Engaging Virtual Communities: Web 2.0

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A centre of expertise in digital information management Engaging Virtual Communities: Web 2.0 Brian Kelly, UKOLN, University of Bath Bath Email [email protected] UKOLN is supported by: http://www.ukoln.ac.uk/web-focus/events/conferences/ cilip-cdg-2007-04/ About This Session This session will provide an introduction to Wikis, showing how Wikipedia can be used to promote your college and, having learnt about Wiki concepts, how Wikis can be used in e- learning This work is licensed under a Attribution-NonCommercial- ShareAlike 2.0 licence (but note caveat) Resources bookmarked using ‘cilip-cdg-2007- 04' tag

description

Slides from talk on "Engaging Virtual Communities: Web 2.0" given at CILIP CDG conference on 30 April 2007. See http://www.ukoln.ac.uk/web-focus/events/conferences/cilip-cdg-2007-04/

Transcript of Engaging Virtual Communities: Web 2.0

Page 1: Engaging Virtual Communities: Web 2.0

A centre of expertise in digital information management

www.ukoln.ac.uk

Engaging Virtual Communities: Web 2.0Brian Kelly, UKOLN,

University of Bath

Bath

[email protected]

UKOLN is supported by:

http://www.ukoln.ac.uk/web-focus/events/conferences/cilip-cdg-2007-04/http://www.ukoln.ac.uk/web-focus/events/conferences/cilip-cdg-2007-04/

About This SessionThis session will provide an introduction to Wikis, showing how Wikipedia can be used to promote your college and, having learnt about Wiki concepts, how Wikis can be used in e-learning

About This SessionThis session will provide an introduction to Wikis, showing how Wikipedia can be used to promote your college and, having learnt about Wiki concepts, how Wikis can be used in e-learning

This work is licensed under a Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.0 licence (but note caveat)

Resources bookmarked using ‘cilip-cdg-2007-04' tag

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About Me

Brian Kelly:• UK Web Focus: a national Web advisory

post• Based at UKOLN, a national centre of

expertise in digital information management• Located at the University of Bath• Funded by MLA and JISC • Involved in Web since Jan 1993• Currently advising on best practices for

Web 2.0

Introduction

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About You

How many of you have heard of Web 2.0?

How many of you have read content in a blog or wiki?

How many of you publish a blog or have updated content in a wiki?

How many have used MSN Messenger, Skype, …?

What do you hope to gain from this session?

Introduction

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Contents

Web 2.0 – What Is It? (Talking …)• Blogs Wikis• RSS Mashups• Microformats Comms

tools• Social networks …

Deployment Strategies (… doing)• User focus• Information literacy; staff development• Risk assessment• Safe experimentation

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Let’s Do It Now!Let’s not just talk about Web 2.0 – let’s use it now (assuming WiFi network available!):Let’s Talk

• Go to http://www.gabbly.com/ and in box enter www.cilip.org.uk/

Let’s Share Resources• Go to <http://del.icio.us/lisbk/

cilip-cdg-2007-04> to access resources

DiscussionLecture theatres being WiFied; pervasive networking being deployed students with laptops will expect to use them we need to gain experiences to establish best practices & manage possible problems

DiscussionLecture theatres being WiFied; pervasive networking being deployed students with laptops will expect to use them we need to gain experiences to establish best practices & manage possible problems

http://www.gabbly.com/www.cilip.org.uk/http://www.gabbly.com/www.cilip.org.uk/

2 Mar 2007

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Web2MemeMap, Tim O’Reilly, 2005

Characteristics Of Web 2.0

• Network as platform• Always beta• Clean URIs• Remix and mash-ups

Syndication (RSS)• Architecture of participation

Blogs & Wikis Social networking Social tagging

(folksonomies)• Trust and openness

Characteristics Of Web 2.0

• Network as platform• Always beta• Clean URIs• Remix and mash-ups

Syndication (RSS)• Architecture of participation

Blogs & Wikis Social networking Social tagging

(folksonomies)• Trust and openness

Web 2.0

What Is Web 2.0?

Marketing term (derived from observing 'patterns') rather than technical standards - “an attitude not a technology”

Web

2.0

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Blogs

The term ‘blog’ is well-known, but perhaps there’s a lack of awareness of the potential of blogs. There’s a need to:

• Explore how blogs can support business functions (support users, staff & organisation)

There’s also a need for information professionals to:

• Understand blogging & related technologies (e.g. RSS, Technorati)

• Be able to find resources in the 'Blogosphere'

Web

2.0

OpennessSyndication

Collaboration

Key Characteristics

http://annewelsh.wordpress.com/http://annewelsh.wordpress.com/http://communities.cilip.org.uk/blogs/marks/

http://communities.cilip.org.uk/blogs/marks/

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Blogs & Marketing

What happens:• You’ve done some great

research (not quite a cure for cancer!)

• You write a press release (job done?)

http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/public-affairs/press-releases/…

http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/public-affairs/press-releases/…

• Who is linking to & talking about this research (are they disagreeing?)

http://blogsearch.google.com/blogsearch?... http://blogsearch.google.com/blogsearch?...

• The Nourishing Balance blog has commented on this (That’s great – or are they misinterpreting the findings?)

http://georgemandler.com/2007/02/17/chocolate-makes-you-smarter-at-least-temporarily/

http://georgemandler.com/2007/02/17/chocolate-makes-you-smarter-at-least-temporarily/

Who needs to know about and use Web 2.0 apps from this example: PR & marketing; researchers; …

Who needs to know about and use Web 2.0 apps from this example: PR & marketing; researchers; …

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Blogs - Reading

How do you keep informed of developments?

• Do you use a dedicated blog reader?

• Are you alerted of changes to key blogs?

• Do you focus on the content, and avoid the distractions of ads, etc.

Web

2.0

Bloglines – a Web-based blog reader. You are informed of changes since you last viewed the page.

Bloglines – a Web-based blog reader. You are informed of changes since you last viewed the page.

http://www.bloglines.com/myblogshttp://www.bloglines.com/myblogs

BlogBridge – a desktop blog reader. You are informed of changes since you last viewed the page.

BlogBridge – a desktop blog reader. You are informed of changes since you last viewed the page.

OpennessSyndication

Collaboration

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Blogs – Engaging With Users

The ukwebfocus.wordpress.com blog provides:

• Comments option for all postings

• A realtime chat facilityBenefits:

• Feedback on my thoughts and ideas

• Evaluation • …

http://ukwebfocus.wordpress.com/2007/01/25/experiments-with-meebo/

http://ukwebfocus.wordpress.com/2007/01/25/experiments-with-meebo/

Blogs aren’t just one-way publishing, but an implementation of Tim Berners-Lee’s vision of a collaborative WebBlogs aren’t just one-way publishing, but an implementation of Tim Berners-Lee’s vision of a collaborative Web

See (and discuss) UK Web Focus blog post 25 Jan 2007

Blended blogging

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Web

2.0 What Are They Saying About Us?

Blogs are very interconnected with each other (bloggers discuss other’s blog postings).This can help to provide feedback; measure impact; engage in discussions; etc.You can also monitor what they are saying about your Web site.

Find out what bloggers have been saying about your blog or your Web site – possibly minutes after they’ve said it. You can then take the praise – or issue a rebuttal in a timely fashion

Find out what bloggers have been saying about your blog or your Web site – possibly minutes after they’ve said it. You can then take the praise – or issue a rebuttal in a timely fashion

http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/

Criticism: this may be comment spam. This may be true for popular home pages, but not for many other pages

Criticism: this may be comment spam. This may be true for popular home pages, but not for many other pages

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Finding Resources

Technorati can help find blog articles, RSS feeds, etc.

Technorati search for “SHERPA JISC" finds:

• 11 blog posting postings, most recent 196 day ago (nothing new since then?)

Web

2.0

RSSSyndication

What do users want: the home page and what people are saying today. Google & Technorati are valuable tools, so organisations should ensure that their Web site can be found in both.

A search for “JISC” finds a posting from 6 hours agoNote you can receive RSS alerts of new search results

http://www.technorati.com/search/sherpa+jisc

http://www.technorati.com/search/sherpa+jisc

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Social Networking Software (1)

But what if:

• Students aren’t interested in university-provided blogging services?

• Students use commercial social networking services such as Facebook?

Web

2.0

Should we:

• Make use of these environments (save money by not reinventing wheels)

• Inform students on integration of our information?

• Ignore?Note museums (Walker Art Center) are experimenting with Facebook

Note museums (Walker Art Center) are experimenting with Facebook

18 Feb 2007

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Social Networking Software (2)

What are they saying about your institution in social networking services, on blogs, …?

Do you (and your departments) provide business intelligence services to find out what your users are saying about you?

Do you have policies on rebuttal?

http://kera.name/articles/2007/01/404-university-of-nottingham-not-found/

http://kera.name/articles/2007/01/404-university-of-nottingham-not-found/http://kera.name/articles/2006/12/uni-tech-team-storms-student-underground/

http://kera.name/articles/2006/12/uni-tech-team-storms-student-underground/

BUCS set up a feedback page in Facebook - without being aware of this page!

BUCS set up a feedback page in Facebook - without being aware of this page!

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WikisWikis – collaborative Web-based authoring tools

I use Wikis for:• Collaborative

papers (avoiding emailed MS Word file around)

Web

2.0

Writely – Web-based word processor or Wiki? Does it matter, it does the job

Writely – Web-based word processor or Wiki? Does it matter, it does the job

http://www.writely.com/http://www.writely.com/http://www.ukoln.ac.uk/interop-focus/community/index/IWMW2006_Discussion_Group_Notes_for_Group_A

http://www.ukoln.ac.uk/interop-focus/community/index/IWMW2006_Discussion_Group_Notes_for_Group_A

• Note-taking at events

Remember when notes were trapped in the non-interoperable world of flip charts & paper. This need no longer be the case.

Remember when notes were trapped in the non-interoperable world of flip charts & paper. This need no longer be the case.

• Social discussions at events

http://www.ukoln.ac.uk/interop-focus/community/index/IWMW2006_Information_About_Social_Aspects

http://www.ukoln.ac.uk/interop-focus/community/index/IWMW2006_Information_About_Social_Aspects

OpennessSyndication

Collaboration

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Wikipedia

Wikipedia – a community-developed encyclopedia … and also a well-linked Web site, which boosts Google rankings Note created by Owen Massey in June 2004

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CILIPhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CILIP

Issues (philosophical):• Should we be doing this?• Who should create & maintain pages?

Issues (practical):• Who maintains this

page?• What else should be in

Wikipedia related to the university’s key interests & expertise?

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Sharing - Flickr

Web 2.0 includes community-building

You can help support your community-building by making it easy to share photos at events (e.g. this seminar)

Simply suggest a tag e.g. ‘cilip-2007-04’ and encourage delegates to upload their photos with this tag

Web

2.0

http://www.flickr.com/search/?w=all&q=iwmw2006&m=text

http://www.flickr.com/search/?w=all&q=iwmw2006&m=texthttp://www.flickr.com/photos/tags/iwmw2006/interesting/?page=6

http://www.flickr.com/photos/tags/iwmw2006/interesting/?page=6

OpennessNetwork effect

SyndicationCollaboration

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Web

2.0 Sharing – del.icio.us

Another aspect of sharing is sharing bookmarksThis can be used to:

• Manage your bookmarks• Allow others to

contribute resources• Allow lists of bookmarks

to be repurposed• Carry out impact

analysis

OpennessNetwork effect

SyndicationCollaboration

Note also that the bookmarks can be embedded (‘mashed-up’) elsewhere

Note also that the bookmarks can be embedded (‘mashed-up’) elsewhere

http://del.icio.us/lisbk/cilip-cdg-2007-04http://del.icio.us/lisbk/cilip-cdg-2007-04

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Sharing – Slides

Slideshare.net:• Repository for

PowerPoint slides• Find (and reuse)

slideshows of interest (I like your Web 2.0 slideshow – so maybe I’ll like yours, or others that you like)

• Add comments, questions, etc.

• Use as planning, feedback, etc.

• Can assign Creative Commons rights

http://www.slideshare.net/lisbk/http://www.slideshare.net/lisbk/

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Web

2.0 Google Maps Mashups

Google Map ‘mashup’ used for IWMW 2006 event:

• ~ 20 lines of JavaScript.

• Code taken from Googler Maps Web site and coordinates added

http://www.ukoln.ac.uk/web-focus/events/workshops/webmaster-2006/maps/

http://www.ukoln.ac.uk/web-focus/events/workshops/webmaster-2006/maps/http://northumbria.ac.uk/browse/radius5/http://northumbria.ac.uk/browse/radius5/

More sophisticated mapping applications are being developed, such as Radius 5 at Northumbria Univ.

OpennessMashup

APIs

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Web

2.0 Location Metadata

Embedded location metadata can now by exploited by 3rd party tools

OpennessMashup

Open sourceAPIs

Why don't all our organisation provide location data in this way?Note issues about quality of data & responsibilities for providing the data (e.g. is this the right address?)

This service is based on the following HTML content:<meta name="geo.position" content="50.824843, -0.139274" />

The Greasemap script processes this data as shown

This service is based on the following HTML content:<meta name="geo.position" content="50.824843, -0.139274" />

The Greasemap script processes this data as shown

http://www.ukoln.ac.uk/web-focus/events/conferences/cilip-cdg-2007-04/

http://www.ukoln.ac.uk/web-focus/events/conferences/cilip-cdg-2007-04/

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Takeup Of New TechnologiesThe Gartner curve

Developers

Rising expectations

Trough of despair

Service plateau

Enterprise softwareLarge budgets…

ChasmFailure to go beyond developers & early adopters (cf Gopher)Need for:

• Advocacy• Listening to users• Addressing concerns• Deployment strategies• …

Let’s now look at approaches for avoiding the chasm

Let’s now look at approaches for avoiding the chasm

Early adopters

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Beware The IT Fundamentalists

We need to avoid simplistic solutions to the complexities:• Open Standards Fundamentalist: we just need XML• Open Source Fundamentalist: we just need Linux• Vendor Fundamentalist: we must use next version of

our enterprise system (and you must fit in with this)• Accessibility Fundamentalist: we must do WAI

WCAG• User Fundamentalist: must do whatever users want• Legal Fundamentalist: it breaches copyright, …• Ownership Fundamentalist: must own everything we

use• Perfectionist: It doesn't do everything, so we'll do

nothing• Simplistic Developer: I've developed a perfect solution

– I don't care if it doesn't run in the real world• Web 2.0: It’s new; its cool!

IT S

ervi

ces

Bar

rier

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The Librarian FundamentalistsLibrarians:

• Think they know better than the user e.g. they don't like people using Google Scholar; they should use Web of Knowledge (who cares that users find it easier to use Google Scholar & finds references they need that way?)

• Think that users should be forced to learn Boolean searching & other formal search techniques because this is good for them (despite Sheffield's study).

• Don't want the users to search for themselves (cf folksonomies) because they won't get it right.

• They still want to classify the entire Web - despite the fact that users don't use their lists of Web links.

• Want services to be perfect before they release them to users. They are uneasy with the concept of 'forever beta' (they don't believe that users have the ability to figure things out themselves and work around the bugs).

Lib

rary

Bar

rier

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Deployment Strategies

Interested in using Web 2.0 in your organisation?Worried about corporate inertia, power struggles, etc?There’s a need for a deployment strategy:

• Addressing business needs• Low-hanging fruits• Encouraging the enthusiasts• Gain experience of the browser tools – and see

what you’re missing!• Staff training & development• Address areas you feel comfortable with• Risk management strategy• …

Dep

loym

ent

Ch

alle

ng

es

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IWMW 2006 & Risk Management IWMW 2006 has taken a risk management approach to its evaluation of Web 2.0 technologies:

• Agreements: e.g. in the case of the Chatbot.• Use of well-established services: Google &

del.icio.us are well-established and have financial security.

• Notification: warnings that services could be lost. • Engagement: with the user community: users actively

engage in the evaluation of the services. • Provision of alternative services: multiple OMPL

tools. • Use in non-mission critical areas: not for bookings! • Long term experiences of services: usage stats• Availability of alternative sources of data: e.g.

standard Web server log files.• Data export and aggregation: RSS feeds,

aggregated in Suprglu, OPML viewers, etc.

Dep

loym

ent

Str

ateg

y

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All these FireFox extensions are available for free!

Tools For Your Staff

A simple approach for your organisation staff: provide Firefox to give a rich client environment:• RSS Panel: immediate

display and access to RSS feeds on pages

• Blogger Web Comments: immediate access to blog comments on pages

• Various bookmarklets: such as Webmaster tools

• Various sidebars: such as the Meebo chat tool

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Conclusions

To conclude:• Web 2.0 is here and many people are using

it• Information professionals need to

understand Web 2.0 to support their professional activities

• Information professionals can benefits from the social networking aspects of Web 2.0

• Just do it!

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Questions

Any questions?