(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 EnthusiastsSonntag, 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 #escienceSonntag, 25. September 11

Where to next?Sonntag, 25. September 11

what is a community? ? what is a virtual community? what is community management? what‘s special about academic communities?Sonntag, 25. September 11

Goal: A set of tentative recommendations for supporting virtual communitiesSonntag, 25. September 11

What is a community?“A group of interacting people, possibly living in close proximity, andoften [..] sharing some common values; [..] social cohesion within ashared geographical location.““Since the advent of the Internet, the concept of community nolonger has geographical limitations, as people can now virtually gatherin an online community and share common interests regardless ofphysical location.“ -WikipediaSonntag, 25. September 11

values space ideas interests shared occupation culture languageSonntag, 25. September 11

Academia is a community of practiceSonntag, 25. September 11

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 Schoolare long past. Today we inhabit multiple, overlapping and globalnetworks such as user forums, Facebook, Flickr, blogs, and wikis. Themedia industry which just a decade ago seemed well-established, is inﬂux, facing its greatest challenge ever. networkedpublics.orgSonntag, 25. September 11

Sonntag, 25. September 11

Don‘t confuse a community with its representationSonntag, 25. September 11

What (or who) is missing?Sonntag, 25. September 11

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 tidySonntag, 25. September 11

Popular (virtual) academic communities often address simple needsSonntag, 25. September 11

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 changeSonntag, 25. September 11

We‘re all part of countless communitiesSonntag, 25. September 11

Representing them digitally is not always easySonntag, 25. September 11

publications conferences/events (Academic) entities can form around many different things libraries infrastructures/ institutes platformsSonntag, 25. September 11

Community: grown...Sonntag, 25. September 11

...or built?Sonntag, 25. September 11

Do we need ad-hoc networks...Sonntag, 25. September 11

... or permanent institutions?Sonntag, 25. September 11

What‘s the right communicative infrastructure? Who makes the rules? Who participates?Sonntag, 25. September 11

A checklist for (virtual, academic) communitiesSonntag, 25. September 11

Question #1 Who are the people I‘m trying to serve?Sonntag, 25. September 11

Question #1 Who are the people I‘m trying to serve? What are their needs? What kind of infrastructure could be helpful to them?Sonntag, 25. September 11

Question #2 How do I reach out to them?Sonntag, 25. September 11

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 mistakesSonntag, 25. September 11

Question #3 What mix of measures is right for them?Sonntag, 25. September 11

Question #3 What mix of measures is right for them? E.g. digital tools for communication and knowledge management plus physical meetupsSonntag, 25. September 11

Question #4 Do I need to build any new tools?Sonntag, 25. September 11

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?Sonntag, 25. September 11

Question #5 Am I proving a new infrastructure for an existing community or “inventing“ a new community altogether?Sonntag, 25. September 11

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?Sonntag, 25. September 11

Question #6 How are the people I‘m trying to serve involved in the planning, designing, implementation and continued operation of the platform?Sonntag, 25. September 11

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?Sonntag, 25. September 11

Question #7 Am I building a bridge between my platform and existing practices and services or am I trying to be revolutionary?Sonntag, 25. September 11

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?Sonntag, 25. September 11

Question #8 Do I really need to do any (traditional) marketing?Sonntag, 25. September 11

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.Sonntag, 25. September 11

Question #9 Do I have the resources to fulﬁll my promises?Sonntag, 25. September 11

Question #9 Do I have the resources to fulﬁll my promises? What kind of funding is at my disposal? Is there a business plan?Sonntag, 25. September 11

Question #10 How well does the platform or service I provide scale?Sonntag, 25. September 11

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?Sonntag, 25. September 11

Merci beaucoup pour votre attention!Sonntag, 25. September 11