A Task-Centered Interface for On-Line Collaboration in Science

Abstract

Although collaborative activities are paramount in science, little attention has been devoted to supporting on-line scientific collaborations. Our work focuses on scientific collaborations that revolve around complex science questions that require significant coordination to synthesize multi-disciplinary findings, enticing contributors to remain engaged for extended periods of time, and continuous growth to accommodate new contributors as needed as the work evolves over time. This paper presents the interface of the Organic Data Science Wiki to address these challenges. Our solution is based on the Semantic MediaWiki and extends it with new features for scientific collaboration. We present preliminary results from the usage of the interface in a pilot research project.