Using the Linux Documentation Project as an example of a collaborative, user-constructed digital library, how was the project begun and what are the patterns of its growth over the past decade (1992-2002)? 

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Collaborative digital libraries are user-constructed archives which serve to document the shared knowledge of the virtual 
community.  Unlike other virtual communities, which may grow around a shared discussion point or scenario, a collaborative 
archive exists to allow the users to document and contribute their knowledge.  Using the Linux Documentation Project as an 
example of a collaborative, user-constructed digital library, how did the project originate and what are the patterns of its growth and change in contributors over a decade (1992-2002)?  

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Using the publicly available archives of emails, interviews, and published archives, this longitudinal study will document the founding and growth of the Linux Documentation Project from a small group of linux enthuasists, who communicated via email list to the largest source of Open Source documenation in the world.  

Methodology:

Research Resources:

newsgroup archives, such as: 
comp.os.linux.announcelinux-announce.archive <ftp://ibiblio.org/pub/linux/docs/linux-announce.archive/Index>
linux-activists@niksula.hut.fi (sent via Lars W   ) <http://www.ibiblio.org/fents/thesis/ldp-mails-public/>
old/ldp-discuss - <http://list.linuxdoc.org/old/ldp-discuss/msg00287.html>


LDP mail list traffic graph: http://lists.debian.org/stats/ldp-discuss.png

Snapshots of the archive as it evolved: The Internet Archive Wayback Machine  <http://web.archive.org/> and existing documentation: http://www.linuxdoc.org/HOWTO/LDP-Reviewer-HOWTO/existing.html

Linux Gazette Issue - past issues



Bibliographic databases:
recommended for Computer Science:

Applied Science & Technology Abstracts (1983-date) 
Science Citation Index (Web of Science) (1975-date) 
ArticleFirst  
Expanded Academic ASAP   
InfoTrac OneFile   
Proceedings  
WorldCat  
General Sciences Abstracts (1984-date)  
OCLC FirstSearch 

General:
Academic Universe 
	Medium:  Web   Coverage:  Varies. Some of the files go back to the 1970s

Internet and computing:

ACM Digital Library 
	Web   Coverage:  1985-present (Conference proceedings before 1991 may be citation only)

Applied Science and Technology Index 
	Via OCLC FirstSearch 
	Medium:  Web   Coverage:  Citations -1983-present;Abstracts - 1994- present

IEEE
	http://www.ieee.org/web/search/

Internet and Personal Computing Abstracts (InternetPCAbs) 
	Via OCLC FirstSearch 
	Medium:  Web   Coverage:  1989-present

JSAIST - Journal of the American Society for Information Science and
technology 
	http://www.asis.org/Publications/JASIS/jasis.html
	fulltext online through: Wiley Interscience Medium - Click on Journal Finder, then the letter "J" Scroll down to Journal of the American Society for 
Information Science and Technology.
	Web   Coverage:  Varies   Language:  English  


Library:

Library Literature (LibraryLit) 
	Via OCLC FirstSearch 
	  Medium:  Web   Coverage: 1980-present


Social Science:

Sociological Abstracts (Sociofile) 
	Via Silverplatter 
	Medium:  Web   Coverage:  1963-present 


Social Sciences Citation Index (SSCI) 
	Via ISI Citation Databases (Web of Science) 
	 Medium:  Web   Coverage:  1980-present

Search terms:
electronic community - maps to: Electronic discussion groups, Library information networks (too broad - returns 97 base hits)
Digital library/ies -  occurs 249 times
Electronic publishing
Electronic information resources
Electronic books
Virtual communities
Online community
Bulletin Boards
Open Source
Linux
Social capital