Science and Technology Studies Commons^™

Ship Space To Database: Motivations To Manage Research Data For The Deep Subseafloor Biosphere, Peter Darch, Christine Borgman

Peter Darch

What motivates the building of databases by scientific collaborations? In this paper, we argue that not only are databases being built to support scientific work per se, but also with the intention of performing a variety of social functions. To explore this, we present findings from a longitudinal ethnographic case study of a large, multidisciplinary, distributed scientific project studying subseafloor microbial life. A critical element of this project’s Data Management Plan is the construction of a data portal. We found a range of factors motivating not only the very construction of this portal, but also the inclusion of particular features. …

Technology And Power, Michael J. Paulus Jr.

Michael J. Paulus, Jr.

No abstract provided.

Digital Wisdom For A Digital Age: Spirituality And Technology In The 21st Century, Michael J. Paulus Jr., Ryan Ingersoll

Ryan Ingersoll

In 2011, the Seattle Pacific University Library established a new service area for students called the Tech Desk. Initially conceived as a place where students could get help with and access to technologies needed for academic work, this program quickly became an incubator for ideas and innovations around meeting students’ technological needs. In 2014, we surveyed our largely “millennial” undergraduate population to assess the program and explore ways of enhancing it. Results from this survey, which are consistent with other research that complicates the notion of “digital natives,” revealed that our students desire and need help thinking about the role …

Digital Wisdom For A Digital Age: Spirituality And Technology In The 21st Century, Michael J. Paulus Jr., Ryan Ingersoll

Michael J. Paulus, Jr.

In 2011, the Seattle Pacific University Library established a new service area for students called the Tech Desk. Initially conceived as a place where students could get help with and access to technologies needed for academic work, this program quickly became an incubator for ideas and innovations around meeting students’ technological needs. In 2014, we surveyed our largely “millennial” undergraduate population to assess the program and explore ways of enhancing it. Results from this survey, which are consistent with other research that complicates the notion of “digital natives,” revealed that our students desire and need help thinking about the role …

Managing The Public To Manage Data: Citizen Science And Astronomy, Peter Darch

Peter Darch

Citizen Cyberscience Projects (CCPs) that recruit members of the public as volunteers to process and produce large datasets promise a great deal of benefits to scientists and science. However, if this promise is to be realised, and citizen science-produced datasets are to be widely-used by scientists, it is essential that these datasets win the trust of the scientific community. This task of securing credibility involves, in part, applying standard scientific procedures to clean-up datasets formed by volunteer contributions. However, the management of volunteers’ behaviour in terms of how they contribute also plays a significant role in improving both the quality …

Opening Up A Dark Habitat And Opening Up Data: The Co-Emergence Of Scientific Collaboration, Infrastructure For Data-Sharing, And Data-Sharing Practices, Peter Darch

Peter Darch

Allied to the movement promoting Open Access publishing is the Open Data movement, which aims to facilitate and encourage the open sharing of research data amongst scientists across multiple disciplines and institutions. Studies of scientists’ data practices link barriers to data-sharing with lack of appropriate infrastructure, cultural issues regarding norms and reward structures, and lack of trust amongst researchers. However, there have been fewer studies of actual instances of successful data-sharing. Furthermore, little attention has been paid to the implications of successful data-sharing for the structures of collaborative scientific work.

This paper will present findings from a longitudinal ethnographic case …

Unpacking The Matthew Effect In Citations, Jian Wang

Jian Wang

Ship Space And Database: The Co-Shaping Of Spatial Configurations Aboard Ocean Drilling Cruise Ships And Material Artifacts Of Practice In Onshore Laboratories, Peter Darch

Peter Darch

This paper presents a longitudinal ethnographic study of a large, multidisciplinary scientific project studying subseafloor microbial life.

To study this life, scientists need rock and water samples taken from the seafloor. To collect these samples, scientists participate in ocean drilling cruises, such as those carried out as part of the International Ocean Discovery Program (IODP). The IODP and its forerunners have been operating since the 1960s. Initially, these cruises only involved physical scientists (such as geochemists). In recent years, microbiologists have become part of these cruises. This has involved reallocating space on cruise ships to the construction of a microbiology …

Managing The Public To Manage Data: Citizen Science And Astronomy, Peter Darch

Peter Darch

Citizen Cyberscience Projects (CCPs) that recruit members of the public as volunteers to process and produce large datasets promise a great deal of benefits to scientists and science. However, if this promise is to be realised, and citizen science-produced datasets are to be widely-used by scientists, it is essential that these datasets win the trust of the scientific community. This task of securing credibility involves, in part, applying standard scientific procedures to clean-up datasets formed by volunteer contributions. However, the management of volunteers’ behaviour in terms of how they contribute also plays a significant role in improving both the quality …

Connecting Research On Social Issues In Nanotechnology: The Center For Nanotechnology In Society At Arizona State University, Jan Youtie, Philip Shapira

Philip Shapira

Central to the emergence of new research topics is the creation of a research network. This paper looks at the creation of a network of researchers of social issues in nanotechnology and the role of the Center for Nanotechnology in Society at Arizona State University (CNS-ASU) in the creation of this network. While there has been US investment in societal research on nanotechnology, a debate exists about the extent to which a research community has been created through these investments. This paper uses three approaches to examine the extent to which CNS-ASU is associated with the development of a research …

The Ups And Downs Of Knowledge Infrastructures In Science: Implications For Data Management, Christine Borgman, Peter Darch, Ashley Sands, Jillian Wallis, Sharon Traweek

Peter Darch

The promise of technology-enabled, data-intensive scholarship is predicated upon access to knowledge infrastructures that are not yet in place. Scientific data management requires expertise in the scientific domain and in organizing and retrieving complex research objects. The Knowledge Infrastructures project compares data management activities of four large, distributed, multidisciplinary scientific endeavors as they ramp their activities up or down; two are big science and two are small science. Research questions address digital library solutions, knowledge infrastructure concerns, issues specific to individual domains, and common problems across domains. Findings are based on interviews (n=113 to date), ethnography, and other analyses of …

Ship Space To Database: Scientific And Social Motivations For A Database To Support Deep Subseafloor Biosphere Research, Peter Darch, Christine L. Borgman

Christine L. Borgman

What motivates the building of databases by scientific collaborations? In this paper, we argue that not only are databases being built to support scientific work per se, but also with the intention of performing a variety of social functions. To explore this, we present findings from a longitudinal ethnographic case study of a large, multidisciplinary, distributed scientific project studying subseafloor microbial life. A critical element of this project’s Data Management Plan is the construction of a data portal. We found a range of factors motivating not only the very construction of this portal, but also the inclusion of particular features. …

The Ups And Downs Of Knowledge Infrastructures In Science: Implications For Data Management, Christine L. Borgman, Peter Darch, Ashley E. Sands, Jillian C. Wallis, Sharon Traweek

Christine L. Borgman

The promise of technology-enabled, data-intensive scholarship is predicated upon access to knowledge infrastructures that are not yet in place. Scientific data management requires expertise in the scientific domain and in organizing and retrieving complex research objects. The Knowledge Infrastructures project compares data management activities of four large, distributed, multidisciplinary scientific endeavors as they ramp their activities up or down; two are big science and two are small science. Research questions address digital library solutions, knowledge infrastructure concerns, issues specific to individual domains, and common problems across domains. Findings are based on interviews (n=113 to date), ethnography, and other analyses of …