BibSonomy publications for /user/avivagabriel/commonTue Nov 20 18:31:27 CET 2007Cambridge, MASocial Capital and Information Technology2004communities networks shared social knowledge-management responsibility commonalities multidisciplinary AI information-science creative-commons online common socialnetworking collaborate acceptance communications collaboration expert-mapper OA culture info socialware management infotech web-based open-archives heterogeneous CC open-access teams internet socialnetworks socialcapital trust self-archiving book sociology IR KOLs computer-science CoPs capital alignment IT social-sciences civic identify opensource creativecommons sociotechnical economics identification sharing essays information-sciences open_archives knowledge relational social-software experts CoP mutual social-capital technology commonality community tech leaders share openaccess KOL networking internet-based social-science community-building information open-source knowledge-sharing KM MIS The concept of social capital, or the value that can be derived from social ties created by goodwill, mutual support, shared language, common beliefs, and a sense of mutual obligation, has been applied to a number of fields, from sociology to management. It is only lately, however, that researchers in information technology and knowledge management have begun to explore the idea of social capital in relation to their fields. This collection of thirteen essays by computer scientists, sociologists, communication specialists, economists, and others presents a multidisciplinary look at this particular intersection of information technology and social science and the need to adopt a sociotechnical perspective. For the most part the contributors take a positive view of the interplay of social capital, knowledge sharing, and community building. Some essays look at specific instances, including the on-line and face-to-face relationships of a community of athletes, the building of social capital among Iranian NGOs, and the Internet-based communities created by the open-source movement, while others discuss more general ideas of civic and personal communities. The last four essays examine computer applications that augment social capital, including topic- and member-centered communications spaces such as the Expert Finder and the Loops system and virtual repositories of knowledge such as the Answer Garden and Pearls of Wisdom. Table of Content 1 Social Capital and Information Technology: Current Debates and Research Marleen Huysman and Volker Wulf 1 I Social Capital in Civic Engagement 17 2 Trust, Acceptance, and Alignment: The Role of IT in Redirecting a Community Anna-Liisa Syrjänen and Kari Kuutti 21 3 The Effects of Dispersed Virtual Communities on Face-to-Face Social Capital Anita Blanchard 53 4 Find What Binds: Building Social Capital in an Iranian NGO Community System Markus Rohde 75 5 How Does the Internet Affect Social Capital? Anabel Quan-Haase and Barry Wellman 113