Provide the web address and the name of the community you are investigating.
I have decided to look at BookCrossing. The web address is: http://www.bookcrossing.com/
What is the brief or focus of this community?
"Bookcrossing.com is a labor of love that was conceived and is maintained by Humankind Systems, Inc., a software and internet development company with offices in Kansas City, Missouri, and Sandpoint, Idaho."
What services are provided? How interactive is this side? How can people contribute?
The website has a forum where people can talk about books and where to "find" them. Anyone can join the community, it is free and in a lot of towns.
Anyone who is interested in having a good read, does not hurt when giving a book away, and likes 2nd hand books will definitely enjoy being part of bookcrossing. People that are interested in discussion about books will be happy to go to the forum and talk about the book they have just read and even make "online friends" that have the same interests. 
As soon as entering the website you will come across "recently released" and "recently caught" books, which means the books that have been "released into the public place" and "caught by some bookcrossing member".
Consider material presented during the lecture and make comment on why people choose to contribute to this community. What is it they are seeking?
People who join this community are interested in books and maybe a little bit adventurous. People from all over the world can contact each other via email if they chose to or just stay anonymous in the forum. People trade their books and can see their books travel the world.
Cut and paste an example of the type of topics being discussed (you may have to provide a context to your excerpt).
Journal entry 1 by wornoutcowboy from Vientiane, Vientiane Prefecture Laos on Monday, November 19, 2007
Picked up at the book exchange in Vientiane.An interesting booking about living in Alaska. Or should I say dying in Alaska. The writer seemed to have dying on the mind. A great little book.
book rating:
back to top
Journal entry 2 by wornoutcowboy from Vientiane, Vientiane Prefecture Laos on Friday, December 14, 2007 Released about 5 mos ago (12/14/2007 11:00:00 PM BX time) at Post Office in Post Office, RABCK -- Controlled Releases
RELEASE NOTES: Sent from Udorn Thani, Thailand to Kilona in Phuket as a RABCK.
back to top
Journal entry 3 by Kilona from Helsinki, Uusimaa Finland on Saturday, December 22, 2007
wornoutcowboy sent me this book as a surprise :D:D Thank you wornoutcowboy! I'll be happy to read it.
back to top
Journal entry 4 by Kilona from Helsinki, Uusimaa Finland on Wednesday, May 28, 2008 Released about 1 hr ago (5/28/2008 1:00:00 AM BX time) at Kalang River Motel Cafe in Urunga, New South Wales Australia
RELEASE NOTES: Released this book to Glenasena at afternoon tea.
Considering material presented during the course and make comment on the potential ethical issues that may arise in this community e.g. lack of identity and accountability.
Bookcrossing.com is a community that does not have the goal of people getting to know each other properly and start some kind of relationship. It simply is about sharing comments on books and catching/releasing books. As in any internet community, bookcrossing.com can also be misused by people. It is questionable though whether a website like this would attract "dodgy people". Bookcrossers can meet up if they choose to. Using common sense as always when meeting someone new would apply here.
Bookcrossing.com is international and exists in over 130 countries so far. People can stay anonymous - using only the user name. When joining, people are made aware of that any member can see their user name. Any member of bookcrossing.com will have the same interest: books. People can stay in touch with each other if they want, simply by going into the internet. They may also swap email addresses or phone numbers. Before doing so, people must consider potential dangers.
Unlike "real" communities, in online communities, people do not always get to meet face to face.
Consider material presented during the lecture and make comment on the benefits this community holds over traditional notions of community e.g. communities reliant on geographic proximity
It seems to be a brilliant concept to "hunt" books all over the globe. This would not be possible in the way it is done through bookcrossing. It does not seek to substitute a library; it tries to compliment a library. The vision is to have the world as "one big library".
Consider material presented during the lecture and make comment what this community lacks or can not provide which traditional communities can.
- have a conversation and see the whole person (nonverbal language etc...)
- select who you want to talk to/who you don't
- the management of the site is just through one person - in reality communities, there are no limits
No comments:
Post a Comment