Leslie Johnston code4lib 2013 Keynote

Who Do You Want to be Today? Thoughts on Community

Leslie Johnston

code4lib 2013

Before I begin: a cautionary tale about  doing things when you first think of 

doing them.

I have been thinking a lot lately  about communities and community 

building.

Why?

Because I recently shifted my job,  which required a partial contextual 

shift as to my place in a number of  communities.

But then, it’s not unusual  for me to be thinking about 

where I fit in.

Geek/Nerd/Wonk?

Curator/Archivist?

Woman?

Leader?

I have many identities and  participate in quite a few 

communities.

And that’s as it should be.

But where does community  fit into what we 

(we? which we?)do?

Everywhere.

Let’s talk about software  development.

Building software requires a  community of people who 

care, whether they are  stakeholders, developers, 

or users.

Releasing software requires a similar community of people who care.

Sustaining software requires a community of people who _really_ care ... enough to contribute time to identifying requirements, writing code, testing, documenting, and evangelizing.

And USING the software.

I cannot even begin to stress how important this is.

So…how do you build a community?

And sustain it?

Communication.

Inclusiveness.

Consideration.

On that note, everyone  should read this blog post 

on conference tweeting:

http://ryan.cordells.us/blog/2013/01 /26/mea‐culpa‐on‐conference‐

tweeting‐politeness‐and‐community‐ building/

And even more communication.

And a sense of ownership.

I’ve seen projects fail because they’re shared with the world but no one really takes ownership.

Well, not always fail.

But certainly not THRIVE.

And that’s what we’re looking for in our communities and in our projects.

That they thrive.

So what defines a successful community or product?

Participation.

Enthusiasm.

A sense of pride.

I’m part of that.I made that happen.That succeeded in part because of me.

Adoption.

And now we will discuss.

Leslie Johnston

Library of Congress

[email protected]