Hazel Hall's invited paper presented at presented at 2003 Virtual Communities Conference, 16-17 June 2003, London. The full text of a journal article developed from this paper is accessible from http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0268401204000283.

1. Capital in communities: the case of the CipherChallenge
Presented by
Hazel Hall
Senior Lecturer
School of Computing
Napier University, Edinburgh
h.hall@napier.ac.uk
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2. Capital in communities: the case of the CipherChallenge
Co-author
Dianne Graham
Systems Administrator
Highland Council
Harbour Management
Lochinver
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3. Capital in communities: the case of the CipherChallenge
Communities of practice enhance collaborative work
– within single organisations
– across networks of organisations
– in non-organisational groupings
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4. Capital in communities: the case of the CipherChallenge
Communities of practice enhance collaborative work
– within single organisations
– across networks of organisations
– in non-organisational groupings
and are dependent on knowledge sharing practice
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5. Capital in communities: the case of the CipherChallenge
Incentives for knowledge sharing
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6. Capital in communities: the case of the CipherChallenge
Incentives for knowledge sharing
– provision of rewards
• hard
• soft
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7. Capital in communities: the case of the CipherChallenge
Incentives for knowledge sharing
– provision of rewards
• hard
• soft
– provision of infrastructure
• social
• technological
• boundary
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8. Capital in communities: the case of the CipherChallenge
Incentives for knowledge sharing
– provision of rewards
• hard
• soft
Strong belief in organisational
– provision of infrastructure ownership of expertise
• social
• technological Positive attitude towards
• boundary knowledge sharing promoted
in the organisation
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9. Capital in communities: the case of the CipherChallenge
Incentives for knowledge sharing
– provision of rewards
• hard
• soft
Strong belief in organisational
– provision of infrastructure ownership of expertise
• social
• technological Positive attitude towards
• boundary knowledge sharing promoted
in the organisation
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10. Capital in communities: the case of the CipherChallenge
Incentives for knowledge sharing
– provision of rewards How does this apply in a
• hard “social” setting?
• soft
Strong belief in organisational
– provision of infrastructure ownership of expertise
• social
• technological Positive attitude towards
• boundary knowledge sharing promoted
in the organisation
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11. Capital in communities: the case of the CipherChallenge
1997
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12. Capital in communities: the case of the CipherChallenge
1997 1999
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13. Capital in communities: the case of the CipherChallenge
1999
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14. Capital in communities: the case of the CipherChallenge
Stage 5
109 182 6 11 88 214 74 77 153 177 109 195 76 37 188
166 188 73 109 158 15 208 42 5 217 78 209 147 9 81
80 169 109 22 96 169 3 29 214 215 9 198 77 112 8 30
117 124 86 96 73 177 50 161
Singh, 1999, p. 355
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15. Capital in communities: the case of the CipherChallenge
Stage 5
109 182 6 11 88 214 74 77 153 177 109 195 76 37 188
166 188 73 109 158 15 208 42 5 217 78 209 147 9 81
80 169 109 22 96 169 3 29 214 215 9 198 77 112 8 30
117 124 86 96 73 177 50 161
Singh, 1999, p. 355
Illiad
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16. Capital in communities: the case of the CipherChallenge
• Identification of Fermat’s last theorem (not Fermat’s last
theorem) holding a clue.
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17. Capital in communities: the case of the CipherChallenge
• Identification of Fermat’s last theorem (not Fermat’s last
theorem) holding a clue.
• Marginal note:
Cubem autem in duos cubos, aut quadratoquodratum in
duos quadratoquadratos, et generaliter nullam in infinitum
ultra quadratum potestatem in duos eiusdem nominis fas
est dividere. Cuius rei demonstrationem mirabilem sane
detexi hanc marginis exiguitas non careret.
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18. Capital in communities: the case of the CipherChallenge
• Fermat’s marginal note as key text for letter counting:
(1) cubemauteminduoscubosautquadratoquodratu
(41) minduosquadratoquadratosetgeneraliternul
(81) lamininfinitumultraquadratumpotestatemin
(121)duoseiusdemnominisfasestdividerecuiusrei
(161)demonstrationemmirabilemsanedetexihancma
(201)rginisexiguitasnoncareret
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19. Capital in communities: the case of the CipherChallenge
• Fermat’s marginal note as key text for letter counting:
(1) cubemauteminduoscubosautquadratoquodratu
(41) minduosquadratoquadratosetgeneraliternul
(81) lamininfinitumultraquadratumpotestatemin
(121)duoseiusdemnominisfasestdividerecuiusrei
(161)demonstrationemmirabilemsanedetexihancma
(201)rginisexiguitasnoncareret
109 182 6 11 88 214 74 77
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20. Capital in communities: the case of the CipherChallenge
• Fermat’s marginal note as key text for letter counting:
(1) cubemauteminduoscubosautquadratoquodratu
(41) minduosquadratoquadratosetgeneraliternul
(81) lamininfinitumultraquadratumpotestatemin
(121)duoseiusdemnominisfasestdividerecuiusrei
(161)demonstrationemmirabilemsanedetexihancma
(201)rginisexiguitasnoncareret
109 182 6 11 88 214 74 77 = plaifair
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21. Capital in communities: the case of the CipherChallenge
• Fermat’s marginal note as key text for letter counting:
(1) cubemauteminduoscubosautquadratoquodratu
(41) minduosquadratoquadratosetgeneraliternul
(81) lamininfinitumultraquadratumpotestatemin
(121)duoseiusdemnominisfasestdividerecuiusrei
(161)demonstrationemmirabilemsanedetexihancma
(201)rginisexiguitasnoncareret
Plaifair cipher es el proximo nivel. La palabra secreta es Illiad.
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22. Capital in communities: the case of the CipherChallenge
Purpose of the list
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23. Capital in communities: the case of the CipherChallenge
Monthly
contributions
to the list
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24. Capital in communities: the case of the CipherChallenge
Completion announced 11 October 2000
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25. Capital in communities: the case of the CipherChallenge
£10,000?
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26. Capital in communities: the case of the CipherChallenge
Research approach
– “Content analysis”
– E-mail survey - questionnaire to sample of membership
– In-depth interviews
• Simon Singh
• Code breakers
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27. Capital in communities: the case of the CipherChallenge
Demographics
– Male
– Under 40
– Beginners
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28. Capital in communities: the case of the CipherChallenge
Demographics
– Male
– Under 40
– Beginners
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29. Capital in communities: the case of the CipherChallenge
Motivation to participate - knowledge capital
– Gain knowledge of code-breaking
• in general
• to solve a particular problem
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30. Capital in communities: the case of the CipherChallenge
Motivation to participate - learning
– Gain knowledge of code-breaking
• in general
• to solve a particular problem
– Gain information on others’ progress
• benchmarking
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31. Capital in communities: the case of the CipherChallenge
Motivation to participate - learning
– Gain knowledge of code-breaking
• in general
• to solve a particular problem
– Gain information on others’ progress
• benchmarking
Share knowledge with others
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32. Capital in communities: the case of the CipherChallenge
Help requested
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33. Capital in communities: the case of the CipherChallenge
Benchmarking
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34. Capital in communities: the case of the CipherChallenge
Help provided
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35. Capital in communities: the case of the CipherChallenge
Motivation to participate - social contact
• In VCs
– Individuals seek friendship
• instant access to on-going relationships with a large number
of people
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36. Capital in communities: the case of the CipherChallenge
Motivation to participate - social contact
• In VCs
– Individuals seek friendship
• instant access to on-going relationships with a large number
of people
– Groups of enthusiasts seek sense of “belonging”
• shared identities, relationships, commitments
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37. Capital in communities: the case of the CipherChallenge
Motivation to participate - social contact
• In VCs t
n
o rta
p
o im
– Individuals seek friendshipt s
• instant access to on-going = no relationships with a large number
of people h ip
io ns
p an
om
– Groups , c enthusiasts seek sense of “belonging”
of
se
ca
• s shared identities, relationships, commitments
thi
In
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38. Capital in communities: the case of the CipherChallenge
Low importance of social relationships
– Topic of the discussions
– Clarity of the group’s purpose
– Passion and interest for the topic
– Demographics of membership
– Prospects for interaction in the real world
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39. Capital in communities: the case of the CipherChallenge
Motivation to participate - social contact
• Encouragement
– (Public) one-to-one
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40. Capital in communities: the case of the CipherChallenge
Motivation to participate - social contact
• Encouragement
– (Public) one-to-one
– Community
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41. Capital in communities: the case of the CipherChallenge
One-to-one encouragement
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42. Capital in communities: the case of the CipherChallenge
Motivation to participate - social contact
Community encouragement
I gained heart from reading
all the old posts from people
who had solved the various
codes already. It was
obviously a do-able task.
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43. Capital in communities: the case of the CipherChallenge
Knowledge sharing and capital created
Gains Why take? Why give?
To break codes Moral obligation
To win prize
Individual Knowledge capital Reputation
Personal satisfaction
Community None Knowledge capital
Social capital
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44. Capital in communities: the case of the CipherChallenge
Desire to contribute
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45. Capital in communities: the case of the CipherChallenge
Obligation to contribute
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46. Capital in communities: the case of the CipherChallenge
Frustration with lurking free-riders
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47. Capital in communities: the case of the CipherChallenge
Winners were lurking free-riders
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48. Capital in communities: the case of the CipherChallenge
Knowledge sharing and capital created
Gains Why take? Why give?
To break codes Moral obligation
To win prize
Individual Knowledge capital Reputation
Personal satisfaction
Community None Knowledge capital?
Social capital
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49. Capital in communities: the case of the CipherChallenge
Lurking to learn
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50. Capital in communities: the case of the CipherChallenge
Knowledge capital?
They exchanged a lot of comment such
as “Did you know that…?” However, I
do not think participants exchanged a
lot of new, crucial knowledge. Very few
people put forward the sort of
knowledge that might jeopardise their
chances of winning.
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51. Capital in communities: the case of the CipherChallenge
Guarding against spoilers
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52. Capital in communities: the case of the CipherChallenge
Sub-groups/cliques
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53. Capital in communities: the case of the CipherChallenge
Knowledge creation
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54. Capital in communities: the case of the CipherChallenge
Main conclusions of interest to business applications
– The values of community membership determine the power
of incentives employed to encourage active participation.
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55. Capital in communities: the case of the CipherChallenge
Main conclusions of interest to business applications
– The values of community membership determine the power
of incentives employed to encourage active participation.
– The breadth of topic focus determines levels/type of activity
and associated need for social support.
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56. Capital in communities: the case of the CipherChallenge
Main conclusions of interest to business applications
– The values of community membership determine the power
of incentives employed to encourage active participation.
– The breadth of topic focus determines levels/type of activity
and associated need for social support.
– Community size matters: inclusion for individual learning,
exclusion for knowledge creation.
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57. Capital in communities: the case of the CipherChallenge
Related work on communities
Davenport, E., & Hall, H. (2002). Organizational knowledge and communities of
practice. In B. Cronin (Ed.), Annual Review of Information Science and Technology
(Vol. 36, pp. 171-227). Medford, New Jersey: Information Today.
Hall, H. (2001). Input friendly intranets: motivating knowledge sharing across intranets.
Journal of Information Science, 27(3), 139-146.
Hall, H. (2001). Social exchange for knowledge exchange. Paper presented at the
Managing knowledge: conversations and critiques, 10-11 April 2001, University of
Leicester.
Hall, H. (in press). Borrowed theory: applying exchange theories in information science
research. Library and Information Science Research, 25.
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58. Capital in communities: the case of the CipherChallenge
CipherChallenge material
The book
Singh, S. (1999). The code book. London: Fourth Estate.
The solutions
Almgren, F., Andersson, G., Granlund, T., Ivansson, L., & Ulfberg, S. (2000). How we
cracked the code book ciphers, [Online]. Available:
http://answers.codebook.org/codebook_solution.pdf
The e-group
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/CipherChallenge
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