Oh sure, after I spent 30 minutes looking for it! :) Jared On Wednesday 30 May 2001 11:11, Eric D. Pierce wrote: > Bruce, Jared & folks, > > See below for the info I was looking for yesterday (I gave > you the wrong site, sorry). > > regards, > ep > > cc: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > > http://www.co-i-l.com/coil/knowledge-garden/vcfaq/facfaq1.shtml > > version 0.9 > FAQ Editor: George P�r > > About this FAQ > When and why forums have to be facilitated? > What are the main roles and responsibilities in > facilitating forums? > System Administrator > Account Administrator > Forum Convener > Community Architect > Moderator > Content Facilitator > Cybrarian > > > > About this FAQ > > Most of the roles and responsibilities > described in this FAQ are part of a new kind > of work with no ready-made job-descriptions. > > The responses are definitely not definitive; > they will change as our understanding of the > requirements for effectively facilitating virtual > communities will deepen through the feedback > from, and collaboration with facilitators > reading and contributing to this FAQ. > > When and why forums have to be facilitated? > > Facilitate = make easy, promote, help forward > action or result. (Oxford Dictionary) > > Online facilitators or hosts are the primary > enablers of any virtual community. It is their > enthusiasm and attention to the participants > challenges in communicating and collaborating > in cyberspace, that can make or brake > fledgling online communities. Without their > efforts "it is difficult to build momentum, > maintain the flow and generate the activity that > will help to ensure return visits." > (Denham Grey) > > Developing competence in facilitating the > electronic meeting of minds that takes place in > forums is a must in companies that want to turn > the web tools and methods of coordination into > a strategic advantage to achieve breakthrough > results. > > The number of required facilitative functions > is raising along the following continuum: > > Communities of interest (hobby groups) --> > communities of practice (professional communities) --> > communities of commitment (teams, taskforces, work groups). > > What are the main roles and > responsibilities in facilitating > forums? > > Responsibilities outlined under the following roles > can be assumed by one or a few individuals in > small virtual communities. > > In larger communities, they are divided among the > participants of the facilitation team. > > System Administrator > > Participates in the administration of the server > Contributes suggestions and implements > software-related measures for maximizing uptime > Maintains software integrity and forum security > Provides other participants of the facilitation > team and users with technical support > > Account Administrator > > Implements access privileges > Issues or confirms user names and passwords in > password-protected forums > > Forum Convener > > Forum Convener, sometimes also called > chairperson, is a function of someone who has a > major stake in the forums outcome(s), typically > performed in task-oriented virtual communities. > > Community Architect > > Optimizes the community's structure and design to > help it meet its purpose > > Using the appropriate combination of groupware > features, designs virtual spaces to meet specific > community functions > > Drafts guidelines for forum community norms > ("community covenant") > > Writes and edits user agreements > > Designs the structure of initial topics > > Seeds topics with context-setting materials > > Designs strategy and mechanisms for collecting and > incorporating feedback from participants > > Moderator > > The moderator, also called "host" or "organizer": > > Participates in the preliminary planning of the > forum with the sysadmin, convener, and community > architect > > Welcomes and acknowledges participants > > Stimulates participation and sustains interest > > Facilitates a healthy group dynamics conducive to > higher quality contributions and achieving > objectives in task-oriented forums > > Keeps the conversation focused on the purpose of > the forum > > Provides pointers to sources of user support > > Models behaviors of effective communication and > collaboration > > Provides closure: in task-oriented forums, s/he > declares the forum or any topics of it closed, when > its function is complete > > Content Facilitator > > The Content Facilitator, in some communities also > called "learning guide" or "knowledge gardener": > > Seeds, feeds, and weeds the forum topics to trigger > and maintain productive dialogues > > Introduces issue(s) and materials for discussion, > provides additional information, ideas > > Provides ongoing editing to enhance the usefulness > of content > > "Weaves" conversations -- highlights patterns of > emerging meaning, solutions, or consensus, by > pointing out relationships among ideas and > information expressed and setting hypertext links > between them > > Asks questions for consideration > > Synthesizes key points and themes > > Asks and inspires forum participants to help with > all of the tasks above > > Cybrarian > > The cybrarian helps users overcome information > overload, navigate the forums,and access or receive > the information when they need it and how they > need it. She or he: > > Maintains forum indices > > Writes conversation summaries > > Creates and updates dynamic maps of forum topics > and threads > > Decides how should forums, topics, and messages > be linked to corresponding libraries on the > community's website > > Archives/compacts forum according to agreed on > forum norms > > Suggests filters, priority flags, and hot spots > > Compiles list of links pointing to off-forum > resources relevant to specific forums > > Please send your suggestions for changes and > additions to George P�r at [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > � 1997, Community Intelligence Labs, Soquel, CA, > USA. We believe in sharing intellectual property freely, > but also in giving credit to its creators. > > ---end--- -- Please see the official ORACLE-L FAQ: http://www.orafaq.com -- Author: Jared Still INET: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Fat City Network Services -- (858) 538-5051 FAX: (858) 538-5051 San Diego, California -- Public Internet access / Mailing Lists -------------------------------------------------------------------- To REMOVE yourself from this mailing list, send an E-Mail message to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] (note EXACT spelling of 'ListGuru') and in the message BODY, include a line containing: UNSUB ORACLE-L (or the name of mailing list you want to be removed from). You may also send the HELP command for other information (like subscribing).
