Online communities : designing usability, supporting sociability

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Title:

Personal Author:

Preece, Jenny

Publication Information:

Chichester, West Sussex : John Wiley & Sons, 2000

ISBN:

9780471805991

Subject Term:

Computer networks -- Social aspects

Internet (Computer network) -- Social aspects

Interpersonal communication

Available:*

Library	Item Barcode	Call Number	Material Type	Item Category 1	Status
Searching... PSZ JB	30000004447029	HM1017 P74 2000	Open Access Book	Book	Searching... Unknown

The purpose of the book is to set up a framework for discussions on social and technical issues of online communities. Designing usability and supporting sociability lays a solid foundation on which online communities can grow and thrive. Intended for both students and computer professionals, the book addresses the development of new online communities as well as the improvement of existing ones. It is divided into two parts - Getting Acquainted with Online Communities and Developing Online Communities - along with a preface and a concluding chapter which explores the future of online communities. For sample chapters and other resources, please check out the web site for the book at:

http://www.clis.umd.edu/people/preece/

Author Notes

Jenny Preece is Professor and Chair of Information Systems at the University of Maryland Baltimore County, where she teaches online communities and human-computer interaction. Prior to coming to the USA she chaired the first distance education course at the Open University in the UK. She has authored a leading text on Human-Computer Interaction and numerous other publications.

Foreword	p. xi
Preface	p. xv
Part 1 Getting Acquainted with Online Communities	p. 1
1 Introduction	p. 5
What is an Online Community?	p. 8
Bright and Dark Sides of Online Communities	p. 19
Introducing Sociability and Usability	p. 25
Summary	p. 28
Further Reading	p. 29
2 Community Tours	p. 33
Health Communities	p. 37
Education Communities	p. 54
Other E-commerce Communities	p. 67
Summary	p. 73
Further Reading	p. 76
3 Sociability: Purpose, People, and Policies	p. 79
Purpose	p. 80
People	p. 82
Policies	p. 94
Summary	p. 106
Further Reading	p. 106
4 Usability: Tasks, Users, and Software	p. 109
Tasks	p. 112
Tasks and Special-Purpose Communities	p. 118
Users	p. 124
Software	p. 133
Summary	p. 143
Further Reading	p. 143
5 Research Speaks to Practice: Interpersonal Communication	p. 147
Early Work in Computer-Supported Cooperative Work	p. 148
Social Presence	p. 150
Common Ground	p. 156
Common Ground and Different Media	p. 160
Common Ground and Empathy	p. 164
Summary	p. 165
Further Reading	p. 166
6 Research Speaks to Practice: Groups	p. 169
Critical Mass	p. 170
Networks and Network Analysis	p. 173
Cooperation and Trust	p. 188
Social Informatics	p. 194
Summary	p. 196
Further Reading	p. 198
Part 2 Developing Online Communities	p. 201
7 Community-Centered Development	p. 203
Overview of the Community-Centered Development Process	p. 206
Assessing Community Needs and Analyzing User Tasks	p. 214
Selecting Technology and Planning Sociability	p. 220
Designing, Implementing, and Testing Prototypes	p. 223
Refining and Tuning Sociability and Usability	p. 227
Welcoming and Nurturing the Community	p. 229
Summary	p. 229
Further Reading	p. 231
8 Selecting Software	p. 233
Three Routes to an Online Community	p. 234
Software Options	p. 236
Web Homesteading	p. 260
Summary	p. 264
Further Reading	p. 265
9 Guidelines: Sociability and Usability	p. 267
Guidelines for Sociability	p. 269
Guidelines for Usability	p. 275
Checklist for Sociability and Usability	p. 290
Guidelines for Moderators	p. 290
Guidelines to Help Participants Communicate	p. 294
Summary	p. 296
Further Reading	p. 297
10 Assessing Needs and Evaluating Communities	p. 299
Evaluation Framework	p. 303
Five Approaches	p. 304
Reviews	p. 312
Surveys: Questionnaires and Interviews	p. 313
Observation	p. 321
Metrics and Data Logging	p. 327
Experiments, Quasi-Experiments, and Usability Testing	p. 330
Additional Techniques for Students and Researchers	p. 334
Summary	p. 340
Further Reading	p. 342
11 Development Case Studies	p. 345
Down Syndrome Online Advocacy Group	p. 346
Quiz Bowl Community	p. 357
Summary	p. 370
Further Reading	p. 371
12 Looking to the Future	p. 375
Sociability	p. 379
Usability	p. 387
Theory and Methods	p. 392
Summary	p. 393
Further Reading	p. 395
References	p. 399
Index	p. 419

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Summary

Author Notes

Table of Contents