Investigating the potential uptake of e-research within a social science discipline: socio-technical issues within library & information science

Ponti, Marisa and Sonnenwald, Diane H. Investigating the potential uptake of e-research within a social science discipline: socio-technical issues within library & information science., 2008 . In 4th International Conference on e-Social Science, Manchester (UK), 18-20 June, 2008. (Unpublished) [Conference paper]

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English abstract

We present preliminary findings from a case study of a social science collaborative project involving professionals, faculty members and graduate students. Employing actor-network 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.

Item type: Conference paper
Keywords: e-research, virtual research environments, socio-technical issues
Subjects: L. Information technology and library technology > LZ. None of these, but in this section.
Depositing user: Marisa Ponti
Date deposited: 04 Aug 2008
Last modified: 02 Oct 2014 12:12
URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10760/12195

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