The movie Field of Dreams became
famous for its phrase, “If you build it, they will come.”
Yet, “will they keep coming” may be the question with some
online communities. For in my investigation of the H-Survey
professional community, I discovered them on the verge of extinction
this spring. The following assesses their somewhat rocky year from November
2002 - October 2003.
As indicated in my title, H-Survey
is the professional online community for (mostly) college professors
who teach United States history survey courses. There is a strong presence
of college and community college professors participating in the discussion,
although there are a few university professors present as well. There
are also quite a few new professors, adjuncts, and graduate students
who participate. But as a community created around teaching as opposed
to research and teaching, these are generally not scholars whose names
I am familiar with through my graduate studies. Indeed, there was only
one historian whose name I recognized as authoring a book I'm reading
for my Early America Minor.
When I first started “dropping
in” on H-Survey's
discussion logs from last November, there was very little discussion
going on. The traffic included mostly announcements, introductions of
professors new to the community, and reviews. By early 2003, it was
clear that the community was undergoing some kind of crisis. In March,
the H-Net Associate Director posted a message asking H-Survey members
whether they wanted to continue as a community, and, if so, indicating
that they needed a new cadre of list and review editors. (See 3/14/03
from Discussion Logs, “The Future of H-Survey.”) The message
went on to indicate that the community had been founded with a strong
commitment to “teaching and supporting new teaching technologies.”
Over the course of the next two months, it was clear that there was
a commitment to continuing H-Survey,
and by May 2003, it was back online with two new list editors, and one
returning and one new book review editor. Why did H-Survey almost not
make it? My guess is that online communities experience the same problem
as traditional ones - lack of volunteers because most people feel they're
already busy enough. I find the most important part of this investigation
experience is that there were enough members of the H-Survey
community dedicated to keeping it going.
It is difficult to know whether the
lack of discussion from the “pre-crisis” period was a lack
of interest on the part of members, or whether the then editors had
resigned or lost interest. (I did see one message regarding an illness
which may explain, in part, the need for a new list editor.) While the
discussion did increase dramatically following assumption of duties
by the new editorial staff, the substance of the dialogue did not really
change. This is not to say that it should have, for if I were teaching
US survey, I think I would find this a valuable community. Mostly, the
discussions involve a query by one professor asking for suggestions
on texts or films to use for particular themes or time periods, with
several other professors providing feedback. (Interestingly, with the
exception of a question centered around online versus traditional courses,
there were no questions asking for suggestions on web sites.) The question
that generated the largest number of responses, even bordering on a
kind of debate, centered on the best ways to assess student's US history
knowledge. A second, similar question that also generated a number of
responses was on a grading rubric - in short, what do other professors
use to determine “A” work versus “B” or “C,”
etc. There was no research-related discussion, but, then again, this
is a discussion group dedicated to teaching. There was one rather intense
discussion on the ethics of publishers who pay scholars for reviewing
and adopting text books (August 2003).
In short, this investigation suggests
several things to me. First, I was struck by how online communities
easily expand the network of discussion to include both national and
international colleagues. Not only did the discussion log include entries
from professors throughout the United States, there were queries from
professors in Turkey and Israel who had questions on teaching US history
in their countries. It would be interesting to see whether scholars
in the United States whose field of expertise involve other countries
are members of professional discussion groups and if they find them
valuable. There is simply no other way that I know of to be in touch
so quickly with so many colleagues throughout the world. Second, however,
I do not think that this “community” replicates the kind
of “intense” discussions that occur at scholarly conferences.
Not that I am implying that it is meant to - this is more an observation
than a judgment. What I am suggesting is that, as we have discussed,
the internet seems to be the place people go for speed and convenience,
not necessarily depth. On the other hand, perhaps a more research-oriented
historical community would yield different results. Third, in terms
of whether H-Survey is
a real community, I would refer to another statement of Wellman's and
Gulia's - online communities are “developing norms and structures
of their own. They are not just pale imitations of 'real life.' The
Net is the Net.” (Barry Wellman and Milena Guila, “Virtual
Communities as Communities: Net Surfers Don't Ride Alone,” in
Marc Smith and Peter Kollock, eds., Communities in Cyberspace,
1999.) To the extent that these communities include a group of people
with shared interests, then, yes, they are real communities. Does that
mean they are real communities in the same way as professional associations,
neighborhoods, churches, etc. No, they are “developing their own
norms and structures.” I assert that they are "real"
nonetheless.
I have one final observation on this
subject that includes a personal experience. I recently signed onto
the listserv for the US History Teachers for Advanced Placement high
school students in order to pose a question to them about how they might
use the web site I am proposing. The first response I received came
directly to my e-mail, the respondent said, so as not to “clutter
up” the listserv with my specialized question. After my investigation
into the H-Survey community, it occurs to me that I might have benefited
more if the community had the opportunity to read our dialogue - perhaps
it would have prompted others to respond or comment. By taking the discussion
offline, this teacher may have robbed me of the opportunity to benefit
from this community. I wonder if such offline responses are common,
and what that says about the way our online communities function in
relation to the more traditional kind. Then again, perhaps it's simply
a kind of online community group dynamics.