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Meeting Nov 15
Today we discussed the need for a robot crawler page so that all public pages in the SW end up in Google searches etc. We also talked about Dublin Core standards. Which out of the 13 core Dublin core standards do we not we not yet address in the database? This becomes important for XML exchanges with other project databases.
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Protocols for online collaboration
1. Start small.
Start working with the tool in a core groups of 10- 15.
2. Pick an urgent problem.
A collaborative tool needs to be build based on a real need, an urgency.
3. Start with relevant, high quality material.
The online collaborative environment will not be very enticing if it starts out empty. No one wants to be the first to post a message, add a resource or a document. The quality of these first entries sets the tone and an expectation for posts to come. It creates an identity of the online space. The quality of initial contributions matter a great deal.
4. Keep contributors informed.
After a few initial interactions with the collaborative system, it is not unusual for contributors to drift away. One antidote is to give contributors an update on what's happening in the development of the tool.
5. Emphasize the benefits.
It's natural for contributors to resist getting involved. Facilitators of the tool need to talk about the advantages of using the tool in workshops and face-to-face meetings.
6. Praise the experts.
Verbal praise, the thrill of making a contribution, working in a productive group and having your ideas appreciated contribute to the success of online collaboration. Rather than getting tense with contributors who don't participate in the collaborative environment, emphasize thoughtful contributions.
7. Allow controversy.
Allow controversial debates to brew in collaborative areas— this will foster substantial conversations. Disagreement gets people most engaged in online discussions.
8. Let the users rule.
If you put a collaborative tool into place you have to trust your contributors to take the system and mold it to their style and culture.
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Name for our tool!
The past two meetings led us to a name of the new media incarnation of the software tool DLP:
Share Widely. We bought sharewidely.org and .net. We discussed a limit to the upload size (~25 MB) and will point for larger uploads to archive.org. Chris designed good html templates and now we are waiting on Tom's progress.
