Abstract
Information technology's growing importance to campus teaching and learning activities has driven development of campus communities of practice from diverse academic and non-academic units, from faculty development centers to system-wide instructional/information technology staff groups. In fact, the NLII argues that communities of practice can be seen both as professional development environments—as agents for change toward learning-centered practice through linking "local" communities to more "global" efforts—and as a means toward bridging research and practice. We will discuss the process of building communities of practice, using a case-based approach, and will begin building a community of practice that can continue afterward as an NLII-sponsored virtual community of practice.