Online Community Repositories - Research Project
Summer 2006 - Present
Introduction
This web page describes a research project studying online support groups. The project is conducted by Derek Hansen and Paul Resnick from the University of Michigan's School of Information. Online support groups help people share information and emotional support across time and space. Most of these groups use email lists or online forums to communicate. More recently, new technologies (e.g., Wikis) have allowed large groups to coauthor shared documents. Some groups use these technologies to create “community repositories.” These are coauthored web pages of frequent questions and answers, biography pages, group policies, and other content designed to help the group. We are trying to understand the potential benefits of such repositories. We also hope to learn how to best introduce them to existing email-based groups. Our research findings will be made public. They will be presented at academic conferences and published Information Science journals.

Research Procedures
Our research approach is based on working with existing online support groups. We do this by providing the technology needed for coauthoring web pages (i.e., a custom Wiki). We also provide groups with “training” materials. These include best practices for creating a useful community repository. The support groups can use the technology however they want to meet their unique needs. The repository is a separate website. As such, support groups need not modify their current email list software. Support groups can stop participating at any time and individual members are not required to participate.

We will initially host the Wiki for a year. At least three months prior to the end of the year we will discuss two possibilities. The first is to extending the hosting for a longer period of time. The second is to assist with the transfer of the repository to a different host of your choosing. In the second case, we will provide the data in a format that can be transferred. The repository will also be built using popular and freely available Wiki software. This means that groups will be able to exactly replicate the technology.

We hope to identify general lessons that will help similar groups. We will do this through several activities. First, we will calculate usage statistics of the repository and email list (i.e., frequency of posting; page size). Second, we will analyze content from the email list archives and repository. Third, we will interview willing group members to participate in an hour-long interview. We will invite selected members via email. The actual interview will be conducted via phone, Instant Messanger, or email. Members that are contacted need not participate. Those who are willing to participate will receive an email that includes an informed consent form. The form will be discussed at the beginning of the interview. Fourth, we will send occasional surveys to participating groups. Members need not participate in the survey. Finally, we will consider changes made to the training materials provided to communities.

Ethical Procedures
The rights and privacy of individual members will be respected throughout. We will comply with well-established ethical guidelines developed with the University of Michigan’s Institutional Review Board. When contacting community members we will always indicate who we are and what we are doing. We will respect the wishes of anyone does not wish to interact with us. We would need to get parental consent for any direct contact (e.g., private email) with anyone under 18 years old. When we initiate contact, we will make every effort to contact only people who are 18 or older. If you are under 18 and we mistakenly contact you, please ignore our email.

Data Collection, Retention, and Use
We will save the data we have collected until we have completed all our analyses. The data will be used in academic conference presentations and published journal articles.

The data that we gather will remain confidential to the extent allowable under local, state, and federal law. We may quote what individuals have said or written. When this is done, we will not refer to the author by name or screen name. When possible, we will seek permission to include direct quotes from the authors of email messages and Wiki entries. We will not include any quotes from authors who indicate that they do not want us to. In all cases, we will not publish any personally identifiable information. Likewise, all numerical data presented in publications will be aggregated so that individual members cannot be identified.

Contact information
If you have any questions or concerns about our project, please contact Derek Hansen at shakmatt at umich dot edu or by phone at 734.764.1008. You may also contact Paul Resnick at presnick at umich dot edu. If you have questions about your rights as a participant in research, please contact:
Institutional Review Board
540 E. Liberty #202
Ann Arbor, MI 48109
Phone: 734-936-0933 email: irbhsbs@umich.edu.

Our draft paper will be made available here when completed.

Last modified on 09/12/2006