This book includes 23 papers dealing with the impact of modern information and communication technologies that support a wide variety of communities: local communities, virtual communities, and communities of practice, such as knowledge communities and scientific communities. The volume is the result of the second multidisciplinary "Communities and Technologies Conference", a major event in this emerging research field. The various chapters discuss how communities are affected by technologies, and how understanding of the way that communities function can be used in improving information systems design. This state of the art overview will be of interest to computer and information scientists, social scientists and practitioners alike.

This book includes 23 papers dealing with the impact of modern information and communication technologies that support a wide variety of communities: local communities, virtual communities, and communities of practice, such as knowledge communities and scientific communities. The volume is the result of the second multidisciplinary "Communities and Technologies Conference", a major event in this emerging research field. The various chapters discuss how communities are affected by technologies, and how understanding of the way that communities function can be used in improving information systems design. This state of the art overview will be of interest to computer and information scientists, social scientists and practitioners alike.

"This encyclopedia of virtual communities and technologies provides a much needed integrated overview of all the critical concepts, technologies and issues in the area of virtual communities"--Provided by publisher.

Technology has changed what it means for communities to "be together." Digital tools are now part of most communities' habitats. This book develops a new literacy and language to describe the practice of stewarding technology for communities. Whether you want to ground your technology stewardship in theory and deepen your practice, whether you are a community leader or sponsor who wants to understand how communities and technology intersect, or whether you just want practical advice, this is the book for you.

This book covers the relationship between information and communication technologies (ICTs) and communities – both physical and virtual. Community technology applications are studied in many contexts. The book demonstrates the dynamic and interdisciplinary nature of evolving communities and technologies scholarship.

Most learning takes place in communities. People continually learn through their participation with others in everyday activities. Such learning is important in contemporary society because formal education cannot prepare people for a world that changes rapidly and continually. We need to live in learning communities. This volume gathers together all of the scholarly materials directly emanating from a workshop held in August 2005, when a multidisciplinary group of scholars met at Penn State’s College of Information Sciences and Technology to discuss ‘learning in communities’. Initially, a sectioned report on the workshop was published as a special section in the Journal of Community Informatics in 2006. Subsequently, a special issue of 5 full papers was published in the Journal of Computer-Supported Cooperative Work, and a special section of 2 full papers was published in the International Journal of Computer-Supported Collaborative Learning.