Collaborative Tools

The interdisciplinary nature of astrobiology creates an environment where teams are distributed geographically and require communication and collaboration tools to bridge distances. NAI has evaluated a number of these tools and is continuously evolving their use. The following page lists the tools currently in use by NAI members and how to access them.

Videoconferencing systems: NAI has provided Polycom videoconferencing systems to each of the team sites as well as some partner sites. The Polycom can connect point to point (just like using a telephone but with video added) using the internet to any H323 system. For multiple site connections (connecting anywhere from three to 30 sites) or ISDN connections, sites can use NAI's MCU. NAI staff can support the multipoint conference or teams can request an account that will allow them to schedule and run multipoint conferences using a web interface. Contact Marco Boldt at Marco.Boldt@nasa.gov, 650-604-3769 for more information. Instructions for placing a call can be found in the accompanying pdf file, PolycomInstruction.pdf. Instructions for using the web interface of the MCU can be downloaded here.

WebEx is a browser based, real-time meeting application. It allows people to share a variety of files such as Powerpoint, Excel and Word documents and applications from any computer on the internet. WebEx also provides real-time chat and polling capabilities, video streaming, Voice-over IP (VoIP), application sharing, desktop sharing and web sharing. With application sharing and desktop sharing, participants can use each other's software or entire computer remotely. This allows for real-time collaboration on authoring papers, analyzing data, running experiments as well as the more standard use of meeting and remote presentations. http://nasa.webex.com To get a WebEx host account or find someone from your team who has one, contact Marco Boldt, Marco.Boldt@nasa.gov, 650-604-3769

NX (NASA/Xerox) is a web-based asynchronous collaborative workspace that provides file storage and sharing with extensive read/write permissions based on individual users and specified groups. One feature of NX that stands out from the many online collaborative tools are interact pages. Using interact pages, workgroups can create customized interactive pages; discussion forums, meeting agendas, project management pages and tables. NX also provides document version control, routing capabilities and archiving. It has an online calendar, group email capabilities, bulletin boards and extensive search capabilities. https://nx.arc.nasa.gov/ if you are interested in using NX, contact Marco Boldt, mboldt@mail.arc.nasa.gov, 650-604-3769

The NAI Photo Directory provides members names, title, photograph, email address, address, phone number, discipline and institution affiliation.