Fostering collaboration by combining web 2
and CSCW applications
Applying social tagging as a personal and group
knowledge management tool for process maps
(and other examples)
Ruhr University of Bochum
Information and Technology Management
Michael Prilla, michael.prilla@rub.de
Information and Technology Management
@ RUB
• Research areas
„Building a bridge
between technology
development and
technology usage“
•
•
•
•
Socio-technical systems
Work procedures (modeling)
KM / PIM2GIM
Collaborative Learning
• Fields of application
• Innovation
• Service implementation
• Web 2 & CSCW
Fostering collaboration by combining web 2 and CSCW applications
Michael Prilla
10-24-2007
2
This talk in one Slide:
Fostering collaboration with web 2
• Meaningful integration of web 2 mechanisms and
principles can foster collaboration
• Examples
• KM for Process Maps (MindMaps, UML, …)
• Collaborative Content Structuring
• Collaborative Writing
• Work in progress
• Discussion: Combine web 2 and CSCW to
• Foster collaboration
• Support people in work with heterogeneous content
Fostering collaboration by combining web 2 and CSCW applications
Michael Prilla
10-24-2007
3
Web 2 and CSCW
• Characteristics of web 2 applications
•
•
•
•
•
Voluntary and intensive contribution
Bottom-up collaboration
Spontaneous networks of communications
Every participant has a voice
Shared applications with ubiqutous access
• Impact on CSCW
•
•
•
•
Personal incentives for group benefit
Collaboration on content
Sensemaking: Human perception
User control and satisfaction
Fostering collaboration by combining web 2 and CSCW applications
Michael Prilla
10-24-2007
4
Example 1: KM for Process Maps (PhD work)
• People prefer different information encodings
• Textual representation
• Models, Maps, …
• Maps are important in business, collaborations and
creative work BUT neglected in KM
• Evidence from case studies
• Currently: Service implementation and adaption
• Recent studies (logistics, service management, …)
• Goal: Lifecycle Support for Process Maps in KM
• Modelling and knowledge acquisition
Fostering collaboration by combining web 2 and CSCW applications
Michael Prilla
10-24-2007
5
Goal: Support for Process Model Lifecycle
Support enrichment:
How to enable people to
express their perspectives
and add information?
Support modelling:
How to supply modellers
with valuable information
and help them during
modelling?
Integration into Modelling
KM with Process Model Support
Support exchange:
How to enable content
creators to easily yet
meaningfully share complex
content and related
information?
Support usage:
How to support usage and
understanding of
heterogeneous content for
knowledge acquisition?
Fostering collaboration by combining web 2 and CSCW applications
Michael Prilla
10-24-2007
6
Analysis: Requirements
• Integration into work procedures / knowledge work
•
•
•
•
Keep usage burden low: Seamlessly integrate
Provide meaningful KM support: Fit to model related tasks
Integrate all relevant actors: Bottom-up approach
Combine personal and group information management
• Equal handling of content in KM
• Provide information regardless of content type
• Relate similar information
• Provide perceivable descriptions
• Dimishing the complexity gap of heterogeneous
content needs semantic approach
Fostering collaboration by combining web 2 and CSCW applications
Michael Prilla
10-24-2007
7
Semantic Spectrum
Ontologies
Categories
Tag Clusters
Free Tagging
Precise
Deductive
Machine
readable
Levelling
Complex
Fixed
Flexible
Perceptable
Ambigious
Individual
Easy
Flat
Taxonomies
Thesauri
Tag Proposals
Choice of semantic support depends on
•
•
•
•
Task to be supported and overall goal
Organizational culture (hierarchies, …)
Present vocabulary
People working with it
Fostering collaboration by combining web 2 and CSCW applications
Michael Prilla
10-24-2007
8
Semantics: Publishing vs. Collaboration
Social Tagging:
Collaboration, Bottom-Up
Categories, Ontologies:
Publishing, Top-Down
Content




mutual
enrichment
Control by a few
Anticipation of categorization
Unidirectional information exchange
Slowly changing




Useful in slowly changing,
precise information structures
and vocabularies
Fostering collaboration by combining web 2 and CSCW applications
Content
Control by all Users („Prosumers“)
Emergence of categorization
Bidirectional information exchange
Flexibility
Useful in quickly adapting, multiperspective and fuzzy
information structures
Michael Prilla
10-24-2007
9
Tagging as a Tool for KM
• Approach: Tag process maps for integration into KM
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Bottom-up semantic content description
Personal incentives  group benefit
Self-organization
Human perception
Low usage burden
Integration into existing applications
Appropriate for various content types
Reverse googling (Furnas)
• Suitable for bottom-up classification and integration
of different perspectives
Fostering collaboration by combining web 2 and CSCW applications
Michael Prilla
18.10.2006
10
Background
User 2
User 3
Terminology
Terminology
User 1
Terminology
Domain
Terminology
Terminology
User 4
User 5
Brand (1994) /
Morville (2005)
Shaw&Gaines (1989)
e.g. Anderson (2006)
Fostering collaboration by combining web 2 and CSCW applications
Michael Prilla
18.10.2006
11
Why should people tag content?
• Rule of Thumb for Tagging: The more you tag, the
more you will receive
• Contextualization to own information space
• Perceiving and browsing other content
• Goal: Immediate feedback
• Approach for modeling
• Tagging process elements and maps makes similar
information accessible while modeling
• Approach for KM system
• Tagging content improves connections between own
content units and between people
See last slide for resources describing user incentives in web 2.
Fostering collaboration by combining web 2 and CSCW applications
Michael Prilla
18.10.2006
12
Describing Models by Tagging
Save & Tag model
Tags:
seminar learning mom compact blended presentation
student moderation task
Existing Tags:
lookup material search preparation learning
master mom compact june2007 blended
seminar present presentation todo
Save to ...
Fostering collaboration by combining web 2 and CSCW applications
Michael Prilla
10-24-2007
13
Using Tags in Models
Existing Tags
slides present
presenting finish talk
powerpoint instruction
nervous questions
presentation
Edit name
Name:
present results
Tags:
talk present slides presentation nervous
Existing Tags:
slides present presenting finish talk powerpoint instruction
nervous questions presentation
Similar content
Document
Link
Model
Document
Image
Fostering collaboration by combining web 2 and CSCW applications
Michael Prilla
10-24-2007
14
Framework: KM support for Model Lifecycle
Share models from
modelling application
• Basis: Tags
• XML exchange
• Include linked content
and tags
Tag Based
Exchange via
Web Service
Explore content, receive
while modelling
• Semantically linked
• Tag based queries
• Stream content
Generic framework: Integrate multiple
applications and information sources
Fostering collaboration by combining web 2 and CSCW applications
Michael Prilla
18.10.2006
15
Intended Benefits
• Help people in modeling, acquiring knowledge and
understanding complex content
• Bring people together, e.g. sketchers and writers or
designers and programmers
• Contextualize content (value, usability)
• Show perspectives on content (boundary objects)
• Support creative work and interaction
• Disruptive elements
• Diversity
• Problem spaces
Fostering collaboration by combining web 2 and CSCW applications
Michael Prilla
10-24-2007
16
Project status
• Past and current work
•
•
•
•
Intensive literature study
Case study analysis
Prototypes and framework
Interviews with domain experts
• Remaining work
• Fine tuning (approach and framework)
• Evaluation (experiments)
• Bonus
• Development of web-based modeling editor
See also: Prilla, Herrmann (2007): Applying Social Tagging as a Knowledge Management Tool for Process Models. IKNOW 07.
Fostering collaboration by combining web 2 and CSCW applications
Michael Prilla
10-24-2007
17
Example 2: Using Tagging to enrich structure
• Primary structure of content causes irritations in
finding information in knowledge work
• Even worse for complex content
• Integration of Tagging into Kolumbus 2 content
structure
• Semantic content classification
• Bottom-up contextualization
• Tags as cross cutting concerns of structure
• Goal: Provide
• Flexible structure and findability
• Group and individual classification
Fostering collaboration by combining web 2 and CSCW applications
Michael Prilla
18.10.2006
18
Levels of Structure in Knowledge Work
Categories
Organisation
enrich,
inform
contextualize
Tag Clusters/Clouds
Group
feed back,
converge
Tags
shape,
propose
Individual
Fostering collaboration by combining web 2 and CSCW applications
Michael Prilla
10-24-2007
19
Tagging in Kolumbus 2
Fostering collaboration by combining web 2 and CSCW applications
Michael Prilla
10-24-2007
20
Combining Tagging Mechanisms
• Prototype: SeeMe Model Editor and Kolumbus 2
• Integration of tagging support for applications
Exchange
Vocabulary
tags
Fostering collaboration by combining web 2 and CSCW applications
Tag-based object exchange
Michael Prilla
tags
18.10.2006
21
Example 3: Collaborative writing
• Poor support in collaborative text production
• External editors
• No intertwining of text and material
• Web-based editors miss
• Awareness features
• Support for co-ownership
• Approach: Merge applications
• Integration of web-based editor into Kolumbus 2 content
structure
• Target audience: Spatially distributed, fresh collaborators
(Students, …)
Fostering collaboration by combining web 2 and CSCW applications
Michael Prilla
18.10.2006
22
Example 3: Kolumbus 2 Co-Writer
Tight
integration of
views and
functionality
See also: Prilla, Ritterskamp (2007): Kolumbus 2 Co-Writer: The Next Step in Collaborative Writing. Demo@ESCSW 07.
Fostering collaboration by combining web 2 and CSCW applications
Michael Prilla
10-24-2007
23
Summary
• Web 2 functionality in CSCW for
• Bottom-Up perspective sharing and low usage burden
• Device independent collaborative writing
• Levels of information structure (PIM to GIM)
• Benefits for CSCW
• Increased participation and user acceptance
• Individual and group support
• Design considerations
• Integrate meaningfully, do not copy
• Play with web 2 functionality
• Take best of two worlds
Fostering collaboration by combining web 2 and CSCW applications
Michael Prilla
10-24-2007
24
Literature
See my literature on bibsonomy.org
• Tagging general
http://www.bibsonomy.org/concept/user/michael/tagging
• Motivation for participation in web 2 apps
http://www.bibsonomy.org/user/michael/web2motivation
• My papers related to this talk
http://www.bibsonomy.org/user/michael/ownstuff
Fostering collaboration by combining web 2 and CSCW applications
Michael Prilla
18.10.2006
25