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What the Knowledge Base Is and How It Is Organized

What this is

This is the Waukesha Makerspace (WMI) Knowledge Base: the place for how the space actually works. It holds finished reference material: safety rules, shop rules, how to use equipment, how the facility runs, and the policies the board has adopted.

Almost everything here is public. Anyone can read it, including people who are thinking about joining, so you can see how the space works before you sign up.

What is not here

Some things live in other places so there is only ever one copy to keep up to date:

  • Joining, membership rates and events: waukeshamakers.com
  • Equipment inventory (what tools we have and where they are): Atlas
  • Your certifications (which tools you are checked off on): Journeyman
  • Day-to-day conversation, questions and announcements: the WMI Discord (see Getting Around)

Drafts, proposals and committee notes are not published here. A policy only gets a page once the board adopts it.

How it is organized

The Knowledge Base is arranged in shelves, each holding one or more books:

Shelf What you will find
Start Here This New Member Guide: expectations, orientation, membership life and the FAQ
Safety Shop Safety: general rules, PPE, hazards, emergencies and broken equipment
Shop and Equipment Training and Certification, plus one book per shop area (Wood Shop, Metal Shop, Digital Fabrication, Electronics Lab, Fiber Arts, Flex Space) with an overview, equipment SOPs and maintenance
Facility Facility Operations: hours and access, layout, shared spaces, cleanup, trash and materials
Community Shop Rules, Volunteer Runbooks, and Classes and Instructors
Organization and Board Founding documents, the board, meeting summaries, committees and adopted Policies
Members and Board Member Access (visible to signed-in members only) and the Board Handbook (board only)

Signing in

You can read the public books without an account. Members sign in to see the Member Access book, which covers things like opening and closing the shop.

Reading an SOP is not training

Equipment pages explain how a tool works at WMI, but reading one never replaces hands-on training. You must be checked off on a tool before you use it. See How Certification Works in the Training and Certification book.

Spotted something wrong?

If a page is out of date or missing something, say so on Discord or tell a board member so it can be fixed.

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