Collaboration & the social web as pillar 2016

Collaboration as a ‘pillar’ of the social web

Dean Giustini | UBC iSchool | Feb 2nd, 2016

Module 3 (Collaboration) – Feb 2nd, 20151) Guest speaker Erin Fields, UBC liaison librarian & flexible learning

coordinator talks about her work & UBC’s open badges project. http://badges.open.ubc.ca/

2) Wiki assignment: group discussions / reflection; what worked well, but how you might collaborate more efficiently for the final project.

3) Module III: what is collaboration and its connection to social media? http://hlwiki.slais.ubc.ca/index.php/Collaboration_2.0

4) Reading: discussion of Mon chapters 2 and 3.

5) Sharing: open the floor to share

Learning objectivesDefine collaboration ……..& social collaborationConsider role of social collaboration (2.0) in building communityList ways collaboration is enabled (online/offline) in archives & libraries

eg. Communication tools, platforms, Facebook, WikipediaDiscuss collaboration as “set of skills” for information professionalsDiscuss its social, intellectual & economic impact in A&Ls

Small group exercise• Discuss your wiki assignment with new peers• Did your group use Mediawiki? Why not?• What worked, what didn’t; lessons learned • How you will collaborate for final project… ideas

Definition(s) of collaboration

"…to work jointly (co-labour) with others in an intellectual endeavour” — Merriam-Webster Dictionary

“…collaboration within & among members of a community …to bring social and economic benefits” —

Wikipedia

• To learn and enhance productivity • To get to know influencers, create networks, “the invisible college” • To access expertise• To reduce isolation, recharge one’s energy • To retool, learn new skills, solve problems • To make progress & tackle “big” (important, difficult, global) problems• To obtain funds, prestige or visibility • To be efficient… multiplies hands/minds• To get to know people, create networks, “the invisible college” • To satisfy curiosity, intellectual interest • To share excitement of something with others • To reduce errors and mistakes • To keep focused since others are counting on you • To educate (students, graduate students, oneself) • To advance knowledge • For fun, amusement and pleasure

Source: Beaver D. Reflections on collaboration (and its study): past, present and future. Scientometrics. 2001;52(3):365-377.

Beaver (2001) outlined 18+ reasons for collaboration:

New forms of collaboration

• Mass collaboration; “distributed”• Democratic participation on the rise via the web • 21st century mobile “on the go” in “real time”

In “Here comes everybody”, Shirky predicts:

• New social tools …reconfigure organizational behaviour but “without organizations” (subtitle)

• Participation increases• Yet costs are lower• Shirky’s prediction:

– pg. 48 ‘…groups operate with a birthday party’s informality ….but a multinational’s scope’

Shirky (2008). Here comes everybody…

Collaboration X social media = social collaboration

"…Social collaboration (2.0) refers to a process to help groups interact and share information to achieve common goals. Such processes have a 'natural' ecosystem on the

web, where collaboration & social dissemination of information are common...”

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_collaboration

Features of social collaboration 2.0:

•Sharing ideas in a digitally-collaborative environment•Sharing emerges…. due to participation of diverse individuals•In true social collaboration ………………..'ideas are everywhere' •Individuals share in open, unrestricted environments •Discussion is not limited to only those with “domain knowledge”

• ‘Real-world business’ built on virtual teams• Goal is to encourage active learning • Foster social & collaborative learning • Engage meaningfully “on the platform”• ….where engagement leads to discovery

Series of articles in the Harvard Business Review in 2015https://hbr.org/insight-center/the-future-of-collaboration

Fall in desktop sales, 2008-2015

Old vs. new ways of work• Solitary

• Work by yourself • Sharing piece-meal• “…work in a cubicle”

• Communication• Constrained• Uni-directional• Meetings F2F

• Groups • Easier to share as a crowd• Easier to collaborate?• “…mobile, in real-time”

• Communication• Tools, lots of tools; 2-way• Literacies have to be learned

Ten (10) questions about collaboration

1.Does collaboration matter to you?

2.What are its pros and cons / value / risks?

3.What projects are suited to “e”-collaboration?

4.How do you (or users) identify potential collaborators?

5.Is collaboration a literacy?

6.What are the characteristics of collaboration?

7.How do you sustain it in a library or archive?

8.Can social media be used to promote collaboration?

9.What supports should be in place for library collaboration?

10. Can we measure the success of collaborative projects?

Mon, ch. 2 & 3

Small group exercise• Discuss Mon chapters 2 & 3• Overall themes• Highlights• Interesting aspects of each chapter• Report back

Sharing…on your blog

• Images increase reader engagement by 600%» http://www.poynter.org/uncategorized/24963/eyetrack-i

ii-what-news-websites-look-like-through-readers-eyes/

• Infographics on a blog increases its chance of being shared by 832%

» http://www.mediabistro.com/alltwitter/infographics-on-twitter_b26840

Finding infographics• Daily Infographic• http://dailyinfographic.com/

• Visual.ly• http://visual.ly/

• Infographic journal• http://infographicjournal.com/

• Alltop Infographics• http://infographics.alltop.com/

Online communities

https://www.linkedin.com/topic/library-instruction

Using Hangout as collaboration

Netvibes as ‘platform’http://www.netvibes.com/dublincitypubliclibraries

In summary• Next week, part II, featuring LIS research & collaboration 2.0• Factors:

– People ask their social networks– Websites less valuable as time goes on– Role of individual contributions increasing – Collaborative potential of aggregate– Information gathering based on social/real time networks– Ability to find social information is increasingly important

• Other