1. Fieldwork Report Matthew Woods
LIBR231
Corporate Librarian Community of Practice Member Database
• Purpose and scope: I was tasked with creating a database of members of a
corporate librarian community of practice (hereafter CLCoP). The CLCoP meets on the
last Tuesday of each month via teleconference. The purpose of the database is to serve as
a quick way for members to introduce themselves and their libraries. Furthermore, it was
imperative that the database be viewable only to members.
Working on the project would be myself, conducting both research of possible
hosts and constructing the actual database. Advising me would be Sue Brewslugh, my
project head and the host of the CLCoP, and Eric Bryan, a librarian at Boeing.
• Project design: Finding a host site was no more intricate than trial and error. I
would look into a site that I either found or was recommended and determine if it could
1) list the members of the CLCoP and 2) only be visible to members.
The database would be comprised of the following columns: name, organization,
industry, library size, services offered, and contact information. Each row would be a
member of the CLCoP. This design was based on specifics outlined by Sue. Each
possible hosting service would be tested for viability with a 3-row sample database,
ideally with outside feedback.
• Methods and techniques: The primary method of finding a suitable web site
for a database was using Google to search for terms such as [private online group] and
[free wiki]. WikiMatrix was also used in an attempt to find a suitable wiki to host the
database but the sheer technicality of the information and the dozens of wikis available
limited its usefulness (see Problems below). In short: find one, test it, then move on.

2. Fieldwork Report Matthew Woods
LIBR231
• Problems encountered: My most immediate problem was my lack of expertise,
as only having rudimentary skill with wikis limited my options to the simplest hosted
services (see WikiMatrix above). The second problem, apparent in retrospect, is the lack
of formal project design. Another likely problem was a lack of results from my web
searches, though I suspect I didn’t try enough search strategies. Admittedly, I only
searched as much as I felt I needed to since I wanted to have Sue and Eric check each
possibility I found. This lead to the last problem in that the response rate was slow.
Since I only moved on to try a new hosting service when I was satisfied with the input,
my workrate was correspondingly slow. However, neither Sue nor Eric told me there
was anything wrong with my pace so I didn’t let this particularly worry me.
• Summary of results: On recommendation from Eric I tried LinkedIn as a
possible host and started a private group. However, I discovered that a simple Google
hack could find the information in a profile that was otherwise private. I tried looking
into private online groups, specifically Groopt and GlassBoard. Groopt never returned
my emails and GlassBoard didn’t have what I needed. I was also looking into wikis in
the meantime, finding good results with creating a test table in Wikipedia. Unfortunately,
other wikis such as Wikia and Wikispaces didn’t allow sortable tables, meaning that
anybody wanting to reorder the names will have to do so manually and in wiki language.
I forget the search strategy I used but I fortunately found EditGrid, which seems
to be an adequate platform for the member database so far. Free online spreadsheets are
ideal for simple databases and EditGrid is private unless it’s intentionally published.
However, I’ve had a few people telling me they couldn’t get in the database.

3. Fieldwork Report Matthew Woods
LIBR231
• Personal evaluation: While EditGrid seems an adequate host for the member
database I still feel it’s not the best solution. My first concern is that someone will try to
resort the database (e.g., a new name is added, making the list out of alphabetical order)
and scramble the information (e.g., the companies don’t get resorted with the names).
Another concern is that people can’t access the list and are so put off that they aren’t even
bothering to tell me of any problems.
The database format I’d prefer would be a MediaWiki wiki rather than a
spreadsheet. With MediaWiki I can create a table that can be easily sorted by name,
company, and so forth. Contribution would have to be more centralized unless the
CLCoP members are willing to learn how to edit a MediaWiki table. The only thing
stopping me from doing this is my lack of knowledge on how to host a wiki. This is a
skill I’ll have to learn over the summer.