Introduction

This document provides a clear and detailed guide for maintaining the Office of Information Technology (OIT) Public Knowledge Base (KB). In this knowledge base, “public” means unauthenticated users and all Unity accounts can access content. The majority of content, however, is available for unauthenticated users. The primary objective is to institute standardized practices and processes to streamline knowledge management within OIT. User experiences will improve by ensuring that all OIT Public Knowledge Base articles are relevant, accurate and adhere to accessibility and university brand requirements.

When to Use this Guide

This document is a resource for all OIT knowledge contributors to use as a reference when creating and editing Knowledge Base Articles (KBAs) in the OIT Public Knowledge Base.

Help with These Guidelines

If you have questions or need assistance with knowledge management, contact the NC State Help Desk via the NC State IT Service Portal or call 919.515.HELP (4357).

Training

In order to contribute to knowledge, you must complete the required Moodle training. Completion is necessary to gain access to the knowledge base. If you need additional guidance on the ServiceNow platform, visit learning.servicenow.com and click Start Learning. Once you have created a Now Learning account, you will be able to browse the available training courses. Please note that ServiceNow regularly retires and updates their courses.

Workflow

All OIT knowledge management processes adhere to the Knowledge-Centered Service (KCS) demand-driven model of Capture, Reuse and Improve. Simply put, when an issue or demand arises, it is “captured,” or documented, by the Knowledge Worker. The Knowledge Worker then searches the KB to see if there is an already existing Knowledge Base Article (KBA) that provides a resolution to the issue. If there is, the Knowledge Worker scans the article for accuracy and if it is indeed up-to-date and accurate, the KBA is used to solve the issue. If, however, the KBA found is not up-to-date or accurate, the Knowledge Worker must flag the article so the original author can revise it, or if they have the appropriate access, they can revise the article themself. The updated KBA can then be used to solve the issue. When the Knowledge Worker initially searches the KB, if no relevant KBA’s exist, it is their responsibility to create the new KBA. 

Searching is a crucial step in this workflow and must not be overlooked. Searching early and often helps avoid redundancy and keeps the KB uncluttered.

When Do I Create a New Knowledge Base Article?

It is important to know when it is appropriate to create a new KBA. OIT has adopted a demand-driven approach to Knowledge Management. This means that a new KBA is created only when a) there is a “demand” and b) there is no existing KBA that addresses this demand. We are not imagining, anticipating or fabricating issues that have not yet happened. While we may want to be proactive, we should resist the temptation to predict the future. So, what is a “demand”? A demand can be a formal service request through a ticket in the portal. It can also be an informal question or a discussion between colleagues. 

Article Lifecycle

All KBA’s go through a process of Draft, Publish and Expiration. The stages are referred to as Workflow States. The current Workflow State is displayed in the upper right corner of the edit screen.

• Draft: Draft is the first stage in which the article is created. In this stage, the Knowledge Worker first searches the KB for duplicate articles. If no such articles exist then the Knowledge Worker creates the article, enriched with detailed information while adhering to the provided style guide and accessibility checklist. The author should also ensure any links are valid and an AQI assessment (see: Assessment section) completed prior to proceeding to publication.
• Publish: The next stage is to Publish the article. Publishing the article makes it visible to end users in the KB.
• Maintenance: After publishing, a KBA is considered to be in the Maintenance phase where we, as Knowledge Workers, maintain the accuracy of the article. This can also be considered a “review” phase. Any time a Knowledge Worker comes across an article in their work they are technically “reviewing” that article as every use is a review. Knowledge Management is a collaborative effort. Just because an article may have been authored originally by someone else, if you happen upon the article and discover corrections that need to be made, it is your responsibility to make those corrections in the moment. If you are unable to do so, please “flag” the article and follow up with the author/SME to ensure the article is updated. After a published article is edited, the versioning information automatically updates in the ServiceNow platform.
• Expiration: The final stage is article Expiration. An article will automatically expire when it reaches its Valid To date. The original author will be notified in advance which gives them time to review the article using the provided AQI assessment for guidance. If it is still necessary and accurate then the article can be updated with a new Valid To date. If the article needs to be updated, the original author must do so then publish with a new Valid To date. If the article is obsolete and no longer needed then the article may be Retired.

Article Requirements

When creating a new KBA or editing an existing KBA, there are several fields that need to be completed. 

• Knowledge base*: Click inside the field and select Public Knowledge as the Knowledge Base. 
• Category: There are two methods for choosing a category. The first is to click the magnifying glass and select the category that best suits your article. The second method is to type an asterisk followed by a keyword directly into the category field (ex. *password or *education). If you cannot find an appropriate category, choose the next closest category available and then submit a Help Desk incident requesting that a new category be created. Include the KBA number and the proposed new category in your incident request. 
• Scheduled publish date: This is where you can indicate if you would like the KBA to be published and available at a future date.
• Valid to*: By this date, the article must be reviewed or it will expire and no longer be accessible to the end user. Select a date no more than one year in the future.
• Short Description*: This will be the title of the article. Select a title that uses language your intended audience would use to search for related information.
• Article body*: This is where you put the article content. The structure will vary depending upon the type of KBA you are creating/editing and whether or not you are using a pre-existing template. 
• Meta: This is where you can enter common search terms or words and phrases separated by commas to better help the relevant KBA appear when those terms are searched in the Knowledge Base.
• Can Read*: This is a field that controls the visibility of an article. If you want your KBA to only be accessible to users with a Unity account, for example, you can specify “campus - authenticated” as the user criteria in this field. For more information on user criteria, click the “Can Read” hyperlink in ServiceNow or visit Knowledge Article Permissions.

*indicates a required field.

Roles

The extent to which you are able to use the Knowledge Base depends on your permissions. The different roles for the OIT Public Knowledge Base are: 

• Knowledge Base Owner/Manager: Users with this role can manage KB settings, permissions and categories; create, modify and publish articles; retire articles; view all articles.
• Knowledge Base Contributors: Users with this role can create, modify and publish articles; submit articles for retirement; view all articles.
• Knowledge Viewer: Users with this role can only view articles. This includes end users.

Templates

Some Knowledge Workers prefer to use a template when drafting a new KBA. First, click the three horizontal dots icon in the top right corner of the page. Next, click the “Toggle Template Bar” option until you see the relevant templates listed across the bottom of the screen. Select the template to load that content. Existing global templates are How to and Troubleshooting.

Categories

All articles are assigned to a category or subcategory. These categories and subcategories provide structure and organization to our knowledge base. You can see the category structure by clicking the magnifying glass in the Category field when creating or editing an article. If you have suggestions for updating the existing categories or subcategories, please reach out to your manager, unit liaison, or submit a ticket to the NC State Help Desk.

Assessment

There are two things you should check prior to publishing an article. The first is to ensure the article is unique. If your article is not unique and is instead creating a redundancy, there is no need to proceed further. Do not publish this article. The second thing you should check prior to publishing is the validity of links. If your links are not resolving correctly, do not publish the article. 

Every KBA should also be assessed using the provided Article Quality Index (AQI). The AQI helps maintain a consistent quality of articles in a KB where articles are written by various authors. Each question in the AQI is true/false and is assigned weight. The AQI should be completed on a brand new article and should also be used as a guide to check over an expiring article prior to extending the expiration date. Any of these assessment items can be “false” and the article still be published if there is urgency. The expectation is that later, once the information is made available, the original author returns to the article to correct the “false” items in the AQI.

The AQI questions are:

• Is the content accurate and relevant? (20)
• Is the knowledge article complete? (10)
• Is the title appropriate? (10)
• Does the knowledge article meet accessibility guidelines? (20)
• Has user criteria or security been set properly? (10)
• Has an appropriate category been selected? (10)
• Has the proper metadata been entered in the knowledge article? (10)
• Does the knowledge article meet style guidelines? (10)

Style

Please refer to and follow guidelines indicated in the official OIT Style Guide. 

Accessibility

Use the checklist below to ensure your KBAs meet accessibility requirements.

• Links are embedded in relevant text.
• Email addresses are typed out and hyperlinked.
• Links are not unnecessarily repeated throughout the KBA.
• Alt. text is added to all charts, graphs and images.
• Alt. text is descriptive, simple, precise and brief.
• Paragraphs are organized under Headings.
• Level 1 Heading is used for the article title, topic and/or purpose.
• Level 2 Headings are used to indicate main sections of the KBA.
• Level 3 Headings are used for sub-sections of the KBA, etc.