Communities

CAUDIT communities of practice are open to all IT, eResearch and library staff at CAUDIT member organisations who want to ask questions, share information and experiences with their peers on a particular aspect of information or communications technology.

CAUDIT Communities of Practices are sites for powerful learning. Sector-wide collaboration and corroboration enables participants to establish strategic overviews of challenges and opportunities in their fields, informed by other practitioners’ broad perspectives.

Communities of practice are self-governing. Their activities range from ad-hoc information sharing and networking, to coordinated efforts to solve common problems.

CAUDIT communities of practice are open to staff at CAUDIT member organisations who want to ask questions, share information and experiences with their peers on a particular aspect of information or communications technology. Communities of practice are self-governing. Their activities range from ad-hoc information sharing and networking, to coordinated efforts to solve common problems.

Tips on keeping a community of practice running

1. A Community of Practice works best with a committee structure. Consider a framework that includes co-chairs and as many committee members as possible. The more involved the less the burden and the more interesting the conversations. Your co-chairs and the committee are identified leaders who will take the responsibility for keeping the community running.
2. You might consider representation from each state as a good model. If you lose one of these core group members, try to replace them as soon as possible with someone else from the same area.
3. Schedule a virtual meeting for the core group every month or every two months to set the agenda for community activities.
4. Keep the mailing list active by posting to it at least every few weeks.
5. Schedule a webinar for the wider community two or three times a year, with short presentations from several members on a particular topic.
6. Continue to use CAUDIT’s communication channels to reach out to new members.
7. Look for opportunities for face-to-face meetings and networking. These might be meetings you organise yourselves, or gatherings at larger conferences such as THETA.

How CAUDIT can assist with your community of practice

• Using our communications channels – eNewsletter, mailing lists, website, and social media – for community announcements
• Providing a mailing list for community members
• Providing a platform to engage, share and collaborate
• Providing tools for running online meetings, webinars or surveying each other
• Helping with logistics to organise a study tour, forum, symposium or other events
• Underwriting of events
• Providing advice on running larger events such as a conference
• CAUDIT supports Communities in different ways and this is included within the CAUDIT Supporting Communities Policy