Posted by Denham on November 15, 2001 at 21:46:04:

In Reply to: Communities of practice posted by jane on November 15, 2001 at 12:05:55:

Greetings Jane,

Communities of practice have been studied under a number of names. You could research the terms, discourse community, invisible college, Distributed & group cognition Here is a short lead:

"in 1972, Diane Crane wrote Invisible Colleges, which explores the way social structures (e.g., departments, course delivery practices, the preparation of future faculty) influence the development of ideas. According to Crane, participation in an organization like the invisible college of the late 1600s bolsters morale, inspires a sense of purpose, provides criticism, maintains solidarity, and focuses interest on particular issues. Perhaps most importantly, members of an invisible college see themselves as part of a complex network, not members of a special interest group invested solely in the goals of an academic department.

See: Crane, Diane. 1972. Invisible Colleges. Diffusion of Knowledge in Scientific Communities. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press.

Here is related link

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