From static content to dynamic communities: the evolution of networked educational resources

Five years ago the problems being addressed by major educational resources were how to locate and structure a burgeoning universe of Web sites in order to serve their subject and professional communities with useful and relevant content. Today, new challenges, demands and opportunities are emerging: the linking of content with community, static information with dynamic news. Describes the evolution of three educational resources in the social sciences (SOSIG, Biz/Ed and Regard) and their use of personal profiling, distributed contributions and RSS news channels to serve and gather information. Examines the issues that arise from changing user bases and technologies, sustainability and the need for collaboration, data protection and privacy concerns. Analyses the tensions these and other services face as they move toward a model that links the static with the dynamic, content with community.