and easily.
............
The real intuitive element to search is delivered by creating a regional taxonomy, or thesaurus, to supplement the terms of the official category list and ensure that the search function can translate the language of citizens (for instance, "rubbish") to match government documents ("waste disposal"). Semaphore's taxonomy management tool will be used by dorsetforyou.com to underpin its search, also enabling the function to understand misspellings, slang and suggest synonyms.

More:
dorsetforyou.com enhances service with new information 'findability' :: PublicTechnology.net :: e-Government & public sector IT news from

Posted by John Howes at 09:15 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Hey, someone else other than myself is pointing out the existence of the voluntary sector in connection with public information!

From Kable.net:

More flexible arrangements for the reuse of public sector information are advocated in a new study

The report, published by the Common Information Environment (CIE) on 11 October 2005, says there are many advantages to using the Creative Commons framework and that it could be used to make a lot of information held by public sector bodies more widely available.

Creative Commons provides more flexible arrangement for the reuse of information than the blanket imposition of copyright. It also provides details of what can and cannot be done in clear language.

Its advocates say it would make it easier for charities and non-profit groups to add value to public sector information downloaded from websites.

Kable - A call for creative licences - 12 October 2005

Posted by John Howes at 09:08 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Interesting to read on E-Government Bulletin about Government Connects, the follow-on from recent local e-government projects. While what I'd read before had indicated that this was mainly about providing a common way of recognising citizens aka the general public as service users, it appears to be aiming to create a much wider set of tools, including:

"GC Accounts Framework, which will provide data and message standards to maximise the value of information resources across the public sector. A technological solution alone will not provide the right platform for us to transform service delivery: we must work towards a common set of rules that define the environment for organisations to accept and participate in information sharing."

http://www.headstar.com/egb/

Also see: Government Connect: Government Connect is also a programme, which will introduce into the local authority community a package of electronic tools, standards, and guidance.

Posted by John Howes at 08:03 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

VolResource has used and recommended Google as a search tool since almost our first appearance back in 1999. It's still a good search engine and is quick to answer simple stuff such as finding an organisation's website. But there are others out there developing search further, in various directions.

Clustering can be particularly helpful when a search term brings up results from various different areas. An example can help. We've just been pointed in the direction of Exalead by the article linked below. On typing in 'voluntary sector', a 'tree' appears on the left with which will refine this to 'voluntary sector organisations' or Council for Voluntary Service, for instance.

Read more about why Google is "so last week":
EContentMag.com

Or try the Exalead search for yourself: Exalead Search: voluntary sector

(Note to self: this may be refined into a newsletter item at some point.)

Posted by John Howes at 08:46 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I think it might be useful to add a Taxonomy category to the blog, as a possible way of communicating further on this overlooked subject.

My latest experience - a request for information on 'justice sector' related organisations in the area, at my day job. But we don't have such a grouping in our current database, and the new one beign implemented has 'Domestic Violence' as the nearest. How could such a signiicant area be missing from the categorisation, and how do we fill the gap?

See www.volresource.org.uk for some further links and suggestions on the topic.

Posted by John Howes at 07:50 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)