“Community Contributed Content with Web 2.0 Social Bookmarking

Tools”

Michel Wesseling and Richard Lalleman

Pre-IFLA conference Toronto, 6 August 2008

Social Networks and Interdisciplinary Networking

Generic vs. specific

Storing and sharing Web 2.0 as change

Knowledge Management tool within the field of global development studies, by:

storing

+

sharing

=

creation

hand-picked favorite Internet resources

in a search engine

+

=

Focuss.Info

Generic vs. specific

Storing and sharing Web 2.0 as change

Generic vs. specific

Storing and sharing Web 2.0 as change

Generic vs. specific

Storing and sharing

Web 2.0 as change

Generic vs. specific

Storing and sharing

Web 1.0

► Saving favorite websites on computer

► Favorite websites available for one person at the time

► One characteristic to describe the favorite website

Web 2.0

► Saving favorite websites on Internet;

► Favorite websites available for more than one person at the time;

► More than one characteristic to describe the favorite website

Storing and saving favorite websites ...

Bookmarking Social bookmarking

Web 2.0 as change

Generic vs. specific

Storing and sharing

Storing and saving favorite websites ...

Web 2.0 as change

Generic vs. specific Storing and sharing

Web 2.0 as change

Generic vs. specific Storing and sharing

► Technical maintenance is minimal, human promotion is maximal

► 100 % about sharing: institutions+individuals share favorite websites, the Focuss.Info Initiative shares the code for the subject specific search engine

► Disappearing disciplinary borders in the social science library

► The relevance of the results of Focuss.Info while using precise terms was much higher than that for the Google results (independent research by ODI)

Web 2.0 as change

Generic vs. specific Storing and sharing

Web 2.0 as change

► Are Web 2.0 technologies or initiatives driven by the tyranny of the majority?

► Is the Focuss.Info Initiative replacing other research tools, such as the generic search engines?

Generic vs. specific Storing and sharing

Problems/Questions

Web 2.0 as change

Generic vs. specific Storing and sharing

Web 2.0 as change

► Are Web 2.0 technologies or initiatives driven by the tyranny of the majority?

► Is the Focuss.Info Initiative replacing other research tools, such as the generic search engines?

Generic vs. specific Storing and sharing

Problems/Questions

Web 2.0 as change

► www.focuss.info► info.focuss@gmail.com► Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=6516373841

► Further readings:

Lalleman, R. and Wesseling, M. (2008) Knowledge sharing through collaboration in development studies: The Focuss.Info Initiative, Information Development, 24(2), pp. 151-155

Lalleman, R. and Wesseling, M. (2008) Community contributed content and global studies research, Global-e: A global studies journal, 2(1), available at:

http://global-ejournal.org

Matthews, P. and Wunder, A. (2007) Evaluation of Google Co-op and Social Bookmarking at the Overseas Development Institute, www.web2fordev.net/