The Knowledge Base has several "levels" and "sections," which makes it interesting, understandable, and useful to a wide variety of users.

Types of Users:

The primary categories of users we expect to use the Knowledge Base are:

• Students at the college or graduate level who want to know more about this field or a particular aspect of it. The knowledge base has a wealth of information for students writing papers, theses, or dissertations, because it not only has the basic essays, but literature reviews as well.
• Teachers at the high school, college, and graduate level who want to use these materials for teaching. All of the essays list additional resources on the topic including websites, books and articles, and audio-video materials that can be obtained online, in bookstores, or in libraries Some have teaching materials and many more are to be added over the coming several months.
• Third party trainers who want to use this material as a supplement to their face-to-face training, because it is "always there," even when they are not, and it has the expertise of a large number of the field's top scholars and practitioners to draw on. (In addition to the essays there are over 100 hours of audio (and text) interviews with leading conflict resolvers from around the world.)
• Third party intervenors and "Third-Siders" who want to learn more about these kinds of conflicts and what they can do to be most helpful and effective. (See, particularly, the "Third-Side" Special Edition, and the "Intervenor Checklists" for third parties involved in peacebuilding or "post-conflict stabilization", public policy and environmental conflicts, workplace/organization, or interpersonal conflicts.)
• Disputants themselves who want to find a better way to approach their problems. The materials here are useful for "ordinary" or "everyday" people, as well as grassroots and mid-level leaders who want to engage in their conflict more constructively. (See, particularly, the checklists for people involved in large-scale international, national, and ethnic conflicts, environmental and public policy conflicts, workplace/organization, or interpersonal (family, workplace, or community) conflicts.
• Activists and advocates who want to better understand the conflicts they are involved in and ways to confront them more constructively. (See, particularly, the checklists for people involved in large-scale international, national, and ethnic conflicts, environmental and public policy conflicts,workplace/organization, or interpersonal (family, workplace, or community) conflicts.
• Journalists who want to get some background in this new and burgeoning field.

Levels:

The primary Knowledge Base essays are written at a "general audience" level, meaning we tried to make them understandable to people who do not have a background in this field, and as much as possible, to people who speak English as a second language. A glossary is also included to help with technical terms, although we urged authors to be sure that technical terms be avoided when possible, and when not, they are to be explained in the text.

The additional resources take users deeper. While some are still written at a "general audience level," others are more academic or scholarly, written for people with some background who want more depth.

But for those who prefer not to read much at all, we have insightful quotes, pictures, diagrams, and charts as well as over 100 hours worth of amazing interviews with the field's leaders. These interviews are available in their complete form, but smaller segments are also extracted and highlighted in particular interviews to which they relate.

Editions:

Although it is very hard to write a book for that diverse an audience, we can do it with the Knowledge Base, because we can sort the materials in many different ways. The "Special Editions" section has different arrangements of Knowledge Base materials, each one highlighting those of most interest to particular audiences.

In addition, we will soon have a utility which will allow users to make their own book from Knowledge Base articles by picking and choosing those that are interesting, and then compiling them into a "book" of their own design.