Singular Community Manager. One approach common among the subjects interviewed for this research370 to community management in crowdsourcing projects is to assign a professional staff member for the work. In general the position is described by GLAM institutions in their hiring documents as one who “invest(s) in developing and engaging diverse audiences online.”371 More specifically, the core competencies associated with the role of a ‘community manager’ include being responsible for: user support, problem management, technological development, marketing, fund raising as well as the standard cultural heritage skill sets 366 From this study alone includes institutions: British Library, Tate Britain, Museum of East Anglian Life, Great Ormond Street Hospital, Library of Congress, etc. 367 From this study alone includes institutions: National Rail Museum, National Archives and Records Administration USA, Tottenham House, Rockefeller Archives, etc. 368 Mike Esbester, interview by Author, London, 16 March 2020 369 John Lubbock, interview by Author, London, January 2020 370 Of the subjects interviewed, the following have served as the primary community manager in a professional capacity: Adrian Glew, Andrea Tanner, Anne McClaren, Caitlin Peck, David Tilsley, Joanna Yeung, Judy Luis-Watson, Lauren Vargas, Mia Ridge, Suzanne Isaacs, Victoria Van Hyning. 371 “Emerging Job Profiles for Museum Professionals,” accessed October 21, 2020, https://www.culturepartnership.eu/en/article/emerging-job-profiles-for-museum-professionals. that an institution would normally require.372 In addition, the perception in the European GLAM sector is that community management forms part of a digital strategy to actively engage participants beyond the passive process of observation. This approach sees community managers as a hybrid of educator and marketer bringing the public into the process of digital curation and exhibition.373 This definition is the general description for the industry and can be adapted to the individual institutional or project needs. What can be distilled from the wide range of activities associated with the position are three general purposes for a community manager: support volunteers in their work, develop the community skills and resources, and growth in community membership and resources. There are clear examples of this role functioning effectively throughout the interviews conducted. After establishing the Spotlight on Play Bills project at the British Library, most of the project mana...
