This is another example of the quality, free research available on the Web -- one could spend a lifetime just trying to absorb the ideas and insights available in the intellectual commons. Lilia has provided this list she found while conducting research for her own work. I took a look at "Social Construction of Knowledge and Authority in Business Communities and Organizations." It builds on data collected from 20 companies to derive four models of how knowledge is originated, refined, authored, and authorized in business. An interesting aspect is the authors' discussion of the contrasts between the business models they found and the academically-derived models they expected, supporting the idea of significant differences in knowledge behavior between hierarchical and non-hierarchical communities.

IBM research papers on communities, learning and more.

Trying to find a paper on-line gives you a lot of other interesting things. So, I came accross public papers of IBM Watson Research Center. These are some I'd like to check out:

• 02-07 Understanding the Individual, Community and Organizational Benefits of Work-Based Communities
• 02-01 Understanding the Benefits and Costs of Communities of Practice
• 01-06 The Dynamics of Social Interaction in a Geography-based Online Community
• 01-03 Social Construction of Knowledge and Authority in Business Communities and Organizations
• 00-07 Coming to the Crossroads of Knowledge, Learning, and Technology: Integrating Knowledge Management and Workplace Learning
• 00-06 New Workplace Learning Technologies: Activities and Exemplars
• 00-05 Designing Learning: Cognitive Science Principles for the Innovative Organization

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