GMS: preserving multiple expert voices in scientific knowledge management

Computer archives of scientific and engineering knowledge must insure the accuracy, completeness, and validity of their contents. Unfortunately, designers of these sites often overlook the social and cognitive context of scientific activity in favor of highly distilled collections of theoretical findings and technical data, divorcing scientific information from its human origins.Contextual aspects of knowledge seldom find their way into journals and other scientific forums, yet they often reveal the broader strategies behind the development and application of that knowledge. In implementing a GMS (Glass-Metal Seals) knowledge-management system, we found such contextual aspects as the structure of expert communities, the patterns of communication across disciplines, and the informal representations, sketches, and stories experts use in casual discussion to be essential to our efforts. Preserving these ìextra-technicalî features in the systemís content and organization gives users an implicit experience of the subtle interpretations, viewpoints, and strategies that define engineering expertise.