Erin'sThesis

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  1. work in a networked environment.
  2. Abilitiy to connect nodes into a network
  3. Each node has an interoperability stack
  4. Define the network topology of the nodes at each level of interoperability
  5. Then what communication, cooperation, coordination is needed for each connection (at each level)

Contents

[edit] Communication

Information exchange

http://datafedwiki.wustl.edu/index.php/Communication_through_Wiki Communication is the exchange of messages. Need to encode message, transmit message and reconstruct message.

Channels of communication:

   * synchronous:
         o Face-to-Face
         o Skype
         o Phone 
   * Asynchronous
         o e-mail
         o Wiki
         o blog 

Resistances: Can't send/Don't want to send or can't receive/don't want to receive.

Need to build in verification method to check that the message you meant to send was received correctly. Example was checksum for teletype. Words -> ascii -> summed message received ascii -> words check that ascii adds up to the same.[[

[edit] Cooperation

involves not only information exchange and adjustments of activities, but also sharing resources for achieving compatible goals. Cooperation is achieved by division of some labor (not extensive) among participants.

Participating in:

  • Delicious - people tag their bookmarks
  • CiteULike
  • GEOSS Clearinghouse


[edit] Coordination

Connecting nodes in value network to work toward a specific goal. Work flow = coordination

[edit] Collaboration

a process in which entities share information, resources and responsibilities to jointly plan, implement, and evaluate a program of activities to achieve a common goal. This concept is derived from the Latin collaborare meaning “to work together” and can be seen as a process of shared creation; thus a process through which a group of entities enhance the capabilities of each other. It implies sharing risks, resources, responsibilities, and rewards, which if desired by the group can also give to an outside observer the image of a joint identity. Collaboration involves mutual engagement of participants to solve a problem together, which implies mutual trust and thus takes time, effort, and dedication.


Image:4cBig.png Image:FaninFanoutSupplyChain.png


  • NOTE: HOw are interop stacks connected through value chain. how are value chains connected in value-networks?

What type of collaboration am I facilitating? Tools and methods used... Applications where they are used - Which tools and methods were used how were they are used (communication ecology...).

This “data deluge” (Hey & Trefethen, 2003)

Models for producing, evaluating, distributing, and curating scholarly publications are well established. In contrast, the comparable scholarly and institutional practices for data are not yet mature.

How scholars resolve the tension between embedded and mobile knowledge influences their collaborations with others, both inside and outside their specialties (Bowker, 2005, Callon, 1994, 20 Duguid, 2005, Kanfer, Haythornthwaite, Bruce et al., 2000, Olson & Olson, 2000, Sonnenwald, 2006, 2007).

--- The story often is lost when the data and publications are separated. Making better links between data and the documents that describe them is a common need across disciplines. (CL)

[edit] Presentations/Reports

Observing SoS
Incentives to participate
Groupware = humanware?
Google Sites
Google Calendar
GEOSS AIP Observations


  1. Objectives
  2. Background and Rationale
  3. Expected Significance
  4. Technical Approach and Methodology
        1. Software Development
        2. Humanware Development
        4. Community Development
        5. Testing the SoS approach Using EE DSS
  5. Evaluation of EE DSS and Expected Results
  6. References


SOA, metadata, dataspaces, aq ufind, event spaces Air twitter, delicious

ESIP, AIP-II, EE, ACC, Data Summit, Class,

[edit] Communication, Sharing, Coordination

Communication is necessary to enable sharing and coordination. Must be alerted before sharing or coordination can occur. Capturing events - new page, resource added, discussion, schedule

Workspace trial/tag Erin Thesis Proposal

Science - Need to capture communication that is going on in e-mail and publish it in an open space. People need to be able to respond through the wiki or the e-mail and be notified both ways. How to engineer this system? Technologies - e-mail, wiki, rss...

Building an ethnography involves extended engagement with the community being researched, collecting field notes, locating and interviewing informants, examining artifacts, and interviewing community members, frequently as a participant observer (Emerson et al., 1995).

Good search Designing System Dualities: Characterizing a Web-Supported Professional Development Community

A Bit More To IT: Scholarly Communication Forums as Socio-Technical Interaction Networks

  • Network perspective
  • Community perspective
  • Resource perspective


Hurdles users face:

  • Can't find
  • Can't Access
  • Don't know how good it is
  • Can't merge with other data

[edit] Working Title: Collaborative Air Quality Decision Support Systems using System of System Approach

Erin's Literature Review
Erin's Memes

Proposal section descriptions The fabric of science is changing, driven by a revolution in digital technologies. These include (1) digital imaging devices for astronomy, (2) microarrays and high-throughput DNA sequencers in genomics, (3) wireless sensor arrays and satellites in geosciences, and (4) powerful computational modeling in meteorology. These technologies generate massive data sets that fuel progress. Technologies for high-speed, high-capacity networked connectivity have changed the nature of collaboration and have also expanded opportunities to participate in science through instant access to rich information resources around the world. While these digital technologies are the engine of this revolution, digital data2 are the fuel.

All elements of the pillars of science – observation, experiment, theory, and modeling – are transformed by the continuous cycle of generation, access, and use of an everincreasing range and volume of digital data. Experiments and observations can be better designed if a rich set of supporting information is easily accessible. A framework of data can provide a strong foundation on which expansive theory can be developed and refined. Data initiate, drive, and produce dynamic modeling and simulation approaches.

Data are not consumed by the ideas and innovations they spark, but are an endless fuel for creativity. A small bit of information, well found, can drive a giant leap of creativity. The power of a data set can be amplified by ingenuity through applications unimagined by the authors and distant from the original field. Re-use and re-purposing of digital scientific data have dramatic benefits.

Interoperability is the ability of two or more systems or components to exchange information and to use the information that has been exchanged (IEEE Standard Computer Dictionary: A Compilation of IEEE Standard Computer Glossaries). The components of interoperability include data, metadata, codes, interfaces, platforms, environments, and networks. Achieving interoperability requires coordination among people, disciplines, and institutions. NITRD Harnessing the Power of the Web


Framework Slides

Slide 3 - Expansion of arrows – the model/obs boxes represent lots of data and models as services which are registered in the GCI (Market Place) this is the end of the data acquisition cycle. Then the services are found and used in DSS (beginning of data usage cycle.


The AQ Domain limits the scope, AQ DSS is the focus of all three major components. AQ Domain/SoSE Domain are informed and inform the other domain. Clearly, each component also extends/applies to other domains (This is VERY similar to Objectives but longer).

  • AQ DSS in the center defines the complex problem.
  • SoS Approach identifies individual tasks needed to solve the problem and which stakeholders can perform task
    • The breakdown of the AQ DSS problems is already established using a value chain from data provider, processor, analyst, policy analyst
  • Stakeholders are identified (Stakeholders include the systems that they operate - not just people.)
  • Each stakeholder is supported by an interoperability stack. Enhancing interoperability stack improves performance of stakeholder, allows easier collaboration among peers and consequently the performance of the DSS improves because the individual systems work better.
  • Similar stakeholders collaborate through communities of practice (i.e. data provider CoP may work on standard interface WCS/WMS etc) in order to improve particular field (data provider, developer…)
  • When connecting multiple stakeholders to create Value chain SoS – you develop communities of interest formed because all have relationship to dss.
  • Collaboration through SoS needs technical support tools/methods/best practices (standard interfaces, RSS feeds, human-human connections, etc)


[edit] Objective and Scope

The linearity and unidirectional nature of the production line, the process of taking raw materials, subjecting them to various processes and manufacturing a particular product which is then distributed in the marketplace for consumption by ‘end users’ has been superseded by processes which are more flexible, multidirectional, reliant on knowledge and creativity, and collaborative in nature. In such processes, the figure of the (largely passive) consumer or end user is rapidly being replaced by a new form of user who acts, in collaboration with other peers, as an active producer of content in the very act of consumption. Far from the professional consumer alluded to by the term ‘prosumer’, this new producer-user is best described as a ‘produser’, an active and collaborative participant in the distributed production of new ideas and knowledge (see Bruns 2004, 2005). Wikis in teaching and assessment: the M/Cyclopedia project


The general objective is to improve AQ decision support systems by:

  • Clearly identify the AQ DSS (i.e. HTAP/Exceptional Event)
  • Break AQ DSS into tasks
  • Identifying stakeholder with expertise in each task (Funder, Developer/researcher, Tester, Trainer, User, Sustainer - Tasks are beyond just the key task needed to produce the report, tasks should include developing, testing, using, sustaining)
  • Determining what tools and methods each stakeholder currently uses and then how to better ENABLE them by improving tools and methods (How are stakeholder enabled by SoS? (vertical interop stack) human-system connection.)
  • Determine how tasks are ALIGNED and CONNECTED in order to solve AQ Event problem. Identify ways to improve connectivity of SoS. (How are stakeholders connected? What is transferred? Who controls flow? What is flowing through connections? Data-> Information)
    • Alignment is how the tasks are ordered and value is produced
    • Connections is the physical linking, info flow

By improving the tools and methods at each task and improving the connectivity of systems, the system of systems is improved overall. The application of general research about system of systems applied to the AQ Event Analysis DSS will bring the inquiry/technical aspects of SoS research together. The human-technical combination with SoS approach allows complex problems to be solved.

[edit] Observations

  • In air quality analysis/decision support systems
  • In sustainable aq class

The two are very similar b/c both process originally had a linear approach from production to consumption In the class we turn the students into producers and consumers of knowledge.... Data consumers are now also producers of higher grade knowledge, iterative cycles not just a single push economy.

[edit] SoS Purpose and Tasks - AQ DSS

  • Clearly identifying the AQ DSS
  • Breaking it into tasks

AQ DSS Problems have a general breakdown of the problem into tasks.


However, the AQ DSS may improve if a holistic view was taken (Soft System Methodology is an approach to inquiry into problem situation does not force a particular solution.), instead of current approach to just connect systems without concern for the application.

[edit] Stakeholders - Expertise

  • Identifying with expertise in each task (Funder, Developer/researcher, Tester, Trainer, User, Sustainer - Tasks are beyond just the key task needed to produce the report, tasks should include developing, testing, using, sustaining)
    • How do stakeholder COMMUNITIES of PRACTICE benefit the SoS (e.g. EE analysis needs data - data provider CoPs enable standard data access, registration into GEOSS Clearinghouse, deliver data fast; software dev may have another community, analysts form another clear community - how is analysis better done in community?)
  • Determining what tools and methods they currently use and then how to better enable them by improving tools and methods (How are stakeholder enabled by SoS? (vertical interop stack) human-system connection.)

Key Stakeholder Classes:

  • users, i.e. the people who benefit from system, - multiple users (bureaucratic layering of end users: Federal, Regional and State EPA)
  • developers who construct the indiv system, (AND a developer who constructs the SoS)
  • acquirers who contract and pay for the system, (pay for excess for connectivity in SoS, individual sys paid for)
  • testers who evaluate system for suitability,
  • sustainers who keep the system up to date, (SoS ensure connections between systems are intact and that new systems can be added as they become available)
  • trainers who insure that the users know how to use it and
  • researchers who provide the next generation of ideas.

The first figure describes the types of stakeholders in the value chain. At each node however, there is a network of people. Shows value chain as refinery. Doesn't include funder/mainter of system stakeholders. Every system has stakeholder classes, therefore in SoS there is multiple instances of each class. What is in the arrow being transferred between users?

[edit] Collaboration - Tools/Methods

Each stakeholder has hardware, software and humanware that supports them. What are the tools/methods that are part of each stakeholder's interop stack?

Collaboration also includes the connectivity of stakeholders to produce SoS

[edit] SoS Connectivity

  • Determine how tasks are connected in order to solve AQ problem. Identify ways to improve connectivity of SoS. (How are stakeholders connected? What is transferred? Who controls flow? What is flowing through connections? Data-> Information)
  • Stakeholders Value-Chain needed to align to perform tasks to create societal benefit (overall value). Some stakeholders not included in value chain.
  • Stakeholder value-chain also creates a community of interest

This figure shows that while data flows from the provider to the user, the provider has very little control over what data is used. The user determines from the "market place" which data is applicable and pulls the data. Also at the end of the value chain closest to the "end user" the amount of raw data is small compared to near the provider.

The stakeholders need to interoperate on all of the levels from hardware to humans. However the key connection may not always be the human-human connection. At the data provider to analyst connection may be machine-machine and at the end user between policy analyst and decision maker it may be primarily human-human. However, as mentioned above there is a network of similar stakeholders at each point in the value chain and they also need to interoperate and may benefit from humanware/software/human-human connection enhancement.


Metadata workspaces are one way to connect multiple stakeholders.

[edit] System of Systems

SoS:

  • Integrates independent systems
  • Generates capabilities beyond any one system
  • Emergent behavior exists in SoS
  • Ability to engage multiple perspectives
  • Complex and uncertain
  • Can't predetermine or design the SoS it evolves to fit the needs.

[edit] Support for Thesis

From Decadal Survey:

  • Particularly in the case of human health, the critical importance of innovative coupling between in situ and remote observations requires fundamental restructuring of the Earth sciences in service to society.
  • Space-based observations are most effective as inputs to public-health decision making when they are used in concert with other data systems, including ground-based observations of environmental and epidemiological conditions, demographic data, data collected from aircraft, and outputs from numerical models. Investments are needed for the coordination of data collection efforts from multiple sources for specific purposes. Specifically, research on public-health decision support systems needs to address the limitations in how current data systems interface, and the opportunities for coordinating observations.
  • Although many ecosystem issues develop slowly, there is also a need for remote sensing to provide decision support during and in the wake of episodic events, including abrupt events such as tropical storms and wildfires, and “slower” events, such as insect outbreaks, harmful algal blooms, and droughts.

From DIA Vision Report:

  • Collaborative Analytics - Analytic organizations will therefore make a dramatic shift from traditional emphasis on self-reliance toward more collaborative operations — a shift that will allow the Community as a whole to perform routinely at levels unachievable in the past.

[edit] Workspaces

  • Barcelona
  • Data Summit
  • Ad Hoc Data System
  • AIP Scenario
  • AIP RFP
  • DataFed
  • Class
  • ESIP AQ Cluster

Image:LitReviewFramework.png

Resources for Class Analysis:

Delicious/erinmr/thesis eece449

  1. JSTOR: The Journal of Higher Education, Vol. 73, No. 1 (Jan. - Feb., 2002), pp. 123-140 - roll of faculty in virtual environment
    shift from instructor centered to student centered
  2. Building collaborative capacities in learners
    brunt - creative, collaborative, communicative
  3. AJET 24(2) Elgort, Smith and Toland (2008) - is wiki an effective platform for group course work?
    Furthermore, in a recent Employment Skills Survey (2006) being able to work as part of a team and well developed interpersonal skills were listed by employers among the top 10 skills/attributes sought after in university graduates. Team work has also been identified as one of the core transferable skills valued by employers in the workplace in other surveys, such as the survey conducted by the University of Dublin (Curry, Sherry & Tunney, 2003), and a Graduate Careers Australia's (GCA) survey of employers in Australia and New Zealand (GCA, 2006).
  4. Building collaborative capacities in learners
    Using the wiki in the classroom; change in education from linear to networked - need for creative, collaborative, critical and communication skills to be developed learning is a process of doing and teachers are facilitators/guides
  5. New method using Wikis and forums to evaluate individual contributions in cooperative work while promoting experiential learning:: results from preliminary experience
    Experiential-reflective learning method

    1. concrete exper 2. reflective observation 3. abstract conceptualization 4. feedback/active experiment

    Graded partially by quantity of bytes on the wiki ... forced class to identify contributions made - can use the 'type of contribution list' in our grading
  6. project managment wikis
    wikis facilitate five types of interaction

    1. student - teacher 2. class-teacher 3. peer learning 4. self-monitoring/learing

    5. collective learning as a class
  7. comparative study of different social networking tools in the classroom (blog, wiki, discussion board)
    Good methodology for analyzing three classes - overall participation on wiki wasn't directly analyzed for grade - see if increased participation affected grade.
  8. Wikis in the classroom
    teachers should adopt a supportive role/learning resource promote collaboration not competition need to foster community in the classroom and ensure participation is part of the routine.
  9. Taggigng analysis of undergrad class
    Use this and others for methodology development on how to analyze 3-4 years worth of tagging data.
  10. Washington University Engineering - News Story
    living lab computer science class. lectures online - students watch the night before, class is a discussion/activity

CiteULike: erinmr's library

  1. System of systems engineering: an emerging multidiscipline
    International Journal of System of Systems Engineering, Vol. 1, No. 1. (1 January 2008), pp. 1-17.

    In this paper, we present System of Systems Engineering (SOSE) as a developing multidiscipline, spanning across and drawing from a variety of disciplines to address complex situations; situations are characterised by ambiguity, high uncertainty and emergence. This paper is organised to: (1) provide an assessment of the current state of SOSE field development, (2) suggest the nature of complex issues for which traditional approaches are falling short to include the corresponding challenges facing SOSE development, (3) describe two perspectives of the SOSE response to complex situations and (4) establish an emerging paradigm for SOSE as a multidiscipline based on current research. This paper concludes with the implications for further development of research and practice for SOSE.
    Andres Sousa-Poza, Samuel Kovacic, Charles Keating
  2. On the Systems Engineering and Management of Systems of Systems and Federations of Systems
    Information, Knowledge, Systems Management, Vol. 2, No. 4. (1 January 2001), pp. 325-345.

    This paper is concerned with the engineering of systems that are themselves comprised of other component systems, and where each of the component systems serves organizational and human purposes.  These component purposes may be locally managed and optimized independently, or nearly so, of the objectives to be met by the composite system.  There are a number of inherent characteristics of these systems, and such related terms as systems of systems (SOS) or federations of systems (FOS) or federated systems of systems (F-SOS) are often used to characterize them.  It is asserted that the resultant systems generally possess the characteristics of complex adaptive systems.  We provide an overview of the literature describing these engineering efforts and provide plausible strategies for systems engineering and management of SOS and FOS that are based on the principles of a “new federalism”.  Finally, the implications of these plausible SOS and FOS systems engineering and management concepts are discussed with emphasis on evolutionary acquisition in the style of DoD and Intelligence Community related programs.
    Andrew Sage, Christopher Cuppan
  3. System of Systems - the meaning of of
    System of Systems Engineering, Vol. 0 (10 July 2006), 6 pp..

    We present distinguishing characteristics (i.e. autonomy, belonging, connectivity, diversity, and emergence), that can help us to recognize or to realize a System of Systems (SoS). The principle differentiation that we make between a thing being either a 'system' or a SoS focuses on the nature of a system's composition. We will distinctly define this set of distinguishing characteristics which will include a set of cross references from our literature research where we believe others are articulating our chosen differentiating characteristics. We conclude by summarizing the difference in these terms in a fundamental sense, one that impacts their structure, behavior and realization, and the distinction comes from the manner in which parts and relationships are gathered together and therefore in the nature of the emergent whole.
    J Boardman, B Sauser
  4. Role of Humans in Complexity of a System-of-Systems
    Digital Human Modeling (2007), pp. 363-371.

    This paper pursues three primary objectives. First, a brief introduction to system-of-systems is presented in order to establish a foundation for exploration of the role of human system modeling in this context. Second, the sources of complexity related to human participation in a system-of-systems are described and categorized. Finally, special attention is placed upon how this complexity might be better managed by greater involvement of modeling of human behavior and decision-making. The ultimate objective of the research thrust is to better enable success in the various system-of-systems that exist in society.
    Daniel DeLaurentis
  5. Key challenges and opportunities in 'system of systems' engineering
    Systems, Man and Cybernetics, 2005 IEEE International Conference on, Vol. 1 (12 October 2005), pp. 973-978 Vol. 1.

    System of systems engineering (SoSE) extracts value from existing assets and designs new assets to be more easily re-purposed, than has been the case. One way SoSE arrives at a system of systems (SoS) is by interfacing or incorporating existing systems. Another way is by "harmonizing" a set of holons. Either way managing the on-going evolution of the SoS is more challenging than initializing the SoS. This paper presents the challenges and opportunities for the next generation of concepts, principles, methods and tools that are needed for creating and sustaining SoS's.
    J Ring, AM Madni
  6. Research foundations for system of systems engineering
    Systems, Man and Cybernetics, 2005 IEEE International Conference on, Vol. 3 (12 October 2005), pp. 2720-2725 Vol. 3.

    System of systems engineering (SoSE) continues to evolve as a potentially promising response for analysis, design, and transformation of increasingly complex systems problems. The purpose of this paper is to establish critical foundations and offer a coherent framing for further research in SoSE. To achieve this purpose the paper is organized to: (1) introduce a contemporary perspective of SoSE, focused on identifying both convergence and divergence in the literature, (2) develop five logical levels that can help to understand divergence in SoSE and sharpen future research efforts, (3) articulate several of the critical research challenges that SoSE must address to be viable, and (4) identify a preliminary set of critical topical research areas for development of a more integrated research agenda for SoSE. The paper concludes with implications for close coupling of research and practice for the accelerated development of SoSE through an integrated research agenda.
    CB Keating
  7. Planning infrastructure for the long-term: Learning from cases in the natural sciences

    D Ribes, TA Finholt
  8. Walking the Tightrope: The Balancing Acts of a Large e-Research Project
    Computer Supported Cooperative Work (CSCW), Vol. 15, No. 4. (1 August 2006), pp. 385-411.

    Abstract  Although e-Research has received much attention and acclaim in recent years, the realities of distributed collaboration still challenge even the most well-planned endeavors. This case study of an e-Research project examines the ‚balancing acts’ associated with multidisciplinary, geographically distributed, large-scale research and development work. After briefly describing the history and organizational design of this information technology and atmospheric science research project, I identify five paradoxical challenges that cannot be resolved: research versus development, harmony versus conflict, consensus versus top-down decision making, frequency and modes of communication, and fast versus slow pacing. Although collaboration and communication technologies supported the project’s management and organization, most of the complexities faced by the team were not technological in nature. From the five paradoxical challenges associated with the project, I distill three cross-cutting issues that could be relevant to other e-Research projects of this magnitude: satisfying the multiple needs of a multidisciplinary project, managing information, and engaging all participants. I identify the practical implications of these challenges and issues, specifically that organizational and low-tech solutions – not the introduction of more sophisticated technology tools – are needed to solve these challenges and to better streamline coordination.
    Katherine Lawrence
  9. The Participatory Electronic Product Catalog: Supporting Customer Collaboration in E-Commerce Applications
    Electronic Markets, pp. 229-236.

    As increasing numbers of consumers use the Internet as a geographically and temporally distributed interactive, multimedia platform to conduct business, new strategic considerations dictate that e-commerce applications afford coordination and collaboration mechanisms. These coordination mechanisms are vital to leverage subgroup preferences and exploit the intelligence embedded in prior transaction histories and experiences. To provide such vital pathways, systems must support the notion of virtual communities of buyers as they cultivate the process of a collective awareness. Virtual communities of buyers and seller offerings can be merged in a single locus, the electronic product catalog (EPC). To coordinate the buyers, the EPC can usefully be extended as a Participatory Product Catalog (PEP) – which combines aspects of product information and community building into a common approach for a modern business medium. This paper will show how the PEP can provide personalization strategies on the basis of customer profiles and afford collaborative mechanisms for the support of the buying process. The paper concludes by recapitulating the importance of e-commerce strategies which meet the twin goals of personalization and community building.
    P Schubert
  10. Wikis, blogs and podcasts: a new generation of Web-based tools for virtual collaborative clinical practice and education
    BMC Medical Education, Vol. 6, No. 1. (15 August 2006), 41.

    BACKGROUND:We have witnessed a rapid increase in the use of Web-based 'collaborationware' in recent years. These Web 2.0 applications, particularly wikis, blogs and podcasts, have been increasingly adopted by many online health-related professional and educational services. Because of their ease of use and rapidity of deployment, they offer the opportunity for powerful information sharing and ease of collaboration. Wikis are Web sites that can be edited by anyone who has access to them. The word 'blog' is a contraction of 'Web Log' - an online Web journal that can offer a resource rich multimedia environment. Podcasts are repositories of audio and video materials that can be "pushed" to subscribers, even without user intervention. These audio and video files can be downloaded to portable media players that can be taken anywhere, providing the potential for "anytime, anywhere" learning experiences (mobile learning).DISCUSSION:Wikis, blogs and podcasts are all relatively easy to use, which partly accounts for their proliferation. The fact that there are many free and Open Source versions of these tools may also be responsible for their explosive growth. Thus it would be relatively easy to implement any or all within a Health Professions' Educational Environment. Paradoxically, some of their disadvantages also relate to their openness and ease of use. With virtually anybody able to alter, edit or otherwise contribute to the collaborative Web pages, it can be problematic to gauge the reliability and accuracy of such resources. While arguably, the very process of collaboration leads to a Darwinian type 'survival of the fittest' content within a Web page, the veracity of these resources can be assured through careful monitoring, moderation, and operation of the collaborationware in a closed and secure digital environment. Empirical research is still needed to build our pedagogic evidence base about the different aspects of these tools in the context of medical/health education.SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION:If effectively deployed, wikis, blogs and podcasts could offer a way to enhance students', clinicians' and patients' learning experiences, and deepen levels of learners' engagement and collaboration within digital learning environments. Therefore, research should be conducted to determine the best ways to integrate these tools into existing e-Learning programmes for students, health professionals and patients, taking into account the different, but also overlapping, needs of these three audience classes and the opportunities of virtual collaboration between them. Of particular importance is research into novel integrative applications, to serve as the "glue" to bind the different forms of Web-based collaborationware synergistically in order to provide a coherent wholesome learning experience.
    Maged Boulos, Inocencio Maramba, Steve Wheeler
  11. User-Centric Faceted Search for Semantic Portals
    The Semantic Web: Research and Applications (2007), pp. 356-370.

    Many semantic portals use faceted browsing, where the facets are based on the underlying indexing ontologies of the content. However, in many cases, like in medical applications, the ontologies may be very large and complex, and do not provide the end-user with intuitive facet hierarchies for conceptualizing the content, for formulating queries, and for classifying the search results. We argue that in such cases end-user facets should be separated from the annotation ontologies, and show how to generalize the semantic view-based search paradigm to take into account this fact. A user-centric card sorting method is proposed for designing intuitive views for the end-users and a method for mapping its facets onto the indexing ontologies and search items is presented. The system has been implemented in a prototype of the semantic portal TerveSuomi.fi, a national health promotion portal in Finland.
    Osma Suominen, Kim Viljanen, Eero HyvÄnen
  12. Position paper, tagging, taxonomy, flickr, article, toread
    In In Collaborative Web Tagging Workshop at WWW’06 (2006), pp. 31-40.

    In recent years, tagging systems have become increasingly popular. These systems enable users to add keywords (i.e., “tags”) to Internet resources (e.g., web pages, images, videos) without relying on a controlled vocabulary. Tagging systems have the potential to improve search, spam detection, reputation systems, and personal organization while introducing new modalities of social communication and opportunities for data mining. This potential is largely due to the social structure that underlies many of the current systems. Despite the rapid expansion of applications that support tagging of resources, tagging systems are still not well studied or understood. In this paper, we provide a short description of the academic related work to date. We offer a model of tagging systems, specifically in the context of web-based systems, to help us illustrate the possible benefits of these tools. Since many such systems already exist, we provide a taxonomy of tagging systems to help inform their analysis and design, and thus enable researchers to frame and compare evidence for the sustainability of such systems. We also provide a simple taxonomy of incentives and contribution models to inform potential evaluative frameworks. While this work does not present comprehensive empirical results, we present a preliminary study of the photosharing and tagging system Flickr to demonstrate our model and explore some of the issues in one sample system. This analysis helps us outline and motivate possible future directions of research in tagging systems.
    Cameron Marlow, Mor Naaman, Danah Boyd, Marc Davis
  13. Order from chaos: The poetics and pragmatics of scientific recordkeeping
    J. Am. Soc. Inf. Sci. Technol., Vol. 58, No. 10. (August 2007), pp. 1457-1466.

    Although the production of laboratory and field records is fundamental to the conduct of contemporary science, there has been little research into this topic in information studies. This article reports on a study in which, using ethnographic methods, the author studied recordkeeping as it is practiced in a basic research science laboratory. The process by which the record is created to reflect both personal need and professional norms is framed as a series of acts of selection, synthesis, and standardization. The article concludes with reflections on the role of deep understanding of scientific recordkeeping for other disciplines and the design of digital laboratory technologies. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
    Kalpana Shankar
  14. Air Pollution and Public Health

    A Us Ep
  15. Monitoring ambient air quality for health impact assessment
    (1999)
    D Breuer, J Bower
  16. Air Pollution and Public Health: A Guidance Document for Risk Managers
    Journal of Toxicology and Environmental Health Part A (January 2008), pp. 588-698.

    This guidance document is a reference for air quality policymakers and managers providing state-of-the-art, evidence-based information on key determinants of air quality management decisions. The document reflects the findings of five annual meetings of the NERAM (Network for Environmental Risk Assessment and Management) International Colloquium Series on Air Quality Management (2001-2006), as well as the results of supporting international research. The topics covered in the guidance document reflect critical science and policy aspects of air quality risk management including i) health effects, ii) air quality emissions, measurement and modeling, iii) air quality management interventions, and iv) clean air policy challenges and opportunities.
    Lorraine Craig, Jeffrey Brook, Quentin Chiotti, Bart Croes, Stephanie Gower, Anthony Hedley, Daniel Krewski, Alan Krupnick, Michal Krzyzanowski, Michael Moran, William Pennell, Jonathan Samet, Jurgen Schneider, John Shortreed, Martin Williams
  17. Learning by tagging: group knowledge formation in a self-organizing learning community
    In ICLS '06: Proceedings of the 7th international conference on Learning sciences (2006), pp. 1010-1011.

    This research explores the use of Social Tagging as a means by which group knowledge is formed within a learning community. A study of an undergraduate Business School class that utilizes Social Tagging is undertaken to analyze the patterns and evolution of use of tags in order to make a case for Social Tagging as a viable means to visualize and facilitate group knowledge formation.
    Jude Yew, Faison Gibson, Stephanie Teasley
  18. New method using Wikis and forums to evaluate individual contributions in cooperative work while promoting experiential learning:: results from preliminary experience
    In WikiSym '07: Proceedings of the 2007 international symposium on Wikis (2007), pp. 87-92.

    This paper shows a new method for using Wikis, forums, and other web-based productivity tools in blended learning strategies [20][22] to promote the acquisition of competences in Higher education [4] while enhancing experiential learning of students [16] in social collaborative knowledge building scenarios. This methodology also facilitated the grading of student individual contributions in cooperative work, helping to detect any shortcomings that may prevent student active involvement in their learning process, allowing to conduct not only product evaluation but also process evaluation. Based upon previous successful experiences, the free, on-line software platform, TikiWiki CMS/Groupware, was selected to achieve this methodology. [5][6][10][11]. Students had to think about "What's the 'type of contribution' that I'm going to make right now?" before submitting new contributions in forums, comments, or document editions (either text or spreadsheet based). Each student's contribution type and size (in bytes) was stored in a log on the website, and could be queried, filtered, and exported for further analyses. The method was tested on an Environmental Sciences course, and its strengths and weaknesses are discussed in the paper. The method description includes a suggested process to convert student contributions (type and size) into numerical grades. However, the main potential of this method is not just final assessment for student accreditation, but serving data for tutorships with students along the process of the learning activities, in order to detect and revert whatever handicaps that prevented some students improving their contributions to the group work or cooperative learning in time"(much prior to assignment submission to teacher). This preliminary study resulted in a three-times greater time investment by teachers. Further data needs to be collected to better estimate the true costs of this new method.
    Xavier de Pedro Puente
  19. Building collaborative capacities in learners: the M/cyclopedia project revisited
    In WikiSym '07: Proceedings of the 2007 international symposium on Wikis (2007), pp. 1-10.

    In this paper we trace the evolution of a project using a wiki-based learning environment in a tertiary education setting. The project has the pedagogical goal of building learners' capacities to work effectively in the networked, collaborative, creative environments of the knowledge economy. The paper explores the four key characteristics of a 'produsage' environment and identifies four strategic capacities that need to be developed in learners to be effective 'produsers' (user-producers). A case study is presented of our experiences with the subject New Media Technologies, run at Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, Australia. This progress report updates our observations made at the 2005 WikiSym conference.
    Axel Bruns, Sal Humphreys
  20. Reconfiguring Faculty Roles for Virtual Settings
    The Journal of Higher Education, Vol. 73, No. 1. (2002), pp. 123-140.

    Unbundling the faculty instructional role is a useful concept for describing a variety of institutions. Faculty and administrators can use unbundling to compare costs of instruction under different scenarios, distribute workloads to increase effectiveness and efficiency and, as part of a larger strategic process, to reevaluate instructional delivery.
    Karen Paulson
  21. Scientific collaboration
    Annual Review of Information Science and Technology, Vol. 41, No. 1., pp. 643-681.
    DH Sonnenwald
  22. Research Perspectives on Collaborative Infrastructures for Collaborative Work Environments
    Enabling Technologies: Infrastructure for Collaborative Enterprises, 2006. WETICE '06. 15th IEEE International Workshops on (12 February 2007), pp. 3-10.

    Collaborative infrastructures are emerging as one of the key elements to enable collaborative applications for human-centric collaboration. These infrastructures have to provide the system components needed by the collaborative applications and, at the same time, comply with service orientation architectures principles. This paper discuss the main results of the consultation process carried out since beginning 2006 in order to identify the 12 research challenges on this area and the three building blocks needed for collaborative work environments (CWEs). A high level middleware, called upperware, and a reference model for CWE have risen as two of the most desirable research outputs for medium-long-term. If the building blocks defined through the consultation process are realized, collaboration platforms will meet the needs of workgroups across enterprises' borders
    Isidro Laso-Ballesteros
  23. Human Systems Integration ¿ A System of Systems Engineenng Challenge
    System of Systems Engineering, 2007. SoSE '07. IEEE International Conference on (2007), pp. 1-6.

    The relationships of systems to humans in the loop and the effectiveness of humans to catty out a mission in that context continue to be problematic. In the system-of-systems (SoS) context, the human is the key enabler in using SoS as opposed to the stove-piped systems of the past. Single purpose systems were performance-optimized and tightly integrated to focus on single capability or mission-specific goals, rather than agility that can accommodate changing human needs as they are challenged by new and asymmetric threats. The SoS engineering discipline must consider a broader set of skills in order to tackle the human-in-the-loop as a prime design variable. The focus will be on human system integration at the cognitive and social level of interaction within and among systems. This presentation will present some observations on where we are and where we may have to go in order to tackle these multidimensional problems using enterprise engineering as an extension of system engineering.
    A Meilich
  24. Managing High Variety: How to Overcome the Mass Confusion Phenomenon of Customer Co-Design - Institute for Information Systems - FHNW
    University of Applied Sciences Basel (2003)
    F Piller
  25. System of systems engineering: an emerging multidiscipline
    International Journal of System of Systems Engineering, Vol. 1, No. 1/2. (2008), 1.
    Andres Poza, Samuel Kovacic, Charles Keating
  26. Information Technology and Organizational Transformation: History, Rhetoric and Preface (Sociological Observations)
    (14 December 2000)

    This book provides one of the first clear-headed assessments of information technology and organizational transformation. Its virtue is not so much in its recognition of the importance of the subject; speculations on this topic have been rampant for more than a decade. Rather, it is unusual and unusually useful, because it avoids speculation in favor of conceptually coherent accounts grounded in empirical study of actual organizations. The chapters contained in this volume move beyond the superficial glorification of information technology as an extraordinary instrument of social change, and straight to the heart of the mechanisms of change as they play out in everyday organizational life. In the process, they reaffirm that the real story of information technology in organizations is more about people than about technology. Taken together, they provide an important contribution to the intellectual foundations of one of the most interesting developments in decades.</P> <B><P>Information Technology and Organizational Transformation</B> consists of three parts. The first consists of studies that take an historical perspective on informational technology and organizational transformation. The second set of chapters deals with the rhetoric of information technology and organizational transformation. The third section concerns the practices that emerge when a new information technology is made available to organizational members. Do practices change? How so? These are the questions that in our view are central to any serious consideration of organizational transformation. </P> <P>This volume contains several important articles first published in the Spring 1996 special issue of ISR co-edited by Yates and Van Maanen, and subsequently in several cases updated for this volume. In addition, four new articles were added and the book was divided into the three sections highlighted in the subtitle: history, rhetoric, and practice. New articles include three focused on the rhetoric surrounding IT and organizational change: Suzanne Iacono and Robert Kling on "...The Rise of the Internet and Distant Forms of Work"; by John R. Weeks, on IT "...in a Culture of Complaint:...:; and Charles Bazerman on "Political Participation in the Age of the Internet." In addition, there is a paper in the Practice section by Brian Pentland, entitled "Big Brother Goes Portable: Enduser Computing in the Internal Revenue Service." Includes a preface by John King, now Dean of the School of Information, University of Michigan. </P>
    S Star, K Ruhleder
  27. Collaboratories.
    Annual Review of Information Science and Technology (ARIST), Vol. 36 (2002), pp. 73-107.
    TA Finholt
  28. Systems of systems engineering in the enterprise context: a unifying framework for dynamics
    System of Systems Engineering, Vol. 0 (2006)

    Systems of systems engineering (SoSE) takes place in the broader context of an enterprise, which we define very generally as a purposeful or industrious undertaking. Enterprises of greatest interest for SoSE are typically complex, multi-agent organizations or sets of organizations exhibiting the characteristics of complex adaptive systems, including evolutionary and emergent behaviors at multiple scales. The most fundamental of enterprise purposes are manifest in enterprise operations, in which the enterprise interacts with the larger world external to itself, and this aspect of enterprise dynamics is modeled. SoSE is but one aspect of an enterprise's activities, and the whole set of enterprise activities is predominantly oriented towards accomplishing and supporting the enterprise's mission in operations. This paper proposes a unifying framework for understanding and modeling the organizational, technical, and system complexities of enterprise dynamics across a range of enterprise types as major acquisition program initiatives are undertaken to provide improved operational capabilities.
    LA Wojcik, KC Hoffman
  29. Formal Modeling Methods for Collaborative Networks
    Collaborative Networked Organizations (2004), pp. 237-244.

    A sound theoretical foundation, based on well argued and verified models and methodologies, is a key requirement for the progress in the advanced collaborative networks area, namely as a support for decision-making, performance measurement, assessment and improvement, breakthrough ICT support tools development, and elimination of myths that populate “e-world”. In order to establish a sound theoretical foundation for this area, contributions can be borrowed from a number of disciplines. Some of these areas are identified and some recommendations are made for further research.
    Luis Camarinha-Matos, Hamideh Afsarmanesh
  30. Towards a foundation for virtual organizations - OA.uninova.pt
    (June 2003)

    After an initial phase in which the basic virtual organizations infrastructures and pilot cases, mostly biased by traditional business practices, were developed, there is a vital need to conduct fundamental research in order to understand the emerging behavior of new collaborative organizational forms. There is no single formal modeling tool/approach that adequately covers all perspectives yet. In this direction, a research approach to establish a sound theoretical foundation is proposed. As a starting basis, contributions from different disciplines, such as complex systems theory, game theory, etc, are suggested. Finally a roadmap for future research to understand, characterize, and better support this paradigm is briefly introduced.
    Luís Camarinha-Matos, António Abreu
  31. Reference Models for Virtual Organisations
    Virtual Organizations (2005), pp. 45-58.

    General consensus on a limited set of hierarchical organization types has propelled the development of the industrial organization at the beginning of the 20th century. This paper presents a study of organizational patterns across 20 projects that could be early descriptions of possible types of virtual organizations at the beginning of the 21st century. We look at information systems, and more important, coordination roles, network structure, and strategies as complementary elements of a consistent structure and propose three distinct basic types of virtual organizations: supply chain, lead contractor, and peer projects.
    Bernhard Katzy, Chunyan Zhang, Herman Löh
  32. Peer-to-Peer Architecture Case Study: Gnutella Network
    Peer-to-Peer Computing, IEEE International Conference on, Vol. 0 (2001), 0099.
    M Ripeanu
  33. Advanced Engineering Informatics
    Advanced Engineering Informatics - Elsevier
  34. Implementing information systems with project teams using ethnographic–action research
    Advanced Engineering Informatics, Vol. 23, No. 1. (January 2009), pp. 57-67.

    Architecture, engineering, and construction (AEC) projects are characterized by a large variation in requirements and work routines. Therefore, it is difficult to develop and implement information systems to support projects. To address these challenges, this paper presents a project-centric research and development methodology that combines ethnographic observation of practitioners working in local project organizations to understand their local requirements and the iterative improvement of information systems directly on projects in small action research implementation cycles. The paper shows the practical feasibility of the theoretical methodology using cases from AEC projects in North America and Europe. The cases provide evidence that ethnographic–action research is well suited to support the development and implementation of information systems. In particular, the paper shows that the method enabled researchers on the cases to identify specific problems on AEC projects and, additionally, helped these researchers to adapt information systems accordingly in close collaboration with the practitioners working on these projects.
    T Hartmann, M Fischer, J Haymaker
  35. Digital Ethnography: An Examination of the Use of New Technologies for Social Research
    Sociology, Vol. 42, No. 5. (1 October 2008), pp. 837-855.

    The rise of digital technologies has the potential to open new directions in ethnography. Despite the ubiquity of these technologies, their infiltration into popular sociological research methods is still limited compared to the insatiable uptake of online scholarly research portals. This article argues that social researchers cannot afford to continue this trend. Building upon pioneering work in `digital ethnography', I critically examine the possibilities and problems of four new technologies -- online questionnaires, digital video, social networking websites, and blogs -- and their potential impacts on the research relationship. The article concludes that a balanced combination of physical and digital ethnography not only gives researchers a larger and more exciting array of methods, but also enables them to demarginalize the voice of respondents. However, access to these technologies remains stratified by class, race, and gender of both researchers and respondents. 10.1177/0038038508094565
    Dhiraj Murthy
  36. Collaborative Virtual Environments for Scientific Collaboration: Technical and Organizational Design Frameworks
    Avatars at Work and Play (2006), pp. 63-96.
    Diane Sonnenwald
  37. Tagommenders: connecting users to items through tags
    In WWW '09: Proceedings of the 18th international conference on World wide web (2009), pp. 671-680.

    Tagging has emerged as a powerful mechanism that enables users to find, organize, and understand online entities. Recommender systems similarly enable users to efficiently navigate vast collections of items. Algorithms combining tags with recommenders may deliver both the automation inherent in recommenders, and the flexibility and conceptual comprehensibility inherent in tagging systems. In this paper we explore tagommenders, recommender algorithms that predict users' preferences for items based on their inferred preferences for tags. We describe tag preference inference algorithms based on users' interactions with tags and movies, and evaluate these algorithms based on tag preference ratings collected from 995 MovieLens users. We design and evaluate algorithms that predict users' ratings for movies based on their inferred tag preferences. Our tag-based algorithms generate better recommendation rankings than state-of-the-art algorithms, and they may lead to flexible recommender systems that leverage the characteristics of items users find most important.
    Shilad Sen, Jesse Vig, John Riedl
  38. Supporting Informal Collaboration in Shared-Workspace Groupware
    Journal of Universal Computer Science, Vol. 14, No. 9. (2008), pp. 1411-1434.
    Gutwin
  39. Awareness and coordination in shared workspaces
    In CSCW '92: Proceedings of the 1992 ACM conference on Computer-supported cooperative work (1992), pp. 107-114.

    Note: OCR errors may be found in this Reference List extracted from the full text article. ACM has opted to expose the complete List rather than only correct and linked references.
    Paul Dourish, Victoria Bellotti
  40. Collaboration forms
    Collaborative Networks: Reference Modeling (2008), pp. 51-66.

    In order to facilitate a better understanding among professionals involved in collaborative networks, a clarification of the base concepts of networking, coordination, cooperation, and collaboration is made. A taxonomy of the main organizational forms of collaborative networks is introduced and working definitions for those forms are proposed.
  41. eMJA: The effect of Web 2.0 on the future of medical practice and education: Darwikinian evolution or folksonomic revolution?
    The Medical Journal of Australia, Vol. 187, No. 3. (August 2007), pp. 174-177.
    McLean et
  42. Web 2.0 systems supporting childhood chronic disease management: A pattern language representation of a general architecture
    BMC Medical Informatics and Decision Making, Vol. 8, No. 1. (28 November 2008), 54.

    BACKGROUND:Chronic disease management is a global health concern. By the time they reach adolescence, 10-15% of all children live with a chronic disease. The role of educational interventions in facilitating adaptation to chronic disease is receiving growing recognition, and current care policies advocate greater involvement of patients in self-care. Web 2.0 is an umbrella term for new collaborative Internet services characterized by user participation in developing and managing content. Key elements include Really Simple Syndication (RSS) to rapidly disseminate awareness of new information; weblogs (blogs) to describe new trends, wikis to share knowledge, and podcasts to make information available on personal media players. This study addresses the potential to develop Web 2.0 services for young persons with a chronic disease. It is acknowledged that the management of childhood chronic disease is based on interplay between initiatives and resources on the part of patients, relatives, and health care professionals, and where the balance shifts over time to the patients and their families.METHODS:Participatory action research was used to stepwise define a design specification in the form of a pattern language. Support for children diagnosed with diabetes Type 1 was used as the example area. Each individual design pattern was determined graphically using card sorting methods, and textually in the form Title, Context, Problem, Solution, Examples and References. Application references were included at the lowest level in the graphical overview in the pattern language but not specified in detail in the textual descriptions.RESULTS:The design patterns are divided into functional and non-functional design elements, and formulated at the levels of organizational, system, and application design. The design elements specify access to materials for development of the competences needed for chronic disease management in specific community settings, endorsement of self-learning through online peer-to-peer communication, and systematic accreditation and evaluation of materials and processes.CONCLUSION:The use of design patterns allows representing the core design elements of a Web 2.0 system upon which an 'ecological' development of content respecting these constraints can be built. Future research should include evaluations of Web 2.0 systems implemented according to the architecture in practice settings.
    Toomas Timpka, Henrik Eriksson, Johnny Ludvigsson, Joakim Ekberg, Sam Nordfeldt, Lena Hanberger
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