1. SCHOOL OF INFORMATION UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN Future studies? Tom Finholt School of Information University of Michigan

2. SCHOOL OF INFORMATION UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN Outline n More retrospective studies? n More prospective studies? n Collaboration vs collaboratories?

3. SCHOOL OF INFORMATION UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN More retrospective studies? n Pros: –we know which collaboratories are viable –science is well-documented (e.g., citation indexes) n Cons: –selection bias –incomplete data –incompatible data

4. SCHOOL OF INFORMATION UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN More prospective studies? n Pros: –coordinated and standardized evaluation –document failure and success cases n Cons: –costly requires long-term investment effort to obtain data –absence of quick results

5. SCHOOL OF INFORMATION UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN Opportunities n Comparative prospective studies –NEES vs BIRN –NIH regional bioterrorism centers –NIH community data systems –NIH P41 centers –GAN? –Look beyond science… engineering education

6. SCHOOL OF INFORMATION UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN Collaboration vs collaboratories? n Should we just fund prospective studies of collaboration? –Sample individual scientists… –Sample collaborations… n Should we study communities rather than collaboratories?

7. SCHOOL OF INFORMATION UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN Tension n Understanding collaboration to build better collaboration tools VS n Understanding collaboration -- within and outside of collaboratories -- to inform sociology/psychology of science/knowledge and etc.