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Finding Our Way in the Crowd: Cultivating Knowledge Communities

In an era of "information overload," building and nurturing communities of knowledge is crucial for effective information management. By integrating features from both traditional and modern communities, we can curate content more effectively. This presentation explores the roles of communities in filtering, sorting, and sense-making, highlighting tools like Twitter and Wikipedia. It addresses misconceptions about new online channels, emphasizing that collaboration among various knowledge types can enhance our understanding. The importance of engagement and community cultivation in this digital age is also discussed.

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Finding Our Way in the Crowd: Cultivating Knowledge Communities

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  1. Finding Our Way in the Crowd Locating and cultivating communities of knowledge John Mark Ockerbloom University of Pennsylvania Libraries NFAIS Annual Conference Philadelphia, PA – February 27, 2011

  2. Overview • “Information overload” has been with us for a long time • Communities of knowledge play essential roles in alleviating information overload • Many communities exist, in different forms • Combining features of “new” and “old” communities (with help of automation) can bring best of both worlds

  3. You aren’t going to read everything in here, are you? [Photo by Sebastia Giralt; CC license: BY-NC-SA]

  4. Alleviating overload:Basic functions • Filtering: selection ; refinement • Sorting: categorization; ranking • Sense-making: context ; explanation • All different aspects of curation • Curation can be done by pros, amateurs, machines; sometimes all of them together. • The human element is essential

  5. Communities curate content

  6. Twitter curation

  7. Communities create conversation

  8. Some conference tweets

  9. Communities curate concepts

  10. PennTags

  11. Folksonomies

  12. Wikipedia: The web’s most popular concept catalog

  13. Two overreactions • “New online information channels represent a fundamental degradation of knowledge” • Whither professionalism, peer review, etc.? • “New online information channels make publishers, libraries, etc. obsolete” • Who needs middlemen, credentials, payment, etc.? • In fact, new and “traditional” channels have more in common than one might think… • And they can inform each other

  14. Aggregating journals

  15. Aggregating new books

  16. Information organization?

  17. Library of CongressSubject Headings [From id.loc.gov ]

  18. “Information organization”as structured, linked data <rdf:Description rdf:about=http:/id.loc.gov/authorities/sh99001059#concept”> <dcterms:created rdf:datatype="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#dateTime">1999-02-12 […] <dcterms:created> <dcterms:source xml:lang="en">Work cat.: 98-53625: Taylor, A.G. The organization […] </dcterms:source> <dcterms:source xml:lang="en">Velluci, S.L. Cataloging across the curriculum: a syndetic […] </dcterms:source> <skos:narrower rdf:resource=“http://id.loc.gov/authorities/sh85000256#concept”/> <skos:narrower rdf:resource="http://id.loc.gov/authorities/sh85048210#concept"/> <skos:narrower rdf:resource="http://id.loc.gov/authorities/sh85026719#concept"/> <skos:narrower rdf:resource="http://id.loc.gov/authorities/sh85064867#concept"/> <skos:broader rdf:resource="http://id.loc.gov/authorities/sh85066150#concept"/> <skos:inScheme rdf:resource=http://id.loc.gov/authorities#conceptScheme”/> <skos:inScheme rdf:resource="http://id.loc.gov/authorities#topicalTerms"/> <skos:scopeNote xml:lang="en">Here are entered works on identifying, […]</skos:scopeNote> <rdf:type rdf:resource="http://www.w3.org/2004/02/skos/core#Concept"/> <skos:related rdf:resource="http://id.loc.gov/authorities/sh85066163#concept"/> <skos:prefLabel xml:lang="en">Information organization<skos:prefLabel> <skos:altLabel xml:lang="en">Information storage and retrieval<skos:altLabel> <skos:altLabel xml:lang="en">Organization of information<skos:altLabel> <owl:sameAs rdf:resource="info:lc/authorities/sh99001059"/> <dcterms:modified rdf:datatype="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#dateTime">1999-03-15 […] </dcterms:modified> </rdf:Description>

  19. Linking subjects together

  20. From the Battle of York…

  21. …to the War of 1812

  22. …or to Toronto

  23. The linked data world [Linking Open Data cloud diagram, by Richard Cyganiak and Anja Jentzsch. http://lod-cloud.net/ ]

  24. Hamlet, Hamlet, Hamlet…[& some other revenge dramas]

  25. Which Hamlet is right for you? • (Show Hamlet summary page)

  26. Catalogsin an open linked data world • More than just the books in your library building • More information than just what fits on a card • Can include contributions from many people, e.g.: • Publisher provides initial information (metadata) • Cataloger (or program) creates new relationships • Teacher adds notes for choosing suitable edition • Readers tag, annotate, aggregate specific items of interest to them or others • The truly “web-scale” catalog is just starting to develop

  27. A “social” catalog • (Show LibraryThing Shakespeare page)

  28. Cautions • Communities need cultivation • If you build it, “they” don’t always come • If they do come, you need to deal with agendas, noise, spam, misinformation • One community or system isn’t enough • Different communities, tools work for different people • Many interesting questions span multiple disciplines (and multiple communities) • Seek contrasting, dissenting viewpoints • Avoid confirmation bias • Take advantage of diversity, outreach

  29. Conclusions • Communities are essential to managing information • They filter by curating content • They sort by curating concepts • They make sense by creating conversation • Both informal and established communities play important roles • Twitter and blogosphere; publishers and libraries; conferences and schools • We can combine knowledge, strengths of different kinds of communities • With linked data, automated analysis, openness • Want to continue this conversation? @JMarkOckerbloom | everybodyslibraries.com

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