Submission Type Information

How To Use This Site
What is the mission of Claiming public Space? CpS is an on-line participatory design and collaborative works network whose aim is to stimulate dialogue, debate, and exchange from an international perspective. To further the possibilities of democratic design, the dissemination of knowledge, inspiring stories, and promising practices across boundaries of space and time are urgently needed. As an unfinished project, Claiming Public Space aims to provide an information commons and archive for individuals that are giving expression to tomorrow’s spaces of engagement. CpS features a public database and an information commons for the public-interest art, architecture and design community. a public database of news & announcements, events, essays & articles, project images, tool & templates, and videos. Individuals and groups can share their work through an easy and automated on-line submission process. an on-line information commons with: On-line polls, short-term forums, and advocacy alerts International calendar of events, conferences, exhibits, etc. RSS feeds of news, events, and related topics CpS serves: Community and civic design centers Educators and students in schools of architecture, landscape architecture, and planning Community design and planning practitioners Professional associations and networks What is available on the CpS site? Video streaming of lectures, interviews, built projects Image gallery of built works and design proposals Essays and articles by practitioners, educators, and students On-line polls, short-term forums, and advocacy alerts International calendar of events, conferences, exhibits, etc. RSS feeds of news, events, and related topics What can I do with the CpS site? Find projects, articles and information on public interest art, architecture and design by searching or browsing the database. Add to the database by contributing projects, articles and information. Participate in discussions about topics of interest in the forums. Stay current with events and happenings in the field by checking the announcements or calendar. Participate in discussions about topics of interest in the forums. Give your viewpoint on items in the database by adding your comments to entries. Weigh in on informal polls. How do I search or browse for information? The two main ways to find items in the database are searching by keyword(s) and browsing and finding by archive category and themes. Searching by keyword(s) On the top left of the home page is the ‘find’ feature. Here you can enter a keyword or keywords and the database will return matches for you. The database search supports basic operands of mSearch. It has several features you can use in your queries to get better results. The most obvious of these is the ability to scope a search. If, after entering a query, you find you have too many results, you can tell mSearch to only search a specific section of the web site. The sections available are specific to the CpS database, but you should have the ability to choose to one you want to search. The other features are used in many other search engines, and are used by modifying the text of the query itself. mSearch usually searches the database for each word in your query, if an item contains any one of those words, it is returned as a result. The more words a query matches, the better place it gets in the results list. For an item to match a word, it only needs to have a word that contains that word in it (ie. “man” would match: human, mantle, woman, command, maniac…). If you want to search to results only if it contains a certain phrase, you can surround that phrase in double-quoyes (“ “). Searching for “protein shakes” will match only protein shakes. It will not bring up any results containing “milkshakes”, or “protein bars”. Also, mSearch will ignore common words such as “I”, “the”, or “is”. If you want to search one of those words, surround it in quotes. Other than these specifics, the CpS search engine supports basic operands. For example: “Community gardens” (using quotation marks) returns only exact phrase matches. Community +gardens returns items with both words Community –gardens returns all matches on the first but none with the second. Browsing and finding by categories and themes All items in the database are tagged with labels. These tags show up on entries, and at any time, you can browse all items in a category by selecting the category name or theme. These include: Browse the archive Articles + Essays Videos Tools + Templates Image Gallery Find by theme Community + Participation Structure + Architecture Site + Landscape Neighborhood + District City + Region Environment + Policy How do I participate in the CpS community? An important function of the web site is to provide individuals the opportunity to participate in the CpS information commons by sharing their work through an easy on-line submission process. Submit information to the archive On the top of the right column of the home page, you will find a red arrow that links you to a page where you can select which type of submission you would like to share with the CpS community. >> Engage via Calendar, Forums, Announcements, Links, and Polls Under the left column heading “Engage the commons,” you will find a series of sub-headings to engage the CpS community of users. Calendar: Post events and other happenings to the CpS calendar. This is an calendar of internationally significant exhibits, performances, lectures, presentations, demonstration, forums, discussions, workshop and meetings. Forums: The web site features opportunity for focused discussions and debates. This function provides the ability for users to post their ideas to a message board, participate in live chats, etc. Interested in starting a new forum for discussion? No problem, please contact the site’s webmaster. Post announcements: Have some news to post? Here is where you can send a brief message about competitions, announce events, or reviews of projects, articles, etc. (For submissions to the archive, see “Submit information to the archive” above) Link to CpS: Here is where you can post other web sites that might be of interest to the CpS community of users. Regular polls will be posted on the home page of CpS. Sometimes we will be looking for your feedback on ways to improve the site. Other times we will create a poll on a current event or topic of debate. If you would like to suggest a poll, please contact the site’s webmaster. How is the CpS site organized? General layout: Left Column: this is the primary navigation bar related to: 1) using the CpS search engine, 2) browsing the archive, 3) finding content by thematic heading, and 4) engaging the commons via the calendar, forums, posting announcements, and links to other sites. Center: the center of each page is where the primary content is displayed. Content is presented as a news story with direct links to the specific content and related categories. For example, on the home page you will find regularly updated news and announcements linking you to recently submitted essays, videos, images, projects, etc. Click on an individual news item and you will be taken to another page that provides more detailed content. Right Column: an important function of the web site is to provide individuals the opportunity to participate in the CpS information commons by sharing their work through an easy on-line submission process. On the top of the right column, you will find a red arrow that links you to a page where you can select which type of submission you would like to share with the CpS community. Below the arrow you will also find a location where you can log on as a registered CpS user. At the bottom of the column, you will find real-time links (also known as rss feeds) to news and information from other web sites from around the world. How are submissions organized? Submissions are organized by content classification, theme, and scale. Below are the primary categories that organize content by content classification: articles + essays: manuscripts and documents related to theory, practice, and case studies of public-interest architecture and community design. Submissions in this category will be published online and .pdf format. videos: audio visual files of projects, presentations, lectures, interviews, etc. that relate to the content of public interest architecture, art and design. calendar: events and happenings of internationally significant exhibits, performances, lectures, presentations, demonstration, forums, discussions, workshop and meetings. tools + templates: a resource for public-interest practitioners and citizens to download how-to manuals, projects and technical reports, web-based and digital tools. The aim is to provide design literacy and empowerment tools that serve local communities. image gallery: a visual archive of built works, site installations, and real events that are material expressions of the public realm. Why should I participate? Why not? Your contributions will only make the CpS database that much better. Besides, think of your contribution as a form of self promotion viewed by thousands of individuals around the world! Do I have to register as a CpS user? No not at all--most features and resources are available without creating a user account. However, you will need to create an account if you contribute content so that we can contact you if needed. Does it cost anything to join? Definitely not, this is a public resource. All we want your input and participation-not your money :-) Creating a user account just activates advanced features by creating an account on our server. This account is your "name" when posting so that you are no longer anonymous to our system and other users. Will you fill my email with junk mail? No, we will not email you unless you request some specific notifications. Will you give my email out to advertisers? No way, we do not have advertisers!! No pop-ups either ;-) Can I make a link from my site to CpS? Yup, just link to: http://www.claimingpublicspace.net. Our logo's and banner images are also available in the downloads section. Also, drop us an email so that we know who is referring us so that we can thank you! Note: please do not link directly to specific content unless you have permission from us. Much of the content is copyrighted by the individuals and institutions that are shared by this community. If you want to highlight CpS news headlines on your site, you can syndicate our news from here. (Link address: feed://claimingpublicspace.net/backend.php) If you want to highlight CpS gallery headlines on your site, you can also syndicate our gallery from here. (Link address: feed://www.claimingpublicspace.net/modules/gallery/rss.php) How can I contact CpS? That’s easy, just email us at webmaster@claimingpublicspace.net.

What is the mission of Claiming public Space?

CpS is an on-line participatory design and collaborative works network whose aim is to stimulate dialogue, debate, and exchange from an international perspective.

To further the possibilities of democratic design, the dissemination of knowledge, inspiring stories, and promising practices across boundaries of space and time are urgently needed. As an unfinished project, Claiming Public Space aims to provide an information commons and archive for individuals that are giving expression to tomorrow’s spaces of engagement.

CpS features a public database and an information commons for the public-interest art, architecture and design community.

a public database of news & announcements, events, essays & articles, project images, tool & templates, and videos. Individuals and groups can share their work through an easy and automated on-line submission process.

an on-line information commons with:

On-line polls, short-term forums, and advocacy alerts

International calendar of events, conferences, exhibits, etc.

RSS feeds of news, events, and related topics

CpS serves:

Community and civic design centers

Educators and students in schools of architecture, landscape architecture, and planning

Community design and planning practitioners

Professional associations and networks

What is available on the CpS site?

Video streaming of lectures, interviews, built projects

Image gallery of built works and design proposals

Essays and articles by practitioners, educators, and students

On-line polls, short-term forums, and advocacy alerts

International calendar of events, conferences, exhibits, etc.

RSS feeds of news, events, and related topics

What can I do with the CpS site?

Find projects, articles and information on public interest art, architecture and design by searching or browsing the database.

Add to the database by contributing projects, articles and information.

Participate in discussions about topics of interest in the forums.

Stay current with events and happenings in the field by checking the announcements or calendar.

Participate in discussions about topics of interest in the forums.

Give your viewpoint on items in the database by adding your comments to entries.

Weigh in on informal polls.

How do I search or browse for information?

The two main ways to find items in the database are searching by keyword(s) and browsing and finding by archive category and themes.

Searching by keyword(s)
On the top left of the home page is the ‘find’ feature. Here you can enter a keyword or keywords and the database will return matches for you.

The database search supports basic operands of mSearch. It has several features you can use in your queries to get better results. The most obvious of these is the ability to scope a search. If, after entering a query, you find you have too many results, you can tell mSearch to only search a specific section of the web site. The sections available are specific to the CpS database, but you should have the ability to choose to one you want to search.

The other features are used in many other search engines, and are used by modifying the text of the query itself. mSearch usually searches the database for each word in your query, if an item contains any one of those words, it is returned as a result. The more words a query matches, the better place it gets in the results list. For an item to match a word, it only needs to have a word that contains that word in it (ie. “man” would match: human, mantle, woman, command, maniac…).

If you want to search to results only if it contains a certain phrase, you can surround that phrase in double-quoyes (“ “). Searching for “protein shakes” will match only protein shakes. It will not bring up any results containing “milkshakes”, or “protein bars”. Also, mSearch will ignore common words such as “I”, “the”, or “is”. If you want to search one of those words, surround it in quotes.

Other than these specifics, the CpS search engine supports basic operands. For example:

“Community gardens” (using quotation marks) returns only exact phrase matches.

Community +gardens returns items with both words

Community –gardens returns all matches on the first but none with the second.

Browsing and finding by categories and themes
All items in the database are tagged with labels. These tags show up on entries, and at any time, you can browse all items in a category by selecting the category name or theme. These include:

Browse the archive

Articles + Essays

Videos

Tools + Templates

Image Gallery

Find by theme

Community + Participation

Structure + Architecture

Site + Landscape

Neighborhood + District

City + Region

Environment + Policy

How do I participate in the CpS community?

An important function of the web site is to provide individuals the opportunity to participate in the CpS information commons by sharing their work through an easy on-line submission process.

Submit information to the archive

On the top of the right column of the home page, you will find a red arrow that links you to a page where you can select which type of submission you would like to share with the CpS community. >>

Engage via Calendar, Forums, Announcements, Links, and Polls

Under the left column heading “Engage the commons,” you will find a series of sub-headings to engage the CpS community of users.

Calendar: Post events and other happenings to the CpS calendar. This is an calendar of internationally significant exhibits, performances, lectures, presentations, demonstration, forums, discussions, workshop and meetings.

Forums: The web site features opportunity for focused discussions and debates. This function provides the ability for users to post their ideas to a message board, participate in live chats, etc. Interested in starting a new forum for discussion? No problem, please contact the site’s webmaster.

Post announcements: Have some news to post? Here is where you can send a brief message about competitions, announce events, or reviews of projects, articles, etc. (For submissions to the archive, see “Submit information to the archive” above)

Link to CpS: Here is where you can post other web sites that might be of interest to the CpS community of users.

Regular polls will be posted on the home page of CpS. Sometimes we will be looking for your feedback on ways to improve the site. Other times we will create a poll on a current event or topic of debate. If you would like to suggest a poll, please contact the site’s webmaster.

How is the CpS site organized?

General layout:

Left Column: this is the primary navigation bar related to: 1) using the CpS search engine, 2) browsing the archive, 3) finding content by thematic heading, and 4) engaging the commons via the calendar, forums, posting announcements, and links to other sites.

Center: the center of each page is where the primary content is displayed. Content is presented as a news story with direct links to the specific content and related categories. For example, on the home page you will find regularly updated news and announcements linking you to recently submitted essays, videos, images, projects, etc. Click on an individual news item and you will be taken to another page that provides more detailed content.

Right Column: an important function of the web site is to provide individuals the opportunity to participate in the CpS information commons by sharing their work through an easy on-line submission process. On the top of the right column, you will find a red arrow that links you to a page where you can select which type of submission you would like to share with the CpS community. Below the arrow you will also find a location where you can log on as a registered CpS user. At the bottom of the column, you will find real-time links (also known as rss feeds) to news and information from other web sites from around the world.

How are submissions organized?

Submissions are organized by content classification, theme, and scale. Below are the primary categories that organize content by content classification:

articles + essays: manuscripts and documents related to theory, practice, and case studies of public-interest architecture and community design. Submissions in this category will be published online and .pdf format.

videos: audio visual files of projects, presentations, lectures, interviews, etc. that relate to the content of public interest architecture, art and design.

calendar: events and happenings of internationally significant exhibits, performances, lectures, presentations, demonstration, forums, discussions, workshop and meetings.

tools + templates: a resource for public-interest practitioners and citizens to download how-to manuals, projects and technical reports, web-based and digital tools. The aim is to provide design literacy and empowerment tools that serve local communities.

image gallery: a visual archive of built works, site installations, and real events that are material expressions of the public realm.

Why should I participate?

Why not? Your contributions will only make the CpS database that much better. Besides, think of your contribution as a form of self promotion viewed by thousands of individuals around the world!

Do I have to register as a CpS user?

No not at all--most features and resources are available without creating a user account. However, you will need to create an account if you contribute content so that we can contact you if needed.

Does it cost anything to join?

Definitely not, this is a public resource. All we want your input and participation-not your money :-) Creating a user account just activates advanced features by creating an account on our server. This account is your "name" when posting so that you are no longer anonymous to our system and other users.

Will you fill my email with junk mail?

No, we will not email you unless you request some specific notifications.

Will you give my email out to advertisers?

No way, we do not have advertisers!! No pop-ups either ;-)

Can I make a link from my site to CpS?
Yup, just link to: http://www.claimingpublicspace.net. Our logo's and banner images are also available in the downloads section. Also, drop us an email so that we know who is referring us so that we can thank you! Note: please do not link directly to specific content unless you have permission from us. Much of the content is copyrighted by the individuals and institutions that are shared by this community.
If you want to highlight CpS news headlines on your site, you can syndicate our news from here.
(Link address: feed://claimingpublicspace.net/backend.php)

If you want to highlight CpS gallery headlines on your site, you can also syndicate our gallery from here.
(Link address: feed://www.claimingpublicspace.net/modules/gallery/rss.php)

How can I contact CpS?
That’s easy, just email us at webmaster@claimingpublicspace.net.