@article {2017,
	title = {Work~features to support stigmergic coordination in distributed teams},
	year = {2017},
	type = {Interactive paper},
	abstract = {<p>When work products are shared via a computer system, members of distributed teams can see the work products produced by remote colleagues as easily as those from local colleagues. Drawing on coordination theory and work in computer-supported cooperative work (CSCW), we theorize that these work products can provide information to support team coordination, that is, that work can be coordinated through the outcome of the work itself, a mode of coordination analogous to the biological process of stigmergy. Based on studies of documents and work, we postulate three features of work products that enable them to support team coordination, namely having a clear genre, being visible and mobile, and being combinable. These claims are illustrated with examples drawn from free/libre open source software development teams. We conclude by discussing how the proposed theory might be empirically tested.</p>},
	keywords = {Coordination, Stigmergy},
	attachments = {https://crowston.syr.edu./sites/crowston.syr.edu/files/Stigmergy\%20theory\%20paper\%20to\%20share.pdf},
	author = {Kevin Crowston and James Howison and Bolici, Francesco and Carsten {\O}sterlund}
}
@article {9998,
	title = {Stigmergic coordination in FLOSS development teams: Integrating explicit and implicit mechanisms},
	journal = {Cognitive Systems Research},
	volume = {38},
	year = {2016},
	pages = {14{\textendash}22},
	keywords = {Coordination, Stigmergy},
	doi = {10.1016/j.cogsys.2015.12.003},
	attachments = {https://crowston.syr.edu./sites/crowston.syr.edu/files/COGSYS-RS-\%28HHS\%29-\%282015\%29-\%283\%29.pdf},
	author = {Bolici, Francesco and James Howison and Kevin Crowston}
}
@article {2010,
	title = {The under-appreciated role of stigmergic coordination in software development},
	year = {2010},
	abstract = {<p>Coordination in software development teams has been a topic of perennial interest in empirical software engineering research. The vast majority of this literature has drawn on a conceptual separation between work and coordination mechanisms, separate from the work itself, which enable groups to achieve coordination. Traditional recommendations and software methods focused on planning: using analysis to predict and manage dependencies. Empirical research has demonstrated the limits of this approach, showing that many important dependencies are emergent and pointing to the persistent importance of explicit discussion to managing these dependencies as they arise. Drawing on work in Computer-Supported Collaborative Work and building from an analogy to collaboration amongst insects (stigmergy), we argue that the work product itself plays an under-appreciated role in helping software developers manage dependencies as they arise. This short paper presents the conceptual argument with empirical illustrations and explains why this mechanism would have significant implications for Software Engineering coordination research. We discuss issues in marshaling clear positive evidence, arguing that these issues are responsible, in part, for the under-consideration of this mechanism in software engineering and outlining research strategies which may overcome these issues.</p>},
	keywords = {Coordination, FLOSS, Stigmergy},
	attachments = {https://crowston.syr.edu./sites/crowston.syr.edu/files/stigmergy-short.pdf},
	author = {Bolici, Francesco and James Howison and Kevin Crowston}
}
@conference {Bolici:2009,
	title = {Coordination without discussion? Socio-technical congruence and Stigmergy in Free and Open Source Software projects},
	booktitle = {2nd International Workshop on Socio-Technical Congruence, ICSE},
	year = {2009},
	month = {19 May},
	address = {Vancouver, Canada},
	keywords = {Coordination, FLOSS},
	url = {http://docs.google.com/View?id=dhncd3jd_405fzt842gv},
	attachments = {https://crowston.syr.edu./sites/crowston.syr.edu/files/Coordination\%20without\%20discussion\%3F\%20Socio-technical\%20congruence.pdf},
	author = {Bolici, Francesco and James Howison and Kevin Crowston}
}
@inbook {Crowston:2006c,
	title = {Coordination theory: A ten-year retrospective},
	booktitle = {Human-Computer Interaction in Management Information Systems},
	year = {2006},
	pages = {120-138},
	publisher = {M. E. Sharpe, Inc.},
	organization = {M. E. Sharpe, Inc.},
	abstract = {Since the initial publication in 1994, Coordination Theory has been referenced in nearly 300 journal articles, book chapters, conference papers and theses. Coordination Theory provides an approach to a core problem in HCI: analyzing group work to suggest alternative approaches involving computer support. Coordination Theory suggests identifying the dependencies between the tasks the different group members are carrying out and the coordination mechanisms the group use to coordinate their work and then considering alternative mechanisms. This chapter will analyze the contribution of this body of research to determine how Coordination Theory has been used for user task analysis and modelling for HCI. Issues that will be addressed include: 1)how the theory has been applied; 2) factors that led to the success of the theory; and 3)identification of areas needing further research.
},
	keywords = {Coordination},
	attachments = {https://crowston.syr.edu./sites/crowston.syr.edu/files/CT\%20Review\%20to\%20distribute.pdf},
	author = {Kevin Crowston and Rubleske, Joe and James Howison},
	editor = {Zhang, P. and Galletta, D.}
}
@proceedings {Crowston:2005,
	title = {Coordination of Free/Libre Open Source Software development},
	year = {2005},
	address = {Las Vegas, NV, USA, December},
	abstract = {The apparent success of free/libre open source software (FLOSS) development projects such as Linux, Apache, and many others has raised the question, what lessons from FLOSS development can be transferred to mainstream software development? In this paper, we use coordination theory to analyze coordination mechanisms in FLOSS development and compare our analysis with existing literature on coordination in proprietary software development. We examined developer interaction data from three active and successful FLOSS projects and used content analysis to identify the coordination mechanisms used by the participants. We found that there were similarities between the FLOSS groups and the reported practices of the proprietary project in the coordination mechanisms used to manage task-task dependencies. However, we found clear differences in the coordination mechanisms used to manage task-actor dependencies. While published descriptions of proprietary software development involved an elaborate system to locate the developer who owned the relevant piece of code, we found that {\textquotedblleft}self-assignment{\textquotedblright} was the most common mechanism across three FLOSS projects. This coordination mechanism is consistent with expectations for distributed and largely volunteer teams. We conclude by discussing whether these emergent practices can be usefully transferred to mainstream practice and indicating directions for future research.},
	keywords = {Coordination, FLOSS},
	attachments = {https://crowston.syr.edu./sites/crowston.syr.edu/files/Coordination\%20of\%20Free\%20Libre\%20Open\%20Source\%20Software\%20Development.pdf , https://crowston.syr.edu./sites/crowston.syr.edu/files/CoordinationFreeLibreOSSDevSlides.pdf},
	author = {Kevin Crowston and Kangning Wei and Li, Qing and Eseryel, U. Yeliz and James Howison}
}
