In CSCCE’s Community Participation Model, member interactions that fall into the transformational information sharing mode are in the CO-CREATE mode. Transformational refers to the fact that the act of sharing information results in the co-creation of something new, that may or may not be overseen by the community manager.
Citation: Center for Scientific Collaboration and Community Engagement. (2025) CSCCE Glossary: Designing community-engaged content. Woodley and Pratt doi: 10.5281/zenodo.10277480
In CSCCE’s Community Participation Model, member interactions that fall into the transactional information sharing modes are CONTRIBUTE and COLLABORATE. Transactional refers to the fact that the terms of engagement should be made clear to all participants and while they are intended to support a common goal, they are likely to be managed by the convening person or organization. In the case of CONTRIBUTE, it is likely that the convener has created the platform to which a member contributes, e.g., a survey. In COLLABORATE mode, it’s likely that the convener has scaffolded the means by which members come together to work on a shared goal, e.g., via templates for a writing sprint.
Citation: Center for Scientific Collaboration and Community Engagement. (2025) CSCCE Glossary: Designing community-engaged content. Woodley and Pratt doi: 10.5281/zenodo.10277480
In CSCCE’s Community Participation Model, member interactions that fall into the transmissive information sharing mode are in the CONVEY/CONSUME mode. Transmissive refers to the fact that information is transmitted from one individual e.g., the community manager to others, e.g., community members, with no need or expectation for them to reply.
Citation: Center for Scientific Collaboration and Community Engagement. (2025) CSCCE Glossary: Designing community-engaged content. Woodley and Pratt doi: 10.5281/zenodo.10277480
A community is a dynamic, social grouping where members align around a shared purpose (or multiple overlapping purposes) and participate in a shared culture. Active community participation frequently aligns with a sense of belonging and affiliation to the community. In a community, the flow of information is multi-directional (i.e., not only flowing out from a source), with members able to do something as a result of being connected to one another that they would not be able to do alone.
Citation: Center for Scientific Collaboration and Community Engagement. (2025) CSCCE Glossary: Scientific Community Engagement Fundamentals. Woodley, Pratt, and Santistevan doi: 10.5281/zenodo.15359413
All communities transition through different stages over time. Lifecycle models, of which there are several, describe these transitions and offer insights into why and how they happen.
Citation: Center for Scientific Collaboration and Community Engagement. (2025) CSCCE Glossary: Scientific Community Engagement Fundamentals. Woodley, Pratt, and Santistevan doi: 10.5281/zenodo.15359413
These are the goals that all members of a community or subsection of your community share and value. While each individual will have multiple goals, those that are common across members are the shared goals of the community. Members’ shared goals should align with the purpose of the community.
Citation: Center for Scientific Collaboration and Community Engagement. (2025) CSCCE Glossary: Scientific Community Engagement Fundamentals. Woodley, Pratt, and Santistevan doi: 10.5281/zenodo.15359413
A strategic or foundational piece of content around which you can build a communications campaign. For example, the release of a new community playbook (your content pillar) will require you to write a related blog post, host a community call to discuss its contents with members, and share it via social media and your newsletter mailing list.
Citation: Center for Scientific Collaboration and Community Engagement. (2025) CSCCE Glossary: Designing community-engaged content. Woodley and Pratt doi: 10.5281/zenodo.10277480
A careful and methodical assessment of everything you create for your community. It includes factual information about each item, as well as how each product or activity meets the stated goals of the community. The goal of an audit is to determine what you have and whether it’s strategically aligned with the community’s goals, as well as what you might be missing.
Activities that require sustained, facilitated interactions between members (e.g. events, projects, initiatives). Content is required to produce programming. Programming often involves the generation of new content.
Citation: Center for Scientific Collaboration and Community Engagement. (2025) CSCCE Glossary: Scientific Community Engagement Fundamentals. Woodley, Pratt, and Santistevan doi: 10.5281/zenodo.15359413