Communities at cross-purposes

Contradictions in the views of stakeholders of learning object repository systems

Abstract

The increase in the number of online, educational communities necessitates a good interplay between digital communities and repository tools. However, there are contradictions in the views of those setting up repositories and the users of these systems. This may potentially lead to limitations in the usefulness of repository systems. This study aims to address this problem through identification of conflicting views of stakeholders within a number of educational communities. Three repositories are analysed as activity systems in order to identify how communities use these tools. These activity systems are used to identify contradictions between the views of users and curators. The paper ends with a framework that can help address the key issues arising from these contradictions and guide implementation of repository systems during the initial development stage.