Frequently asked questions

1. General questions concerning KB and background

2. Membership and registration

3. Activities/Participation

4. Technical problems and support

5. Technical FAQ for editors

1. General questions concerning KB and background

  • 1.1 What is KnowledgeBoard? KnowledgeBoard is a KM portal funded by the European Commission under the Information Society Technologies Programme (IST). KnowledgeBoard is a growing community of over 9,000 KM professionals throughout Europe and the world, managed by a consortium of partners around Europe.
  • 1.2 Who has the copyright of all the content available on KnowledgeBoard? Our Terms and Conditions say "The copyright in the content of the site resides with its authors and the responsibility with the providers of such information. All rights are reserved. None of this material may be reproduced or redistributed without the written permission of the authors. You may, however, download or print a single copy for your own non-commercial use."
  • 1.3 Are there people who get paid for the work in the SIGs and is it possible to get funding? No, all work in the SIGs in done on a voluntary basis. Funding cannot be granted from KnowledgeBoard. KnowledgeBoard can only offer some basic support, e.g. assistance in organising events via our events support team, technical support in running a SIG and general support in growing a SIG. There is some financial support available for SIG editors to attend SIG editors meetings organised by KnowledgeBoard. If you are applying for a project funded by the European Commission, you can foresee some resources to run a SIG on KnowledgeBoard. Your chances are good it will be granted. For some assistance in this, please contact our SIG support team.
  • 1.4 Who pays for KnowledgeBoard? KnowledgeBoard is run by the project KB 2.0 that is funded by the European Commission.
  • 1.5 What happens with the revenues? KnowledgeBoard does not yet generate any revenues yet. In the future KnowledgeBoard plans to do so in order to become self-sustaining. As the partners who run KnowledgeBoard are not allowed to make any profits out of the project, all revenues will go back into the project.

2. Membership and registration

  • 2.1 What types of membership are there? KnowledgeBoard offers four types of memberships:
    • Individual member: Registered members of KnowledgeBoard have access to all areas of the site and can participate fully in our discussion forums. Individuals can also add an entry in the Who's Who directory.
    • Corporate member: Organisations with an interest and/or expertise in KM can apply for corporate membership and sign up as a corporate member of the community.
    • Network member: Other KM networks, which co-operate with KnowledgeBoard can fill out an online questionnnaire and be added to the other KM networks listing.
    • Project member: RTD projects using KnowledgeBoard as a channel for their external communication and dissemination. As a project funded by the European Commission you can use KnowledgeBoard for you dissemination activities free of charge. This includes the display of advertisement banners linking to your project website, to be featured in the newswire, as well a a project page that allows to publish articles and run discussion boards. We also offer EC projects various possibilites to run events on KnowledgeBoard. If you are interested, get in touch with our general SIG support.
  • 2.2 Are there any costs involved? KnowledgeBoard is completely FREE though you must be a registered member to be able to contribute to the discussion forums, add a listing to the who's who directory, apply for corporate membership or receive the fortnightly newswire.
  • 2.3 When I register what will you do with my details? Your personal details will be saved. We will keep them in confidence and they will not be given to third parties. For further information please read our terms and conditions.
  • 2.4 Are there any community rules? Our aim on KnowledgeBoard is to provide a space for information exchange, discussion and debate to define 'Knowledge Management - Made in Europe'. We have created a following set of Community Rules and Guidelines to foster an environment of shared values, mutual respect and trust. Regarding guidelines for good manners in network communication and behaviour we have issued our version of a netiquette, the KnowledgeBoard Netiquette.
  • 2.5 I am not from Europe. May I participate anyhow? Yes, please! We welcome everybody in our community. Though our focus of activity is Europe, we warmly encourage participation from all over the world in order to share what is going on in a global knowledge environment.

3. Activities/Participation

  • 3.1 How can I publish an article? We are always looking for news, articles, case studies and academic papers for publication on KnowledgeBoard. You can find further details at our article submission page. Another possibility is to send the paper and a short summary to content@knowledgeboard.com. If you want to see your picture under the article on KnowledgeBoard please become a registered member and upload a photo in the who's who repository. If you want to publish regularly or if you are working on specific projects you are welcome to create your own SIG. For further details go to our SIG stepwise approach.
  • 3.2 How can I help improve KnowledgeBoard? There are several ways to help improve KnowledgeBoard. On the one had you can work as a voluntary editor running a SIG or publishing articles. On the other hand you can try to start a project funded by the European Commission to extend the services offered to the KnowledgeBoard community. Furthermore, we ask our members for general fedback about KnowledgeBoard from time to time. Please take part in the surveys we publish, or in telephone interviews (we might contact you) or get in touch with feedback@knowledgeboard.com.
  • 3.3 Can I advertise an event on KnowledgeBoard? Of course, you can add your event to our events directory. If you have something bigger in mind or if you need some assistance in organising your event, please contact the events team at: events@knowledgeboard.com or if you would like to see your event marketed on KnowledgeBoard, get in touch with marketing@knowledgeboard.com.
  • 3.4 Can I publish a survey on KnowledgeBoard? Yes and no. During the past we have published surveys of our members on KnowledgeBoard but we get too many requests now to publish them all. Our recommendation is: If the survey fits into a SIG, please contact the SIG editor and ask him to publish your survey or an article that links to it. In all other cases please post into the any asnswers section with a hyperlink to the survey. Please also take a look at our survey plan.
  • 3.5 How can I participate in the management of KnowledgeBoard? On the KnowledgeBoard project page you find an article about the KnowledgeBoard Governance Model. In this you will find details of the Steering Group and how to become a member of it.

4. Technical problems and support

  • 4.1 I'm having trouble registering. Please contact our customer services team.
  • 4.2 Help! I forgot my password/username. Don't panic. Just go to our "password forgotten"-page, enter your e-mail address and your login details will be sent to you.
  • 4.3 I've tried logging in but it won't accept my username or password. Remember that your username and password are case sensitive. If you have any problems with the site then you can contact our customer services.
  • 4.4 Do I have to be logged in to use the site? We use cookies to save your basic login information on your computer. This means that you do not have to login every time you wish to use the site. If you want to use KnowledgeBoard from another machine then you will need to log in again on that machine. If you want to remove the cookie (i.e. if another user wants to log into KnowledgeBoard on your machine) then you can click on Logout link in the Help Menu.
  • 4.5 How are problems with the site followed up once I have notified you? The upkeep and maintenance of KnowledgeBoard is looked after by the Sift technical team. Once you have highlighted a problem, the KnowledgeBoard Editor will notify them and the task is assessed to establish its importance and the amount of work required to solve the problem. The technical team will then respond back to the Editor who will let you know the expected timescale for the problem to be rectified.
  • 4.6 How can I subscribe to your newswire? You need to register and become a member of KnowledgeBoard to receive the fortnightly newswire. If you are a registered member and do not automatically get the newswire then you will need to see if your profile is correctly set up. Click on 'Update Profile' in the Help menu, and then on 'My Services'. If there is not a tick showing in the Newswire box then click on the box and a tick will appear that tells us you want to be sent the newswire. You will then need to click on Update Profile for the information to be saved. In your personal profile you will also find more (special) newswires you can subscribe to.
  • 4.7 How can I unsubscribe from your newswire? If you do not want to receive the newswire you will need to change your profile. Click on Update Profile in the Help menu, and then on My Services. Click on the Newswire box to remove the tick, and then click on Update Profile for this information to be saved.

5. Technical FAQ for editors