Inventors:
Michael I. Ahern - Brighton MA, US
Jacqueline M. Ferguson - Manchester NH, US
Alexander Kordun - Arlington MA, US
Joseph A. Russo - Westford MA, US
Ajamu Wesley - Marlborough MA, US
Assignee:
International Business Machines Corporation - Armonk NY
International Classification:
G06F 17/00, G06F 17/30
Abstract:
A method of managing online communities within an online community management system can include declaratively specifying a taxonomy of online community types, declaratively specifying a plurality of roles for members of online communities, and declaratively specifying a security policy that associates permissions with roles and online community types. A plurality of online community profiles can be maintained. Each online community profile can represent an online community, specify an online community type from the taxonomy, and specify a list of members of that online community as well as an associated role for each member. Access can be provided to a selected online community according to the online community type of the selected online community, a role within the selected online community that is associated with a user attempting to access the selected online community, and the security policy.