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Irenees.net is a website of Resources for Peace
at the service of Artisans worldwide with the goal of equipping them in their efforts
to rethink peace and propose new modes of action

A website of Resources for Peace

 

The « philosophy » behind the format of the Irenees files

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The files’ general structure is divided into four parts : the heading, the body, the index, and the references.

The manner in which the Irenees dossiers are elaborated presents two challenges :

• To privilege the diversity expressed by the different types of files.

• To find a way to manage this diversity.

It is a question of articulating unity and diversity.

For streamlining reasons, a universal file format was outlined to accommodate the existing file types. Next, each file type uses mutual format fields on a need-as basis.

The files’ general structure is divided into four parts :

• 1. The heading

• 2. The body

• 3. The index

• 4. The bibliography

THE HEADING

The heading contains all the information that succinctly presents the file’s contents as well as the conditions of its production.

• The title

The title should represent a general summary of the file’s contents. Objectivity, precision and interest are the characteristics of a good title. It can be one or two lines long.

• The sub-title

The sub-title comes after the title and before text of the file. It summarizes the text; it expands upon the title. The sub-title gives a more precise idea of the file’s content, particularly useful as an aid to search engines. It can be one, two or three lines long.

• The author

The first and last name of the person who elaborates the file designates the author. The reader of the file will be able, by a simple click, to access an author’s presentation.

• The organization

It consists of the organization for which the file’s author works and that takes responsibility for its editorial content. The reader of the file will be able, by a simple click, to access a more detailed presentation of the relevant organization.

• Locality and date

The author specifies the locality and date of the file’s elaboration. This should not be confused with the date that the file is put online, which is automatically generated and applied by the website’s content management system.

• Internal writer

Name of the person who entered the file in the interface. This person can be the author of the file or somebody else.

THE BODY OF THE FILE

The body is where the file’s content is developed; it is made up of the main text and the annexes.

• The main text

The main text forms the « literary » part of the file. It is here that the author develops his knowledge, experiences, ideas, values, et cetera, by means of the file. The text is divided into paragraphs; if the text is long, it will have sub-titles so as to improve readability.

• The commentary

Certain files, notably the experience files, include a field called « commentary ». It is an occasion for the author to take a step back from the text and to put it back into context, to develop a critical eye, to point out the file’s significance, to promote propositions and perspective, et cetera. For the file’s author, it’s the moment to say « I ».

INDEXING

Indexing consists of assigning each file a series of terms that reflects its contents, doing so in such a manner that it will be searchable using keywords. The terms used should also make it possible to classify the file in relation to other files. The terms the author uses are to be found in the Irenees thesaurus that is managed by a different, autonomous file. An author has the possibility to enrich the Irenees’ thesaurus with new terms that he feels are pertinent. To do so, he would register them as keyword « candidates ».

Indexing is achieved using the following fields :

• Theme

Identifying the file’s main themes : the experiences, stakes, perspectives, et cetera. The Irenees thesaurus proposes four main themes :

• • Cultural and ethical pluralism of peace (culture and peace) ;

  • Exertion of our rights and responsibilities (politics and peace) ;

  • Choosing freedom and solidarity (economy and peace) ;

  • Preservation and allocation of public goods (natural resources and peace).

• Geography

The Irenees thesaurus proposes four main geographical areas :

• • The Americas ;

  • Europe ;

  • Africa ;

  • Asia and Oceania ;

• By actor

Precision of the actor in question.

The Irenees thesaurus proposes four main categories :

• • Citizens and their organizations ;

  • Political authorities ;

  • Economic leaders ;

  • Symbolic managers (intellectuals) ;

• Temporal

Situating the file’s content into a dynamic of four open moments :

• • Salvaging peace (before war) ;

  • Finding peace (during war) ;

  • Reconstructing peace (after war) ;

  • Strengthening peace (sustainable peace) ;

The index allows users to find files via a keyword search as well as to discover relationship between these terms, files, et cetera, that might not seem clear at first. On of the objectives of an index is to facilitate file-to-file association in order to introduce new knowledge and perspective so as to perpetuate an environment of innovation.

THE REFERENCES

Providing references allows the author to specify the sources used while elaborating his file.

• Source type

Book, conversation, testimony, interview, website, participation in a seminars, video, movie, internship, et cetera.

• Source date

Currently, we use the format dd/mm/yyyy.

• Source language

This information uses the two-letter ISO coding format : fr, es, en et cetera.

• Links

It consists of a field that offers interesting navigational possibilities. This feature allows the author to redirect the user towards other files or Internet links. Since, in the files themselves it is not possible to include other types of documents, it has been made possible to put them in the « links » field so that the user can open them. The file author can, therefore, use this field to include other documents : tables, photos, reports, et cetera, even theses, always taking into account the time needed for the user to download the said documents.