The virtual communities are settings for knowledge exchange, especially tacit knowledge. In large organizations, with branch offices or geographically dispersed functional units, knowledge exchange is generally restricted by the lack of convergence of people in the same physical space or schedule. In this investigation we have examined the behavior of the members of two virtual communities insi...

A key characteristic of online communities is the fast turnover of their membership. Because online communities rely on voluntary member contribution to survive and succeed, member turnover can have important implications on the resource availability and the health of a community. However, empirical research on the effects of member turnover in online communities is rare. Most research assumes ...

Sustainability requires the engagement of every single constituent of the “building” product supply chain, from concept design to operation. The research explores ways of creating circles of impacts that bind building professionals, energy administrations, and citizens in a shared low carbon experience through a “one-stop-shop” Sustainable Construction Service Platform. The paper discusses awar...

Virtual communities play an important part in enabling people with common interests to interact with each other. Current research mostly focuses on the aspects of social interaction, usability and success factors for virtual communities. However, few studies have analysed how management teams affect virtual communities. Therefore, our research focuses on the role of management teams for the suc...

We introduce Cimple, a joint project between the University of Illinois and the University of Wisconsin. Cimple aims to develop a software platform that can be rapidly deployed and customized to manage data-rich online communities. We first describe the envisioned working of such a software platform and our prototype, DBLife, which is a community portal being developed for the database research...

Integrated community case management (iCCM) is a recommended strategy to curb child mortality. Drawing on diffusion of innovations (DOIs), the acceptability and adoption of iCCM were qualitatively explored. Data from focus group discussions and interviews with community members, community health workers (CHWs), and supervisors conducted in seven communities were analyzed using content analysis....

Background Malawi has achieved a remarkable feat in reducing its under-5 mortality in time to meet its MDG 4 target despite high levels of poverty, low female literacy rates, recurrent economic crises, a severe shortage of human resources for health, and poor health infrastructure. The country's community-based delivery platform (largely headed by Health Surveillance Assistants, or HSAs) has be...

How can we accelerate innovation and ensure effective dissemination of knowledge about online learning resources? This paper advocates strategies that systematically link online professional development with the research, development, and diffusion cycle. The systemic approach we describe can accelerate knowledge advancement and help manage change by improving communication among teachers, deve...

BACKGROUND In Uganda, community services for febrile children are expanding from presumptive treatment of fever with anti-malarials through the home-based management of fever (HBMF) programme, to include treatment for malaria, diarrhoea and pneumonia through Integrated Community Case Management (ICCM). To understand the level of support available, and the capacity and motivation of community he...