Knowledge Communities

From Scientific Sequencing

to Splicing Sims

Meg Varney
Knowledge communities are…
 comprised of individuals who share a common interest
or goal;
 used to share information about that interest or goal,
with individuals offering their personal knowledge to
augment the knowledge of
the whole; and
 active and
influential in
both virtual and
actual reality
(Jenkins 26-28).
The Human Genome Project:
A Scientific Knowledge Community

 Officiallystarted in 1990, one of the

goals of the Human Genome Project (HGP)
was to map out the entire human genome.
 To increase efficiency of the project, the U.S.
Department of Energy and the National
Institutes of Health developed an
international knowledge community.
The HGP Knowledge Community

 In order to facilitate the monumental

undertaking of the HGP, “twenty public
genome centers in six countries” worked
together, pooling their collective knowledge
and discoveries (Collins 121).
 Information gathered at each center was
routinely added to public databases so that
the other centers, as well as the rest of the
world, could benefit.
The HGP and New Media

The HGP used specifically-designed software to analyze



data and computers to store it so that anyone, including

the other researchers, could access it. No mass mailings
here!
 (continued)

The National Human Genomics Research Institute continues to



educate the public about the human genome by using new

media—webinars—to foster its ever-growing knowledge
community.
Results of the HGP

 Amazingly, the HGP was so successful that it

took the knowledge community only 13
years to sequence the entire human
genome (Collins 122).
 The HGP is a great example of how
knowledge communities can provide
tangible benefits that have
a real impact on
the world.
The Sims:
An Entertainment Knowledge Community

The Sims (including the 2nd and 3rd release) is



an innovative PC game that allows players to

control the virtual world of virtual people, ruling
all aspects of their lives.
Corporate
M eet
s
G ra ssro o ts
 For many people, the biggest draw of The
Sims is that users can customize nearly
every aspect of the game with personal
content or content designed by other
grassroots users.
 Electronic Arts, the company behind The
Sims, seems to encourage this
user/software interaction by hosting
their own knowledge community.
The Sims Exchange

The Exchange is The Sims’ own



content knowledge community for

downloading and uploading game
content.
The Sims Forum

T h e Fo ru m is a social knowledge
co m m u n ity w h e re u se rs ca n sh a re
sto rie s, a sk q u e stio n s, a n d g e t h e lp .
More Communities?
 Though a multitude of websites and
forums are dedicated to The Sims, they are simply
access points to the overall knowledge community.
 Individuals contribute to the information
on a particular website (or multiple sites), and each
website contributes to the overall collective
knowledge of the community.
 *Website logos represent the top five Google results
when searching for “The Sims downloads.”
Parsimonious:
Just One of the Many…

 Parsimonious is one of the largest fansites

dedicated to The Sims.
 Users can download content made by
resident artists.
 During development of The Sims 3, Kate, the
creator of Parsimonious, was invited to test
the product and offer feedback.
Corporate Loves Kate

Thanks
 to her fansite/knowledge community,
Grassroots Kate got the chance to offer her input (to
some degree) on the final The Sims 3 product. Even
better, Corporate Sims received free advertising
because of it!
The Sims and New Media
 The Sims could not exist without new media,
nor could it have become so popular
without knowledge communities.
 Communities for The Sims make use
primarily of computers and the Internet to
enhance their game experience by sharing
content and information with each other.
Works Cited*
Collins, Francis S. The Language of
God. New York: Free Press, 2006.
Print.
Jenkins, Henry. Convergence Culture:
Where Old and New Media Collide.
New York: New York UP, 2006. Print.

*Book sources only. Web sources, including graphics, are

linked within the document.