Collaboratories: Doing Science on the Internet

The success of many complex scientific investigations hinges on bringing the capabilities of diverse individuals from multiple institutions together with state-of-the-art instrumentation. Computer scientists working with domain specialists have made progress on several fronts to create and integrate the tools required for Internet-based scientific collaboration. However, both technical and sociological challenges remain. The tools of computer-supported cooperative work are now being applied to such collaborations. Through immersive electronic interaction, team members distributed across a widespread area can collaborate, using the newest instruments and computing resources. The paper discusses some collaboratory prototypes and considers the sociology of collaboration.