Collaboratories to support distributed science: the example of international HIV/AIDS research

The use of collaborative technologies to support geographically distributed scientific research (or collaboratories) is gaining wide acceptance in many parts of the developed world. Such collaboratories hold great promise for international cooperation in critical areas of scientific research, such as HIV/AIDS. We have extensive experience with the design, development, deployment and evaluation of such collaboratories in a number of areas of science and engineering. We have identified a number of critical success factors, and discuss three in particular: collaboration readiness, collaboration infrastructure readiness, and collaboration technology readiness. We have recently begun the baseline assessment of two collaboratory opportunities for international HIV/AIDS collaboration, one in Botswana and one in Durban, South Africa. We present our preliminary assessment of the prospects and challenges for developing these collaboratories.

[1]  Thomas K. Landauer,et al.  The trouble with computers , 1995 .

[2]  Ivar Jacobson,et al.  Object-oriented software engineering - a use case driven approach , 1993, TOOLS.

[3]  S. Woolgar,et al.  The Manufacture of Knowledge: an Essay on the Constructivist and Contextual Nature of Science , 1982 .

[4]  W. H. Davidow,et al.  The Virtual Corporation: Structuring and Revitalizing the Corporation for the 21st Century , 1992 .

[5]  Etienne Wenger,et al.  Situated Learning: Legitimate Peripheral Participation , 1991 .

[6]  Stephanie D. Teasley,et al.  Scientific Collaborations at a Distance , 2001, Science.

[7]  M. Hammer,et al.  REENGINEERING THE CORPORATION: A MANIFESTO FOR BUSINESS REVOLUTION , 1995 .

[8]  Gary M. Olson,et al.  Identifying and analyzing multiple threads in computer-mediated and face-to-face conversations , 1996, CSCW '96.

[9]  John P. Walsh,et al.  Computer Networks and Scientific Work , 1996 .

[10]  Judith S. Olson,et al.  Distance Matters , 2000, Hum. Comput. Interact..

[11]  Thomas K. Landauer,et al.  Trouble with Computers: Usefulness, Usability, and Productivity , 1996 .

[12]  T. Allen.  Managing the flow of technology , 1977 .

[13]  Robert Johansen,et al.  Global Work: Bridging Distance, Culture & Time , 1994 .

[14]  B. Latour,et al.  Laboratory Life: The Social Construction of Scientific Facts , 1983 .

[15]  Elena Rocco,et al.  Trust breaks down in electronic contexts but can be repaired by some initial face-to-face contact , 1998, CHI.

[16]  B. Latour.  Science in Action , 1987 .

[17]  Michael Lynch,et al.  Art and artifact in laboratory science , 1985 .

[18]  Jakob Nielsen,et al.  Usability engineering , 1997, The Computer Science and Engineering Handbook.

[19]  K. Knorr-Cetina.  The Manufacture of Knowledge: an Essay on the Constructivist and Contextual Nature of Science , 1985 .

[20]  Robert E. Kraut,et al.  Patterns of contact and communication in scientific research collaboration , 1990, CSCW '88.

[21]  Dimitrina S. Dimitrova,et al.  Computer Networks as Social Networks: Collaborative Work, Telework, and Virtual Community , 1996 .

[22]  G. Olson,et al.  From Laboratories to Collaboratories: A New Organizational Form for Scientific Collaboration , 1997 .

[23]  Donald C. Pelz,et al.  Scientists in Organizations: Productive Climates for Research and Development , 1967 .

[24]  Telecommunications Board,et al.  National Collaboratories: Applying Information Technology for Scientific Research , 1993 .

[25]  Ivar Jacobson,et al.  Object-Oriented Software Engineering , 1991, TOOLS.

[26]  Judith S. Olson,et al.  Methods in search of methodology—combining HCI and object orientation , 1994, CHI '94.

[27]  S. Traweek,et al.  Beamtimes and Lifetimes: The World of High Energy Physicists , 1988 .

[28]  James D. Myers,et al.  Collaboratories: Doing Science on the Internet , 1996, Computer.

[29]  Jun Zheng,et al.  Trust without touch: jumpstarting long-distance trust with initial social activities , 2002, CHI.

[30]  Donald C. Pelz,et al.  Scientists in Organizations: Productive Climates for Research and Development. , 1968 .

[31]  Judith S. Olson,et al.  Research on Computer Supported Cooperative Work , 1997 .

[32]  Thomas P. Moran,et al.  Mapping the method muddle: guidance in using methods for user interface design , 1995 .

[33]  Ben Shneiderman,et al.  Designing the User Interface: Strategies for Effective Human-Computer Interaction , 1998 .