Digital Arts Service Corps - resources

Creating institutional memory

Ben Sheldon — Sat, 02 Jun 2007 18:18:20 +0000

Recently I've been working on improving how the CTC VISTA Project stores its files, and thus, how we maintain a memory of what we've done irrespective of who did it. For VISTAs, that's crucial because we're, by definition, here today and gone tomorrow (or a year from today).

To begin, I'm working on implementing a central file-server where we can house all of our documents, both archived and current. We're using the University's Apple XServe and I'm working to make sure that everyone at HQ has a login and just as important, knows how to connect and use it.

In the past, all of our documents have been stored on our local machines and flung at eachother as email attachments. Recently we've been using Google Documents because its collaborative editing makes versioning a breeze (ever tried to merge changes from five different people), but since we're all using our personal Google accounts and sharing documents, I'm scared at what happens when the document creator leaves the VISTA Project. I've played around with Google for Domains, but for most of us, editing with a desktop application, like Microsoft Office or Open Office, is easiest. Workflow optimization is key, and if we're distributing these documents as files, importing and exporting from Google can become a major headache.

I originally got the idea for this from the Benton Foundation's Technology Literacy Benchmarks for Nonprofits.

Non-profit Technology Resources

Mike Moore — Tue, 20 Mar 2007 15:36:28 +0000

These might help when you are looking for answers to common non-profit and technology issues. Sign up for newsletters or just browse when you have a question:

Websites

Blogs

Beth Kanter: One of the most prodigious nonprofit technologists around.
Entry Level Living: The Personal and Professional Insights of a Struggling College Grad
Many-to-Many: A group weblog on social software
Media Shift: tracks the way the Internet and technology are reshaping the mediasphere
Allison Fine: the ways that digital tools, particularly social media, are enhancing our connectedness to one another and our ability and willingness to work for the collective social good
Apophenia: how American youth engage in networked publics like MySpace, YouTube, Facebook, Xanga, etc.
Mind Mob: emerging trends in science, collaboration, the online world and elsewhere.

Skills, tools, & direct resources

Presentation Zen: Information on creating effective presentations
Copyblogger: How to blog effectively
Six Steps to Adopting Open-Source Software at Your Org (Aug 2006)
How To: Put Technology to Use (May 2008)
"The Top 50 Proprietary Programs that Drive You Crazy -- and Their Open Source Alternatives"
Social Source Commons: http://socialsourcecommons.org/
Free Software Foundation: http://directory.fsf.org/
Sourceforge: http://sourceforge.net/
Lifehacker: http://lifehacker.com

Resources for TA-NPO

Aliya Abbasi — Thu, 12 Oct 2006 19:28:14 +0000

These might help when you are looking for answers to common non-profit and technology issues. Sign up for newsletters or just browse when you have a question:

http://nationalserviceresources.org/
"The Resource Center is your one-stop shop for online tools and training resources to strengthen your volunteer or service program...contains online training tools, event calendars, and effective practices, as well as a catalogue of printed publications and videos available on loan."

http://www.techsoup.org/
"TechSoup.org offers nonprofits a one-stop resource for technology needs by providing free information, resources, and support. In addition to online information and resources, we offer a product philanthropy service called TechSoup Stock. Here, nonprofits can access donated and discounted technology products, generously provided by corporate and nonprofit technology partners."

http://ctcnet.org/
"The Community Technology Centers' Network (CTCNet) is a national membership network of community technology centers (CTCs) and other non-profits, united in their commitment to provide technology access and education to underserved communities."

http://nten.org/
"NTEN is a professional community that connects people involved in nonprofit technology and strives to help them effectively use technology in their work."

http://npower.org/
"NPower is a national network of local nonprofit organizations that provide high-quality, unbiased, affordable and appropriate technology assistance to other organizations."