A Cloud Computing Case Study: Library Society of the World
2009; American Library Association; Volume: 45; Issue: 4 Linguagem: Inglês
ISSN
1945-4538
Autores Tópico(s)Web and Library Services
ResumoAs an example of a modern and collaborative venture, the LSW (Library Society of the World) is almost perfect (see figure 3). It's a dis-organization (as opposed to an organization, of course) that was born from a discussion on Twitter and has developed by using just about every Web 2.0 tool available in order to communicate and collaborate. I sent the dis-organizer of the group--the person who actually set up the accounts in the 2.0 tools--some questions (via e-mail on September 2, 2008) about the LSW. Joshua M. Neff, a Web content developer for the Johnson County Library in Kansas, created the logo and the wiki for the LSW. He is probably the closest thing to a leader that this loosely organized group has. Johnson County Library website www.jocotibrary.org Library Society of the World website http://thelsw.org I asked him to describe just what the LSW does and how it is organized. His response was The Library Society of the World is an anarchic dis-organization (in the sense that there are no leaders, elected or otherwise) of library professionals and library fans. Its members provide professional and personal support to each other (and to any nonmembers in need of and willing to receive professional and/ or personal support). It also functions as an adhocracy, in that when things need to be done, the people most qualified and interested voluntarily coordinate with each other to get it done. The LSW is, in every sense, a collaborative organization. The LSW started in the spring of 2007. A group of librarians were discussing their likes and dislikes--what frustrated and discouraged them--about the American Library Association (ALA). One of Josh's chief complaints about the ALA was the cost of membership, since his organization was unable to cover that expense. Someone suggested that they could start their own library association without requiring membership dues by using free social Web tools. Josh then told me that he believed a dare (maybe even quickly escalating to a triple-dog dare) was issued, and he took the challenge. He came up with the name, a logo, and a free wiki on the PBwiki service to host the LSW materials, then posted a link to the wiki on Twitter and gave the password to whomever asked for it. The wiki was open to anyone willing to contribute, which is exactly what people did. Josh explained that some of the content was serious, most of it was humorous, but all of it was full of enthusiasm and heartfelt sentiment. So, the LSW started off as a conversation on Twitter and a simple, free wiki site, but it has now expanded to much more than that. According to Josh, about a month or so after the wiki was set up, Meebo announced the launch of chat rooms. …
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