1. e-Research and the Transformations of Knowledge Ralph Schroeder Eric T. Meyer Oxford Internet Institute Oxford e-Social Science node of NCeSS Presented at UK e-Science All Hands Conference, Edinburgh, UK, 8-11 September 2008

2. Overview  Gauging Knowledge Transformation in e-Research  Research Technologies  e-Infrastructures  Computerization Movements  A Model  Transformation?  Publications  Fields, Citations and Authors  Publications and Interdisciplinarity  Synthesis

3. Gauging Knowledge Transformation in e-Research  Levels of analysis  policy : infrastructures : projects : cross projects  the science communication system, online  disciplines and knowledge across disciplines  e-Research within knowledge and research generally  Limits: competition at the leading edge of knowledge  Three concepts for synthesis: research technologies, infrastructures, computerization movements

4. Research Technologies  Technological instruments critical to scientific advance  ‘high-consensus, rapid-discovery’ science (Collins)  research technologies as ‘passports’ between disciplines and ‘practice-based universality’ (Shinn and Joerges)  Research technologies in different disciplines, but all enhance manipulation with tools and data

5. e-Infrastructures  Infrastructures and large technological systems  e-Infrastructures have limited scope (within research community) but face similar challenges (intertwining of technical and social)  e-Research technologies only partly depend on large-scale e-Infrastructures (there are also independent and bottom-up systems)  Need ‘communities’, but also have momentum

6. Computerization Movements  Actants (blackboxing via standards and technical practices), technical and social  A social movement  Computerization Movements  Mobilizing discourse, mobilizing resources

9. Transformation?  Popper  evolution? No, breaks  World 3? Yes, Online Communication  Kuhn  a paradigm shift? No, adding and complementing  limits within an existing paradigm? Partly, ie. data deluge  Scientometric measures  Funding

10. Publications

12. Publications and Interdisciplinarity Figure 3. Map showing number of articles by field, and article interdisciplinarity Source: Data retrieved from Scopus using sample search terms; image created with Microsoft Excel.NetMap plugin

13. Synthesis  A diffuse (across fields) and heterogeneous (top-down and bottom-up) movement  A variety of socio-technical networked systems of tools and data, within and between fields and with various degrees of complexity  Differences of field needs (e-Humanities need digitized resources) versus e-Science (large- scale analysis) with e-Social Science in-between and computer science the interdisciplinary glue  Momentum of systems and aggregation across fields versus limits of competition for funding resources and attention at the research edge

14. Oxford e-Social Science (OeSS) Node of NCeSS Oxford Internet Institute University of Oxford Ralph Schroeder James Martin Research Fellow ralph.schroeder@oii.ox.ac.uk http://people.oii.ox.ac.uk/schroeder Eric T. Meyer Research Fellow eric.meyer@oii.ox.ac.uk http://people.oii.ox.ac.uk/meyer Oxford e-Social Science Project