Distributed authoring in the area of eLearning

To support distributed groups of authors it is not only necessary to provide convenient software components, but also mechanisms to enable sharing and reuse between authors. For this purpose, we have developed a central repository called InfoPool. With this InfoPool, content elements from every level of granularity can be handled, from small assets, like pictures and animations, up to complete courses. To ensure reusability two things are needed: context independent content and the software to find it. The InfoPool makes it possible to describe every element with metadata in an easy and comfortable way, no matter of what granularity the content is. These metadata is stored in a SCORM compliant manner. On this basis, it is possible to search and collect content from cooperating authors and reuse it in new contexts. Even if an element is changed on a relative low level, e.g., misspelling or reworked illustrations, the correction is reflected in each level above.