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Dissertation Proposal Sneak Preview: The Dynamics of Internet Aided Voluntary Collaborative Work. Vedat G. Diker University at Albany – SUNY April 2002. About Me. 4 th year Information Science PhD Student majoring in GDSM, “minoring” in Org. Studies.
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Dissertation Proposal Sneak Preview:The Dynamics of Internet Aided Voluntary Collaborative Work Vedat G. Diker University at Albany – SUNY April 2002
About Me • 4th year Information Science PhD Student majoring in GDSM, “minoring” in Org. Studies. • Industrial Engineering and Management background. • Planning to defend proposal in May 2002. • Planning to defend dissertation by the end of 2002. • Planning to get a faculty position in a school of Information Science or Management by Fall 2003.
Purpose of Today’s Presentation • Introduce my ideas and my questions about my dissertation proposal. • Get your comments and suggestions.
A Short Background • Worked on OS Market Model (Linux vs. Microsoft), with Jochen Scholl. • Developed interest in Open-Source Software philosophy. • Shaped the interest into a dissertation topic, given existing conditions.
Working Title The Dynamics of Internet Aided Voluntary Collaborative Work: The Case of Curriculum and Instruction Material Development in the Field of System Dynamics
A Recent Phenomenon • Large groups of widely dispersed people collaborating on voluntary or semi-voluntary basis, in order to develop and improve a wide range of “information artifacts”, using the Internet as a medium.
Example Information Artifacts • Software • Class notes • Reports • Essays • Presentation Slides • Link collections • etc.
Main Research Question • Are there generic dynamics that govern voluntary collaboration projects on the Internet?
Detailed Research Questions • - What are the dynamic determinants of success in large scale Internet-aided voluntary collaboration projects? • - What are the reinforcing dynamics? What are the limiting/balancing dynamics? • - What initial or ongoing conditions support or impede Internet-aided voluntary collaboration? • - What can be done to improve the efficiency, productivity, and the overall success of Internet-aided voluntary collaboration projects?
Three (?) Models • Open Source Software Development • Online Communities* • Contributor-Run Digital Libraries* *Are these totally different? What is the difference? What determines which project falls into which category?
Open Source Software • Several successful big-scale projects (GNU/Linux, Apache, Perl) • Most individual projects have various organizational and leadership structures, and work in a coherent manner. • However there are disputes, and “factions” among the overall community. (e.g. Free Software movement vs. Open Source Software movement)
Online Communities • Employee (Corporate) Communities • Customer/Consumer Communities • Membership based (HMOs, Financial inst.s) • Free/Open (amazon.com, eBay, cnet.com) • Other (Informative Communities ???) • Subscription based (The Well) • Free/Open (about.com, slashdot.com)
Contributor-Run Digital Libraries • ibiblio.org • Project Gutenberg • more examples ???
System Dynamics in K-12 Community • Will serve as a case to calibrate the generic model. • If there are generic dynamics that govern voluntary collaboration projects on the Internet, we should be able to apply those to the case of System Dynamics in K-12 Education.
Methodological Framework • Carry out literature review and determine anchor prepositions. • Carry out and analyze 2-3 initial interviews to determine what to look for in the SD in K-12 case. • Build initial model, which will help develop the formal interviews. • Carry out and analyze 10-12 formal interviews (or a survey?). • Build, refine, and analyze formal model.
My Questions • “Cover all the sectors of the Models – Determinant table” vs. “Focus on …” (Which models, which determinant dimensions)? • Focus on “with Internet vs. without Internet”, OR “successful vs. unsuccessful”, OR else? • What is “success”? What is a “successful community”?
My Questions • Are Online Communities and CR Digital Libraries totally different? What is the difference? What determines which project falls into which category? • Are there really three models? Less? More? What are they? • What should be the criteria to classify on-line communities?