Knowledge, Identity, and Networks in the Informal Learning, Visitor Studies Association, July 2011, Community Wendy Pollock, Wendy Pollock LLC Carey Tisdal, Tisdal Consulting

1. Knowledge, Identity, and Networks in the Informal Learning Community Wendy Pollock, Wendy Pollock LLC Carey Tisdal, Tisdal Consulting Visitor Studies Association Conference -- Tuesday, July 26, 2011 -- 9:00 to 10:15 a.m. 1

2. Improving Practice? Visitor Studies Association Conference -- Tuesday, July 26, 2011 -- 9:00 to 10:15 a.m. 2

3. Three Big Ideas Professional knowledge and identity are defined by and shared through complex networks of people and media These networks, people, and media are constantly evolving and changing Ways of understanding networks, people, and media are evolving and changing Visitor Studies Association Conference -- Tuesday, July 26, 2011 -- 9:00 to 10:15 a.m. 3

4. ExhibitFiles Visitor Studies Association Conference -- Tuesday, July 26, 2011 -- 9:00 to 10:15 a.m. 4

5. ExhibitFiles Visitor Studies Association Conference -- Tuesday, July 26, 2011 -- 9:00 to 10:15 a.m. 5

6. ExhibitFilesEmergence in a changing media landscapewendy.pollock@gmail.com

7. ExhibitFiles Advisors and Core Contributors Dave Bailey Andrea Bandelli Joanna Fisher Gretchen Jennings Jeff Kennedy Kathy Krafft Tom Nielsen Paul Orselli Claire Pillsbury Jenny Sayre Ramberg Christine Reich Beth Redmond-Jones Justine Roberts Beverly Serrell Eric Siegel Jason Jay Stevens Joan Waltermire Martin Weiss Katherine Whitney NAME Board and members The 1,950+ members of ExhibitFiles Development Team Wendy PollockKathy McLean Ideum, led by Jim Spadaccini Administrative Home Association of Science-Technology Centers Administrative support: Wendy Hancock Funding National Science Foundation Grant No. ESI-054026

8. "Learning is least useful when it is private and hidden; it is most powerful when it becomes public and communal." Lee S. Shulman, 1999

9. "One of the things that might be done is some kind of collecting activity to retrieve memories of things that were wonderful." Mike Spock

10. 1980s Workshops Conferences Print publications Desktops Files, folders

11. 1990s Pages, links, webs

12. Early 2000s Web 2.0 ForumsUser-contributed content

15. Community "Communities of practice are formed by people who engage in a process of collective learning in a shared domain of human endeavor." - Etienne Wenger

16. Collection "Learning within [communities of interest] ... requires externalizations in the form of boundary objects." - Gerhard Fischer

17. Community + Collection = "ExhibitFiles is an online community of exhibit practitioners building a shared collection of exhibition records and reviews."

18. Simplicity

19. Language Culture

23. Design Questions How did the design team assume the site would work to produce impacts? To what extent and in what ways did users value and use the functions provided by the website? To what extent did users perceive themselves as members of a community To what extent and in what ways were strategies successful in accomplishing the project impacts? Methodology & Methods Naturalistic Inquiry Methods Program theory Weiss (1998) Analysis of the website database (N =1357) Comparison to an association membership database (N = 830) Online survey of registered members (N = 286 In-depth interviews with the project team and registered members (N = 18). Visitor Studies Association Conference -- Tuesday, July 26, 2011 -- 9:00 to 10:15 a.m. 24 Remedial Evaluation

24. Program Theory Visitor Studies Association Conference -- Tuesday, July 26, 2011 -- 9:00 to 10:15 a.m. 25 Remedial Evaluation

25. Target Audience Who used ExhibitFiles? 59.1% exhibition professionals 40.9% roles connected to exhibition development (e.g. administrators, educators, evaluators) Where did ExhibitFiles members work? 37.7% work in science-technology centers/museums, natural history museums, zoos or aquaria, botanical gardens/arboreta, and nature or interpretive centers 63.3% work in other settings including other museum types (art, history, children’s) and design firms. Visitor Studies Association Conference -- Tuesday, July 26, 2011 -- 9:00 to 10:15 a.m. 26 Remedial Evaluation

26. Frequency of Use Visitor Studies Association Conference -- Tuesday, July 26, 2011 -- 9:00 to 10:15 a.m. 27 Remedial Evaluation Figure 22. How often do you visit ExhibitFiles? (N = 264)

27. Visit Prompts Visitor Studies Association Conference -- Tuesday, July 26, 2011 -- 9:00 to 10:15 a.m. 28 Remedial Evaluation Figure 23. What prompts you to visit ExhibitFiles? (N = 245)

28. Social Connections Who on ExhibitFiles has influenced your work? Visitor Studies Association Conference -- Tuesday, July 26, 2011 -- 9:00 to 10:15 a.m. 29 Remedial Evaluation Already know them, however I did connect with [name] due to fascinating case history in ExhibitFiles I have not contacted them via ExhibitFiles - I knew them before. I knew all of these individuals before the creation of ExhibitFiles. [Name] is my manager and mentor Worked together

29. Level of Participation ExhibitFiles (online survey) 10.0% contributed at least one case study 10.0% contributed at least one review 90.0% neither. Low levels of favoriting and comment Site somewhat difficult to search Neilson’s 90-9- 1 rule (2006) 90% of users are lurkers (i.e., read or observe) 9% of users contribute from time to time, but other priorities dominate their time. 1% of users participate a lot and account for most contributions Visitor Studies Association Conference -- Tuesday, July 26, 2011 -- 9:00 to 10:15 a.m. 30 Remedial Evaluation

30. Influence on Work Visitor Studies Association Conference -- Tuesday, July 26, 2011 -- 9:00 to 10:15 a.m. 31 Remedial Evaluation

31. Reasons for Contributing Visitor Studies Association Conference -- Tuesday, July 26, 2011 -- 9:00 to 10:15 a.m. 32 Remedial Evaluation Figure 30. Reasons for publishing a review (N = 23)

32. Remedial Findings How could ExhibitFiles be more useful and relevant? Email reminders to return to site Improved search functions on site Connect search with other sites Greater range of contributors More non-science contributions More contributions from outside the US More critical discussion/edgier content More discussion of what didn’t work Visitor Studies Association Conference -- Tuesday, July 26, 2011 -- 9:00 to 10:15 a.m. 33 Remedial Evaluation

33. Revised Theory Visitor Studies Association Conference -- Tuesday, July 26, 2011 -- 9:00 to 10:15 a.m. 34 Remedial Evaluation

34. Focusing What information was most critically needed? By whom? (stakeholders) What is the future of ExhibitFiles? (sustainability) What evaluation approach will help answer these questions? Do we need a revised theory? Visitor Studies Association Conference -- Tuesday, July 26, 2011 -- 9:00 to 10:15 a.m. 35 Summative Evaluation

35. Theory -- Ecosystem Visitor Studies Association Conference -- Tuesday, July 26, 2011 -- 9:00 to 10:15 a.m. 36 Summative Evaluation

36. Levels of Ecosystem Visitor Studies Association Conference -- Tuesday, July 26, 2011 -- 9:00 to 10:15 a.m. 37 Summative Evaluation Individual

37. Levels of Ecosystem Visitor Studies Association Conference -- Tuesday, July 26, 2011 -- 9:00 to 10:15 a.m. 38 Summative Evaluation Groups

38. Levels of Ecosystem Visitor Studies Association Conference -- Tuesday, July 26, 2011 -- 9:00 to 10:15 a.m. 39 Summative Evaluation Fields

39. Ecosystem Visitor Studies Association Conference -- Tuesday, July 26, 2011 -- 9:00 to 10:15 a.m. 40 Summative Evaluation Fields More than one Fields?