Workshop: Virtual communities

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WorkshopVirtual communities Part 2

• JohnW_at_QuakerNet.org.uk
• Both of Reading Meeting
• Extending Connexions Conference, York, April 2003

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Contents Part 2

• Requirements Summary
• Potential Solutions
• Functional and non-functional requiremetns
• Vision
• What can we do, and how?

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Requirements Summary

• Sample Friends Communities
• Communication
• Publication
• Shared Community Space
• Access Zones and security
• Accessibility
• Others?

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Sample Friends Communities

• Local Meetings
• Meeting Committees
• Overseers, Trustees
• Special Interest Groups
• www.quakergreenconcern.org.uk/
• Central Committees
• Consultation
• Eg RECAST

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Communication

• One to one
• One to many
• Ad hoc
• Committee papers minutes
• Publication
• Group or Meeting
• Many to many

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Shared Community Space

• Discussions
• History
• Documents
• Calender and events
• Members who are they?

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Access Zones

• Public
• Friends
• Committee Members
• Clerks
• Staff

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Accessibility

• IT Offers
• Any time
• Any place
• Any device
• But
• Needs IT literacy
• Coping mechanisms
• Special needs
• More inclusive than exclusive

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Potential Solutions

• Email and email lists
• Quaker-B, Mailman
• SmartGroups or Yahoo Groups
• www.smartgroups.com/groups/readingUKquakers/
• Static Web site
• www.bym2001.org.uk
• Dynamic Web site
• www.britainyearlymeeting.org.uk/connexions2003/
• Blogs
• www.movabletype.org/
• crimsonblog.com/
• www.microcontentnews.com/articles/blogware.htm
• Content Management Systems
• webcrossing.com/WebX/Home/products/features/server
  protocols
• Portals
• www.quakernet.org.uk

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Publication

• Email lists
• But no central repository or version control
• Web based groups
• Good for archive
• Circulation for edits or comments
• Microsoft Word, but some unhappiness
• Rich Text Format
• Publication to the Public
• E-books, eg in Adobe .pdf format
• Web viewing
• Individual printing
• Book publication
• Printed paper.

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Portal
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Functional Requirements

• Member registration
• Editable profile
• Discussion groups or forums
• Both email and web notification
• Subscribeable
• Content Management System
• Multiple authors
• Access control list based on member groups
• Multi-site support
• Other modules
• FQA, Links, download etc

13
Non-Functional Requirements

• Support available
• Open source or commercial
• A development community
• Not just a one man band
• A believable future roadmap
• An open specification platform
• Third party modules and themes
• Scalable
• Affordable
• Multi-level security
• Easy to administer

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Vision

• Let a thousand flowers bloom, but also
• BYM Members Portal
• Central facility supporting all internal needs
• Meetings and sub-committees
• Special Interest Groups
• Central Committees
• Member services?
• Complementary to
• BYM Public Web Sites and CMS
• Subscriber
• Adequately resourced and managed

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What can Friends do? And how?

• Pick a common platform, set it up and run with
  it
• Pilot communities
• Meeting and SIG support
• Committee minutes
• BYM 2004?
• Budget for development resources admin support
• Experiment
• Technical tools and their applicability
• Video conferencing
• Phone conferencing
• Virtual meeting for worship?
• Net meeting whiteboards
• Special needs provision
• BYM Web Site Strategy

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What First?

• What needs do we see?
• What learning do we need?
• Easy wins
• How might we begin to change?