Objectives

• Describe the key components of a community of practice
• Compare and contrast the different community types (e.g. virtual or local, purpose of the community)
• Outline the major phases in the life cycle of a community and the corresponding information and knowledge management needs for each
• Define the major roles and responsibilities in a community of practice, with particular emphasis on the integration of library and information professionals’ skills<
• Analyze the flow of knowledge in a community of practice using appropriate tools and techniques to identify enablers and obstacles to knowledge sharing
• Discuss how communities can be linked to organizational memory in order to foster organizational learning and innovation

Content

Week 1 Introduction to Communities of Practice: a brief history, definitions of key concepts, links to information professionals.

Week 2 Typology of Communities: different purposes, membership rules, organizational context, types of social interaction and social capital produced.

Week 3 Lifecycle of a Community of Practice: major phases of community emergence, maturity models, evolutions of information professional roles.

Week 4 Knowledge Creation in Communities: how knowledge is captured, created, codified, shared, accessed, applied and re-used amongst community members; the structural, relational and cognitive dimensions of communities and implications for community librarians.

Week 5 Creation and dissemination of community knowledge, networked improvement communities; relationship to lessons learned, best practices, peer mentoring.

Week 6 Roles & Responsibilities in a CoP: knowledge taxonomist, community information professionals, archivists, knowledge brokers navigating between different communities.

Week 7 Study Break

Week 8 Social Capital Produced by Communities: multidisciplinary model of social capital; sources and types of social capital in communities; benefits

Week 9 Managing Knowledge Through Communities of Practice: structural elements of communities; how to cultivate them; planning and launching of communities; growing and sustaining communities.

Week 10 The Challenge of Distributed Communities: tools and techniques for leveraging knowledge in virtual or online communities; communities beyond organizations; the downside of communities.

Week 11 Applications of Communities of Practice: community-based knowledge initiatives; measuring and managing value creation in communities; case study discussions.

Week 12 Student Presentations

Week 13 Student Presentations