Cross-Campus
Community-Building &
Resource-Sharing:
Creating the CUNY
Academic Commons
George Otte
University Director of Academic Technology, CUNY

The Challenge of Integrating a
Multi-Campus Institution

The Need for Cross-Campus Groups Like
the Committee on Academic Technology

The Existence of Various Models for an
Academic Commons

Competing Conceptions:
1) The Repository of Stuff

Competing Conceptions:
2) The Gathering Place, the Agora, the Hub

Better Metaphors:
1) Root-and-Branch

Better Metaphors:
2) The Beehive

Das Ding an Sich

The Basic Food Groups

Groups (The Public, the Private, and the
Hidden)
A Public Group

Groups (The Public, the Private, and the
Hidden)
A Private Group

Groups (The Public, the Private, and the
Hidden)
How a Private Group Looks to a logged-in
member

Getting On
The sign-on sheet (and a few remarks on lessons
learned)

Profile of a Serial Dabbler
A profile – and how it helps you meet friends and influence people

From Friend to Groupie
“Where a man's treasure is, there shall his heart be also."

Some Groups

Blogs: The Biggest Investment (the Biggest
ROI?)
Greater investment, greater divergence.

You have your individual bloggers holding
forth...

And, lest we forget, your collective blogs….

The Wiki (or at least its public face)
It may look like a collection of resources…

But it is very much a wiki….

Where the Real Action Is….

A Point of Pride
From us, by us, for us, but also to the world

Parting Shots/Thoughts
 We are used to a world where little things happen
for love and big things happen for money. Love
motivates people to bake and cake and money
motivates people to make an encyclopedia. Now
though, we can do big things for love. – Clay Shirky
 Conversation is king. Content is just something to
talk about. – Cory Doctorow
 Points of Contact
o Me: George.Otte@mail.cuny.edu
o The Commons: http://commons.gc.cuny.edu/