187,468 research outputs found
Recommended from our members
Collaborative yet independent: Information practices in the physical sciences
In many ways, the physical sciences are at the forefront of using digital tools and methods to work with information and data. However, the fields and disciplines that make up the physical sciences are by no means uniform, and physical scientists find, use, and disseminate information in a variety of ways. This report examines information practices in the physical sciences across seven cases, and demonstrates the richly varied ways in which physical scientists work, collaborate, and share information and data.
This report details seven case studies in the physical sciences. For each case, qualitative interviews and focus groups were used to understand the domain. Quantitative data gathered from a survey of participants highlights different information strategies employed across the cases, and identifies important software used for research.
Finally, conclusions from across the cases are drawn, and recommendations are made. This report is the third in a series commissioned by the Research Information Network (RIN), each looking at information practices in a specific domain (life sciences, humanities, and physical sciences). The aim is to understand how researchers within a range of disciplines find and use information, and in particular how that has changed with the introduction of new technologies
Harnessing Collaborative Technologies: Helping Funders Work Together Better
This report was produced through a joint research project of the Monitor Institute and the Foundation Center. The research included an extensive literature review on collaboration in philanthropy, detailed analysis of trends from a recent Foundation Center survey of the largest U.S. foundations, interviews with 37 leading philanthropy professionals and technology experts, and a review of over 170 online tools.The report is a story about how new tools are changing the way funders collaborate. It includes three primary sections: an introduction to emerging technologies and the changing context for philanthropic collaboration; an overview of collaborative needs and tools; and recommendations for improving the collaborative technology landscapeA "Key Findings" executive summary serves as a companion piece to this full report
The XP customer team: A grounded theory
The initial definition of XP resulted in many people interpreting the on-site customer to be a single person. We have conducted extensive qualitative research studying XP teams, and one of our research questions was âwho is the customerâ? We found that, rather than a single person, a customer team always exists. In this paper we outline the different roles that were typically on the team, which range from the recognized âAcceptance Testerâ role to the less recognized roles of âPolitical Advisorâ and âSuper-Secretaryâ
Discovering communities of social e-learning practice
Teaching and Professional Development Fellowship Report 201
Social aspects of place experience in nomadic work/life practices
This chapter examines the importance of âwhereâ mobile work/life practices occur. By discussing excerpts of data collected through in-depth interviews with mobile professionals, we focus on the importance of place for mobility, and highlight the social character of place and the intrinsically social motivations of workers when making decisions regarding where to move. In order to show how the experience of mobility is grounded within place as a socially significant con- struct, we concentrate on three analytical themes: place as an essential component of social/collaborative work, place as expressive of organizational needs and characteristics, and place as facilitating a blending of work/life strategies and relationships
Social media: a guide for researchers
This guide has been produced by the International Centre for Guidance Studies, and aims to provide the information needed to make an informed decision about using social media and select from the vast range of tools that are available. One of the most important things that researchers do is to ïŹnd, use and disseminate information, and social media offers a range of tools which can facilitate this. The guide discusses the use of social media for research and academic purposes and will not be examining the many other uses that social media is put to across society. Social media can change the way in which you undertake research, and can also open up new forms of communication and dissemination. It has the power to enable researchers to engage in a wide range of dissemination in a highly efïŹcient way.Research Information Networ
The University as Publisher: Summary of a Meeting Held at UC Berkeley on November 1, 2007
With the advent of electronic publishing, the scholarly communication landscape at universities has become increasingly diverse. Multiple stakeholders including university presses, libraries, and central IT departments are challenged by the increasing volume and the rapidity of production of these new forms of publication in an environment of economic uncertainties. As a response to these increasing pressures, as well as the recent publication of important reports and papers on the topic, the Center for Studies in Higher Education (CSHE) convened a meeting of experts titled, The University as Publisher. The event was sponsored as part of the A.W. Mellon Foundation-funded Future of Scholarly Communication project at CSHE.Our goal was to explore among stakeholders -- faculty, publishers, CIOs, librarians, and researchers -- the implications of the academic community, in some structure, taking over many, if not all, aspects of scholarly publishing. Two themes were the focus of the public panels: Institutional Roles in Evaluation, Quality Assessment, and Selection and Structuring and Budgeting Models for Publishing within the University Community. Our discussions included the importance of distinguishing between informal dissemination and formal publishing and the challenges that each presents to the university community. The harsh economic realities of high-quality formal scholarly publication, not least of which are managing peer review and editorial processes, were emphasized. Understanding disciplinary needs was cited as paramount throughout the discussions; the needs and traditions of scholars in the sciences and humanities, as well as among myriad disciplines, will likely demand different dissemination and publishing models and solutions. An additional theme that emerged was acknowledging the diverse forms electronic dissemination takes in the academy and the need to foster a spectrum of alternatives in publication forms, business models, and the peer review process. Budgetary and academic freedom concerns were explored as well. Regarding the expensive infrastructure required for electronic dissemination and publishing, it was agreed that there is enormous duplication among the university press, IT, and the library
A window into learning: case studies of online group communication and collaboration
The two case studies presented explore the potential offered by inâdepth qualitative analysis of studentsâ online discussion to enhance our understanding of how students learn. Both cases are used to illustrate how the monitoring and moderation of online student group communication can open up a âwindow into learningâ, providing us with new insights into complex problemâsolving and thinking processes. The cases offer examples of studentsâ âthinking aloudâ while problemâsolving, showing how and why they arrived at particular outcomes and the underlying thought processes involved. It is argued that these insights into studentsâ learning processes can in turn offer us the opportunity to adapt our own teaching practice in order to achieve a better pedagogical âfitâ with the learning needs of our students; for example, through a more precise or more timely intervention. It is also suggested that looking through this âwindowâ enables us to concentrate our assessment more closely on the process of task completion, rather than focusing solely on the end product
- âŠ