Further information on the Memex

The name "Memex" (with reference to Vannevar Bush) was chosen as one that would broadly bring to mind in all our working languages the idea of an institutional memory - although not just a memory of the past, but also one that is being constantly updated. As noted on the homepage, the Memex is organised into three major blocks of interlinked information, notably our
· member profiles
· project database; and
· document database.

The three blocks of information are also differentiated in terms of access rights. The three different access rights are
· All IC Staff
· IC Knowledge Community (IC staff PLUS persons not employed by IC, but working closely with IC, eg. as staff of a project partner or in a consultancy capacity)
· The general public.
Thus as a member of IC staff, you will have access to all information in all categories. As a member of the IC Knowledge Community (if you are not IC staff), your access is largely the same as that available to staff, with a few exceptions regarding material for internal purposes. Members of the general public will only have access to the information that we wish to actively publicise about ourselves.

There is of course also information (business relevant, personnel, etc) that is only available to a more limited number of people; this is not contained in the Memex. In IC-Bern, it is saved on the F-drive; in IC offices elsewhere, it is saved on local hard disks.

A diagram illustrating the different Memex components.

It is perhaps easier to have a vision of the use of the Memex from some concrete (imaginary but potentially real) examples. A number are given below.

W is a thematic specialist based in the field; amongst her colleagues, nobody shares a similar disciplinary background. She would like to share her project experiences with others who can immediately relate to the topic, and to gain new ideas in the process. Logging on to the Memex, she searches in the member profiles for people with her specialisation and discovers that a CoP (Community of Practice) has already been set up on the very subject. Through joining this, she is able to interact by email with IC colleagues in Nepal, Pakistan, Kyrgyzstan, the Andes, and Madagascar, and to quickly find pertinent documents on the CoP platform.

X is a member of a Delegation, and is putting together an offer for tender on a new livelihoods project. She has to provide details about other relevant projects. She searches the Project Database on “livelihoods” to find all relevant IC projects. Making a selection from those found, she uses the details to include in the tender document.

Y, working in a project field office, has been asked to bring gender awareness into greater focus in project activities. Y needs ideas. He goes to “gender balanced development” in the Doc thematic topics, and has instant access to a variety of documents detailing IC’s own experiences (as well as, of course, the Gender Policy Guidelines). He also gains a list of important literature that it might be helpful to consult (and which he can then order if an electronic copy is not available on the Doc).

We hope that you can identify with these examples, and indeed use the Memex in similar ways. Please remember that the Memex will only work well if the information that it contains is accurate and up to date. It is up to every member to ensure that her or his responsibilities in this regard are met.

If you have questions on the content of any entries in the Memex, please use the opportunity to contact the member concerned.

If you have more general questions on the functioning of the Memex (once you have read all the information provided), please contact Jane Carter and Pascale Aubert: knowledge@intercooperation.net