Online community (part 1)
I was talking about online community the other day and how the library might foster it when I was asked what I meant by the word "community." I think it is a fair question and so I've started to think some about just what do we mean by online community and why should a library be involved in creating or building it.
Since I'm only starting to think about this, I'd love to hear your ideas or citations of helpful resources. Please post them in the comments.
The OED has its usual plethora of suggestions including, fellowship, communion; life in association with others. I've also begun to think of examples of community that might be helpful in this context. One example is sitting around a dorm room with fellow students discussing, laughing, and questioning what we are studying - this seems to me a learning community in action. Another positive example is meeting a professor over lunch and talking about classes and their connection to life. Should we try to replicate these kind of experiences online? What other, perhaps unique expressions of learning communities might exist online?
Since I'm only starting to think about this, I'd love to hear your ideas or citations of helpful resources. Please post them in the comments.
The OED has its usual plethora of suggestions including, fellowship, communion; life in association with others. I've also begun to think of examples of community that might be helpful in this context. One example is sitting around a dorm room with fellow students discussing, laughing, and questioning what we are studying - this seems to me a learning community in action. Another positive example is meeting a professor over lunch and talking about classes and their connection to life. Should we try to replicate these kind of experiences online? What other, perhaps unique expressions of learning communities might exist online?
Labels: community
posted by Matt @ 1:23 PM
1 Comments:
At 8:08 AM,
arcee said…
To what extent does a library perhaps need to suggest opportunities for online community through different types of technological resources they provide? For example, if we want to advertise or encourage students to think about the part that the library could play in online community, do we need to propose some groups they could join or point them to places online where community is already happening? I wonder what it looks like (?)
Post a Comment
<< Home