The early results of a social network analysis of the KM4Dev Main Discussion Group

Abstract

This paper presents the early results of a social network analysis of the KM4Dev Main Discussion Group. Ten complete years of data, and two years of incomplete data, were provided for analysis. Data was in an XML format and required a considerable iterative data cleansing exercise. Ultimately this process left 703 identified individuals in the network. These people comprise the node-set for the public bounded or contained network, for which activity and various network measures can be applied. Gloor's (2006) Contribution Index was used to attribute and partition the network. 113 key participants were identified as being crucial to the health of the active public network; however, this group appears to be in decline. Overall the Main Discussion Group of the KM4Dev community appears to be a ‘knowledge seeking’ network rather than a ‘knowledge sharing’ network.

Acknowledgements

I wish to acknowledge Pete Cranston, Natalie Campbell, Riff Fullan, Ewen Le Borgne, and Jaap Pels for their help in supplying and interpreting data. I also thank Sarah Cummings for the opportunity to publish this paper.

Notes

1. A central connecter is ‘someone who is highly connected to many others in the network, who may be either a key facilitator or a gatekeeper’; a broker is ‘someone who communicates across subgroups’; and a boundary spanner is a ‘person who connects a department with other departments’ (Anklam 2005, p. 344).