SCHOOL OF INFORMATION. UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN Comparative Investigation of Collaboratories June 18-20, 2003 University of Michigan Ann Arbor

SCHOOL OF INFORMATION. UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN

SCHOOL OF INFORMATION. UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN The Collaboratory Concept n Collaboratory <-- Collaborate + Laboratory n W. Wulf -- “… a ‘center without walls,’ in which the nation’s researchers can perform their research without regard to geographical location” (1989) n NRC Report –Three illustrative areas oceanography space physics molecular biology (1993) n Many collaboratory initiatives –NSF, NIH, DOE, NASA, etc.

SCHOOL OF INFORMATION. UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN Definition n A collaboratory is –An organizational entity –That links a community of individuals –Working at a distance –On common problems or tasks…

SCHOOL OF INFORMATION. UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN Definition n …that contains –Electronic tools that support –Rich and recurring human interaction and –Provides common access to resources, including information and instrumentation, needed to engage in the problems or tasks.

SCHOOL OF INFORMATION. UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN Collaboratory Digital Libraries, E-Pub access to information access to facilities people-to-people Communication, Groupware Services Distributed, media-rich information technology Interaction with the Physical World

SCHOOL OF INFORMATION. UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN NSF ITR Project n “Sustainable and Generalizable Technology to Support Collaboration in Science” n Sept to August 2005 n $2.4M –NSF Grant IIS n University of Michigan, Howard University (Lucent Technologies)

SCHOOL OF INFORMATION. UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN Principals n G. Olson, PD n J. Olson n N. Bos n S. Teasley n T. Finholt n J. Hardin n D. Cogburn n D. Atkins n M. Hedstrom n E. Yakel n J. Herbsleb (CMU) n J. Trimble (Howard) n G. Furnas n J. King n M. Cohen n D. Radev

SCHOOL OF INFORMATION. UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN Project Goals  Perform a comparative analysis of collaboratory projects  through invitational workshops that bring together collaboratory researchers from around the world,  Develop of a Collaboratory Knowledge Base  technical and social data and detailed findings from existing collaboratory projects,  Develop general principles and design methods  with broad community participation,  Test these principles on existing collaboratories

SCHOOL OF INFORMATION. UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN Previous workshops n #1: Social Issues (June 4-5, 2001) –Definition of “collaboratory” –Definitions of “success” –Social processes –Organizational processes

SCHOOL OF INFORMATION. UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN Previous Workshops n #2: Technical Issues (July 19-20, 2001) –Tools & technologies of collaboratories –Capabilities needed by collaboratory users –Technology issues facing collaboratories

SCHOOL OF INFORMATION. UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN Previous Workshops n Comparative Investigation of Collaboratories (Sept , 2002) n Collaboratories at a Glance n In-depth studies –UARC/SPARC –GLR CFAR –Bugscope –EMSL n Cross-cutting themes

SCHOOL OF INFORMATION. UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN This Workshop n Continuing empirical analysis of existing collaboratories n Two strategies –Collaboratories-at-a-glance Broad survey of what’s out there Small basic set of facts about all of them –In-depth studies of selected collaboratories Focused analysis

SCHOOL OF INFORMATION. UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN In-depth: Six projects n NEESgrid n InterMed n GriPhyN n iVDGL n Alliance for Cell Signalling n BIRN

SCHOOL OF INFORMATION. UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN Goals n What have we learned so far n What next? –Two-part strategy –What next for in-depth analysis

SCHOOL OF INFORMATION. UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN Cross-cutting themes: From Prior Work n Collaboration readiness –Collaboration vs. competition in science –Bottom-up vs. top-down origins n Technology readiness –Experience with collaboration tools n Infrastructure readiness –Both technical and social n Common ground –Extent of shared knowledge; critical in interdisciplinary work n Coupling of work –The interdependencies among individuals

SCHOOL OF INFORMATION. UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN Cross-cutting Themes from SOC Analyses n What is success? –Detailed discussion in June 2001 workshop n What are the incentives for participation? –Survey study in progress n What kinds of collaboratories are there? –Taxonomy – presented later n How do collaboratories evolve? –Some ideas based on our taxonomy – presented later

SCHOOL OF INFORMATION. UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN Cross-cutting Themes from SOC Analyses n Do collaborations have an ideal size? –Collaboratories allow for larger ones –How do they scale? n What are various organizational models for how to structure collaboratories? n How does the control and flow of resources affect collaboratory success? –The money flow; the relation to the sponsor(s) n How much flexibility should be designed in? –What kinds of early commitments? –How much flexibility will funders allow?

SCHOOL OF INFORMATION. UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN Cross-cutting Themes from SOC Analyses n How important are data issues in collaboratories? –Data seems to be a central component of all collaboratories n For what kind of work do you need real-time vs. asynchronous interactions? n How important is security? n What’s the mix of tailor-made vs. off-the-shelf tools?

SCHOOL OF INFORMATION. UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN Cross-cutting Themes from SOC Analyses n How crucial are platform issues? –What is the emerging role of middleware? n What is the role of emerging infrastructure such as the Grid? n How does one move from early prototypes to production versions of collaboratories? n Why isn’t there more reuse of collaboratory tools? n To what extent are the issues specific to science domain or are general?

SCHOOL OF INFORMATION. UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN Agenda n Wednesday, June 18 –9:00 – Science of Collaboratories Project Gary Olson –10:00 – Collaboratories at a Glance Judy Olson –10:45-11:00 Break –11:00 Discussants and General discussion –12:00 – Lunch

SCHOOL OF INFORMATION. UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN Agenda n Wednesday, June 18 –1:00 – 3:00 – Case #1: NEESgrid Chair: Dan Horn Presenter: Tom Finholt NEESgrid people: Laura Pearlman, Charles Severence, Gokhan Pekcan, Paul Hubbard Discussants: Steve Poltrock, Jonathan Cummings Open discussion –3:00 – 3:30: Break –3:30 – 5:00 – Case #2: InterMed Chair: Judy Olson Presenter: Nathan Bos InterMed people: Vimla Patel, Bob Greenes, David Kaufman Discussants: Geoff Bowker, Mark Ackerman Open Discussion –6:45 – Reception & Dinner at the Portage Lake Yacht Club

SCHOOL OF INFORMATION. UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN Agenda n Thursday, June 19 –9:00 – 10:15 Case #3: GriPhyN & iVDGL Chair: Nathan Bos Presenters: Erik Hofer, Gary Olson –10:15 – 10:30 Break –10:30 – 12:00 Chair: Nathan Bos GriPhyN & iVDGLpeople: Paul Avery, Mike Wilde Discussants: Charles Severance, Michael Cohen Open Discussion –12:00 – Lunch

SCHOOL OF INFORMATION. UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN Agenda n Thursday, June 19 –1:00 – 3:00 Case #5: Alliance for Cell Signaling Chair: Stephanie Teasley Presenter: Nathan Bos ACS people: TBD Discussants: Gloria Mark, Atul Prakash Open Discussion –3:00 – 3:15: Break

SCHOOL OF INFORMATION. UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN Agenda n Thursday, June 19 –3:15 – 5:15 – Case #6: BIRN Chair: Tom Finholt Presenter: Judy Olson BIRN people: Jessica Turner, Jeff Grethe, Mark James, Jorge Jovicich, Deron Estes Discussants: Jason Leigh, Diane Sonnenwald –6:00 – Dinner out in Ann Arbor, arranged groups

SCHOOL OF INFORMATION. UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN Agenda n Friday, June 20 –9 – 10:15 Cross-cutting themes Chair: Margaret Hedstrom Presenter: Gary Olson Discussants: Jason Owen-Smith, Gillian Kerr Open Discussion –10:15 – 10:30 Break –10:30 – Future in-depth collaboratory studies; which ones Chair: Gary Olson –12 – Adjourn over box lunches

SCHOOL OF INFORMATION. UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN How we will do this n Your comments –Please make notes, suggestions, other ideas as we go on the colored sheets in your notebook –OR use the form on the SOC web site –OR, us n Other procedural things –Dan Cooney –Ann Verhey-Henke –Sharon Mahoney