Title: Community-based Interactive Tools
1Community-based Interactive Tools
- Alison Connor
- Elizabeth Koerber
- Carrie Snesko
2Project 6 - Assignment
- Develop an IORP for presenting community-based
interactive communication and information-sharing
interactive tools on the DiscoverET.org website. - Perform a Case-study of the existing interactive
communication and information-sharing tools used
on the DiscoverET.org website. - Suggest forms of emerging tools that should be
incorporated in the future. - Provide examples of websites using the various
community-based interactive communication and
information-sharing tools and evaluate the forms
of interaction taking place via the different
tools in the different settings. - Present the pros and cons based upon your
analysis while you make recommendations for the
DiscoverET.org website.
3Relationship to 520 Coursework
- Information System Development
- An interconnected set of information resources
under the same direct management control that
shares common functionality. Includes hardware,
software, information, data, applications,
communications, and people. - Develop structure/framework
- Unite the various interactive tools
- Interface between the system and people
- User-centered design
4Relationship to 520, continued
- Subject-Access/Cross-Referencing
- Determining aboutness
- Organizing topics in a meaningful way that allows
users to easily access their desired information - Classification of Topics
- Establishing a hierarchical and associative
structure
5Philosophical Basis The Public Sphere
(Jurgen Habermas)
- Presents communication opportunities in a broad
sense, where people can interact - Allows people to enter spaces without undue
hindrance (i.e., race, ethnicity, economic
status) spaces are visible discussions are open - Mediates between people and institutions, between
the powerless and powerful
6Community Networks
- free online environments designed to promote
and favor communication, cooperation, and the
exchange of services among citizens and all the
public and private members of a local community
(nonprofit organization, government institutions,
and companies) (Shaping the Network Society, p.
199)
7Interactive Tools
- Wikis
- Blogs
- Listservs/Emails
- Interactive Calendars
- Discussion Boards
8Wikis
- A wiki is a group of Web pages that allows users
to add content, as on an internet forum, but also
permits others (often completely unrestricted) to
edit the content. The term wiki also refers to
the collaborative software (wiki engine) used to
create such a website. - Wikis are a true hypertext medium, with
non-linear navigational structures. Each page
typically contains a large number of links to
other pages. Hierarchical navigation pages often
exist in larger wikis, often a consequence of the
original page creation process, but they do not
have to be used.
9Blogs
- Abbreviated form of weblog
- A blog is a website for which an individual or a
group generates text, photographs, video, audio
files, and/or links, typically but not always on
a daily or otherwise regular basis.
10Listservs/Emails
- Electronic mailing lists are a special usage of
email that allows for widespread distribution of
information to many internet users. Software is
installed on a server which processes incoming
email messages, and, depending on their content,
either acts on them internally or distributes the
message to all users subscribed to the mailing
list. - Today, mailing lists are most often used for
collaboration on various projects and as a way of
distributing current news and other such
information. - Sometimes these take the form of what is termed a
"discussion list" a subscriber uses the mailing
list to send messages to all the other
subscribers, who may answer in similar fashion.
Thus actual discussion and information exchanges
can happen. Mailing lists of this type are
usually topic-oriented
11Interactive Calendars
- While interactive calendars vary widely in
format, they all provide an opportunity for users
to enter and view upcoming events.
12Discussion Boards
- A discussion board is a general term for any
online "bulletin board" where you can leave and
expect to see responses to messages you have
left.
13DiscoverET.org Case Study
14Existing DiscoverET.org Resources
- Calendar
- Blog Links
- Discussion Group Links
- Mailing Lists
15DiscoverET.org Calendar
16DiscoverET.org Calendar
- Begins on current day
- Lists events chronologically
- Each event has a title and short description
- Details link
- Search Features
- Date, county, organization, list of categories
- Keyword search
- Add an Event / Submit an Event
- Help Features
17DiscoverET.org Blogs
18DiscoverET.org Blogs
- Rocky Top Brigade
- Blog Station
- Brians Blog
- Camp4u
- Instapundit.com
- Keep Knoxville Beautiful
- Were Screwed
19DiscoverET.org Discussion Groups
20DiscoverET.org Discussion Groups
- Open Discussion for the Town of Jellico, TN
- Digital Divide Discussion Group
- Civil Liberties Alliance
- K2k
- Knoxnet
- knoxville Based Yahoo Groups
- Oak Ridge Based Yahoo Groups
- KORRnet.org Hosted Listservs
21DiscoverET.org Mailing Lists
22DiscoverET.org Mailing Lists
- 41 Lists available
- Click list name
- Description of the list
- How to subscribe/unsubscribe
- List archives
23Case Studies of Similar Sites
24Example Sites
- Wiki SeattleWiki
- www.seattlewiki.org/wiki/Main_Page
- Blog Gothamist
- www.gothamist.com
- Listserv/Email Vancouver Community Network
- www2.vcn.bc.ca
- Calendar Littleton Community Network
- www.littleton.org
- Discussion Board Davis Community Network
- forums.dcn.org/goals
25SeattleWiki.org
26Gothamist.com
27Vancouver Community Network
28Littleton.org Calendar
29DCN - Davis Community Network
30Group Recommendations
- Wikis
- Open Source Software TWiki, Kwiki, MediaWiki,
PmWiki, MoinMoin - Blogs
- Listservs/Emails
- Calendars
- CalendarScript - 85 for typical license
ownership 50 for not-for-profits free trial - Discussion Boards
- Ezboard.com free
- vBulletin one year lease 85 license ownership
160
31Group Recommendations
- Overall design for community-interaction and
information-sharing pages - More fully integrated, under a single header
- Header Communication Media
32References
- CalendarScript 3.2. http//www.calendarscript.co
m - Davis Community Network http//forums.dcn.org/go
als - DiscoverET.org. www.discoveret.org
- ezboard. www.ezboard.com
- Fish, Shlomi. Which open source wiki works for
you? ONLamp.com. http//www.onlamp.com/pub/a/
onlamp/2004/11/04/which_wiki.html - Gothamist. www.gothamist.com
- Habermas, Jurgen. The Structural Transformation
of the Public Sphere An Inquiry into a Category
of Bourgois Society. Boston MIT Press, 1991. - Littleton Community Network www.littleton.org
- SeattleWiki. www.seattlewiki.org/wiki/Main_Page
- Schuler, Douglas and Peter Day. Shaping the
Network Society. Boston MIT Press, 2004. - Vancouver Community Network www2.vcn.bc.ca
- vBulletin. www.vbulletin.com
33Thank you