Discogs  is  a crowdsourced  online  discography  that  has  become  one  the  largest music databases   and   marketplace   used   by   collectors   and   enthusiasts. To   learn   about   what motivates Discogs community users to contribute, the answers provided by the respondents(n=135)   to an   online   survey with   Likert-scaled   items   measuring different types   of motivations  and  some  open-ended  questions were analysed.  The  results  suggested that Discogs contributors are primarily driven by altruistic reasons (intrinsic motivation) followed by  pragmatism  (extrinsic  motivation).   While  sellers  contributed to  the  database mostly  to sell in the Marketplace, they were equally motivated by intrinsic factors, with similar rates to respondents who  did  not  have  economic  interests  in  the  website. Open-ended  questions indicated  that  conflicts  with  other  users  could  decrease  the  motivation  to  contribute.  In addition,   respondents   revealed   that during   their   trajectory   ascontributors,   intrinsic motivation increased over time. Also, experience and expertise were the reasons why some contributors had roles recognised by other members in the Discogs community

Online Knowledge Communities, also known as online forum, are popular web-based tools that allow members to seek and share knowledge. Documents to answer varieties of questions are associated with the process of knowledge exchange. The social network of members in an Online Knowledge Community is an important factor to improve search precision. However, prior ranking functions don't handle this kind of document with using this information. In this study, we try to resolve the problem of finding authoritative documents for a user query within an Online Knowledge Community. Unlike prior ranking functions which consider either content based feature, hyperlink based feature, or document structure based feature, we explored the Online Knowledge Community social network structure and members social interaction activities to design features that can gauge the two major factors affecting user knowledge adoption decision: argument quality and source credibility. We then design a customized Genetic Algorithm to adjust the weights for new features we proposed. We compared the performance of our ranking strategy with several others baselines on a real world data www.vbcity.com/forums/. The evaluation results demonstrated that our method could improve the user search satisfaction with an obviously percentage. At the end, we concluded that our approach based on knowledge adoption model and Genetic Algorithm is a better ranking strategy in the Online Knowledge Community. / Master of Science

Blogging is a recent phenomenon with research currently focusing on how it facilitates both personal and organisational knowledge exchange (Aimeur, Brassard & Paquet 2005; Hsu & Lin 2008). Social capital is shown to be a crucial factor facilitating knowledge transfer (Nahapiet and Ghoshal 1998). Blogging is a new social communication technology enabling individuals to collaborate and share knowledge. This research investigates how three dimensions of social capital affect individual knowledge sharing in weblog communities. In particular, it explores how individuals exploit weblogs as a tool for conversational knowledge management in educational institutions. Following Wasko & Faraj's (2005) study, the conceptual model is developed by setting eight independent variables from social capital dimensions and a dependent variable is set from individual behaviour in online knowledge sharing. Eight hypotheses are developed to test the relationship between these variables. A quantitative approach was applied for data collection and analysis. For data collection, an online survey was published in several Australian university weblog communities. An additional paper-based survey was distributed to the respondents in order to gain adequate sample size. For data analysis, confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was applied to eliminate measurement items that shared a significant residual value with other measurement items. Further, the models obtained from confirmatory factor analysis were used to test the hypotheses by multiple regression analysis. Results from multiple regression analysis on online knowledge sharing suggest that trust, personal reputation and enjoy helping are positively associated with individual online knowledge sharing. The stepwise estimation procedure was further adapted in the regression model. The results show that four independent variables became significant to the study. These four significant variables were individual expertise, trust, personal reputation and enjoy helping. Lastly, several limitations in this study such as the sample of university online setting and respondents' activities on weblogs are discussed. These limitations lead to the direction of future research provided in conclusion of this study.

Ma thèse a comme but l’intégration automatique de nouveaux services Web dans une base de connaissances. Pour chaque méthode d’un service Web, une vue est calculée de manière automatique. La vue est représentée comme une requête sur la base de connaissances. L’algorithme que nous avons proposé calcule également une fonction de transformation XSLT associée à la méthode qui est capable de transformer les résultats d’appel dans un fragment conforme au schéma de la base de connaissances. La nouveauté de notre approche c’est que l’alignement repose seulement sur l’alignement des instances. Il ne dépend pas des noms des concepts ni des contraintes qui sont définis par le schéma. Ceci le fait particulièrement pertinent pour les services Web qui sont publiés actuellement sur le Web, parce que ces services utilisent le protocole REST. Ce protocole ne permet pas la publication de schémas. En plus, JSON semble s’imposer comme le standard pour la représentation des résultats d’appels de services. À différence du langage XML, JSON n’utilise pas de noeuds nommés. Donc les algorithmes d’alignement traditionnels sont privés de noms de concepts sur lesquels ils se basent. / My thesis aim the automatic integration of new Web services in a knowledge base. For each method of a Web service, a view is automatically calculated. The view is represented as a query on the knowledge base. Our algorithm also calculates an XSLT transformation function associated to the method that is able to transform the call results in a fragment according to the schema of the knowledge base. The novelty of our approach is that the alignment is based only on the instances. It does not depend on the names of the concepts or constraints that are defined by the schema. This makes it particularly relevant for Web services that are currently available on the Web, because these services use the REST protocol. This protocol does not allow the publication schemes. In addition, JSON seems to establish itself as the standard for the representation of technology call results.

Definição de critérios de análise de sites e avaliação da disponibilidade de conhecimento de acesso livre como ferramenta de apoio à inovação e ao desenvolvimento de produto. O conhecimento encontra-se, entre outras formas, disponível em páginas web. Para a criação compartilhada de conhecimento de qualidade e de acesso livre, que atendam aos interesses específicos de pessoas e organizações, assim como sua recuperação, são fundamentais os recursos de Internet. Esse contexto justifica a definição de critérios de análise de sites para identificação da disponibilidade desses recursos. O objetivo desse trabalho é a identificacão e avaliação de sites na Internet, com características de compartilhamento, divulgação e produção de conhecimento de acesso livre, para apoiar a inovação e desenvolvimento de produto. Para atingir o objetivo, inicialmente sistematiza o conhecimento por meio de pesquisa exploratória e procedimentos de pesquisa bibliográfica e documental. Fundamentando-se nas pesquisas, lista portais que possam contemplar o objetivo. Define critérios para análise desses sites com base nas dimensões conteúdo, usabilidade e funcionalidade. Analisa, então, cada uma das dimensões por meio de características e atributos que geram indicadores parciais e um indicador geral por site e permite a análise comparativa entre eles. Dos vinte portais analisados; nenhum contempla todos os atributos; a dimensão conteúdo recebe a melhor pontuação enquanto a dimensão funcionalidade apresenta o desempenho mais negativo; os atributos menos contemplados são acessibilidade, criptografia e controle de versões. Com base nos resultados obtidos, conclui que existe uma disponibilidade limitada de conhecimento de acesso livre sobre inovação e desenvolvimento de produto; aponta a existência de comunidades de prática que propiciam o compartilhamento de conhecimento; e evidencia as razões pelas quais existem falhas na recuperação do conhecimento disponível on-line. Tais razões podem fornecer orientação aos interessados no assunto sobre onde é possível, necessário ou recomendável consultar. Também fornece subsídos para orientação aos provedores interessados na melhoria dos portais existentes ou na criação de novos. / Definition of criteria for site analysis and evaluation of the availability of knowledge of free access as a support tool to innovation and product development. The knowledge is found, among another feature, available in web pages. For the shared creation of good quality and free access knowledge, that will supply specific interests of people and organizations, as its recovering, the websites are fundamental resources. This context justifies the definition of the analysis requirements of web sites for the identification of availability of these resources. The purpose of this researche is the identification and evaluation of websites which presents characteristics such as sharing, spreading and producing free knowledge access, to support the innovation and development of the product. To reach the goal, it initially organizes the knowledge through the explorative research and bibliographic and documental research procedures. Based on the researches, it catalogues websites that contemplate the area innovation and product development with the mentioned characteristics. It defines the analysis requirements of these websites based on the content, usability and functionality dimensions. Then it analyzes each one of the dimensions through characteristics and attributes that produce partial indicators and a general indicator per website, and makes possible the comparative analysis among them. From the twenty websites that were analyzed, none contemplates every attribute; the content dimension receives the best punctuation while the functionality dimension shows the worst performance; the less contemplated attributes are accessibility, cryptography and version control. Based on the gotten results, concludes that there is a limited availability of free access knowledge about innovation and product development; points the existence of practice communities that propitiate in the best way the sharing of knowledge; and evidences the reasons why there are imperfections in the recovering of the knowledge available on line. These reasons could provide help to orientate the suppliers to improve the existent websites and the creation of new ones.

Definição de critérios de análise de sites e avaliação da disponibilidade de conhecimento de acesso livre como ferramenta de apoio à inovação e ao desenvolvimento de produto. O conhecimento encontra-se, entre outras formas, disponível em páginas web. Para a criação compartilhada de conhecimento de qualidade e de acesso livre, que atendam aos interesses específicos de pessoas e organizações, assim como sua recuperação, são fundamentais os recursos de Internet. Esse contexto justifica a definição de critérios de análise de sites para identificação da disponibilidade desses recursos. O objetivo desse trabalho é a identificacão e avaliação de sites na Internet, com características de compartilhamento, divulgação e produção de conhecimento de acesso livre, para apoiar a inovação e desenvolvimento de produto. Para atingir o objetivo, inicialmente sistematiza o conhecimento por meio de pesquisa exploratória e procedimentos de pesquisa bibliográfica e documental. Fundamentando-se nas pesquisas, lista portais que possam contemplar o objetivo. Define critérios para análise desses sites com base nas dimensões conteúdo, usabilidade e funcionalidade. Analisa, então, cada uma das dimensões por meio de características e atributos que geram indicadores parciais e um indicador geral por site e permite a análise comparativa entre eles. Dos vinte portais analisados; nenhum contempla todos os atributos; a dimensão conteúdo recebe a melhor pontuação enquanto a dimensão funcionalidade apresenta o desempenho mais negativo; os atributos menos contemplados são acessibilidade, criptografia e controle de versões. Com base nos resultados obtidos, conclui que existe uma disponibilidade limitada de conhecimento de acesso livre sobre inovação e desenvolvimento de produto; aponta a existência de comunidades de prática que propiciam o compartilhamento de conhecimento; e evidencia as razões pelas quais existem falhas na recuperação do conhecimento disponível on-line. Tais razões podem fornecer orientação aos interessados no assunto sobre onde é possível, necessário ou recomendável consultar. Também fornece subsídos para orientação aos provedores interessados na melhoria dos portais existentes ou na criação de novos. / Definition of criteria for site analysis and evaluation of the availability of knowledge of free access as a support tool to innovation and product development. The knowledge is found, among another feature, available in web pages. For the shared creation of good quality and free access knowledge, that will supply specific interests of people and organizations, as its recovering, the websites are fundamental resources. This context justifies the definition of the analysis requirements of web sites for the identification of availability of these resources. The purpose of this researche is the identification and evaluation of websites which presents characteristics such as sharing, spreading and producing free knowledge access, to support the innovation and development of the product. To reach the goal, it initially organizes the knowledge through the explorative research and bibliographic and documental research procedures. Based on the researches, it catalogues websites that contemplate the area innovation and product development with the mentioned characteristics. It defines the analysis requirements of these websites based on the content, usability and functionality dimensions. Then it analyzes each one of the dimensions through characteristics and attributes that produce partial indicators and a general indicator per website, and makes possible the comparative analysis among them. From the twenty websites that were analyzed, none contemplates every attribute; the content dimension receives the best punctuation while the functionality dimension shows the worst performance; the less contemplated attributes are accessibility, cryptography and version control. Based on the gotten results, concludes that there is a limited availability of free access knowledge about innovation and product development; points the existence of practice communities that propitiate in the best way the sharing of knowledge; and evidences the reasons why there are imperfections in the recovering of the knowledge available on line. These reasons could provide help to orientate the suppliers to improve the existent websites and the creation of new ones.

Cette thèse est une enquête multi-perspective sur le phénomène d’utilisation des médias sociaux dans le contexte organisationnel. Il met l’accent sur les processus d’adoption de cette nouvelle technologie et examine comment ces développements sont intégrés dans le contexte des normes professionnelles, des rôles sociaux, du contrôle de l’organisation et de l’autonomie. Le cadre de la recherche est basé sur la campagne de mise en œuvre des médias sociaux de 19 mois par une organisation centrale européenne de médias comme un moyen d’améliorer la communication et la coordination au sein de l’organisation. La mise en œuvre comprenait deux départements, journalistes et agents de publicité, qui ont été invités à créer et ouvrir leurs profils de médias sociaux en ligne et ajouter leurs collègues comme « amis ». La thèse comprend quatre documents de recherche, chacun prenant une perspective distincte sur le phénomène. Méthodologiquement, la thèse se fonde sur une approche d’étude qualitative de cas et raisonnements adductifs et inductifs. La thèse fournit des contributions théoriques et pratiques à la compréhension des conditions normatives préalables, le processus et les conséquences d’utilisation des médias sociaux dans le contexte organisationnel pour les normes professionnelles, la collaboration de connaissances en ligne et le contrôle de l’organisation, tout en présentant la coévolution de la signification et l’utilisation de la technologie. / This dissertation is a multi-perspective inquiry into the phenomenon of social media use in organizational context. It focuses on the processes of enactment of this new technology and investigates how these developments are embedded in the context of occupational norms, social roles, organizational control and autonomy. The research setting is based on the 19-month social media implementation campaign by a central European media organization as a means of enhancing communication and coordination within the organization. The implementation encompassed two departments, journalists and advertising agents, who were asked to create and open their online social media profiles and befriend their colleagues. The dissertation comprises four research papers each taking a separate perspective on the phenomenon. Methodologically, the dissertation builds on qualitative case-study approach and abductive and inductive reasonings. The thesis provides theoretical and practical contributions to the understanding normative prerequisites, process and consequences of social media use in organizational context for occupational norms, online knowledge collaboration and organizational control while presenting co-evolution of the technology meaning and use.