Online Social Networking for the Humanities: the Massachusetts Studies Network Prototype

FAIN: HD-50308-08

University of Massachusetts, Boston (Boston, MA 02125-3300)
Joanne Marie Riley (Project Director: October 2007 to April 2010)

The development and evaluation of a social networking platform for the members of the statewide Massachusetts Studies Project.

The Massachusetts Studies Project (MSP) aims to create an online social network specifically for those who are involved in local studies in Massachusetts. This first, Level I phase of the project will allow us to assess a promising open source development platform called "Ning," which offers powerful new tools for building customized social networks. Building a test network on Ning, and planning and prototyping the code to add functionality tailored to humanities practitioners, will position us to take the next steps in building a full-fledged, model social network to meet the collaborative needs of educators, scholars, librarians, and local studies practitioners.