Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

The purpose of the book is to set up a framework for discussions on social and technical issues of online communities. Designing usability and supporting sociability lays a solid foundation on which online communities can grow and thrive. Intended for both students and computer professionals, the book addresses the development of new online communities as well as the improvement of existing ones. It is divided into two parts - Getting Acquainted with Online Communities and Developing Online Communities - along with a preface and a concluding chapter which explores the future of online communities. For sample chapters and other resources, please check out the web site for the book at:

http://www.clis.umd.edu/people/preece/

Table of contents provided by Syndetics

• Foreword (p. xi)
• Preface (p. xv)
• Part 1 Getting Acquainted with Online Communities (p. 1)
• 1 Introduction (p. 5)
• What is an Online Community? (p. 8)
• Bright and Dark Sides of Online Communities (p. 19)
• Introducing Sociability and Usability (p. 25)
• Summary (p. 28)
• Further Reading (p. 29)
• 2 Community Tours (p. 33)
• Health Communities (p. 37)
• Education Communities (p. 54)
• Other E-commerce Communities (p. 67)
• Summary (p. 73)
• Further Reading (p. 76)
• 3 Sociability: Purpose, People, and Policies (p. 79)
• Purpose (p. 80)
• People (p. 82)
• Policies (p. 94)
• Summary (p. 106)
• Further Reading (p. 106)
• 4 Usability: Tasks, Users, and Software (p. 109)
• Tasks (p. 112)
• Tasks and Special-Purpose Communities (p. 118)
• Users (p. 124)
• Software (p. 133)
• Summary (p. 143)
• Further Reading (p. 143)
• 5 Research Speaks to Practice: Interpersonal Communication (p. 147)
• Early Work in Computer-Supported Cooperative Work (p. 148)
• Social Presence (p. 150)
• Common Ground (p. 156)
• Common Ground and Different Media (p. 160)
• Common Ground and Empathy (p. 164)
• Summary (p. 165)
• Further Reading (p. 166)
• 6 Research Speaks to Practice: Groups (p. 169)
• Critical Mass (p. 170)
• Networks and Network Analysis (p. 173)
• Cooperation and Trust (p. 188)
• Social Informatics (p. 194)
• Summary (p. 196)
• Further Reading (p. 198)
• Part 2 Developing Online Communities (p. 201)
• 7 Community-Centered Development (p. 203)
• Overview of the Community-Centered Development Process (p. 206)
• Assessing Community Needs and Analyzing User Tasks (p. 214)
• Selecting Technology and Planning Sociability (p. 220)
• Designing, Implementing, and Testing Prototypes (p. 223)
• Refining and Tuning Sociability and Usability (p. 227)
• Welcoming and Nurturing the Community (p. 229)
• Summary (p. 229)
• Further Reading (p. 231)
• 8 Selecting Software (p. 233)
• Three Routes to an Online Community (p. 234)
• Software Options (p. 236)
• Web Homesteading (p. 260)
• Summary (p. 264)
• Further Reading (p. 265)
• 9 Guidelines: Sociability and Usability (p. 267)
• Guidelines for Sociability (p. 269)
• Guidelines for Usability (p. 275)
• Checklist for Sociability and Usability (p. 290)
• Guidelines for Moderators (p. 290)
• Guidelines to Help Participants Communicate (p. 294)
• Summary (p. 296)
• Further Reading (p. 297)
• 10 Assessing Needs and Evaluating Communities (p. 299)
• Evaluation Framework (p. 303)
• Five Approaches (p. 304)
• Reviews (p. 312)
• Surveys: Questionnaires and Interviews (p. 313)
• Observation (p. 321)
• Metrics and Data Logging (p. 327)
• Experiments, Quasi-Experiments, and Usability Testing (p. 330)
• Additional Techniques for Students and Researchers (p. 334)
• Summary (p. 340)
• Further Reading (p. 342)
• 11 Development Case Studies (p. 345)
• Down Syndrome Online Advocacy Group (p. 346)
• Quiz Bowl Community (p. 357)
• Summary (p. 370)
• Further Reading (p. 371)
• 12 Looking to the Future (p. 375)
• Sociability (p. 379)
• Usability (p. 387)
• Theory and Methods (p. 392)
• Summary (p. 393)
• Further Reading (p. 395)
• References (p. 399)
• Index (p. 419)