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Full-Text Articles in Science and Technology Studies
Retaining Participants In Volunteer Computing Projects, Peter Darch
Retaining Participants In Volunteer Computing Projects, Peter Darch
Peter Darch
Volunteer computing projects (VCPs) have been set up by groups of scientists to recruit members of the public who are asked to donate spare capacity on their personal computers to the processing of scientific data or computationally intensive models. VCPs serve two purposes: to acquire significant computing capacity and to educate the public about science. A particular challenge for these scientists is the retention of volunteers as there is a very high drop-out rate. This paper develops recommendations for scientists and software engineers setting up or running VCPs regarding which strategies to pursue in order to improve volunteer retention rates. …
A Climate Of Trust: Perceptions Of Legitimate Authority In A Volunteer Computing Project, Peter Darch, Annamaria Carusi, Marina Jirotka
A Climate Of Trust: Perceptions Of Legitimate Authority In A Volunteer Computing Project, Peter Darch, Annamaria Carusi, Marina Jirotka
Peter Darch
Volunteer computing projects are computationally-intensive scientific research projects which seek to meet their need for data processing capacity by asking members of the public to download and process project data on their personal computers. This paper presents findings from a study of the interactions in an online forum of participants in such a project, climateprediction.net. It focuses upon the beliefs of one group of participants, who have been identified as particularly critical to the success of volunteer computing projects, about the organizational policies of climateprediction.net and what are appropriate and inappropriate ways for other participants to behave in the forums.