This short pecha kucha presentation discusses the methodology and some early results from the "Bibliotek i Endring" [Changing Libraries] project, a collaboration between the University of Manchester, Høgskolen i Bergen and Universitetet i Stavanger. Our interest here is in the different modes of proximity, and how these affect the accessibility of learning resources to members of a network. One can be close, or proximate, to other members of a learning network in different ways -- organisationally (e.g. one is proximate to a line manager); operationally (sharing physical space and other places for interaction) and socially (social networks may transcend the other two types). The BiE project used a mapping and 'think aloud' protocol to develop a collective perspective of the social networks within the two case study locations, and will go on to see how these networks shift over time, as each location undergoes a process of change (the merger of campuses in one case, a change of director in the other).

1. Networked Learning 2014
Mapping proximity in
professional learning
networks
Andrew Whitworth
Maria-Carme Torras i Calvo
Bodil Moss
Nazareth Amlesom Kifle
Terje Blåsternes

2. 1. The project
❖ Bibliotek i Endring — Changing Libraries
❖ Two academic libraries facing change

3. 2. Questions
❖ What learning resources are available to them?
❖ How accessible are they?
❖ How are these drawn on to help manage the changes
faced?
❖ Who or what is driving the necessary changes in
practice?

4. 3. Project ethos
❖ Participatory
❖ Co-operative inquiry
❖ Data generation methods that promote immediate
reflection, resources for action research

5. 4. Views of the organisation
❖ Formal, hierarchical
❖ Informal, community, networked
❖ Learning resources include people — and one’s place in
a network

6. 5. Proximity (I)
❖ Formal, managerial view of the organisation specifies
chains of command and communication

7. 6. Proximity (II)
❖ But there are other ways of judging how close one
member of the organisation is to someone else….
❖ Tagliaventi and Mattarrelli (2006) observed the influence
of operational proximity

8. 7. Proximity (III)
❖ Social network analysis has long noted that one’s
position in a social network is a factor in the accessibility
of information

9. 8. Example
❖ Library A in BiE…
❖ Substantial changes to both the infrastructure
(operational proximity) and the hierarchy
(organisational proximity)…
❖ How will this affect the social network (social
proximity)?

10. 9. Mapping
❖ Mapping can be undertaken with non-physical
landscapes
❖ Lloyd’s idea of the information landscape (2010) is a useful
metaphor

11. 10. Project phase 1
❖ Participants visualised their working relationships on
paper
❖ ‘Thinking aloud’ while drawing

12. 11. Scoring
❖ Marqueed helped annotate images with data from
recordings (ordering)
❖ 10 points for first named, 7 for 2nd, 4, 2, 1, 1, …..

13. 12. UCINET
❖ Sociograms created using UCINET
❖ (Thanks to Professor Martin Everett for this)

14. 13. Strong links — library A

15. 14. Strong links — library B

16. 15. Centrality
Library A Library B
Library A has one individual (Kirsty) who plays a clear central role. No one in
library B is so central (disk sizes should not be compared across these sociograms)

17. 16. Core/periphery
Library A Library B
Core members interact with other core members; periphery interact with the core,
but less so with each other. Library B have a more strongly defined core/periphery
split.

18. 17. Full network — library A
Note the role of ‘lunch learning’ (cf. Waring & Bishop 2010, ‘water cooler
learning’)

19. 18. Can practice be changed?
KEY: Dark = yes, definitely; Medium = yes, sometimes; Light = difficult;
White = not at all

20. 19. Implications for remainder of
study
❖ Do people focus on proximate information sources when
engaging in networked learning?
❖ What influence do central people have on changing
practice?
❖ Does the ‘split’ network in library B make a difference?
❖ How will all this change as the two libraries change?

21. 20. The End
and a gratuitous picture of Norway…
Takk — Drew, Maria, Bodil, Nazareth and
Terje