Say you want to count all the trees in a large forest. You could hire a team of ten people, equip them with hiking boots and click counters and send them on their way. The problem is, it would probably take decades. Alternatively, you take some high res satellite photos of the forest, create a simple online interface and ask the public to help. The job could be done in a few months. You’ve just crowdsourced your problem. You’ve divided a large task amongst a large audience. Wikipedia is a crowdsourced encyclopaedia. Kickstarter is a crowdsourced funding body. Zooniverse is a crowdsourced science project.

1. Crowd Power: A Reading Room
presentation on content crowdsourcing
Harnessing the wisdom of crowds to grow content (and other good things)
12 August 2014

2. Contents
Crowdsourcing & content - So what is it all about?
Factors and Favourability
Making it work – an NAA case study
Making it work… for you
#RRcrowdsourcing

3. Crowdsourcing and content

4. Content is KING
Engagement Content
• Audience interactivity
• Entertainment
• Ownership
• Adds value
Functional Content
• Statutory requirements
• Decision critical - timely and accurate.
• SEO

5. So…. What is crowd sourced content?
The act of taking a job once performed by a designated
agent… and outsourcing it to an undefined, generally
large group of people through the form of an open call,
which usually takes place over the Internet.
#RRcrowdsourcing
2009, Jeff Howe, The New York Times
Implicit
• Co-creation of content
• Participating in a community

6. Factors and Favourability

7. Huge advantages
#RRcrowdsourcing
• Community = engagement
• Enriched content
• Resource efficiency
• Exponential content population
• A new perspective

8. The leap of faith
WHO IS IN CONTROL?
WHAT WILL THEY SAY?
WHO IS CHECKING?

9. So what potential problems are there?
#RRcrowdsourcing

10. So what potential problems are there?
#RRcrowdsourcing

11. So what potential problems are there?
#RRcrowdsourcing

12. So what potential problems are there?
#RRcrowdsourcing

13. Making it work –case studies

14. Making it work –case studies

15. Making it work –case studies

16. Making it work –NAA

17. Making it work
• Make it EASY
• Make it ENGAGING
• Make it EDITABLE
Strategy first

18. #RRcrowdsourcing
Making it work
Leveraging a passionate crowd

19. #RRcrowdsourcing
Making it work
Understanding the crowd
The crowd is:
• Engaged in the subject matter – Historian
• Interested in an individual or particular story – My Grandma
• Compelled to contribute to the national narrative – School projects
This means :
• Junk content minimised
• Quantity of content likely to be high
• Mixed levels of digital literacy
We needed to:
• Facilitate different engagement styles
• Content interaction and interconnection
• Allow avenues for moderation and checking
• Build in self correction and crowd correction

20. Making it work
#RRcrowdsourcing
Facilitate different engagement styles

21. Making it work
#RRcrowdsourcing
Facilitate different engagement styles

22. Making it work
#RRcrowdsourcing
Facilitate different engagement styles

23. Making it work
#RRcrowdsourcing
But how does this crowd source content?

24. Making it work
#RRcrowdsourcing
Flexible contributions
User Control
• Revert to previous
• Save a draft
• Clear help
• Report inappropriate content
Administrator control
• Passive moderation
• Moderation queue

25. Making it work… for you

26. Making it work… for you
IT DOESN’T NEED TO BE HUGE
• Start with a clear task for your users to do
• Establish a motivation for contribution
• Start small
• Understand the resource cost, savings and benefits

27. #RRcrowdsourcing
Making it work… for you
Ratings and comments

28. #RRcrowdsourcing
Making it work… for you
Geolocation

29. #RRcrowdsourcing
Making it work… for you
Third party providers

30. #RRcrowdsourcing
Making it work… for you
Technical solutions are great, but…
What is your problem?

31. #RRcrowdsourcing
Questions

32. www.readingroom.com