CIT Knowledge Base Has All the "RightAnswers"

NIH staff members now have access to an immense database of problems and solutions for commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) software—including such packages as Microsoft Office, Oracle Database Software, and Lotus Notes. The content is provided by RightAnswers, LLC, and is available via the CIT Knowledge Base (KB).

To accommodate the new information, the CIT Knowledge Base (KB) has been redesigned to seamlessly integrate the RightAnswers knowledge into the existing data structure. The two information stores complement each other well. As regular users of the KB know, the CIT content is oriented towards NIH-specific applications and data, as well as NIH-specific uses of commercial applications. The RightAnswers Knowledge-Paks® will now complement this content with detailed information about commercial software, including Adobe applications, Microsoft operating systems, and Linux.

This integration broadens the impact of the CIT Knowledge Base from being a useful source of NIH-specific IT information to becoming an indispensable part of the toolkit for anyone doing desktop support at NIH. We think that, once you try it out, you will feel the same way.

Tips on Using the New Knowledge Base

Accessing the information is easy—just point your browser to the KB. You can then either browse the categories using the topics in the left column (the CIT content is on top, the RightAnswers categories on the bottom) or you can run a search. Searching is simple—just type in a question or a few key words and away you go. If your query includes the name of a product covered by the RightAnswers Knowledge-Paks®, your question will be run through both the RightAnswers and CIT databases. If not, only the CIT database will be searched. This makes it very important that you include the name of the product you are searching for in your query (i.e., Outlook 2000, Windows XP). It also means that the RightAnswers database will not be searched unnecessarily for, say, a question about the Helix Scientific Systems.

If you have any questions about the CIT Knowledge Base, or our integration of the RightAnswers Knowledge-Paks®, you may contact the CIT Knowledge Base Team at kbadmin@nih.gov.