Another approach to research area reviews:
The review process outlined above built upon previous...
Public Lab is an open community which collaboratively develops accessible, open source, Do-It-Yourself technologies for investigating local environmental health and justice issues.
The review process outlined above built upon previous thinking on research area reviews (here and here), which can also be broken down into more distinct phases and distributed tasks in the following way:
Phase 1: Information Gathering
In Phase 1, the goal is to sift through and update all the existing resources on PublicLab.org related to a topic. This could include checking in on other projects' updates as well, and if there's been a previous review, that's also a great place to start.
Phase 2: Convening
Phase 2 involves hosting an Open Call to bring folks together, to go through the collected materials from Phase 1, identify gaps and plan next steps.
Phase 3: Synthesizing
In Phase 3, the notes from the call and the newly collected materials, shared goals, and tasks are organized and shared on PublicLab.org, tying the review together in a single post.
This table gives more details on the tasks and can serve as a template to organize the phases of a more distributed research area review:
Phase
Task Type
Who can do this
Difficulty
Task
I'll do this!
1
Garden
Anyone
Easy
Go through posts in the area and make sure they are properly tagged
LINK
1
Share
Anyone
Easy
Post questions on the topic area you have, or that you’re not able to find answers to on Public Lab.
LINK
1
Garden
One person
Medium
Make sure the wiki page has clear format
LINK
1
Research
Anyone
Hard
Help find answers to unanswered questions
LINK
1
Facilitate
Anyone
Hard
Invite, listen to, and record new stories related to the topic
LINK
2
Share
Anyone
Easy
Attend the open topic call and collaborate
LINK
2
Facilitate
One person
Medium
Host the public online meeting for group to collaborate to: Highlighting findings, ID gaps in available resources, highlight challenges in this research area
LINK
3
Synthesize
Anyone
Hard
Review existing material and call summary and write an update post on it with materials gathered
LINK
3
Research
One person
Hard
Follow up on gaps identified from the group and post materials to help support information around those gaps.
LINK
Smaller-sized tasks
Applying any missing “tags” to research notes, question posts, and wiki pages on the current topic so they’re connected and easy to find (Find more about tags and how to use them here)
Posting a question related to the topic. This could be a question you have or a question you think others might have.
Answering a question related to the topic by commenting on the post. Answering questions might involve some background research, or it could involve reaching out to someone who might be able to help.
Editing wiki pages or writing new research notes on the topic. This might involve finding, reading, and synthesizing information from various sources, and making technical information from those sources easier to understand.
Replicating an activity related to the topic and sharing back how it went through comments.
Inviting, listening to, and recording stories from people working on the topic.
Testing, analyzing, or comparing existing tools and methods related to the topic, and posting your findings (example here).
Identifying next step challenges in tool development and adding them to the topic wiki (example here).
Identifying next steps could include describing where tool development might go next, or what additional information on the topic is still needed (example here).
Following up on a “next step” that interests you could include any of the other tasks described on this page!
The review process outlined above built upon previous thinking on research area reviews (here and here), which can also be broken down into more distinct phases and distributed tasks in the following way:
Phase 1: Information Gathering
In Phase 1, the goal is to sift through and update all the existing resources on PublicLab.org related to a topic. This could include checking in on other projects' updates as well, and if there's been a previous review, that's also a great place to start.
Phase 2: Convening
Phase 2 involves hosting an Open Call to bring folks together, to go through the collected materials from Phase 1, identify gaps and plan next steps.
Phase 3: Synthesizing
In Phase 3, the notes from the call and the newly collected materials, shared goals, and tasks are organized and shared on PublicLab.org, tying the review together in a single post.
This table gives more details on the tasks and can serve as a template to organize the phases of a more distributed research area review:
Phase
Task Type
Who can do this
Difficulty
Task
I'll do this!
1
Garden
Anyone
Easy
Go through posts in the area and make sure they are properly tagged
LINK
1
Share
Anyone
Easy
Post questions on the topic area you have, or that you’re not able to find answers to on Public Lab.
LINK
1
Garden
One person
Medium
Make sure the wiki page has clear format
LINK
1
Research
Anyone
Hard
Help find answers to unanswered questions
LINK
1
Facilitate
Anyone
Hard
Invite, listen to, and record new stories related to the topic
LINK
2
Share
Anyone
Easy
Attend the open topic call and collaborate
LINK
2
Facilitate
One person
Medium
Host the public online meeting for group to collaborate to: Highlighting findings, ID gaps in available resources, highlight challenges in this research area
LINK
3
Synthesize
Anyone
Hard
Review existing material and call summary and write an update post on it with materials gathered
LINK
3
Research
One person
Hard
Follow up on gaps identified from the group and post materials to help support information around those gaps.
LINK
Smaller-sized tasks
Applying any missing “tags” to research notes, question posts, and wiki pages on the current topic so they’re connected and easy to find (Find more about tags and how to use them here)
Posting a question related to the topic. This could be a question you have or a question you think others might have.
Answering a question related to the topic by commenting on the post. Answering questions might involve some background research, or it could involve reaching out to someone who might be able to help.
Editing wiki pages or writing new research notes on the topic. This might involve finding, reading, and synthesizing information from various sources, and making technical information from those sources easier to understand.
Replicating an activity related to the topic and sharing back how it went through comments.
Inviting, listening to, and recording stories from people working on the topic.
Testing, analyzing, or comparing existing tools and methods related to the topic, and posting your findings (example here).
Identifying next step challenges in tool development and adding them to the topic wiki (example here).
Identifying next steps could include describing where tool development might go next, or what additional information on the topic is still needed (example here).
Following up on a “next step” that interests you could include any of the other tasks described on this page!
The review process outlined above built upon previous thinking on research area reviews (here and here), which can also be broken down into more distinct phases and distributed tasks in the following way:
Phase 1: Information Gathering
In Phase 1, the goal is to sift through and update all the existing resources on PublicLab.org related to a topic. This could include checking in on other projects' updates as well, and if there's been a previous review, that's also a great place to start.
Phase 2: Convening
Phase 2 involves hosting an Open Call to bring folks together, to go through the collected materials from Phase 1, identify gaps and plan next steps.
Phase 3: Synthesizing
In Phase 3, the notes from the call and the newly collected materials, shared goals, and tasks are organized and shared on PublicLab.org, tying the review together in a single post.
This table gives more details on the tasks and can serve as a template to organize the phases of a more distributed research area review:
Phase
Task Type
Who can do this
Difficulty
Task
I'll do this!
1
Garden
Anyone
Easy
Go through posts in the area and make sure they are properly tagged
LINK
1
Share
Anyone
Easy
Post questions on the topic area you have, or that you’re not able to find answers to on Public Lab.
LINK
1
Garden
One person
Medium
Make sure the wiki page has clear format
LINK
1
Research
Anyone
Hard
Help find answers to unanswered questions
LINK
1
Facilitate
Anyone
Hard
Invite, listen to, and record new stories related to the topic
LINK
2
Share
Anyone
Easy
Attend the open topic call and collaborate
LINK
2
Facilitate
One person
Medium
Host the public online meeting for group to collaborate to: Highlighting findings, ID gaps in available resources, highlight challenges in this research area
LINK
3
Synthesize
Anyone
Hard
Review existing material and call summary and write an update post on it with materials gathered
LINK
3
Research
One person
Hard
Follow up on gaps identified from the group and post materials to help support information around those gaps.
LINK
Smaller-sized tasks
Applying any missing “tags” to research notes, question posts, and wiki pages on the current topic so they’re connected and easy to find (Find more about tags and how to use them here)
Posting a question related to the topic. This could be a question you have or a question you think others might have.
Answering a question related to the topic by commenting on the post. Answering questions might involve some background research, or it could involve reaching out to someone who might be able to help.
Editing wiki pages or writing new research notes on the topic. This might involve finding, reading, and synthesizing information from various sources, and making technical information from those sources easier to understand.
Replicating an activity related to the topic and sharing back how it went through comments.
Inviting, listening to, and recording stories from people working on the topic.
Testing, analyzing, or comparing existing tools and methods related to the topic, and posting your findings (example here).
Identifying next step challenges in tool development and adding them to the topic wiki (example here).
Identifying next steps could include describing where tool development might go next, or what additional information on the topic is still needed (example here).
Following up on a “next step” that interests you could include any of the other tasks described on this page!
The review process outlined above built upon previous thinking on research area reviews (here and here), which can also be broken down into more distinct phases and distributed tasks in the following way:
Phase 1: Information Gathering
In Phase 1, the goal is to sift through and update all the existing resources on PublicLab.org related to a topic. This could include checking in on other projects' updates as well, and if there's been a previous review, that's also a great place to start.
Phase 2: Convening
Phase 2 involves hosting an Open Call to bring folks together, to go through the collected materials from Phase 1, identify gaps and plan next steps.
Phase 3: Synthesizing
In Phase 3, the notes from the call and the newly collected materials, shared goals, and tasks are organized and shared on PublicLab.org, tying the review together in a single post.
This table gives more details on the tasks and can serve as a template to organize the phases of a more distributed research area review:
Phase
Task Type
Who can do this
Difficulty
Task
I'll do this!
1
Garden
Anyone
Easy
Go through posts in the area and make sure they are properly tagged
LINK
1
Share
Anyone
Easy
Post questions on the topic area you have, or that you’re not able to find answers to on Public Lab.
LINK
1
Garden
One person
Medium
Make sure the wiki page has clear format
LINK
1
Research
Anyone
Hard
Help find answers to unanswered questions
LINK
1
Facilitate
Anyone
Hard
Invite, listen to, and record new stories related to the topic
LINK
2
Share
Anyone
Easy
Attend the open topic call and collaborate
LINK
2
Facilitate
One person
Medium
Host the public online meeting for group to collaborate to: Highlighting findings, ID gaps in available resources, highlight challenges in this research area
LINK
3
Synthesize
Anyone
Hard
Review existing material and call summary and write an update post on it with materials gathered
LINK
3
Research
One person
Hard
Follow up on gaps identified from the group and post materials to help support information around those gaps.
LINK
Smaller-sized tasks
Applying any missing “tags” to research notes, question posts, and wiki pages on the current topic so they’re connected and easy to find (find more on tags here)
Posting a question related to the topic. This could be a question you have or a question you think others might have.
Answering a question related to the topic by commenting on the post. Answering questions might involve some background research, or it could involve reaching out to someone who might be able to help.
Medium-sized tasks
Editing wiki pages or writing new research notes on the topic. This often involves finding, reading, and synthesizing information from various sources, and making technical information from those sources easier to understand.
Replicating an activity related to the topic and sharing back how it went through comments.
Inviting, listening to, and recording stories from people working on the topic.
Larger-sized tasks
Creating diagrams, drawings, or visualizations, or taking and posting photos that can help illustrate something about the topic (examples here).
Testing, analyzing, or comparing existing tools and methods related to the topic, and posting your findings (example here).
Identifying next step challenges in tool development and adding them to the topic wiki (example here).
The review process outlined above built upon previous thinking on research area reviews (here and here), which can also be broken down into more distinct phases and distributed tasks in the following way:
Phase 1: Information Gathering
In Phase 1, the goal is to sift through and update all the existing resources on PublicLab.org related to a topic. This could include checking in on other projects' updates as well, and if there's been a previous review, that's also a great place to start.
Phase 2: Convening
Phase 2 involves hosting an Open Call to bring folks together, to go through the collected materials from Phase 1, identify gaps and plan next steps.
Phase 3: Synthesizing
In Phase 3, the notes from the call and the newly collected materials, shared goals, and tasks are organized and shared on PublicLab.org, tying the review together in a single post.
This table gives more details on the tasks and can serve as a template to organize the phases of a more distributed research area review:
Phase
Task Type
Who can do this
Difficulty
Task
I'll do this!
1
Garden
Anyone
Easy
Go through posts in the area and make sure they are properly tagged
LINK
1
Share
Anyone
Easy
Post questions on the topic area you have, or that you’re not able to find answers to on Public Lab.
LINK
1
Garden
One person
Medium
Make sure the wiki page has clear format
LINK
1
Research
Anyone
Hard
Help find answers to unanswered questions
LINK
1
Facilitate
Anyone
Hard
Invite, listen to, and record new stories related to the topic
LINK
2
Share
Anyone
Easy
Attend the open topic call and collaborate
LINK
2
Facilitate
One person
Medium
Host the public online meeting for group to collaborate to: Highlighting findings, ID gaps in available resources, highlight challenges in this research area
LINK
3
Synthesize
Anyone
Hard
Review existing material and call summary and write an update post on it with materials gathered
LINK
3
Research
One person
Hard
Follow up on gaps identified from the group and post materials to help support information around those gaps.
LINK
Smaller-sized tasks
Applying any missing “tags” to research notes, question posts, and wiki pages on the current topic so they’re connected and easy to find (find more on tags here)
Posting a question related to the topic. This could be a question you have or a question you think others might have.
Answering a question related to the topic by commenting on the post. Answering questions might involve some background research, or it could involve reaching out to someone who might be able to help.
Medium-sized tasks
Editing wiki pages or writing new research notes on the topic. This often involves finding, reading, and synthesizing information from various sources, and making technical information from those sources easier to understand.
Replicating an activity related to the topic and sharing back how it went through comments.
Inviting, listening to, and recording stories from people working on the topic.
Larger-sized tasks
Creating diagrams, drawings, or visualizations, or taking and posting photos that can help illustrate something about the topic (examples here).
Testing, analyzing, or comparing existing tools and methods related to the topic, and posting your findings (example here).
Identifying next step challenges in tool development and adding them to the topic wiki (example here).
The review process outlined above built upon previous thinking on research area reviews (here and here), which can also be broken down into more distinct phases and distributed tasks in the following way:
Phase 1: Information Gathering
In Phase 1, the goal is to sift through and update all the existing resources on PublicLab.org related to a topic. This could include checking in on other projects' updates as well, and if there's been a previous review, that's also a great place to start.
Phase 2: Convening
Phase 2 involves hosting an Open Call to bring folks together, to go through the collected materials from Phase 1, identify gaps and plan next steps.
Phase 3: Synthesizing
In Phase 3, the notes from the call and the newly collected materials, shared goals, and tasks are organized and shared on PublicLab.org, tying the review together in a single post.
This table gives more details on the tasks and can serve as a template to organize the phases of a more distributed research area review:
Phase
Task Type
Who can do this
Difficulty
Task
I'll do this!
1
Garden
Anyone
Easy
Go through posts in the area and make sure they are properly tagged
LINK
1
Share
Anyone
Easy
Post questions on the topic area you have, or that you’re not able to find answers to on Public Lab.
LINK
1
Garden
One person
Medium
Make sure the wiki page has clear format
LINK
1
Research
Anyone
Hard
Help find answers to unanswered questions
LINK
1
Facilitate
Anyone
Hard
Invite, listen to, and record new stories related to the topic
LINK
2
Share
Anyone
Easy
Attend the open topic call and collaborate
LINK
2
Facilitate
One person
Medium
Host the public online meeting for group to collaborate to: Highlighting findings, ID gaps in available resources, highlight challenges in this research area
LINK
3
Synthesize
Anyone
Hard
Review existing material and call summary and write an update post on it with materials gathered
LINK
3
Research
One person
Hard
Follow up on gaps identified from the group and post materials to help support information around those gaps.
LINK
Smaller-sized tasks
Applying any missing “tags” to research notes, question posts, and wiki pages on the current topic so they’re connected and easy to find (find more on tags here)
Posting a question related to the topic. This could be a question you have or a question you think others might have.
Answering a question related to the topic by commenting on the post. Answering questions might involve some background research, or it could involve reaching out to someone who might be able to help.
Medium-sized tasks
Editing wiki pages or writing new research notes on the topic. This often involves finding, reading, and synthesizing information from various sources, and making technical information from those sources easier to understand.
Replicating an activity related to the topic and sharing back how it went through comments.
The review process outlined above built upon previous thinking on research area reviews (here and here), which can also be broken down into more distinct phases and distributed tasks in the following way:
Phase 1: Information Gathering
In Phase 1, the goal is to sift through and update all the existing resources on PublicLab.org related to a topic. This could include checking in on other projects' updates as well, and if there's been a previous review, that's also a great place to start.
Phase 2: Convening
Phase 2 involves hosting an Open Call to bring folks together, to go through the collected materials from Phase 1, identify gaps and plan next steps.
Phase 3: Synthesizing
In Phase 3, the notes from the call and the newly collected materials, shared goals, and tasks are organized and shared on PublicLab.org, tying the review together in a single post.
This table gives more details on the tasks and can serve as a template to organize the phases of a more distributed research area review:
Phase
Task Type
Who can do this
Difficulty
Task
I'll do this!
1
Garden
Anyone
Easy
Go through posts in the area and make sure they are properly tagged
LINK
1
Share
Anyone
Easy
Post questions on the topic area you have, or that you’re not able to find answers to on Public Lab.
LINK
1
Garden
One person
Medium
Make sure the wiki page has clear format
LINK
1
Research
Anyone
Hard
Help find answers to unanswered questions
LINK
1
Facilitate
Anyone
Hard
Invite, listen to, and record new stories related to the topic
LINK
2
Share
Anyone
Easy
Attend the open topic call and collaborate
LINK
2
Facilitate
One person
Medium
Host the public online meeting for group to collaborate to: Highlighting findings, ID gaps in available resources, highlight challenges in this research area
LINK
3
Synthesize
Anyone
Hard
Review existing material and call summary and write an update post on it with materials gathered
LINK
3
Research
One person
Hard
Follow up on gaps identified from the group and post materials to help support information around those gaps.
LINK
Smaller-sized tasks
Applying any missing “tags” to research notes, question posts, and wiki pages on the current topic so they’re connected and easy to find (find more on tags here)
Posting a question related to the topic. This could be a question you have or a question you think others might have.
Answering a question related to the topic by commenting on the post. Answering questions might involve some background research, or it could involve reaching out to someone who might be able to help.
Medium-sized tasks
Editing wiki pages or writing new research notes on the topic. This often involves finding, reading, and synthesizing information from various sources, and making technical information from those sources easier to understand.
Replicating an activity related to the topic and sharing back how it went through comments.
Inviting, listening to, and recording stories from people working on the topic.
Larger-sized tasks
Creating diagrams, drawings, or visualizations, or taking and posting photos that can help illustrate something about the topic (examples here).
Testing, analyzing, or comparing existing tools and methods related to the topic, and posting your findings (example here).
Identifying next step challenges in tool development and adding them to the topic wiki (example here).
The review process outlined above built upon previous thinking on research area reviews (here and here), which can also be broken down into more distinct phases and distributed tasks in the following way:
Phase 1: Information Gathering
In Phase 1, the goal is to sift through and update all the existing resources on PublicLab.org related to a topic. This could include checking in on other projects' updates as well, and if there's been a previous review, that's also a great place to start.
Phase 2: Convening
Phase 2 involves hosting an Open Call to bring folks together, to go through the collected materials from Phase 1, identify gaps and plan next steps.
Phase 3: Synthesizing
In Phase 3, the notes from the call and the newly collected materials, shared goals, and tasks are organized and shared on PublicLab.org, tying the review together in a single post.
This table gives more details on the tasks and can serve as a template to organize the phases of a more distributed research area review:
Phase
Task Type
Who can do this
Difficulty
Task
I'll do this!
1
Garden
Anyone
Easy
Go through posts in the area and make sure they are properly tagged
LINK
1
Share
Anyone
Easy
Post questions on the topic area you have, or that you’re not able to find answers to on Public Lab.
LINK
1
Garden
One person
Medium
Make sure the wiki page has clear format
LINK
1
Research
Anyone
Hard
Help find answers to unanswered questions
LINK
1
Facilitate
Anyone
Hard
Invite, listen to, and record new stories related to the topic
LINK
2
Share
Anyone
Easy
Attend the open topic call and collaborate
LINK
2
Facilitate
One person
Medium
Host the public online meeting for group to collaborate to: Highlighting findings, ID gaps in available resources, highlight challenges in this research area
LINK
3
Synthesize
Anyone
Hard
Review existing material and call summary and write an update post on it with materials gathered
LINK
3
Research
One person
Hard
Follow up on gaps identified from the group and post materials to help support information around those gaps.
LINK
Smaller-sized tasks
Applying any missing “tags” to research notes, question posts, and wiki pages on the current topic so they’re connected and easy to find (find more on tags here)
Posting a question related to the topic. This could be a question you have or a question you think others might have.
Answering a question related to the topic by commenting on the post. Answering questions might involve some background research, or it could involve reaching out to someone who might be able to help.
Medium-sized tasks
Editing wiki pages or writing new research notes on the topic. This often involves finding, reading, and synthesizing information from various sources, and making technical information from those sources easier to understand.
Replicating an activity related to the topic and sharing back how it went through comments.
Inviting, listening to, and recording stories from people working on the topic.
Larger-sized tasks
Creating diagrams, drawings, or visualizations, or taking and posting photos that can help illustrate something about the topic (examples here).
Testing, analyzing, or comparing existing tools and methods related to the topic, and posting your findings (example here).
Identifying next step challenges in tool development and adding them to the topic wiki (example here).
The review process outlined above built upon previous thinking on research area reviews (here and here), which can also be broken down into more distinct phases and distributed tasks in the following way:
Phase 1: Information Gathering
In Phase 1, the goal is to sift through and update all the existing resources on PublicLab.org related to a topic. This could include checking in on other projects' updates as well, and if there's been a previous review, that's also a great place to start.
Phase 2: Convening
Phase 2 involves hosting an Open Call to bring folks together, to go through the collected materials from Phase 1, identify gaps and plan next steps.
Phase 3: Synthesizing
In Phase 3, the notes from the call and the newly collected materials, shared goals, and tasks are organized and shared on PublicLab.org, tying the review together in a single post.
This table gives more details on the tasks and can serve as a template to organize the phases of a more distributed research area review:
Phase
Task Type
Who can do this
Difficulty
Task
I'll do this!
1
Garden
Anyone
Easy
Go through posts in the area and make sure they are properly tagged
LINK
1
Share
Anyone
Easy
Post questions on the topic area you have, or that you’re not able to find answers to on Public Lab.
LINK
1
Garden
One person
Medium
Make sure the wiki page has clear format
LINK
1
Research
Anyone
Hard
Help find answers to unanswered questions
LINK
1
Facilitate
Anyone
Hard
Invite, listen to, and record new stories related to the topic
LINK
2
Share
Anyone
Easy
Attend the open topic call and collaborate
LINK
2
Facilitate
One person
Medium
Host the public online meeting for group to collaborate to: Highlighting findings, ID gaps in available resources, highlight challenges in this research area
LINK
3
Synthesize
Anyone
Hard
Review existing material and call summary and write an update post on it with materials gathered
LINK
3
Research
One person
Hard
Follow up on gaps identified from the group and post materials to help support information around those gaps.
LINK
Smaller-sized tasks
Applying any missing “tags” to research notes, question posts, and wiki pages on the current topic so they’re connected and easy to find (find more on tags here)
Posting a question related to the topic. This could be a question you have or a question you think others might have.
Answering a question related to the topic by commenting on the post. Answering questions might involve some background research, or it could involve reaching out to someone who might be able to help.
Medium-sized tasks
Editing wiki pages or writing new research notes on the topic. This often involves finding, reading, and synthesizing information from various sources, and making technical information from those sources easier to understand.
Replicating an activity related to the topic and sharing back how it went through comments.
Inviting, listening to, and recording stories from people working on the topic.
Larger-sized tasks
Creating diagrams, drawings, or visualizations, or taking and posting photos that can help illustrate something about the topic (examples here).
Testing, analyzing, or comparing existing tools and methods related to the topic, and posting your findings (example here).
Identifying next step challenges in tool development and adding them to the topic wiki (example here).
The review process outlined above built upon previous thinking on research area reviews (here and here), which can also be broken down into more distinct phases and distributed tasks in the following way:
Phase 1: Information Gathering
In Phase 1, the goal is to sift through and update all the existing resources on PublicLab.org related to a topic. This could include checking in on other projects' updates as well, and if there's been a previous review, that's also a great place to start.
Phase 2: Convening
Phase 2 involves hosting an Open Call to bring folks together, to go through the collected materials from Phase 1, identify gaps and plan next steps.
Phase 3: Synthesizing
In Phase 3, the notes from the call and the newly collected materials, shared goals, and tasks are organized and shared on PublicLab.org, tying the review together in a single post.
This table gives more details on the tasks and can serve as a template to organize the phases of a more distributed research area review:
Phase
Task Type
Who can do this
Difficulty
Task
I'll do this!
1
Garden
Anyone
Easy
Go through posts in the area and make sure they are properly tagged
LINK
1
Share
Anyone
Easy
Post questions on the topic area you have, or that you’re not able to find answers to on Public Lab.
LINK
1
Garden
One person
Medium
Make sure the wiki page has clear format
LINK
1
Research
Anyone
Hard
Help find answers to unanswered questions
LINK
1
Facilitate
Anyone
Hard
Invite, listen to, and record new stories related to the topic
LINK
2
Share
Anyone
Easy
Attend the open topic call and collaborate
LINK
2
Facilitate
One person
Medium
Host the public online meeting for group to collaborate to: Highlighting findings, ID gaps in available resources, highlight challenges in this research area
LINK
3
Synthesize
Anyone
Hard
Review existing material and call summary and write an update post on it with materials gathered
LINK
3
Research
One person
Hard
Follow up on gaps identified from the group and post materials to help support information around those gaps.
LINK
Smaller-sized tasks
Applying any missing “tags” to research notes, question posts, and wiki pages on the current topic so they’re connected and easy to find (find more on tags here)
Posting a question related to the topic. This could be a question you have or a question you think others might have.
Answering a question related to the topic by commenting on the post. Answering questions might involve some background research, or it could involve reaching out to someone who might be able to help.
Medium-sized tasks
Editing wiki pages or writing new research notes on the topic. This often involves finding, reading, and synthesizing information from various sources, and making technical information from those sources easier to understand.
Replicating an activity related to the topic and sharing back how it went through comments.
Inviting, listening to, and recording stories from people working on the topic.
Larger-sized tasks
Creating diagrams, drawings, or visualizations, or taking and posting photos that can help illustrate something about the topic (examples here).
Testing, analyzing, or comparing existing tools and methods related to the topic, and posting your findings (example here).
Identifying next step challenges in tool development and adding them to the topic wiki (example here).
The review process outlined above built upon previous thinking on research area reviews (here and here), which can also be broken down into more distinct phases and distributed tasks in the following way:
Phase 1: Information Gathering
In Phase 1, the goal is to sift through and update all the existing resources on PublicLab.org related to a topic. This could include checking in on other projects' updates as well, and if there's been a previous review, that's also a great place to start.
Phase 2: Convening
Phase 2 involves hosting an Open Call to bring folks together, to go through the collected materials from Phase 1, identify gaps and plan next steps.
Phase 3: Synthesizing
In Phase 3, the notes from the call and the newly collected materials, shared goals, and tasks are organized and shared on PublicLab.org, tying the review together in a single post.
This table gives more details on the tasks and can serve as a template to organize the phases of a more distributed research area review:
Phase
Task Type
Who can do this
Difficulty
Task
I'll do this!
1
Garden
Anyone
Easy
Go through posts in the area and make sure they are properly tagged
LINK
1
Share
Anyone
Easy
Post questions on the topic area you have, or that you’re not able to find answers to on Public Lab.
LINK
1
Garden
One person
Medium
Make sure the wiki page has clear format
LINK
1
Research
Anyone
Hard
Help find answers to unanswered questions
LINK
1
Facilitate
Anyone
Hard
Invite, listen to, and record new stories related to the topic
LINK
2
Share
Anyone
Easy
Attend the open topic call and collaborate
LINK
2
Facilitate
One person
Medium
Host the public online meeting for group to collaborate to: Highlighting findings, ID gaps in available resources, highlight challenges in this research area
LINK
3
Synthesize
Anyone
Hard
Review existing material and call summary and write an update post on it with materials gathered
LINK
3
Research
One person
Hard
Follow up on gaps identified from the group and post materials to help support information around those gaps.
LINK
Smaller-sized tasks
Applying any missing “tags” to research notes, question posts, and wiki pages on the current topic so they’re connected and easy to find (find more on tags here)
Posting a question related to the topic. This could be a question you have or a question you think others might have.
Answering a question related to the topic by commenting on the post. Answering questions might involve some background research, or it could involve reaching out to someone who might be able to help.
Medium-sized tasks
Editing wiki pages or writing new research notes on the topic. This often involves finding, reading, and synthesizing information from various sources, and making technical information from those sources easier to understand.
Replicating an activity related to the topic and sharing back how it went through comments.
Inviting, listening to, and recording stories from people working on the topic.
Larger-sized tasks
Creating diagrams, drawings, or visualizations, or taking and posting photos that can help illustrate something about the topic (examples here).
Testing, analyzing, or comparing existing tools and methods related to the topic, and posting your findings (example here).
Identifying next step challenges in tool development and adding them to the topic wiki (example here).
The review process outlined above built upon previous thinking on research area reviews (here and here), which can also be broken down into more distinct phases and distributed tasks in the following way:
Phase 1: Information Gathering
In Phase 1, the goal is to sift through and update all the existing resources on PublicLab.org related to a topic. This could include checking in on other projects' updates as well, and if there's been a previous review, that's also a great place to start.
Phase 2: Convening
Phase 2 involves hosting an Open Call to bring folks together, to go through the collected materials from Phase 1, identify gaps and plan next steps.
Phase 3: Synthesizing
In Phase 3, the notes from the call and the newly collected materials, shared goals, and tasks are organized and shared on PublicLab.org, tying the review together in a single post.
This table gives more details on the tasks and can serve as a template to organize the phases of a more distributed research area review:
Phase
Task Type
Who can do this
Difficulty
Task
I'll do this!
1
Garden
Anyone
Easy
Go through posts in the area and make sure they are properly tagged
LINK
1
Share
Anyone
Easy
Post questions on the topic area you have, or that you’re not able to find answers to on Public Lab.
LINK
1
Garden
One person
Medium
Make sure the wiki page has clear format
LINK
1
Research
Anyone
Hard
Help find answers to unanswered questions
LINK
1
Facilitate
Anyone
Hard
Invite, listen to, and record new stories related to the topic
LINK
2
Share
Anyone
Easy
Attend the open topic call and collaborate
LINK
2
Facilitate
One person
Medium
Host the public online meeting for group to collaborate to: Highlighting findings, ID gaps in available resources, highlight challenges in this research area
LINK
3
Synthesize
Anyone
Hard
Review existing material and call summary and write an update post on it with materials gathered
LINK
3
Research
One person
Hard
Follow up on gaps identified from the group and post materials to help support information around those gaps.
LINK
Smaller-sized tasks
Applying any missing “tags” to research notes, question posts, and wiki pages on the current topic so they’re connected and easy to find (find more on tags here)
Posting a question related to the topic. This could be a question you have or a question you think others might have.
Answering a question related to the topic by commenting on the post. Answering questions might involve some background research, or it could involve reaching out to someone who might be able to help.
Medium-sized tasks
Editing wiki pages or writing new research notes on the topic. This often involves finding, reading, and synthesizing information from various sources, and making technical information from those sources easier to understand.
Replicating an activity related to the topic and sharing back how it went through comments.
Inviting, listening to, and recording stories from people working on the topic.
Larger-sized tasks
Creating diagrams, drawings, or visualizations, or taking and posting photos that can help illustrate something about the topic (examples here).
Testing, analyzing, or comparing existing tools and methods related to the topic, and posting your findings (example here).
Identifying next step challenges in tool development and adding them to the topic wiki (example here).
The review process outlined above built upon previous thinking on research area reviews (here and here), which can also be broken down into more distinct phases and distributed tasks in the following way:
Phase 1: Information Gathering
In Phase 1, the goal is to sift through and update all the existing resources on PublicLab.org related to a topic. This could include checking in on other projects' updates as well, and if there's been a previous review, that's also a great place to start.
Phase 2: Convening
Phase 2 involves hosting an Open Call to bring folks together, to go through the collected materials from Phase 1, identify gaps and plan next steps.
Phase 3: Synthesizing
In Phase 3, the notes from the call and the newly collected materials, shared goals, and tasks are organized and shared on PublicLab.org, tying the review together in a single post.
This table gives more details on the tasks and can serve as a template to organize the phases of a more distributed research area review:
Phase
Task Type
Who can do this
Difficulty
Task
I'll do this!
1
Garden
Anyone
Easy
Go through posts in the area and make sure they are properly tagged
LINK
1
Share
Anyone
Easy
Post questions on the topic area you have, or that you’re not able to find answers to on Public Lab.
LINK
1
Garden
One person
Medium
Make sure the wiki page has clear format
LINK
1
Research
Anyone
Hard
Help find answers to unanswered questions
LINK
1
Facilitate
Anyone
Hard
Invite, listen to, and record new stories related to the topic
LINK
2
Share
Anyone
Easy
Attend the open topic call and collaborate
LINK
2
Facilitate
One person
Medium
Host the public online meeting for group to collaborate to: Highlighting findings, ID gaps in available resources, highlight challenges in this research area
LINK
3
Synthesize
Anyone
Hard
Review existing material and call summary and write an update post on it with materials gathered
LINK
3
Research
One person
Hard
Follow up on gaps identified from the group and post materials to help support information around those gaps.
LINK
Smaller-sized tasks
Applying any missing “tags” to research notes, question posts, and wiki pages on the current topic so they’re connected and easy to find (find more on tags here)
Posting a question related to the topic. This could be a question you have or a question you think others might have.
Answering a question related to the topic by commenting on the post. Answering questions might involve some background research, or it could involve reaching out to someone who might be able to help.
Medium-sized tasks
Editing wiki pages or writing new research notes on the topic. This often involves finding, reading, and synthesizing information from various sources, and making technical information from those sources easier to understand.
Replicating an activity related to the topic and sharing back how it went through comments.
Inviting, listening to, and recording stories from people working on the topic.
Larger-sized tasks
Creating diagrams, drawings, or visualizations, or taking and posting photos that can help illustrate something about the topic (examples here).
Testing, analyzing, or comparing existing tools and methods related to the topic, and posting your findings (example here).
Identifying next step challenges in tool development and adding them to the topic wiki (example here).
The review process outlined above built upon previous thinking on research area reviews (here and here), which can also be broken down into more distinct phases and distributed tasks in the following way:
Phase 1: Information Gathering
In Phase 1, the goal is to sift through and update all the existing resources on PublicLab.org related to a topic. This could include checking in on other projects' updates as well, and if there's been a previous review, that's also a great place to start.
Phase 2: Convening
Phase 2 involves hosting an Open Call to bring folks together, to go through the collected materials from Phase 1, identify gaps and plan next steps.
Phase 3: Synthesizing
In Phase 3, the notes from the call and the newly collected materials, shared goals, and tasks are organized and shared on PublicLab.org, tying the review together in a single post.
This table gives more details on the tasks and can serve as a template to organize the phases of a more distributed research area review:
Phase
Task Type
Who can do this
Difficulty
Task
I'll do this!
1
Garden
Anyone
Easy
Go through posts in the area and make sure they are properly tagged
LINK
1
Share
Anyone
Easy
Post questions on the topic area you have, or that you’re not able to find answers to on Public Lab.
LINK
1
Garden
One person
Medium
Make sure the wiki page has clear format
LINK
1
Research
Anyone
Hard
Help find answers to unanswered questions
LINK
1
Facilitate
Anyone
Hard
Invite, listen to, and record new stories related to the topic
LINK
2
Share
Anyone
Easy
Attend the open topic call and collaborate
LINK
2
Facilitate
One person
Medium
Host the public online meeting for group to collaborate to: Highlighting findings, ID gaps in available resources, highlight challenges in this research area
LINK
3
Synthesize
Anyone
Hard
Review existing material and call summary and write an update post on it with materials gathered
LINK
3
Research
One person
Hard
Follow up on gaps identified from the group and post materials to help support information around those gaps.
LINK
Smaller-sized tasks
Applying any missing “tags” to research notes, question posts, and wiki pages on the current topic so they’re connected and easy to find (find more on tags here)
Posting a question related to the topic. This could be a question you have or a question you think others might have.
Answering a question related to the topic by commenting on the post. Answering questions might involve some background research, or it could involve reaching out to someone who might be able to help.
Medium-sized tasks
Editing wiki pages or writing new research notes on the topic. This often involves finding, reading, and synthesizing information from various sources, and making technical information from those sources easier to understand.
Replicating an activity related to the topic and sharing back how it went through comments.
Inviting, listening to, and recording stories from people working on the topic.
Larger-sized tasks
Creating diagrams, drawings, or visualizations, or taking and posting photos that can help illustrate something about the topic (examples here).
Testing, analyzing, or comparing existing tools and methods related to the topic, and posting your findings (example here).
Identifying next step challenges in tool development and adding them to the topic wiki (example here).
The review process outlined above built upon previous thinking on research area reviews (here and here), which can also be broken down into more distinct phases and distributed tasks in the following way:
Phase 1: Information Gathering
In Phase 1, the goal is to sift through and update all the existing resources on PublicLab.org related to a topic. This could include checking in on other projects' updates as well, and if there's been a previous review, that's also a great place to start.
Phase 2: Convening
Phase 2 involves hosting an Open Call to bring folks together, to go through the collected materials from Phase 1, identify gaps and plan next steps.
Phase 3: Synthesizing
In Phase 3, the notes from the call and the newly collected materials, shared goals, and tasks are organized and shared on PublicLab.org, tying the review together in a single post.
This table gives more details on the tasks and can serve as a template to organize the phases of a more distributed research area review:
Phase
Task Type
Who can do this
Difficulty
Task
I'll do this!
1
Garden
Anyone
Easy
Go through posts in the area and make sure they are properly tagged
LINK
1
Share
Anyone
Easy
Post questions on the topic area you have, or that you’re not able to find answers to on Public Lab.
LINK
1
Garden
One person
Medium
Make sure the wiki page has clear format
LINK
1
Research
Anyone
Hard
Help find answers to unanswered questions
LINK
1
Facilitate
Anyone
Hard
Invite, listen to, and record new stories related to the topic
LINK
2
Share
Anyone
Easy
Attend the open topic call and collaborate
LINK
2
Facilitate
One person
Medium
Host the public online meeting for group to collaborate to: Highlighting findings, ID gaps in available resources, highlight challenges in this research area
LINK
3
Synthesize
Anyone
Hard
Review existing material and call summary and write an update post on it with materials gathered
LINK
3
Research
One person
Hard
Follow up on gaps identified from the group and post materials to help support information around those gaps.
LINK
Applying any missing “tags” to research notes, question posts, and wiki pages on the current topic so they’re connected and easy to find (find more on tags here)
Posting a question related to the topic. This could be a question you have or a question you think others might have.
Answering a question related to the topic by commenting on the post. Answering questions might involve some background research, or it could involve reaching out to someone who might be able to help.
The review process outlined above built upon previous thinking on research area reviews (here and here), which can also be broken down into more distinct phases and distributed tasks in the following way:
Phase 1: Information Gathering
In Phase 1, the goal is to sift through and update all the existing resources on PublicLab.org related to a topic. This could include checking in on other projects' updates as well, and if there's been a previous review, that's also a great place to start.
Phase 2: Convening
Phase 2 involves hosting an Open Call to bring folks together, to go through the collected materials from Phase 1, identify gaps and plan next steps.
Phase 3: Synthesizing
In Phase 3, the notes from the call and the newly collected materials, shared goals, and tasks are organized and shared on PublicLab.org, tying the review together in a single post.
This table gives more details on the tasks and can serve as a template to organize the phases of a more distributed research area review:
Phase
Task Type
Who can do this
Difficulty
Task
I'll do this!
1
Garden
Anyone
Easy
Go through posts in the area and make sure they are properly tagged
LINK
1
Share
Anyone
Easy
Post questions on the topic area you have, or that you’re not able to find answers to on Public Lab.
LINK
1
Garden
One person
Medium
Make sure the wiki page has clear format
LINK
1
Research
Anyone
Hard
Help find answers to unanswered questions
LINK
1
Facilitate
Anyone
Hard
Invite, listen to, and record new stories related to the topic
LINK
2
Share
Anyone
Easy
Attend the open topic call and collaborate
LINK
2
Facilitate
One person
Medium
Host the public online meeting for group to collaborate to: Highlighting findings, ID gaps in available resources, highlight challenges in this research area
LINK
3
Synthesize
Anyone
Hard
Review existing material and call summary and write an update post on it with materials gathered
LINK
3
Research
One person
Hard
Follow up on gaps identified from the group and post materials to help support information around those gaps.