Motivation Model in Community-Built System - Community-Built Databases: Research and Development - page 187

knowledge only by means of knowledge transfer with low viscosity; loosely con-
nected subgroups that do not profit from the knowledge in other groups; depen-
dency on a few actors for preservation of the network, without whom only loosely
connected subgroups will remain; actors who are not well integrated into the
network, because they have no, or only a few, relationships with other actors.
Every actor in the network plays some role. Often, an actor can perform more
than one role in the knowledge network. The actor's role is the actor's response to
the network demands and such actor desires an adequate acknowledgement of his
intellectual potential and available resources in a proper network context. Based on
[ 15 ], the following roles can be identified in the knowledge network: a knowledge
creator is an actor who creates new knowledge that is used by others in the
organization; a knowledge sharer (knowledge broker) is an actor who is responsible
for sharing knowledge that is created by the knowledge creators; a knowledge user
is an actor who depends on knowledge for executing its job. In the community-built
system, the knowledge broker role is maintained by the system, which creates the
operational environment for the knowledge network. In addition, in the community-
built system, the role of editor is introduced. The editor is responsible for main-
taining the quality of content and its estimation in the knowledge network.
Every role that exists within the community-built system environment requires
certain skills and behaviors [ 30 ]:
- Cognitive skills: writing and constructive editing skills (skills in research,
writing, and editing), web skills (accessing the Internet, using web browsers,
tracking logins and passwords, writing with embedded Wiki HTML editors, and
working with digital images or other web media), group process skills (be able
to set goals; communicate clearly; share leadership, participation, power, and
influence; make effective decisions; engage in constructive controversy; and
negotiate conflict).
- Personal characteristics: openness (opens up each contributor's ideas to scrutiny
and criticism, others can modify, reorganize, and improve any contributions),
integrity (integrity can be perceived through the accountability of each individ-
ual, through the honesty of each individual, and through the competence of each
contributor), self-organization (requires metacognition, ability to self-assess,
and ability to adjust to feedback from the environment).
8.3 The Concept of a Community-Built System
A community-built system can be defined as a system of virtual collaborations
organized to provide an open resource development within a given community [ 31 ].
According to [ 32 ], virtual collaborations are a type of collaboration in which
individuals are interdependent in their tasks, share responsibility for outcomes,
and rely on information communication technology to produce an outcome, such as
shared understanding, evaluation, strategy, recommendation, decision, action plan,