This page looks at Communities of Practice as Distributed Collaborative Work and asks (a) are CoPs collaborative and (b) can they be distributed? (Selected and reviwed links to papers on CoPs)
This paper examines learning among museum staff involved in exhibition development in four European natural history museums. It draws upon a larger body of research undertaken for the Mirror project, a European Commission Framework Programme 5 Information
This paper examines the nature of virtual teams and their place in the networked economy. It presents a framework for categorising virtual teams and argues that fundamental changes have taken place in the business environment which force people and organi
NGOs need to tackle the problems of effective communication that arise from their local-global nature. This paper examines Knowledge Management (KM) practices for use with portal technologies in order to promote Communities of Practice in both local and
This paper presents a critical review of some of the claims made for CoPs. It will address questions such as "Are CoPs really suitable for use in a business setting?" and "Can a CoP ever be truly virtual?"
The workshop focuses on current research trends in technology enhanced learning solutions that aim at addressing the multiplicity and complexity of needs of Communities of Practice all along their lifecycle.
This paper provides an overview of virtual teams in the information age, focussing on the definition of virtual teams, their salient characteristics, the communication issues they face (including information overload, geographic and social distance), th
Contains links to papers on KM/CoPs that are all:(a) examples of research undertaken in the MIS Group (b) refereed as part of a book, journal or refereed conference (c) available on line
The MIRROR project explores the mirroring of the learning interactions of individuals within communities of practice (CoP) through the use of technologies. The specific context explored within the project is that of museum natural scientists.
A paper presented at the Second Workshop on Understanding Work and Designing Artefacts: Design for Collaboration. Communities Constructing Technology at King's Manor, University of York (March 1999).
Communities of Practice: Creating Learning Environments for Educators: Vol. 2 - contains links to authors and a full introductory chapter - deals with distributed CoPs
Communities of Practice are conceptually positioned as a very important and successful element of corporate Knowledge Management. By utilizing IT platforms they enable a direct connection of knowledge workers and the transfer and reuse of tacit expertise