This page is part of the Proceedings of Wikimania 2005, Frankfurt, Germany.

Back to the Future: Lessons from the Past on Collaboration and Tools

Author(s): Eugene Eric Kim
License: ?
Language: English
Slides: OpenOffice, PDF
Video: ?
Note: Presentation

About the author(s): Eugene is the cofounder and principal of Blue Oxen Associates, a think tank and consultancy focused on improving collaboration. He has developed collaborative strategies for a number of organizations, focusing especially on inter-organizational collaboration and collaborative learning. His research centers around identifying patterns of collaboration across different domains (with a special focus on open source communities) and on improving the interoperability of collaborative tools. He is also the cocreator of PurpleWiki. Previously, Eugene worked closely with computer pioneer Doug Engelbart, who currently serves on the Blue Oxen Associates advisory board. He received his A.B. in History and Science from Harvard University.

Abstract: What exactly is a collaborative tool, and why should you care? For one thing, tools aren't just software. Close attention to the whole system of collaborative tools, past and present, reveals a number of important patterns. These patterns not only provide a useful way to think about tools, they suggest ways we can improve them. I'll provide a brief overview of the history of collaborative tools and what we can -- and should -- learn from it.