Who’s Got the Data? Interdependencies in Science and Technology Collaborations

Journal of Computer Supported Cooperative Work, DOI: 10.1007/s10606-012-9169-z

77 Pages Posted: 23 Jun 2012 Last revised: 8 Aug 2012

See all articles by Christine L. Borgman

Christine L. Borgman

University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA)

Jilian Wallis

University of Michigan at Ann Arbor - School of Information; University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) - Graduate School of Education and Information Studies

Matthew Mayernik

University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA); National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR)

Date Written: June 5, 2012

Abstract

Science and technology always have been interdependent, but never more so than with today’s highly instrumented data collection practices. We report on a long-term study of collaboration between environmental scientists (biology, ecology, marine sciences), computer scientists, and engineering research teams as part of a five-university distributed science and technology research center devoted to embedded networked sensing. The science and technology teams go into the field with mutual interests in gathering scientific data. “Data” are constituted very differently between the research teams. What are data to the science teams may be context to the technology teams, and vice versa. Interdependencies between the teams determine the ability to collect, use, and manage data in both the short and long terms. Four types of data were identified, which are managed separately, limiting both reusability of data and replication of research. Decisions on what data to curate, for whom, for what purposes, and for how long, should consider the interdependencies between scientific and technical processes, the complexities of data collection, and the disposition of the resulting data.

This article is available "Online First" on SpringerLink http://www.springerlink.com/openurl.asp?genre=article&id=doi:10.1007/s10606-012-9169-z

Keywords: Cyberinfrastructure, data curation, data practices, eScience, scientific collaboration, scientific software development, technology research, sensor networks, environmental sciences

Suggested Citation

Borgman, Christine L. and Wallis, Jillian and Wallis, Jillian and Mayernik, Matthew and Mayernik, Matthew, Who’s Got the Data? Interdependencies in Science and Technology Collaborations (June 5, 2012). Journal of Computer Supported Cooperative Work, DOI: 10.1007/s10606-012-9169-z , Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2089165

Christine L. Borgman (Contact Author)

University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) ( email )

405 Hilgard Avenue
Box 951361
Los Angeles, CA 90095
United States

HOME PAGE: http://is.gseis.ucla.edu/cborgman/

Jillian Wallis

University of Michigan at Ann Arbor - School of Information ( email )

304 West Hall
550 East University
Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1092
United States

University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) - Graduate School of Education and Information Studies ( email )

Los Angeles, CA 90095-1520
United States

Matthew Mayernik

University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) ( email )

405 Hilgard Avenue
Box 951361
Los Angeles, CA 90095
United States

National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) ( email )

Boulder, CO

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