February 1998 Cyberspace: Looking for a Few Good Tools to Create an Online Community By ManMohan Sodhi This article continues my December 1997 article, "Looking for a Few Good People," for the same purpose of creating a Web-enabled online community for logistics modeling professionals. The Basic Question When I think about tools for creating and managing this proposed online community, a basic question comes to mind: Are there tools specifically designed for supporting online communities? The question is useful as we have to provide our own software when setting up a Web site with most providers. I am familiar with news groups and Usenet, and for Web-based discussion groups with HyperNews, as well as with the creation of searchable archives with WAIS. So there is technology that can support the kind of activities I outlined in my earlier article. Discussion in the Literature Hagel and Armstrong [1] list technology selection principles in Chapter 8 including choosing proven over innovative technology, avoiding in-house development, evaluating the current competition for standards (e.g., Microsoft vs. Netscape), and designing a modular technology architecture from which components can be swapped out. They also highlight the debate of choosing between proprietary online services (say, America Online) and the Internet. December [2] complains about having to "cobble together" a system of production with such tools as Unix text editors, file transfer and electronic mail. These tools require "complex and arcane command sequences" and knowledge of Unix, file structures and file formats. According to Chaplin [3], the Web, FTP archives, Gopher and WAIS "remain relatively static, and lack much of the sense of community which discussion systems provide." A Sampling of Web-based Technology Solutions Axis (http://www.comp.lancs.ac.uk/axis/axishome.html):: Axis is devised for use with different "topics," each covering a particular subject area, just like Usenet's newsgroups, but with each topic comprising a bulletin board for group discussion and a knowledge base for archiving. Axis provides easy navigation and administration along with free source software, although my concerns are bugs and technical support. Well Engaged (http://www.wellengaged.com): Well Engaged is both a software and site solution created by the pioneer of online communities, the Well. According to the first press release, it "avoids the fragmentation of threaded discussion, making it easy for users to come in, catch up and participate, regardless of time or place." No software installation or maintenance is required as the software operates on Well Engaged servers, with software backups, and other system administration tasks handled by Well Engaged staff. It provides anonymous or authenticated/registered conferencing and "for-pay" conferencing areas. Despite the many attractive features advertised, I could not find any press releases past November 1996 so this technology does not appear to have been used much. CommunityWare (http://www.byoc.com): This is similar in intent to Well Engaged, as it is both a site and software solution. In addition to being a threaded discussion software, it enables useful cross-referencing to posted messages and to information about those posting messages. It is advertised as providing "instant messaging, live chat, group discussion forums, group e-mail, Web hosting services, complete security and remote Web-based administration tools. HyperNews (http://www.hypernews.org/HyperNews/get/hypernews/about.html): This freely-available software is a "cross between the hypermedia of the World Wide Web and Usenet News," with readers replying and browsing through messages written by other people. Messages are laid out in an indented tree format that shows how the messages are related. Users can also subscribe to a forum in order to get e-mail whenever a message is posted, or use e-mail to post a message. Netcom (http://www.netcomi.com): One would think that providers might be providing special tools for online communities, but this and other providers belie that. Administration is limited to e-mail account maintenance, although statistics about online activity are provided. Users of Microsoft Front Page may find additional support for Microsoft extensions. Higher end Web hosting packages ($300/month or more) provide secure server access. Based on this limited survey, it appears that the choice of tools is quite limited, although in the near future we may hope to see more solutions and greater functionality to existing solutions. References 1. Hagel III, John, and Armstrong, A. G., "Net.Gain," Harvard Business School Press, Boston, MA, 1997. 2. December, John, "Waiting for better tools," Computer-Mediated Communication Magazine, May 1, 1996, http://www.december.com/cmc/mag/1996/may/cmcmtool.html. 3. Chaplin, Damon, "Creating Web communities," Computer-Mediated Communication Magazine, May 1, 1996, http://www.december.com/cmc/mag/1996/may/chaplin.html. Dr. ManMohan S. Sodhi is the new president of the Logistics Section of INFORMS and recently joined Andersen Consulting in Chicago as an experienced consultant in supply chain planning. He is the founder of the OR news group, sci.op-research, and helped design and create INFORMS Online. He welcomes your comments at MohanSodhi@ AOL.com. Table of Contents OR/MS Today Home Page OR/MS Today copyright © 1998 by the Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences. All rights reserved. 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