Informal Communication in Collaboratories

This study examines how collaboratories affect informal scientific communication. Collaboratories are virtual organizations, where various information technologies are adopted to support distributed scientific work. In this paper, a framework to understand factors affecting informal communication are presented and how these factors play out in collaboratories are discussed. The results of data analysis suggest that collaboratories bring about new opportunities, but there are also barriers to informal communication in collaboratories. Peripheral scientists encounter more barriers than their partners in US and Europe. The paper concludes with a discussion of areas for future research and implications of this study.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/57320/1/14504301187_ftp.pd

Approaching the ‘Reward Triangle’: general analysis of the presence of funding acknowledgements and ‘peer interactive communication’ in scientific publications

FSW - CWTS - Ou

Imperfect Partnership: Effects of Collaboratories on Scientists from Developing Countries.

In recent years, researchers have hypothesized that a new form of scientific collaboration--the “collaboratory”--holds promises to greatly benefit scientists from developing countries. It is argued that distributed collaborations enabled by various information technologies can allow scientists from developing countries to reach remotely located experts, instruments, and databases that their local institutions cannot afford. However, there have been no empirical studies to prove or disprove this. Prior studies of the impact of information technology on scientific work tend to focus on the correlation between technology use and scientific productivity as measured by publications and citations. This approach ignores the mediating factors affecting the relationship between information technology use and scientific productivity. Adopting a qualitative approach (interviews complemented by field observation), I explore how scientists from developing countries benefit from reaching remotely located resources and participating in communities of practice and networks of practice in the virtual organization of a collaboratory. I also demonstrate how the relation of resource dependency, the nature of collaborative work, geographical distance and cultural differences influence scientists’ participation in collaborataries. These factors affect the ability of scientists from developing countries to access resources of collaboratories, build relationships with other collaboratory members and learn knowledge and practice from their collaborators in the developed world. In addition, I show that collaboratories facilitate technology transfer from scientists from developed countries to those from developing countries. However, scientists from developing countries demonstrate an urgent need to build general competence in performing research. This kind of competence can only be achieved through long-term exposure to the practices of advanced laboratories from the developed world. Collaboratories failed to meet the need because of their project-oriented nature and their funding mechanism.Ph.D.InformationUniversity of Michigan, Horace H. Rackham School of Graduate Studieshttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/58369/1/airongl_1.pd