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An Approach to Investigating Proactive Knowledge Retention in OSS Communities

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Systems, Software and Services Process Improvement (EuroSPI 2018)

Part of the book series: Communications in Computer and Information Science ((CCIS,volume 896))

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Abstract

Open Source Software (OSS) is the manifestation of software developed and released under an “open source” license, meaning that under certain conditions; it is openly available for use, inspection, modification, and for redistribution free of cost, or with cost based on the license agreement. The transient nature of work force results in turnover induced knowledge loss in OSS projects. Knowledge loss phenomenon refers to loss of experience and expertise in OSS projects due to leaving contributors, whose knowledge remains unshared with other contributors. The outcome of this work is the research methodology, to contribute towards the formation of proactive knowledge retention practices in OSS projects to transform contributor’s use of knowledge and engagement in knowledge relevant activities including knowledge sharing and knowledge transfer.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported, in part, by Science Foundation Ireland grant 13/RC/2094 to Lero, the Irish Software Research Centre (www.lero.ie).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Dublin City University, Dublin, Ireland

    Mehvish Rashid, Paul M. Clarke & Rory V. O’Connor

  2. Lero, The Irish Software Research Centre, Limerick, Ireland

    Mehvish Rashid, Paul M. Clarke & Rory V. O’Connor

Authors
  1. Mehvish Rashid
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  2. Paul M. Clarke
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  3. Rory V. O’Connor
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Rory V. O’Connor .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Tecnalia Bizkaia, San Sebastián, Spain

    Xabier Larrucea

  2. Tecnalia Bizkaia, San Sebastián, Spain

    Izaskun Santamaria

  3. School of Computing, Dublin City University, Dublin, Ireland

    Rory V. O'Connor

  4. I.S.C.N. GesmbH, Graz, Austria

    Richard Messnarz

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Rashid, M., Clarke, P.M., O’Connor, R.V. (2018). An Approach to Investigating Proactive Knowledge Retention in OSS Communities. In: Larrucea, X., Santamaria, I., O'Connor, R., Messnarz, R. (eds) Systems, Software and Services Process Improvement. EuroSPI 2018. Communications in Computer and Information Science, vol 896. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-97925-0_9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-97925-0_9

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