Frequently Asked Questions
Please collect and add any questions you have (and proceed to answer those that are already here).
General questions
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'The IC is infinitely scalable.' How scalable is it currently? Near future?
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How much redundancy is needed to consider data 'pervasive'?
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What is the history of the IC?
Technical issues
U-forms
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What is the storage size of a u-form (as an abstract data type)?
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Can multiple u-forms with similar attributes be created simultaneously?
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What is a Shadow u-form?
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Compression Issues
Roles
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Who designs the roles, and who gets to determine its purpose?
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Attributed u-forms
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Are empty labels that say 'Required' allowable? (They currently exist)
Changes and Shepherding
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How do we choose which data gets shepherded to which venues?
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How do we track changes to data?
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How do we deal with corrupted or bad data in the IC?
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What methods exists for garbage collection?
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What if you wish to 'delete' a u-form or the data existing within?
Programming questions and problems
User Interface issues
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How do new users figure out which attribute names and roles best describe their datasets?
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Should attribute names have aliases for everyday users to be able to read them?
Workbench questions
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Civium Workbench questions
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Maximum # of concurrent users?
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Maximum reasonable load?
Reliability and Security
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How do we ensure that datasets in the Information Commons are reliable and trustworthy?
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Who determines data reliability for the IC?
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Who acts as DB administrator of data?
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How are locks and shares dealt with?
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How do contributors make sensitive data available to some organizations but not otherw?
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Will data be encrypted in the IC? In what form?
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Who 'owns' the u-forms?
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Who gains editing rights to revise a u-form? Publisher? Creator?
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Who gains priority of editing? The original editor? 1st come, 1st edit?
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How does the VIA deal with a lost (or broken) node?
Questions about other tools and technologies
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XML Questions
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With web pages, content & presentation are bound, in the IC approach, they are separated to allow flexible presentation & pervasive data/info...How much does XML do this?
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How analogous are our user-defined schemas to XML's user-defined schemas?
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Semantic Web Questions
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Cognitive Science/CHI Questions
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In what ways is the VIA model analogous to human memory (cognitive science approach)?
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Object-oriented database/development
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If OODs aren't scalable (because classes are determined prior to instantiation of objects), what does the VIA model offer as a solution/alternative?
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