1 Barriers to the Adoption of New Collaboration Technologies for Scientists Charlotte P. Lee Department of Technical Communication University of Washington 14 Loew Hall, Seattle, WA 98195 cplee@u.washington.edu Matthew Bietz Department of Technical Communication University of Washington 14 Loew Hall, Seattle, WA 98195 matt@matthewbietz.org ABSTRACT In this paper we discuss some barriers to the adoption of new collaboration technologies, based on empirical qualitative research of cyberinfrastructure development. We discuss two projects: 1) research on collaborative technologies that were implemented in a project early in its development and 2) preliminary findings of based on interviews of stakeholders in a nascent project in a new field of scientific endeavor: metagenomics. Author Keywords Scientific collaboration, cyberinfrastructure, ethnography. ACM Classification Keywords H5.m. Information interfaces and presentation (e.g., HCI): Miscellaneous. INTRODUCTION Scientific research is increasingly conducted by large, multi-institution and interdisciplinary project teams, processing exponentially vaster and more complex data flows and with similarly larger and more complex sociotechnical structures. The increase in both the amount and kinds of scientific data being generated is overwhelming current software tools. At the same time, large scale collaborations must work across time and space, with collaborators often being geographically distributed presenting additional challenges to collaboration. The overwhelming increase in data is inextricably intertwined with an intense scramble by individuals, teams, and organizations to develop new software tools and the new sociotechnical arrangements needed to develop and support new tools and the infrastructure needed to support software tools and new scientific practices surrounding the collection, processing, and analysis of the data itself. Empirical research across projects yields some interesting examples of barriers to the adoption of new collaboration technologies for scientists. STUDY 1: THE BRAIN IMAGE STUDY (BIS) PROJECT The major goal of BIS is to develop tools to make multi-site functional MRI studies a common research practice. The challenges are complex and heterogeneous, combining technical, scientific, and organizational elements. Currently data cannot be pooled between machines of different manufacturers or even between different research sites using machines from the same manufacturer, thereby limiting researchers to studies based on locally collected samples of patients and control subjects. These samples tend to be small due to the difficulty of locating and enrolling appropriate research subjects, limited access to expensive machines, and the labor intensive nature of conducting clinical assessments and in-scanner cognitive tests. Multi-site studies can ameliorate the problem of inadequate sampling in medical research. To take advantage of the power of multi-site studies, variability across sites must be addressed. Variability in imaging equipment, data acquisition and analysis, and patient assessment compromise the value of multi-site imaging datasets. Completion of the technical and clinical goals of BIS will enable researchers to tap the power of large-scale, multi-site neuroimaging studies. Methodology and Data Collection We used ethnographic research methods to collect data on BIS. We have undertaken participant observation for several months at weekly on-site, teleconferencing, and videoconferencing meetings of various working groups and all-Function Network meetings. Because the work of BIS is distributed over time and space, and because most BIS workers only work on BIS part-time, a critical means of data collection has been through one-on-one interviews. Twenty interviews have been completed with individuals from ten different institutions. Pseudonyms have been used for names of projects and people. Permission to make digital or hard copies of all or part of this work for personal or classroom use is granted without fee provided that copies are not made or distributed for profit or commercial advantage and that copies bear this notice and the full citation on the first page. To copy otherwise, or republish, to post on servers or to redistribute to lists, requires prior specific permission and/or a fee. CHI 2009, April 4–9, 2009, Boston, MA, USA. Copyright 2009 ACM 978-1-60558-246-7/08/04…$5.00