Knowledge Collaboration:
The University of Louisville utilizes
Xerox technology to share knowledge
and collaborate virtually.
P
ROCESS
S
TUDY
The University of Louisville
works together to improve
productivity, streamline
workflow, and enhance
knowledge sharing
PROCESS WORKFLOW
Spanning three campuses and over 450 acres, the University of Louisville is a state
supported urban university located in Kentucky's largest metropolitan area. With a
student population of over 22,000, the University of Louisville offers graduate, profes-
sional, baccalaureate, and associate degrees, as well as certificates, in over 170 fields
of study through 12 schools and colleges.
The business challenge:
The way in which the
administration at the
University of Louisville
shared and collaborated on
documents was inefficient.
The Xerox response:
Xerox DocuShare, a Web-
based knowledge sharing
software solution.
The end result:
Streamlined collaborative
work processes, improved
productivity, and a very
happy customer.
Sometimes a problem isn’t apparent
until its solution is introduced. Such
was the case with the way the
administration at the University of
Louisville shared documents—and
the knowledge they contain. Until
recently, if administrators wanted to
collaborate on a specific document,
they would distribute the electronic
file as an e-mail attachment or
upload the file to a shared directory
on the University’s Local Area
Network. If they wanted to share a
paper document, they had to use the
campus mail system.
These methods were relatively effec-
tive, but there were problems:
• E-mail attachments use disk space
unnecessarily because everyone
has a copy of the same document
• Sending files via e-mail to multiple
recipients clogs the network
• Not everyone has access to shared
directories on the LAN
• Hardcopy documents are at risk of
being lost or damaged. There were
also delays using the campus mail
system.
• Collaborating on documents dis-
tributed in these manners is
extremely difficult because there is
no automatic version control
Despite these challenges, however,
Sandra Johnson-Byers, Director of
Consulting Services at U of L
explains, “We thought our system
was fine. We didn’t know there was a
better way.” It wasn’t until Dr. Ron
Moore, the University’s CIO, saw a
demonstration of Xerox DocuShare
software, that he realized the
school’s methods of sharing and col-
laborating on documents could be
drastically improved. DocuShare is a
Web-based, community-maintained
knowledge sharing solution that
Moore initially saw as an opportunity
to facilitate a Chinese Distance
Learning initiative. After learning
more about DocuShare, Moore rec-
ognized the software could alleviate
many of the knowledge sharing and
collaboration pains the University
faced.
Testing the waters
Upon returning from the conference,
Dr. Moore decided to take DocuShare
out for a “test drive” to see what it
could really do. A pilot program began
on campus with about 20 users, and the
results were all he expected and more.
Moore says, “the pilot clearly demon-
strated how DocuShare could help us
disseminate information quickly and
collaborate on shared documents”.
A 12-person U of L management was
among the first to use DocuShare as a
means to collaborate on a strategic
planning initiative.
DocuShare versioning
“One of the nicest aspects of the soft-
ware is the way it handles version con-
trol,” Johnson-Byers says. When a team
member wanted to revise the master
document, s/he would “check it out”
from the site, which would lock the file
from other team members, so multiple
changes could not occur simultaneous-
ly. When revisions were complete, the
file would be uploaded back to the com-
mon area, where all team members
could view and/or revise the new file.
DocuShare also keeps a history of all
previous versions, so if the team agrees
the latest revision is unnecessary, it is
simple to revert back to the last version.
“With normal document collaboration,
you continually have to save versions
under different names. If you don’t, the
old is lost forever, and the new changes
are permanent. With DocuShare, the
software automatically saves the old
version for you. That feature came in
very handy with our strategic planning
project. Without it, we would’ve totally
lost a good amount of information”
DocuShare organization
The team set up a project calendar and
included their agendas in a single, com-
mon location for all team members to
view. An e-folder was created to store
the master document, and sub-folders
were stored and organized reference
documents.
DocuShare security
Because the documents included sensi-
tive data, authorization was set so only
team members could access and/or edit
the files stored in this particular area of
the University’s DocuShare site. Once
permissions were set, authorized team
members could view any of the files at
their convenience by simply navigating
through the Web-based DocuShare col-
lections or by searching the entire site
using key words.
“ Docushare's ease of use allows virtually any end-
user to become a web publisher.”
Dr. Ronald Moore, CIO, University of Louisville
DocuShare
Anyone can access
Electronic Files
Scanned
Documents
The verdict is in
DocuShare’s ease of use and streamlined
workflow are readily apparent based on
how the solution was embraced by the
pilot team members. By the end of the
pilot, the 20 users had over 1,000 files
stored and organized in e-folders on the
University’s DocuShare site. Moore
expects that once DocuShare is running
University-wide, work processes are
going to benefit greatly from the Xerox
solution:
DocuShare improves collaboration:
• With version control, permissions set-
ting, project calendars, and e-mail
notification, projects U of L staff can
collaborate on projects virtually.
Enabling people to work on projects
together—from different locations and
at their own convenience—greatly
enhances the collaboration process.
DocuShare reduces waste and improves
productivity:
• The U of L can work toward a paper-
less office by scanning hardcopy docu-
ments on a Xerox Document Centre or
other multifunction device and then
uploading the newly created digital
files to an appropriate e-folder in
DocuShare. It is no longer necessary to
duplicate paper documents and dis-
tribute them manually. DocuShare
does it all.
• With DocuShare, documents travel at
the speed of the Internet. Also, many
different people can view a single doc-
ument at the same time.
Xerox
®
, The Document Company
®
, Xerox Connect, and the digital X
®
are trademarks of Xerox Corporation. ©2001 Xerox Corporation. All rights reserved. Printed in USA. 05/01
DocuShare improves knowledge sharing
and document distribution:
• Bandwidth is no longer a problem
because e-mail attachments can be
eliminated. Authorized administrators
can pull documents by viewing and
printing them from the DocuShare
folder, or they can push documents by
e-mailing just the url of the folders
where the files are stored.
• Unlike shared directories on the
University’s LAN, an unlimited num-
ber of guests of the system can view
unrestricted documents. So now the
community has a portal into the U of
L and vice versa. But permissions can
be set to ensure sensitive information
is kept confidential. DocuShare sys-
tem administrator(s) can give users
read, read/write, or read/write/man-
age capabilities.
• Johnson-Byers says the University is
planning on using DocuShare’s sub-
scription feature, which automatically
sends an e-mail notification to pre-
specified users when new content is
added to the site.
The pilot was such a success
that Moore has decided to mar-
ket DocuShare to other areas of
the University. Within one year ,
he expects 11 of the 20 areas of
the University to have the solu-
tion up and running. He is such
a firm believer in the software
that he is also promoting
DocuShare to other Kentucky
schools. Moore explains he
takes such a leadership role in
marketing the Xerox solution
because he understands the
value of fast, easy information-
sharing and collaboration. And
with DocuShare’s ease of use,
he says, “virtually any end-user
can become a web publisher.”
