Real Work / Web Work: Getting It Done in the Interim Jim Coleman Project Manager Science and Technology in the Making

Palo Alto, August 20-21Real Work/Web Work2 Theses “Real World” work is well-understood and has a social infrastructure “Web World” work searches for the question to which it is the answer, and has, at best, an emerging social infrastructure Work — and its outcome — needs capture in the interim Sloan projects test both the membrane between the two worlds and our ability to succeed “in the meantime”

Palo Alto, August 20-21Real Work/Web Work3 “Real World” Work Occurs within the established context of research/scholarly communication Is supported by organizations within a social infrastructure Tends to be outcome based, with desirable outcomes established through community standards

Palo Alto, August 20-21Real Work/Web Work4 “Web World” Work Has no established context along the communication channel Has in the best instances a technical robust infrastructure, but lacks community Has an ambiguous relationship to outcomes and products in the academic world Wants to blur the line between the other and the self

Palo Alto, August 20-21Real Work/Web Work5 What Makes “Web Work” Real? Pre-formed communities enhance/continue work (face-to-face) New communities can evolve/self-evolve Outcomes and products can be given definition through communities Boundaries between “real” and “web” work cross over

Palo Alto, August 20-21Real Work/Web Work6 “Web Work” Communities It is difficult to transform “real world” communities into “web world” communities Interactivity is a prerequisite — members must form their world — but is not enough in itself What encourages “stickiness” ultimately are products, outcomes, and the community itself

Palo Alto, August 20-21Real Work/Web Work7 STIM Core Site Objectives Offer consulting and design services for PI’s Provide core technical infrastructure/support Provide “toolkit” approach for interactivity Point to “best practices”in the digital library experience Help sites to move past the granting period into the “interim”

Palo Alto, August 20-21Real Work/Web Work8 STIM Realities (Core Site) Original project team lacked some necessary skills Original technology solution was unviable Team and PI’s often lacked same understanding of roles Real costs of core team work/infrastructure were significantly underfunded

Palo Alto, August 20-21Real Work/Web Work9 STIM Conclusions (Core Site) Supporting research projects should not be a research project in itself Project management skills are a prerequisite Agreement on needs and implementation plans are necessary Stronger integration into research agenda and concomitant infrastructure should be required (by Sloan/other granting agencies)

Palo Alto, August 20-21Real Work/Web Work10 Needs Right Technology Right Staff Unflagging willingness to mix “real world” work with “web world” work Clear vision of when the current research goal is met Understanding of “web work” product life cycle

Palo Alto, August 20-21Real Work/Web Work11 What Makes the Projects Real? Making connections to the communities, through either “real world” or “Web world” means Developing content-rich sites that both accumulates and publishes data Self-sustaining sites OR sites that have an archival presence Supporting and furthering the research understanding of the PI’s PI’s “real world” work becomes “Web work”

Palo Alto, August 20-21Real Work/Web Work12 Economics of “Web Work” Costs of infrastructure are not small Team/staff skill set required for success is large Success of “Web Work” is largely dependent on success in “real world” interactions “Interim” costs are essentially unknown and potentially unbounded

Palo Alto, August 20-21Real Work/Web Work13 How Long IS the Interim? “Real World” economics work against persistence Market forces require obsolescence to remain competitive (MP3/White Album) Market hegemony is both a blessing and a curse (Microsoft vs. Linux) In comparison with past information systems, the interim is forever

Palo Alto, August 20-21Real Work/Web Work14 What Helps? Standards-based activities offer some help where they have market support Economic/community model of scholarly information interchange is subject to change/influence Greater depth of publishing/archiving is possible, but the tensions of doing more and retaining more presents a conundrum

Palo Alto, August 20-21Real Work/Web Work15 Leveraging Reality with “Web Work” “Web Work” has reinvigorated many scholarly practices “WW” can renew concern for/interest in collecting and creating primary documentation The products of “WW” can be more open to scrutiny of the community at large Incremental costs can be insignificant in the interim

Palo Alto, August 20-21Real Work/Web Work16 Getting It Done (Institutions) Decide your level of risk Develop an economic model locally that reflects globally Build bridges between “real work” and “Web Work” Risk behaving “as if” the community, business model, and infrastructure were in place