Service overview
A knowledge base is a self-serve online library of information about a product, service, department, or topic.
McGill IT Services provides the Knowledge Base (KB) service to departments within McGill who want to create their own departmental KB to publish information such as documentation, procedures, and help in an easy to use, searchable format.
Access to departmental KBs can either be:
- Public – unrestricted; open to anyone in the world (no authentication required)
- Accessible to all McGill employees and affiliates
- Accessible only to one or more specific internal teams (no student accounts)
The service includes the following:
- A knowledge base is created for your department, on a tool named Confluence.
- The knowledge base space blueprint on Confluence includes everything you need to get started, including article templates and a pre-configured homepage.
- Permissions for content editors to create and publish articles.
Note that each department is responsible for creating, organizing and maintaining the content within its own KB.
Who can use it
McGill departments who would like to create their own KB.
Users/viewers of the Knowledge Base content are identified by the unit; they generally have to sign in, using their McGill Username and Password.
To request a new knowledge base
To obtain a new knowledge base for your own content management, please submit the request form: New Knowledge Base space on Confluence.
Once your request is received, you will be contacted by IT Services for further discussion.
To obtain access to an existing Knowledge Base
Access to the appropriate Confluence KBs is automatically granted when an employee is onboarded, based on their membership in corresponding Active Directory groups.
For access to restricted content, the space administrator can provide access; contact the department that manages the KB space you need to access.
Cost
There is no cost associated with this service.
Availability
The Knowledge Base is available 24 X 7, except during scheduled and unscheduled maintenance. Check the home page of the IT Support site for announcements regarding service interruptions.
Frequently asked questions
What kind of information can go in a KB?
A knowledge base is ideal for providing operating procedures, job aids and other documentation that is too vast to be housed on a web page, but can also be quickly searched and referenced by those who need it.
Best practices & policies
Before you begin:
Before you submit the New Knowledge Base space on Confluence request form to IT Services, Make an inventory of the kinds of information you will want to present in your KB, and the types of users that will be accessing it.
Please see the Standard on Enterprise Data Classification, on the Secretariat website to ensure your space does NOT contain any Regulated data.
Training & documentation
Support
For technical assistance or questions about your department's KB, contact the IT Service Desk.
To request access to an existing space, contact that department's KB manager.
Users with questions or feedback on content within a departmental KB should contact that department's KB manager.