Definition of Knowledge Base

(draft)

Definition of Knowledge Base (KB)

A knowledge base (KB) is a singular place to track resources/titles (items).  The act of tracking items extends beyond the item itself and includes:

1. The ability to associate and record relevant information about that item
   1. This includes associating licensing information and documents, troubleshooting information, administrative and statistical logins, associated contact(s), and pertinent information/notes about the item.
2. The ability to perform actions upon the item
   1. This includes the ability to "track" an item with various statuses, and control exists over what information is recorded and shared with regard to the item(s).
   2. This further includes the ability to group items into one or more sets.
3. The ability to populate public facing systems with the data in the KB
   1. This includes the action of auto-populating front-end systems and services based upon the data in the KB, such as MARC records, OpenURL systems, database pages, e-journal pages, Web discovery systems, and possibly patron authentication.

A knowledge base must be searchable, allowing for its information to be easily retrieved and actively used. And it should allow for data to be imported/exported into and out of the KB.