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Current News
| Innovators Navigate Around Cliques |
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Innovators Navigate Around Cliques is a short piece from last year on the research of Stanford's Martin Ruef. I would suggest that the phenomenon that he studied is even more important in the nonprofit world, where (because financial rewards are less important) the rewards of social connection close off a lot of potential for cross fertilization and, consequently, innovation.
Posted: 2/4/04; 4:22:57 PM # |
| Linking Science to Development Goals (continued) |
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David Dickson was one of the most important scholars I studied when I was getting a degree in Technology and Social Change. In his piece on linking science to development goals he makes a solid case for systems thinking in the application of science and technology to development policies and goals. This parallels the case I have been making for three years: That separate technology funding does not serve us well. Technology (like communication or other such functions) should be incorporated into each of a grantmaker's program activities.
Posted: 2/4/04; 4:21:54 PM # |
| Choosing Open Source |
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I'm a great admirer of Mark Surman's work. Now he and Jason Diceman have released Choosing Open Source, a decision making guide for civil society organizations. They have provided worksheets, a curriculum oriented version, and a PDF for those of you who like to print things.
Posted: 2/4/04; 4:20:22 PM # |
| The Unspoken of Groups |
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The Unspoken of Groups is David Weinberger's take on the need for and the failures of social software for groups. Weinberger is one of the authors of The Cluetrain Manifesto and is willing to tackle head on such questions as why do groups keep making the same mistakes over and over again.
Posted: 2/4/04; 4:18:50 PM # |
| Putting it Together: Taxonomy, Classification & Search |
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In Putting it Together, Jeff Morris looks at the relationships between taxonomy, classification & search. He spends a bit too much time on specific software for my taste, but it's clear that this field is really starting to mature. Or maybe I'm just happy to see ideas that we pioneered in the nonprofit sector in 1999 getting some traction.
Posted: 2/4/04; 4:18:27 PM # |
| The Net, the Dean campaign, and Technological Determinism |
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I have stayed away from engaging in Howard Dean hype, which has proven to be something like the Internet stock bubble -- not as important as people caught up in it believed, driven by a lot of self referential dynamics, but still worth examining. In this case, I think the lessons are not about specific techniques, but about nurturing grassroots innovation. Funders in particular could learn some lessons in this area, since they are prone to swarming and winner take all approaches. I'm concerned about the emphasis that some people continue to put on the technology, so I will point you to Howard Rheingold's The Net, the Dean campaign, and Technological Determinism.
Posted: 2/4/04; 4:16:32 PM # |
| Slash(dot) and Burn |
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The always thoughtful Cliff Lampe and Paul Resnick of the University of Michigan have published Slash(dot) and Burn (PDF) which looks at distributed moderation in a large online conversation space. They give the system examined mixed reviews but their conclusions are hopeful.
Posted: 2/4/04; 4:16:10 PM # |
| Eastern Standard Tribe |
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Cory Doctorow is a tireless advocate for online liberty. He is also a novelist. Eastern Standard Tribe is his second novel and, like the first, it is available for download in its entirety. He pushes me to consider being even braver with some of my own publishing strategies and I hope he pushes you too.
Posted: 2/4/04; 4:15:19 PM # |
| Recommendations for Online Writers and Editors |
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Mark Hurst's Five Ideas for 2004 are good recommendations for online writers and editors: Organization is the hardest part of user experience work. The big picture is the only picture. Experience is bigger than Web usability. Blogs are just content management systems. Managing one's bits is an increasingly essential skill.
Posted: 2/4/04; 4:14:59 PM # |
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