Digital Communications Systems

The Catalogue

A catalogue is an essential part of organizing digital assets. A catalogue helps us put each piece of published material in its proper context as it relates to both our goals and all other published material. A catalogue is composed of metadata (such as an information architecture or controlled vocabulary), which describes the material, and the material itself.

Metadata

We use metadata to classify documents. Metadata is used to identify and group content into meaningful collections. These collections can be non-exclusive, meaning a document can exist in more than one collection at a time.

The systems we use to classify and collect documents are outlined here.

Controlled Vocabulary

A controlled vocabulary is:

  • A way to describe a set of ideas in a predictable way
  • A specific collection of words and relationships between words
  • A way to understand the contents of documents systematically

A controlled vocabulary do provides a list of words to use to describe a document: ie, a predictable source of metadata.

Over time, and in conjunction with other tools for digital asset management, controlled vocabulary keeps a library of content searchable and useful even as it grows to be very large and complicated.

The process:

  1. First, choose a list of words that is specific enough to the describe content in useful detail and broad-enough to describe all the content we want to include in our catalogue;
  2. Then, content creators and editors choose words from the list to describe the documents they produce;
  3. These words are attached to the document - the process can be manual or computer assisted, but a human who understand the content has the important role of identifying its semantic meaning;
  4. The documents are published and held in our catalogue, which is able to search and group items by the information in the metadata.

A controlled vocabulary isn’t the only kind of metadata that is important - there is also information about the kinds of documents we produce (their length, for example), or the programs that spur their creation, or the community the document is meant to serve. But semantic metadata applied through a controlled vocabulary is the most important kind of metadata for understanding the meaning of a document.

Information Architecture

The following llist outlines all of the areas of publication activity. Some areas are public-facing and some are internal-only communications. Nonetheless, DigitalComs is active in some way in most of these areas and all most all of them have at least on page (or a page is needed) on the corporate website.

  • Governance

    • annual general meeting
    • executive committee (board)
    • special projects and committees
    • international meetings
    • evaluation and strategic initiative
    • conflict resolution
    • directors
  • Communications and Marketting

    • information services resource centre

    • digital/online communications

    • public awareness projects

    • market research

    • national media liason

      • Ottawa
      • Toronto
    • communications strategy

    • materials distrobution (online store)

    • social media outreach assistance

    • digital media capactiy development

  • Information Technology

    • network support
    • iMIS coordination
    • iMIS integration
    • IT review
  • Member Services

    • point of contact

    • member-activism liason

  • Resource Development (Donations)

    • monthly giving
    • direct mail
    • honoring gifts
    • 3rd party special events
    • planned giving
    • major donor giving
    • 1800
    • workplace giving
    • online giving
    • special events
  • Human Resources

    • job listings
    • training programs
    • volunteering
    • internships
    • cultural diversifications
    • gender mainstreaming
  • Publications

    • reports

      • External (from IS)
      • Internal (mission reports)
    • newsletters

      • Wire
      • Candle
      • Rights Now!
      • Speak Out
    • audio/visual

  • Action Strategies

    • major campaigns

      • corporate accountability
      • MENA
      • arms control
      • Indigenous people of Colombia
      • Sexual and Reproductive Rights
      • “countering terror with justice” (sic)
      • crisis response
      • missions
    • Human Rights Agenda

      • urgent action
      • Americas program
      • representation
      • indigenous rights
      • refuguees and migrants
      • women’s rights
      • security and human rights
    • Grassroots Activism

    • initiatives (GO team)

    • groups

      • youth groups
      • community groups
      • action cirles
    • networks

      • urgent action

      • medical

      • youth

      • online

        • Twitter feeds
        • Facebook groups
        • Flickr
        • Pinterest
        • Tumblr
        • Youtube
        • discussion forums
        • mailing lists
    • member activism

      • initiatives
      • events
      • groups
    • events

      • human rights college
      • lectures, presentations, discussions
      • film fests
      • concerts
      • writeathon
    • Regional Support

      • hubs

      • regional meetings

      • offices

        • Vancouver
        • Toronto
        • Halifax
  • Intermediate Structures (Outreach)

    • fieldworkers
    • partner networks
    • coalitions
    • outreach initiatives
    • theme/issue coordinators
    • country coordinators
    • coordinator training and projects
    • coordination council meetings

Content

There are actually only a few content types we use:

  • Post: a story, including: News, Reference, Project, Blog, and Media;
  • Bio: the story of a person, or group of people; be they an author, volunteer, board member, individual, or collective;
  • Event: a story about a thing that will happen, or has happened, in which people can participate;
  • Job: an opportunity to participate in Amnesty International’s work and the movement, paid or volunteer
  • Message: a story sent to a specific person of group of persons, includes e-mails (often collected in digests or archives), discussions, announcements.

Whether a peice of material is erial or single, part of a collection or stand-alone is also a factor.

Style guide

The International Secretariat of Amnesty International has developed a Global Identity kit, including a style guide, templates, and guidelines for writers. Each branch should produce its own “house style” to cover local issues, concerns, and formatting requirements (such as how to write addresses). Please consult these documents.

Colours

Nonetheless, for quick reference, here are our colours:

  • Yellow: 255 / #FFFF00
  • Black: 0 / #000000
  • Lt. Warm Grey: R199 G194 B186 / #c7c2ba
  • Mid Warm Grey: R148 G147 B127 / #94937f
  • Dk. Warm Grey: R118 G106 B98 / #766a62
  • Lt. Cool Grey: R204 G204 B204 / #CCC
  • Mid Cool Grey: 153 / #999
  • Dk. Cool Grey: 102 / #666
  • Dark Blue: C100 M75 Y20 K10 / #004c84
  • Dark Blue 50%: 50 37 10 5 / #808eb2
  • Dark Blue 20%: 20 15 5 3 / #c2c6d6
  • Bright Blue: C100 0 0 0 / #00aeef
  • Bright Blue 50%: 50 0 0 12 / #63badd
  • Bright Blue 20%: 20 0 0 6 / #bbdced
  • Dark Red: 0 100 85 30 / #b10e23 - Don’t tint red, it doesn’t mix well with our colours.

Typeface

Amnesty Trade Gothic

  • Main headings should be in the bold weight of Trade Gothic Condensed
  • Regular weight should be used for sub-headings and body text
  • When Trade Gothic is not available, use Arial regular and bold
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