This is the paper I wrote for the MRS Research 2008 conference, about my experiences moderating an online community (ILX), now uploaded to scribd.com*. Given that it was the first time I’d ever written anything for a conference it did rather well: nominated for Best Paper and Best Newcomer, and winner of Best Presentation.
I read it again last night before uploading it to see how well it stands up. Given that I wrote it before I had any experience of actual research communities, I was expecting to cringe at a few bits. But quite frankly I think it stands up gratifyingly well. Obviously, it’s extrapolating from personal experience of ‘wild communities’, and the industry practise surrounding MROCs (horrid word) means that some of my observations aren’t relevant for those. But the differences themselves lead to unintended consequences. Expect an updated look at the topic on this blog in the future!
*you have to sign up to scribd to see it, but it’s a painless process - I signed up ages ago, had forgotten I did so, and have never had a moment’s bother from them.
