====== Corporate Directory ======

Every company has a corporate directory, but the medium differs - photocopies, spreadsheets, LDAP, desk phones.

Keeping these directories up-to-date can be difficult, especially when they are centrally managed.

Maintaining a Corporate Directory on a wiki, however, lets everybody update their own information as soon as it changes.

===== Usage =====

Since wiki pages are not bound by the dimensions of a printed page, they can contain a rich variety of information, such as:

  * **Picture** - a tremendous help as your company grows
  * **Name** (first name, initials, last name, title) - components kept separate for sorting purposes, but combined for display purposes
  * **Department** - try to limit the naming of departments to make sorting more consistent
  * **Role**
  * **Location** - such as city, office, floor
  * **Phone** - internal, external, mobile, home
  * **E-mail address** - although this might be better maintained in your e-mail or LDAP system to ensure consistency
  * **Manager** - start building your corporate hierarchy in the wiki
  * **Link to wiki personal space** - personal spaces on a wiki provide great ways for staff to share information about themselves, with each space acting like its own independent wiki
  * **Link to personal blog** - an example of pointing to information not kept in a traditional corporate wiki

==== Benefits of using a wiki for a corporate directory ====

  * Staff can instantly update //their own// information
  * Staff can update information about //other staff// (Don't worry about vandalism - usage is tracked)
  * Avoid the need for a single person/department having to update the information, causing an efficiency bottleneck
  * Pictures help staff recognise other staff members, which is particularly useful for new starters
  * The directory is always up-to-date and does not need to be disseminated (compare that to distributing spreadsheets every couple of weeks!)

==== Presentation Format ====

**Basic:** A basic table is sufficient for the task. The web browser's Search function will let users find information quicker than a 'round trip' query (unless your directory is huge).

**Better:** Some wikis also allow sorting of table columns without having to refresh the page.

**Best:** Some form of programmed directory can be even better, which can give better interactivity to end users.

===== Example =====

  *  [[https://coral.uchicago.edu:8443/confluence/display/divrsrcs/Full+Staff+Directory+%28sorted+by+last+name%29|University of Chicago]] 

===== Related Patterns =====

  * [[My Personal Info]]
  * [[Magnet]] - putting a directory of information about the people in your organization can set a wiki on the path to becoming a magnet for a group's most critically important and often accessed information.

===== Further Reading =====

  *  [[http://simile.mit.edu/exhibit/|MIT's Simile Project]]  - Create interactive data-rich web pages without ever touching a database or a web server, or doing any programming