(Academic) Community Management in the Humanities and Social Sciences for Publishers, Librarians, and Enthusiasts

(Academic) Community Management in the
Humanities and Social Sciences for Publishers,
Librarians, and Enthusiasts

Sonntag, 25. September 11

Name
Cornelius Puschmann
Afﬁliations
University of Düsseldorf, Institute for Internet and Society (Berlin)
Disciplines
Linguistics/Information Science
Research interests
Communication and interaction through digital technology (in general)
How the internet is impacting scholarship (in particular)
Web/Twitter
http://nfgwin.uni-duesseldorf.de
http://ynada.com ; @coffee001

#internetresearch #openaccess #digitalhumanities
#opendata #electronicpublishing #escience


Where to next?


what is a community?

?
what is a virtual community?

what is community management?

what‘s special about academic communities?


Goal:
A set of tentative recommendations
for supporting virtual communities


What is a community?

“A group of interacting people, possibly living in close proximity, and
often [..] sharing some common values; [..] social cohesion within a
shared geographical location.“

“Since the advent of the Internet, the concept of community no
longer has geographical limitations, as people can now virtually gather
in an online community and share common interests regardless of
physical location.“
-Wikipedia


values
space

ideas
interests
shared
occupation
culture
language


Academia is a community of practice


What is a virtual community?

The Internet has become the backbone of communication,
commerce, and media [..] Along with this, the public is transforming.
The mass media and mass audience analyzed by the Frankfurt School
are long past. Today we inhabit multiple, overlapping and global
networks such as user forums, Facebook, Flickr, blogs, and wikis. The
media industry which just a decade ago seemed well-established, is in
ﬂux, facing its greatest challenge ever.
networkedpublics.org


Don‘t confuse a community with its representation


What (or who) is missing?


What is community management?

macro scale
• planning, building, and supporting a (virtual) community
micro scale
• being present
• listening and reacting to feedback
• moderating debates
• addressing criticism
• policing community rules
• keeping things tidy


Popular (virtual) academic communities
often address simple needs


What is special about academic communities?

• both communities of knowledge and profession
• not generally open to amateurs
• complex hierarchies/power relations
• “invisible“ colleges
• conservative technology users
• don‘t always embrace change


We‘re all part of countless communities


Representing them digitally is not always easy


publications conferences/events

(Academic) entities can form around many different things

libraries infrastructures/ institutes
platforms


Community: grown...


...or built?


Do we need ad-hoc networks...


... or permanent institutions?


What‘s the right communicative infrastructure?

Who makes the rules? Who participates?


A checklist for (virtual, academic) communities


Question #1
Who are the people I‘m trying to serve?


Question #1
Who are the people I‘m trying to serve?

What are their needs?

What kind of infrastructure
could be helpful to them?

Question #2
How do I reach out to them?


Question #2
How do I reach out to them?

E.g. invite people to
brainstorm and discuss,
involve them in the process
to avoid early mistakes

Question #3
What mix of measures is right for them?


Question #3
What mix of measures is right for them?

E.g. digital tools for
communication and
knowledge management
plus physical meetups

Question #4
Do I need to build any new tools?


Question #4
Do I need to build any new tools?

What about everything that‘s already out
there and available for free?

If it‘s something that would attract a
community, why hasn‘t it been built yet?

Question #5
Am I proving a new infrastructure for an existing
community or “inventing“ a new community altogether?


Question #5
Am I proving a new infrastructure for an existing
community or “inventing“ a new community altogether?

a) Does the infrastructure really
meet the community‘s needs?

b) Will people congregate
around the issue I‘ve chosen?

Question #6
How are the people I‘m trying to serve involved in the
planning, designing, implementation and continued
operation of the platform?


Question #6
How are the people I‘m trying to serve involved in the
planning, designing, implementation and continued
operation of the platform?

Are they part of the team?
Are they consulted on a regular basis?


Question #7
Am I building a bridge between my platform and existing
practices and services or am I trying to be revolutionary?


Question #7
Am I building a bridge between my platform and existing
practices and services or am I trying to be revolutionary?

Will the users adjust to a
completely new (technological/
cultural) paradigm?


Question #8
Do I really need to do any (traditional) marketing?


Question #8
Do I really need to do any (traditional) marketing?

Does the product serve a vital
function? If yes, marketing might
(partly) take care of itself.


Question #9
Do I have the resources to fulﬁll my promises?


Question #9
Do I have the resources to fulﬁll my promises?

What kind of funding is at my
disposal? Is there a business plan?


Question #10
How well does the platform or service I provide scale?


Question #10
How well does the platform or service I provide scale?

What if I succeed and thousands
of people join my community --
will I be able to keep up a
sufﬁcient quality of service?

Merci beaucoup pour votre attention!


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