In the USA, historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) seldom have sufficient resources and infrastructure to support faculty and student research or doctoral education. In contrast, doctoral/research universities (DRUs) have extensive resources and infrastructure to support research and doctoral education. istoricHBoth HBCUs and DRUs have talented faculty and students, and collaboration between faculty and students and HBCUs and DRUs has the potential of increasing the physical and intellectual resources brought to bear in research and student education. However, not all collaborations are successful. We studied four instances of collaboration among HBCUs and DRUs to investigate points of tension, identify successful practices, and gather suggestions for improving existing and future collaborations between institutions with different cultural heritages and organizational priorities.

This paper reports on a study that explored the needs and challenges with respect to the creation of a collaboratory for library and information science practitioners. To identify needs and challenges interviews were conducted with practitioners at a variety of institutions. The results suggest that there is a need for a collaboratory to facilitate on-demand, personalized knowledge sharing. The collaboratory should also be well integrated into the everyday practice of library and information science practitioners.

Collaboration is often a critical component in today's research that is dominated by complex problems, rapidly changing technology, dynamic growth of information and highly specialized areas of expertise. An individual scientist can seldom provide all of the expertise and resources necessary to address complex research problems. This paper describes collaboration among a group of scientists and discusses how their experiences are socially shaped. The scientists were members of a newly formed distributed, multi-disciplinary academic research center that was organized into four multi-disciplinary research groups. Each group had 14 to 34 members, including faculty, postdoctoral fellows and students, at four geographically dispersed universities. To investigate challenges that emerge in establishing scientific collaboration, data were collected about members' previous and current collaborative experiences, perceptions regarding collaboration, and work practices during the center's first year of operation. Interviews with members of one group and a center-wide sociometric survey were conducted. Data analysis has led to the development of a proposed framework that identifies multiple forms, or types, of collaboration that emerge among scientists (e.g., complementary and integrative collaboration) and their associated factors including personal compatibility, interrelationship of work, incentives and infrastructure. These results may help inform social and organizational practices needed to establish collaboration in distributed, multi-disciplinary research centers.

We designed, developed, deployed, and evaluated the Collaborative nanoManipulator (CnM), a system supporting remote collaboration between users of the nanoManipulator interface to atomic force microscopes. To be accepted by users, the shared nanoManipulator application had to have the same high level of interactivity as the single user system and the application had to support a user’s ability to interleave working privately and working collaboratively. This paper briefly describes the entire collaboration system, but focuses on the shared nanoManipulator application. Based on our experience developing the CnM, we present: a method of analyzing applications to characterize the requirements for sharing data between collaborating sites, examples of data structures that support collaboration, and guidelines for selecting appropriate synchronization and concurrency control schemes.

Introduction. This paper examines and synthesizes previous research in scientific collaboration, scholarly communication, scientific collaboratories, scientific disciplines, invisible colleges and virtual communities to identify factors that may impact the design, adoption and use of a collaboratory within librarianship and information science. Results. A taxonomy of factors that appear to impact the design, adoption and use of a collaboratory emerged from the synthesis. Six types of factors were identified: factors that impact a researcher's career advancements; factors concerning aspects of doing science which affect researchers on a personal level, other than their career; factors focusing on whether the benefits of submitting to and using a collaboratory is worth the cost for the individual; disciplinary and factors focusing on science and disciplines in general, such as the development of new methodology within a discipline; factors that affect the community of researchers; and factors that are the costs of developing and sustaining a collaboratory for a community or discipline. Conclusions. The taxonomy provides a concise overview of explanatory factors concerning the adoption and use of collaboratories. The taxonomy provides a theoretical framework to guide future research which explores the adoption and use of a collaboratory in disciplines not yet studied, e.g., library and information science.

Interdisciplinary collaboration occurs when people with different educational and research backgrounds bring complementary skills to bear on a problem or task. The strength of interdisciplinary scientific research collaboration is its capacity to bring together diverse scientific knowledge to address complex problems and questions. However, interdisciplinary scientific research can be difficult to initiate and sustain. We do not yet fully understand factors that impact interdisciplinary scientific research collaboration. This study synthesizes empirical data from two empirical studies to provide a more comprehensive understanding of interdisciplinary scientific research collaboration within the natural sciences in academia. Data analysis confirmed factors previously identified in various literatures and yielded new factors. A total of twenty factors were identified, and classified into four categories: personal, resources, motivation and common ground. These categorie s and their factors are described, and implications for academic policies and practices to facilitate and sustain interdisciplinary collaboration are discussed.

Previous research on gender differences and collaboration technology illustrate the need to investigate gender issues as early as possible in the development cycle in order to avoid any negative consequences the technology may impose. Therefore we are investigating the potential of 3D telepresence technology now when only a proof-of-concept demonstration of the technology exists. We conducted a controlled lab study using a post-test design in which male and female paramedics diagnosed and treated a trauma victim (a computerized mannequin) in collaboration with a physician via 2D video or a 3D proxy. The results show several gender differences that imply male paramedics may inherently receive more benefits from use of the 3D telepresence technology than female paramedics.

We conducted an experiment with a posttest, between-subjects design to evaluate the potential of emerging 3D telepresence technology to support collaboration in emergency health care. 3D telepresence technology has the potential to provide richer visual information than do current 2D video conferencing techniques. This may be of benefit in diagnosing and treating patients in emergency situations where specialized medical expertise is not locally available. The experimental design and results concerning information behavior are presented in the article “Exploring the Potential of Video Technologies for Collaboration in Emergency Medical Care: Part I. Information Sharing” (Sonnenwald et al., this issue). In this article, we explore paramedics' task performance during the experiment as they diagnosed and treated a trauma victim while working alone or in collaboration with a physician via 2D videoconferencing or via a 3D proxy. Analysis of paramedics' task performance shows that paramedics working with a physician via a 3D proxy performed the fewest harmful interventions and showed the least variation in task performance time. Paramedics in the 3D proxy condition also reported the highest levels of self-efficacy. Interview data confirm these statistical results. Overall, the results indicate that 3D telepresence technology has the potential to improve paramedics' performance of complex medical tasks and improve emergency trauma health care if designed and implemented appropriately.

We present preliminary findings from a case study of a social science collaborative project involving professionals, faculty members and graduate students. Employing actornetwork theory to inform the use of interviews and text analysis, we studied the interplay between socio-technical aspects of work organization and the activities of the actors. Although the study is at an initial stage, we report three main findings: the low level of institutional support was compensated by high autonomy of action and expertise of project members; an artifact had consequences for collocated and remote collaboration; the lack of institutional intellectual property ownership provided flexibility. We conclude that the case shows how e-research and virtual research environments can benefit graduate students, professionals and non-elite researchers, who may have fewer opportunities to travel and engage in research work together.

In the past decade, a number of scientific collaboratories have emerged, yet adoption of scientific collaboratories remains limited. Meeting expectations is one factor that influences adoption of innovations, including scientific collaboratories. This paper investigates expectations scientists have with respect to scientific collaboratories. Interviews were conducted with 17 scientists who work in a variety of settings and have a range of experience conducting and managing scientific research. Results indicate that scientists expect a collaboratory to: support their strategic plans; facilitate management of the scientific process; have a positive or neutral impact on scientific outcomes; provide advantages and disadvantages for scientific task execution; and provide personal conveniences when collaborating across distances. These results both confirm existing knowledge and raise new issues for the design and evaluation of collaboratories.

In today's knowledge-based and competitive economy, research and development (R&D) efforts are increasingly geographically distributed across multiple institutions. This chapter explores the management of cognitive and affective trust and distrust within a new type of geographically distributed and multi-institutional R&D organization, called the conceptual organization. Both cognitive and affective trust are important to the conceptual organization because it relies on collaboration among individual members to achieve its goals, and collaboration is not possible without cognitive or affective trust. Data from a 2-year case study of a conceptual organization illuminates how the organization's structure, use of power and information and communications technology (I&CT) shape and are shaped by cognitive and affective trust. Tightly coupled collaboration appears to only emerge in situations where high cognitive and affective trust simultaneously exist, and no collaboration will emerge in situations with high cognitive and affective distrust exist. In comparison, limited collaboration emerges when affective trust and cognitive distrust exist concurrently, and competitive collaboration appears to emerge when cognitive trust and affective distrust exist concurrently. Different mechanisms to manage the collaboration emerged in these situations. These results help inform our understanding of cognitive and affective trust and distrust, and their management in R&D.

Analysis of organizational documentation, sociometric survey and observation data from a two-year field study of an R&D organization suggests that a new type of research and development (R&D) organization, called the conceptual organization, is emerging. The conceptual organization relies on and facilitates collaboration in research and development; it is based on a long-term vision that addresses large complex and challenging problems of national and global importance. Its purpose is to work towards this vision, quickly and effectively contributing to relevant dynamic knowledge bases and meeting diverse stakeholder needs with minimum capitalization and start-up costs. To achieve this, it has an explicit conceptual organizational structure in addition to a physical structure, both of which are interwoven across other external organizational and physical structures. Conceptual organizations engage scientists through the appeal of their vision and socio-technical infrastructures that encourage and facilitate collaboration. Challenges for conceptual organizations may arise due to conflicts with traditional norms and practices embedded in university and R&D settings.

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to present current and ongoing research investigating new ways of working across geographic distances and time within library and information science (LIS). Design/methodology/approach – A total of four studies were conducted focusing on: the design of a virtual research environment (VRE) to facilitate the sharing of data collection instruments among students, researchers and professionals; new ways professionals and researchers can collaborate; collaborative decision making in the context of purchasing a library management system; and collaboration among LIS professionals. Findings – Early results show that VREs within LIS can build on previous VRE research which focused on other domains. However, there are several unique characteristics of LIS that place requirements on VREs and which are not yet implemented within VREs and that offer unique opportunities for VREs to enhance LIS research, education and practice. Originality/value – This paper reports on ongoing research and preliminary findings of unique studies investigating how VREs could enhance LIS research and professional practice, and how LIS research and practice can inspire the next generation of VREs.

Scientific collaboratories hold the promise of providing students access to specialized scientific instruments, data and experts, enabling learning opportunities perhaps otherwise not available. However, evaluation of scientific collaboratories in higher education has lagged behind their development. We conducted a repeated-measures study that provided data regarding social interaction learning styles and perceptions of a scientific collaboratory system from 40 university science students working face-to-face and remotely. Students with a strong competitive learning style preference or who worked with a student with a strong competitive learning style reported a slightly more positive perception of the relative advantage, compatibility and complexity of the collaboratory system. Students with a strong individualistic learning style preference or who worked with a student with a strong individualistic learning style reported a more negative perception of the observability of the system. No relationships were found between students' cooperative learning style preference and their perceptions of the system after using it face-to-face or remotely.

When collaborating individuals rely on situation awareness (the gathering, incorporation and utilization of environmental information) to help them combine their unique knowledge and skills and achieve their goals. When collaborating across distances, situation awareness is mediated by technology. There are few guidelines to help system analysts design systems or applications that support the creation and maintenance of situation awareness for teams or groups. We propose a framework to guide design decisions to enhance computer-mediated situation awareness during scientific research collaboration. The foundation for this framework is previous research in situation awareness and virtual reality, combined with our analysis of interviews and observations of collaborating scientists. The framework suggests that situation awareness is comprised of contextual, task and process, and socio-emotional information. Research in virtual reality systems suggests control, sensory, distraction and realism attributes of technology contribute to a sense of presence (Witmer & Singer, 1998). We suggest that consideration of these attributes with respect to contextual, task and process, and socio-emotional information provides insights to guide design decisions. We used the framework when designing a scientific collaboratory system. Results from a controlled experimental evaluation of the collaboratory system help illustrate the framework's utility.

We are investigating the potential of 3D telepresence technology to support collaboration among geographically separated medical personnel in trauma emergency care situations. 3D telepresence technology has the potential to provide richer visual information than current 2D video conferencing techniques. This may be of benefit in diagnosing and treating patients in emergency situations where specialized medical expertise is not locally available. We conducted an experimental evaluation, simulating an emergency medical situation and examining the interaction between the attending paramedic and remote, consulting physician. Post-questionnaire data illustrate that the information provided by the consulting physician was perceived to be more useful by the paramedic in the 3D condition than the 2D condition. However, the data pertaining to the quality of interaction and trust between the consulting physician and paramedic showed mixed results. The implications of these results are discussed.

We are investigating the potential of 3D telepresence, or televideo, technology to support collaboration among geographically separated medical personnel in trauma emergency care situations. 3D telepresence technology has the potential to provide richer visual information than current 2D videoconferencing techniques. This may be of benefit in diagnosing and treating patients in emergency situations where specialized medical expertise is not locally available. The 3D telepresence technology does not yet exist, and there is a need to understand its potential before resources are spent on its development and deployment. This poses a complex challenge. How can we evaluate the potential impact of a technology within complex, dynamic work contexts when the technology does not yet exist? To address this challenge, we conducted an experiment with a posttest, between-subjects design that takes the medical situation and context into account. In the experiment, we simulated an emergency medical situation involving practicing paramedics and physicians, collaborating remotely via two conditions: with today's 2D videoconferencing and a 3D telepresence proxy. In this article, we examine information sharing between the attending paramedic and collaborating physician. Postquestionnaire data illustrate that the information provided by the physician was perceived to be more useful by the paramedic in the 3D proxy condition than in the 2D condition; however, data pertaining to the quality of interaction and trust between the collaborating physician and paramedic show mixed results. Postinterview data help explain these results.

The evaluation of scientific collaboratories has lagged behind their development. Do the capabilities afforded by collaboratories outweigh their disadvantages? To evaluate a scientific collaboratory system, we conducted a repeated-measures controlled experiment that compared the outcomes and process of scientific work completed by 20 pairs of participants (upper level undergraduate science students) working face-to-face and remotely. We collected scientific outcomes (graded lab reports) to investigate the quality of scientific work, post-questionnaire data to measure the adoptability of the system, and post-interviews to understand the participants' views of doing science under both conditions. We hypothesized that study participants would be less effective, report more difficulty, and be less favorably inclined to adopt the system when collaborating remotely. Contrary to expectations, the quantitative data showed no statistically significant differences with respect to effectiveness and adoption. The qualitative data helped explain this null result: participants reported advantages and disadvantages working under both conditions and developed work-arounds to cope with the perceived disadvantages of collaborating remotely. While the data analysis produced null results, considered as a whole, the analysis leads us to conclude there is positive potential for the development and adoption of scientific collaboratory systems.

New video technologies are emerging to facilitate collaboration in emergency healthcare. One such technology is 3D telepresence technology for medical consultation (3DMC) that may provide richer visual information to support collaboration between medical professionals to, ideally, enhance patient care in real time. Today only an early prototype of 3DMC exists. To better understand 3DMC's potential for adoption and use in emergency healthcare before large amounts of development resources are invested we conducted a visioning study. That is, we shared our vision of 3DMC with emergency room physicians, nurses, administrators, and information technology (IT) professionals working at large and small medical centers, and asked them to share their perspectives regarding 3DMC's potential benefits and disadvantages in emergency healthcare and its compatibility and/or lack thereof with their and their organization's current ways of working. We found that social and technical challenges can be identified regarding new innovations even before working prototypes are available. The compatibility of 3DMC with current ways of working was conceptualized by participants in terms of processes, relationships, and resources. Both common and unique perceptions regarding 3DMC emerged, illustrating the need for 3DMC, and other collaboration technologies, to support interwoven situational awareness across different technological frames.