Purpose

This paper aims to use the experience of an in-person event that was forced to go virtual in the wake of COVID-19 as an entryway into a discussion on the broader implications around transitioning events online. It gives both practical recommendation to event organizers as well as broader reflections on the role of digital libraries during the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors draw on their personal experiences with the datathon, as well as a comprehensive review of literature. The authors provide a candid assessment of what approaches worked and which ones did not.

Findings

A series of best practices are provided, including factors for assessing whether an event can be run online; the mixture of synchronous versus asynchronous content; and important technical questions around delivery. Focusing on a detailed case study of the shift of the physical team-building exercise, the authors note how cloud-based platforms were able to successfully assemble teams and jumpstart online collaboration. The existing decision to use cloud-based infrastructure facilitated the event’s transition as well. The authors use these examples to provide some broader insights on meaningful content delivery during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Originality/value

Moving an event online during a novel pandemic is part of a broader shift within the digital libraries’ community. This paper thus provides a useful professional resource for others exploring this shift, as well as those exploring new program delivery in the post-pandemic period (both due to an emphasis on climate reduction as well as reduced travel budgets in a potential period of financial austerity).

中文翻译：

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远距离建设社区：COVID-19期间的一次数据战

目的

本文旨在利用在COVID-19之后被迫虚拟化的面对面事件的经验作为讨论围绕在线事件过渡的更广泛含义的讨论的切入点。它既为活动组织者提供了实用的建议，又对数字图书馆在COVID-19大流行期间及以后的作用进行了更广泛的思考。

设计/方法/方法

作者利用他们在数据通论方面的个人经验，以及对文学的全面回顾。作者坦率地评估了哪些方法有效，哪些无效。

发现

提供了一系列最佳实践，包括评估事件是否可以在线运行的因素；同步内容与异步内容的混合；以及有关交付的重要技术问题。作者着重于物理团队建设活动转变的详细案例研究，作者指出基于云的平台如何能够成功地组建团队并迅速启动在线协作。使用基于云的基础架构的现有决策也促进了活动的过渡。作者使用这些示例对COVID-19大流行期间有意义的内容交付提供了更广泛的见解。

创意/价值

在新的大流行期间将事件在线转移是数字图书馆社区范围内更广泛转移的一部分。因此，本文为探索这一转变的其他人以及在大流行后时期探索新计划交付者提供了有用的专业资源（两者都是由于着重于减少气候变化以及在可能的财政紧缩时期减少了旅行预算） ）。