Establishing Collaborative Workspaces

If large documents (such as grant proposals, draft manuscripts, etc.) must be shared among investigators located at different institutions, impasses can be encountered in gaining access to shared drives protected by the firewalls of the host institution. This problem can be further complicated if files are too large for emailing.  The IDDRC web portal provides a solution to this problem by providing private subportals for data storage and communication.

How to Create a Subportal on the IDDRC Portal Website

To create a subportal, forward your name, a description of the work, and a list of participants to Theresa Trapilo (theresa.trapilo@childrens.harvard.edu) She will work with the IDDRC Portal central staff to create your subportal.  You will be notified when the portal has been established. Users can be enrolled into multiple subportals.

How to reach a  Subportal

When you login to the main portal, in the left column, under the header “IDDRC Web Portal”, you will see the list of navigational links for the portal. The last link in the list is “Network Subportals”. This link will take you to the page with a list of the subportals to which you have access.

Subportal organization

Each subportal includes the following sections:

  1. Directory – a list of all members of the subportal.
  2. About IDDRC – generic information about IDDRC and its mission.
  3. News – a storage area for announcements, news from DDRCs, press releases, etc.
  4. Events -  a storage are for current or archived event documents.
  5. Libraries  – a storage area for document storage.
  6. Discussion – a forum for conversing about topics of interest. All available discussion topics are listed on a discussion main page.
  7. Network Subportals – a list of subportal names to which you are enrolled. If you are enrolled in several subportals, you will see your list of your subportals and will be able to switch to another subportal without logout and re-login actions.
  8. Return to main portal. This link will take participant to the main portal page.

What You can Post in a Subportal

Information posted to a subportal is accessible only to the individuals who are assigned to that subportal by the portal Project Manager. All authorized users can post information to News, Events, Libraries, and Discussion areas.