I’m organizing (with Charlotte Lee and David Ribes) a workshop at the upcoming CSCW 2008 conference. There’s still time to send a position paper! Here are the details:
Workshop on Designing Cyberinfrastructure to Support Science
At the ACM Conference on Computer Supported Cooperative Work
Saturday, November 8. San Diego, CA
Recent years have seen the rise of new forms of large-scale distributed scientific enterprises supported primarily through advanced information infrastructures. These advanced infrastructures are called “cyberinfrastructure,” although terms such as grid computing, collaboratories, and eScience are also commonly used. Computer Supported Cooperative Work and Cyberinfrastructure intersect in their aims to support collaboration within heterogeneous groups and across physical distribution. Furthermore the development of CI – or large-scale informational resources – is itself a form of collaborative work worthy of CSCW research.
Cyberinfrastructure development is thought of as requiring interdisciplinary collaboration: particularly between technologists and domain scientists (e.g. physicists, hydrologists, biologists, etc.), but CI is also often meant to stimulate a new scientific discipline entirely. The interdisciplinarity and novelty of the science itself creates a challenge for designers of cyberinfrastructure, namely, figuring out who will be using the system and for what. Development projects typically include expert domain scientists who both advise and serve as alpha users. Project participants have concerns about i) aligning the end-goals of the diverse experts who participate in CI development; ii) designing tools that will support actual scientific research rather than utopian technologies that sit unused on shelves; and ii) motivating the sustained contributions of participants.
The workshop will address four related themes:
- Designing for Emerging Groups
- Designing for the Long-Term
- Designing for Interoperability
- The Role of CSCW Practitioners in CI Research and Development
This workshop is intended for those who are involved currently in efforts to research and develop cyberinfrastructure to support science, however individuals with a strong interest in getting involved in this area are welcome space permitting.
To participate please submit a 2 to 4 page position paper for consideration. See website for details.
Timeline
- September 24 (EXTENDED), Position Paper Submissions Due
- October 3, Notification of Acceptance
Organizers
- Charlotte P. Lee, University of California, Irvine
- Matthew Bietz, University of California, Irvine
- David Ribes, Georgetown University
