Website Tutorial: Resource access and related privileges
Last revision: May 6, 2011 by Thomas Houfek & J.-P. Cartailler
Contact us with any comments, suggestions, or corrections for this tutorial.
- Scope of this tutorial
- Access to Resources annotated by non-BCBC members
- Access Scope of Resources contributed to the BCBC Resource Collections
- Access to Resources annotated by BCBC 3.0 Workspaces
Scope of this tutorial
This tutorial aims to cover how user access to Resources on Betacell.org is controlled to protect confidentiality.
For "ordinary" Betacell.org users (who are not official BCBC Members actively participating in the BCBC 3.0), access is fairly simple and straightforward. This is explained in the Access to Resources contributed by non-BCBC members section of this tutorial.
For BCBC 3.0 Members, a range of additional features makes an account of access control and permissions considerably more complex. The Access to Resources contributed by BCBC 3.0 Workspaces section of this tutorial is devoted to this situation.
Access to Resources annotated by non-BCBC members
If you are not an active member of the BCBC 3.0 (the third funding cycle of the Beta Cell Biology Consortium), Resource access control and permissions are fairly easy to explain.
When you (as such a member) create a new Resource and begin its annotation, you are the only user with permission to view and edit the Resource. Furthermore, the Resource will not be listed in the BCBC Resource Collections, nor in any search results. Effectively the Resource is private to you, until you opt to contribute it to the BCBC Resource Collections.
When you contribute it to the BCBC Resource Collections, you will assign it an Access Scope. After the contribution is approved, your Resource will appear for all users in the BCBC Resource Collections lists and in search results for all users. However, only members within the assigned Access Scope will be able to view detailed metadata describing the Resource. This includes any attached documents for data Resources.
Also, after the contribution is approved, you will no longer be able to edit it. Instead you must request that BCBC curators make modifications to the Resource.
Access Scope of Resources contributed to the BCBC Resource Collections
When a Resource is contributed to the BCBC Resource Collections, whether by an individual member of Betacell.org or by a Workspace, the contributor assigns it an Access Scope.
The Access Scope determines whether detailed metadata describing the Resource are visible to:
- BCBC 3.0 Investigators and Co-investigators, or
- BCBC 3.0 Investigators, co-investigators, and Affiliates; or
- The Public (everyone.)
Users "outside" the assigned Access Scope will see the Resource in the listings and search results of the BCBC Resource Collections, but may not view the detailed metadata describing the Resource (they may not view its Resource Detail page.)
There may be exceptions to this rule for Resources annotated by BCBC 3.0 Workspaces, which have other ways of extending view privileges on a Resource to other users. These are discussed in the next section.
Access to Resources annotated by BCBC 3.0 Workspaces
Resource access control and permissions are considerably more complex for Resources to be contributed by BCBC 3.0 members, because these member have a much wider range of actions related to Resources. Some actions are restricted to the Workspace Leader and appointed delegates; and some permission may be extended to users outside the Workspace via co-contributorship, shares, and (in the case of data Resources) filled Requests via the Resource Request System.
Often multiple factors may apply to a particular user. For example, a user may derive certain privileges from being in the Access Scope that was assigned to a contributed Resource; and the same user may be in the contributing workspace, and be in a Workspace that has been given a share. In general, a user can perform any action that any of these channels would allow them.
With that in mind, Figures A, B, & C provide an overview of user permissions for Resources contributed by Workspaces:
- Figure A defines the actions that may be taken related to Resources. Often there is a more substantial explanation to be found in another tutorial, and in these cases we have provided links to the appropriate sections.
- Figure B summarizes the action permissions that apply before the Resource is contributed to the BCBC Resource Collections (when it is still in the Private/In Progress state.)
- Figure C summarizes the action permissions as they apply after the Resource is contributed to the BCBC Resource Collections.
Figure A. Permission class definitions
| Name | Definition | Related tutorials or tutorial sections |
|---|---|---|
| List | User can see stub information in the BCBC Resource Collection lists and search results. Only applies to contributed Resources. | |
| View | User can see detailed resource metadata. | |
| Expanded View | User can see attached documents or is to be otherwise given access to asssociated data. Only applies to data Resources. | |
| Edit | User can use the Resource Wizard to edit the Resource metadata. | |
| Manage Inventory | User can manage their own workspace's Inventory Items related to the Resource. | See the Managing Inventory Items for tangible Resources section of the Managing Resource Requests on Betacell.org tutorial. |
| Manage Requests | User can manage Requests for their own workspace's Inventory Items related to the Resource. | See the Managing Resource Requests on Betacell.org tutorial. |
| Deliverable Assoc. | User can associate/unassociate their own workspace's Deliverables with the Resource. | |
| Get Request Notifications | User receives email notifications concerning Requests for Resource Inventory Items. | See the Responding to Resource Request System notifications section of the Managing Resource Requests on Betacell.org tutorial. |
| Designate Cocontributors | User may designate other Workspaces as co-contributors, extending some privileges to all members of such Workspaces. | See the Starting Resource Submission section of the Annotating Resources on Betacell.org tutorial. |
| Manage Shares | User may add/edit/remove shares of the Resource to other Workspaces. | |
| Contribute | User may contribute the Resource to the BCBC Resource Collections (and in so doing assign its Access Scope.) Only applies to Resources that have not already been contributed. | See the Resource Wizard Review Step section of the Annotating Resources on Betacell.org tutorial. |
Figure B. Permissions for Private/In Progress Resources
| View | Edit | Manage Inventory | Manage Requests | Deliverable Assoc. | Get Request Notifications | Designate Cocontributors | Manage Shares | Contribute | |
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| Lab Delegate | |
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| Lab Affiliate | |
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| Cocontributor Workspace Members | |
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| Members of Workspace with Edit Share | |
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| Members of Workspace with View Share | |
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Figure C. Permissions for Resources in BCBC Resource Collections
| List | View | Expanded View | Edit | Manage Inventory | Manage Requests | Deliverable Assoc. | Get Request Notifications | Designate Cocontributors | Manage Shares | Contribute | |
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| Lab Delegate | |
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| Lab Affiliate | |
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| Cocontributor Workspace Members | |
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| Members of Workspace with Edit Share | |
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| Members of Workspace with View Share | |
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| Member In Assigned Access Scope | |
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| Member Out of Assigned Access Scope | |
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| Members with a Filled Resource Request | |
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This concludes the tutorial Resource access and related privileges
