Throwing Pebbles into a Dark Cave: A Study of Participation and Behaviour in the {act-km} Online Community

Timbrell, Gregory T.; Lambe, Patrick; Taule, Orjan

doi:10.1142/s021964920700169x

Cited by 5 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 3 publications

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“…In the more recent of these studies, Timbrell et al (2007) seek to de¯ne online communities and their constituent elements. Using Wenger's framework for a community of practice (CoP), they developed a set of metrics by which these communities can be discussed and compared.…”

Section: Existing Research On the Actkm Listmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Series of Encounters: The Information Behaviour of Participants in a Subject-Based Electronic Discussion List

Irvine-Smith

2010

J. Info. Know. Mgmt.

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Most information research devoted to on-line discussion forums involves content analysis of postings, and is thereby skewed to those participants who actively post. The research reported in this paper aims to uncover the information behaviour of people who participate more passively in these discussionsthose who never post or do so infrequently. Data was accordingly collected via qualitative interviews with 18 participants of a subject-based e-mail listthe actKM Forum's discussion list, an on-line forum devoted to knowledge management. The research¯nds that members participate in the actKM list for a general informational purpose which can be summed up as`keeping abreast of current trends,' speci¯cally by allowing insight into the thoughts and opinions of others. Members engage with subjects in which they have a prior interestgetting con¯rmation, a±rmation or reinforcement of their own thinking and opinions is a signi¯cant reason for participation in the list. Burnett's proposition that people participate in on-line forums as`promising information neighbourhoods' is borne out. However, his contention that hostile behaviours are non-informational is not supported by the current research. The research suggests that Burnett's typology needs to be broadened to include two categories of hostile behaviourinformational and non-informationalsuch as there are with collaborative behaviours. The assumptions of information behaviour as problemsolving implicit in Dervin's Sense-Making model are found to be problematic. Instead, the study¯nds that Erdelez's model of Information Encountering is a more useful categorisation of the information behaviour exhibited by list participants. . Downloaded from www.worldscientific.com by UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO on 03/17/15. For personal use only. 2007, p. 77), owing much to the work of Brenda Dervin.Dervin, a communication researcher, has, over three decades, developed a theory of communication behaviour called Sense-Making (Dervin et al., 2003). Brie°y, Sense-Making seeks to explain and describe how humans make sense of our condition, surroundings and situationour very existence. One way we do this, but by no means the only way, is by looking for information. But, for Dervin, information is not something to be somehow scooped up and inserted in a static brain like a brick in a bucket, in what she calls an information-as-description model. In communication situations, Dervin believes that an information-as-construction model is of far greater use. This latter model takes into account the fact that information is created by human observers, and can never be separated from them (Dervin, 1989, p. 71).Dervin recognises that the human state of knowing is essentially a°uid state, constantly changing to meet the external circumstances encountered. Thus, for Dervin, both communication and information are active pursuits. Accordingly, this research is conducted from the viewpoint that information is an activity: the process of being informed. Communication, community and content: Research into e-mai...

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Section: Existing Research On the Actkm Listmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Series of Encounters: The Information Behaviour of Participants in a Subject-Based Electronic Discussion List

Irvine-Smith

2010

J. Info. Know. Mgmt.

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“…), are on the fore. Formed in various different fields from health to education, from e-trade to law, communities of practice bring people together, and they are an important tool and site in which people can find solutions to their social and professional problems (Preece, 2000;Timbrell, Lambe and Taule, 2007). However, differences behind the reasons for members' participation to the community affect their participation levels to sharing of knowledge processes, and results in their assuming new roles and behaviours.…”

Section: Communities Of Practicementioning

confidence: 99%

From Active Lurkers to Community Leader: Who They Are and What They Do

Alakurt

2016

Turkish Online Journal of Distance Education

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In this study, an email-based community supporting a community of practice (CoP) of mathematic teachers was investigated. Public messages members send were examined in order to determine what activities that were conducted by the members and what their level of participation is. Data was gathered via a "Media Records Evaluation Form". A content analysis of these messages revealed that the most frequent activity was views/chat, followed by appreciation and knowledge sharing. Findings also indicate that the least activities were apology, administrative and congratulations. In a CoP, membership is a personal matter and members represent different aspects of participation. In this sense, members' level of participation were determined by using clustering analysis. The results show that there are five different types of participation defined as community leader, core members, active members, peripheral members and active lurkers. However, research findings also point at a sixth group who never participate in knowledge sharing and exchange.

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“…However, studies of these phenomena are only now beginning to appear in the literature. An informative study of online discussion groups was undertaken by Timbrell et al (2005), drawing out the particular language and associated behaviour that has emerged in this arena, including things such as patterns of posting, the active core (about 30% of members), seeding of threads, self-imposed netiquette, moderation, lurking, etc. Such studies are made possible because these technologies leave a permanent and structured electronic record of the social phenomena being studied.…”

Section: Conversational Technologiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Information Systems Foundations: Theory, Representation and Reality

2007

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ANU), focusing on the theoretical foundations of the discipline of information systems. The workshop immediately followed the annual Australian Council of Professors and Heads of Information Systems (ACPHIS) workshop also held at the ANU.The theme of the 2006 Workshop was 'Theory, Representation and Reality' and it once again allowed researchers and practitioners in the field of information systems to come together to discuss some of the fundamental issues relating to our discipline.

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Throwing Pebbles into a Dark Cave: A Study of Participation and Behaviour in the {act-km} Online Community

Cited by 5 publications

References 3 publications

A Series of Encounters: The Information Behaviour of Participants in a Subject-Based Electronic Discussion List

A Series of Encounters: The Information Behaviour of Participants in a Subject-Based Electronic Discussion List

From Active Lurkers to Community Leader: Who They Are and What They Do

Information Systems Foundations: Theory, Representation and Reality

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