@article {9998, title = {Data quality up to the third observing run of Advanced LIGO: Gravity Spy glitch classifications}, journal = {Classical and Quantum Gravity}, volume = {40}, year = {2023}, keywords = {FOS: Physical sciences, General Relativity and Quantum Cosmology (gr-qc), Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysics (astro-ph.IM)}, doi = {10.1088/1361-6382/acb633}, author = {Glanzer, J and Banagiri, S and Coughlin, S B and Soni, S and Zevin, M and Berry, C P L and Patane, O and Bahaadini, S and Rohani, N and Crowston, K and {\O}sterlund, C} } @article {2023, title = {A decade of surveys on attitudes to data sharing highlights three factors for achieving open science}, year = {2023}, month = {08/2023}, type = {Blog}, url = {https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/impactofsocialsciences/2023/08/22/a-decade-of-surveys-on-attitudes-to-data-sharing-highlights-three-factors-for-achieving-open-science/}, author = {Joshua Borycz and Alison Specht and Kevin Crowston} } @proceedings {2023, title = {Design principles for background knowledge to enhance learning in citizen science}, year = {2023}, pages = {563{\textendash}580}, address = {Barcelona, Spain and virtual}, abstract = {

Citizen scientists make valuable contributions to science but need to learn about the data they are working with to be able to perform more advanced tasks. We present a set of design principles for identifying the kinds of background knowledge that are important to support learning at different stages of engagement, drawn from a study of how free/libre open source software developers are guided to create and use documents. Specifically, we suggest that newcomers require help understanding the purpose, form and content of the documents they engage with, while more advanced developers add understanding of information provenance and the boundaries, relevant participants and work processes. We apply those principles in two separate but related studies. In study 1, we analyze the background knowledge presented to volunteers in the Gravity Spy citizen-science project, mapping the resources to the framework and identifying kinds of knowledge that were not initially provided. In study 2, we use the principles proactively to develop design suggestions for Gravity Spy 2.0, which will involve volunteers in analyzing more diverse sources of data. This new project extends the application of the principles by seeking to use them to support understanding of the relationships between documents, not just the documents individually. We conclude by discussing future work, including a planned evaluation of Gravity Spy 2.0 that will provide a further test of the design principles.

}, doi = {10.1007/978-3-031-28032-0_43}, attachments = {https://crowston.syr.edu./sites/crowston.syr.edu/files/Design_Background_iConf.pdf}, author = {Kevin Crowston and Corey Brian Jackson and Isabella Corieri and Carsten {\O}sterlund} } @article {soni2021discovering, title = {Discovering features in gravitational-wave data through detector characterization, citizen science and machine learning}, journal = {Classical and Quantum Gravity}, volume = {38}, year = {2021}, doi = {10.1088/1361-6382/ac1ccb}, author = {S Soni and C P L Berry and S B Coughlin and M Harandi and C B Jackson and K Crowston and C {\O}sterlund and O Patane and A K Katsaggelos and L Trouille and V-G Baranowski and W F Domainko and K Kaminski and M A Lobato Rodriguez and U Marciniak and P Nauta and G Niklasch and R R Rote and B T{\'e}gl{\'a}s and C Unsworth and C Zhang} } @article {9999, title = {Decision-Making Processes in Community-based Free/Libre Open Source Software Development Teams with Internal Governance: An Extension to Decision-Making Theory}, journal = {Communications of the Association for Information Systems}, year = {2020}, abstract = {

FLOSS teams are an extreme example of distributed teams, prominent in software development. At the core of distributed team success is team decision-making and execution. The lack formal organizational structures to guide practices and the reliance on asynchronous communication might be expected to make decision making problematic. While there is a paucity of research in how organizations make IS development decisions, the research in FLOSS decision making models is limited. Decision-making literature in FLOSS teams is limited to the investigation of the distribution of decision-making power. Therefore, it is not clear which decision-making theories fit FLOSS context best, or whether novel decision-making models are required. Despite these challenges many FLOSS teams are effective. We adopted a process-based perspective to analyze decision-making in five community-based FLOSS teams. We identified five different decision-making processes, indicating FLOSS teams use multiple processes when making decisions. Decision-making behaviors were stable across projects despite different type of knowledge required. We help fill in the literature gap due to the lack of investigations the extent to which FLOSS decision mechanisms can be explained using classical decision-making theories. Practically, community and company leaders should use these decision processes to infrastructure that fits best with the FLOSS decision-making processes.

}, doi = {10.17705/1CAIS.04620}, attachments = {https://crowston.syr.edu./sites/crowston.syr.edu/files/CAIS\%20Journal\%202nd\%20Round\%20Resubmission.pdf}, author = {Eseryel, U. Yeliz and Kangning Wei and Kevin Crowston} } @article {9999, title = {Documentation and Access to Knowledge in Online Communities: Know Your Audience and Write Appropriately?}, journal = {Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology}, volume = {70}, year = {2019}, pages = {619{\textendash}633}, abstract = {Virtual collaborations bring together people who must work together despite having varied access to and understanding of the work at hand. In many cases, the collaboration is technology supported, meaning that the work is done through shared documents of various kinds. We develop a framework articulating the characteristics of documents supporting collaborators with asymmetric access to knowledge versus those with symmetric access to knowledge. Drawing on theories about document genre, boundary objects, and provenance, we hypothesize that documents supporting asymmetric collaborators are likely to articulate or prescribe their own (1) purpose, (2) context of use, (3) content and form, and (4) provenance in greater detail than documents supporting symmetric collaborators. We explore these hypotheses through content analysis of documents and instructions from a variety of free/libre open source projects (FLOSS). We present findings consistent with the hypotheses developed as well as results extending beyond our theory-derived assumptions. As participants gradually gain access to knowledge, the study suggests, prescriptions about the content of documents become less important compared to prescriptions about the context, provenance, and process of work. The study suggests new directions for research on communications in virtual collaborations, as well as advice for those supporting such collaborations. }, doi = {10.1002/asi.24152}, attachments = {https://crowston.syr.edu./sites/crowston.syr.edu/files/Osterlund-Crowston_2019_Document\%20and\%20access\%20to\%20knowledge\%20in\%20online\%20communities_JASIST.pdf}, author = {Carsten {\O}sterlund and Kevin Crowston} } @article {2018, title = {Did they login? Patterns of anonymous contributions to online communities}, journal = {Proceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction}, volume = {2}, year = {2018}, pages = {Article 77}, abstract = {

Researchers studying user behaviors in online communities often conduct analyses of events collected in system logs, e.g., a system{\textquoteright}s record of a comment post or of a contribution. However, analysis of user behaviors is more difficult if users make contributions without being logged-in (i.e., anonymously). Since a user{\textquoteright}s account will not be associated with contributions that user makes anonymously, conclusions about user behaviors that look only at attributed actions might not account for a user{\textquoteright}s full experience. To understand the impacts of anonymous contributions on research, we conducted an analysis of system logs containing anonymous activities in two online citizen science projects. By linking anonymous events with user IDs we found that (1) many users contribute anonymously, though with varied patterns of contribution; and (2) including anonymous activities alter conclusions made about users{\textquoteright} experience with the project. These results suggest that researchers of human behaviors in online communities should consider the possible impacts of anonymous interaction on their ability to draw conclusions about user behaviors in these settings.

}, doi = {10.1145/3274346}, attachments = {https://crowston.syr.edu./sites/crowston.syr.edu/files/anonymous-contributions-cameraready.pdf}, author = {Corey Brian Jackson and Kevin Crowston and Carsten {\O}sterlund} } @conference {2014, title = {Design of an Active Learning System with Human Correction for Content Analysis}, booktitle = {Workshop on Interactive Language Learning, Visualization, and Interfaces, 52nd Annual Meeting of the Association for Computational Linguistics}, year = {2014}, month = {06/2014}, address = {Baltimore, MD}, abstract = {Our research investigation focuses on the role of humans in supplying corrected examples in active learning cycles, an important aspect of deploying active learning in practice. In this paper, we discuss sampling strategies and sampling sizes in setting up an active learning system for human experiments in the task of content analysis, which involves labeling concepts in large volumes of text. The cost of conducting comprehensive human subject studies to experimentally determine the effects of sampling sizes and sampling sizes is high. To reduce those costs, we first applied an active learning simulation approach to test the effect of different sampling strategies and sampling sizes on machine learning (ML) performance in order to select a smaller set of parameters to be evaluated in human subject studies.}, attachments = {https://crowston.syr.edu./sites/crowston.syr.edu/files/ILLWorkshop.ACLFormat.04.28.14.final_.pdf}, author = {Jasy Liew Suet Yan and McCracken, Nancy and Kevin Crowston} } @article {9998, title = {Digital assemblages: Evidence and theorizing from the computerization of the U.S. residential real estate industry}, journal = {New Technology, Work and Employment}, volume = {29}, year = {2014}, month = {3/2014}, pages = {40-56}, abstract = {The contribution of this paper is to theorize on the roles information and communication technologies (ICT) play in reshaping work arrangements and specifically to advance the concept of a digital assemblage as a lens for this analysis. We pursue an alternative conceptualization of the role of ICT: computerization. The fundamental premise of computerization is that actors are embedded in transactions and that ICT are taken up and used to support this embedding rather than for purposes of strict economic rationality. This work draws on data from a study of the U.S. residential real estate industry, which serves here as a {\textquotedblleft}living laboratory{\textquotedblright} for studying information-intensive industries. }, doi = {10.1111/ntwe.12020}, attachments = {https://crowston.syr.edu./sites/crowston.syr.edu/files/Real_estate_assemblages_ntwe_2014_to_share_sawyer_crowston_wigand.pdf}, author = {Sawyer, Steve and Kevin Crowston and Rolf Wigand} } @article {9999, title = {Describing public participation in scientific research}, year = {2011}, publisher = {Syracuse University School of Information Studies}, abstract = {We report the results of a descriptive survey of citizen science projects, a form of scientific collaboration engaging members of the public with professional researchers. This phenomenon has seen explosive growth in recent years and is garnering interest from a broadening variety of research domains. However, the lack of adequate description of this diverse population hinders useful research. To address this gap, we conducted a survey of citizen science projects. We present a description of the phenomenon to establish a basis for sampling and evaluation of research on citizen science, including details on project resources, participation, technologies, goals, and outcomes. We then reflect on several points of potential development, including technologies to support participation, potential for expanding engagement, and data policies. The diverse organizational and functional arrangements in citizen science projects suggest a variety of areas for future research.}, attachments = {https://crowston.syr.edu./sites/crowston.syr.edu/files/iConference2012.pdf}, author = {Wiggins, Andrea and Kevin Crowston} } @article {2011, title = {Design for Citizen Science Workshop Report}, year = {2011}, month = {12/2011}, institution = {Syracuse University School of Information Studies}, type = {Workshop Report}, address = {Syracuse, NY}, attachments = {https://crowston.syr.edu./sites/crowston.syr.edu/files/CitizenScienceFinalWorkshopReport.pdf}, author = {Wiggins, Andrea} } @conference {2010, title = {Designing scholarly communications}, booktitle = {IFIP Working Group 8.2/8.6 Joint Working Conference}, year = {2010}, month = {30 Mar{\textendash}2 Apr}, address = {Perth, Australia}, abstract = {This paper presents suggestions for the design of a scholarly communications system for the IFIP Working Group 8.2 (WG8.2) community. Learned societies such as IFIP have long been important in the system of scholarly communications. With the affordances of the Internet, WG8.2 can play a larger role in promoting scholarly communications to achieve multiple goals: dissemination and archiving of quality research, but also supporting the development of scholars and the research community. A particular goal of this paper is to take a design perspective to suggest new systems to fit the emerging system and to assess the role that WG8.2 might play in deploying them.}, keywords = {eScience, Scholarly Communications}, attachments = {https://crowston.syr.edu./sites/crowston.syr.edu/files/ifipwg82\%202010\%20100202\%20revision.pdf}, author = {Kevin Crowston} } @article {2010, title = {Developing a Conceptual Model of Virtual Organizations for Citizen Science}, journal = {International Journal of Organizational Design and Engineering}, volume = {1}, year = {2010}, month = {9/2010}, pages = {148-162}, type = {Research Note}, abstract = {

This paper develops an organization design-oriented conceptual model of scientific knowledge production through citizen science virtual organizations. Citizen science is a form of organization design for collaborative scientific research involving scientists and volunteers, for which Internet-based modes of participation enable massive virtual collaboration by thousands of members of the public. The conceptual model provides an example of a theory development process and discusses its application to an exploratory study. The paper contributes a multi-level process model for organizing investigation into the impact of design on this form of scientific knowledge production.

}, doi = {10.1504/IJODE.2010.035191}, url = {http://www.inderscience.com/filter.php?aid=35191}, attachments = {https://crowston.syr.edu./sites/crowston.syr.edu/files/WigginsCrowstonIJODE2010.pdf}, author = {Wiggins, Andrea and Kevin Crowston} } @conference {2010, title = {Distributed Scientific Collaboration: Research Opportunities in Citizen Science}, booktitle = {The Changing Dynamics of Scientific Collaboration, CSCW 2010 workshop}, year = {2010}, month = {02/2010}, address = {Savannah, GA}, abstract = {This paper introduces a conceptual framework for research on citizen science, a form of collaboration involving scientists and volunteers in scientific research. Designing CSCW systems to support this type of scientific collaboration requires understanding the effects of organizational and work design on the scientific outcomes of citizen science projects. Initial directions for future research are identified, with the goal of developing a foundation for research on and development of cyberinfrastructure and collaborative technologies for supporting citizen science. }, url = {http://www.sci.utah.edu/cscw2010papers.html}, attachments = {https://crowston.syr.edu./sites/crowston.syr.edu/files/WigginsCSCWworkshop_0.pdf}, author = {Wiggins, Andrea and Kevin Crowston} } @conference {2009, title = {Designing Virtual Organizations for Citizen Science}, booktitle = {IFIP Working Group 8.2 OASIS workshop 2009}, year = {2009}, month = {12/2009}, address = {Phoenix, AZ}, url = {http://sprouts.aisnet.org/9-56/}, attachments = {https://crowston.syr.edu./sites/crowston.syr.edu/files/WigginsOASIS2009.pdf , https://crowston.syr.edu./sites/crowston.syr.edu/files/awigginsOASIS2009.ppt}, author = {Wiggins, Andrea and Kevin Crowston}, editor = {Uri Gal} } @proceedings {Li:2008, title = {Decision Making Paths in Self-Organizing Technology-Mediated Distributed Teams}, year = {2008}, address = {Paris, France, 14-17 December}, abstract = {This paper investigates decision making in self-organizing technology-mediated distributed teams. This context provides an opportunity to examine how the use of technological support to span temporal and organizational discontinuities affects decision-making processes. 258 software-modification decision episodes were collected from the public emailing lists of six Free/Libre Open Source Software (FLOSS) projects over a span of five years. Six decision-making paths were identified as 1) short-cut decision-making path; 2) implicit-development decision-making path; 3) implicit-evaluation decision-making path; 4) normative decision-making path; 5) dynamic decision-making path; and 6) interrupted/delayed decision-making path. We suggest that the nature of the tasks and the affordances of the technology used reduce the need for explicit coordination, resulting in a broader range of possible decision processes than are observed in face-to-face groups.}, attachments = {https://crowston.syr.edu./sites/crowston.syr.edu/files/Decision\%20Making\%20Paths\%20in\%20Self\%20Organizing\%20Technology\%20Mediated\%20Dist.pdf}, author = {Li, Qing and Heckman, Robert and Kevin Crowston and James Howison and Allen, Eileen E. and Eseryel, U. Yeliz} } @proceedings {, title = {Depicting What Really Matters: Using Episodes to Study Latent Phenomenon}, year = {2008}, abstract = {Research on processes and practices around information systems is often best conducted in naturalistic setting. To conduct valid and reliable research in such settings, researchers must find ways to reliably bound the phenomenon in which they are interested. In this paper we propose that researchers use episodes{\textemdash}events or processes occurring over a specified period of time{\textemdash}to isolate that which interests them from the vast set of related human behavior. The paper discusses the nature of episodes in the literature and suggests particular research settings in which episodes can be useful. The paper describes a three stage methodology to identify episodes for systematic data collection and analysis. The paper presents an example study using episodes to study group learning process in distributed groups.}, keywords = {Learning, Process}, attachments = {https://crowston.syr.edu./sites/crowston.syr.edu/files/Depicting\%20What\%20Really\%20Matters\%20Using\%20Episodes\%20to\%20Study\%20Latent\%20Phe.pdf}, author = {Annabi, Hala and Kevin Crowston and Heckman, Robert} } @conference {Watson-Manheim:2007a, title = {Distance Matters, Except When It Doesn{\textquoteright}t: Discontinuities in Virtual Work}, booktitle = {Academy of Management Conference}, year = {2007}, address = {Philadelphia, PA}, abstract = {Virtual work has become an increasingly common phenomenon in today{\textquoteright}s organizations. Substantial and continuing changes in organizational processes and IT infrastructure have increased the pace and intensity of working across traditionally impermeable boundaries, enabling diverse forms of collaboration. However, our understanding of the consequences and implications of virtual work still lags and research results have been contradictory. We suggest that some of these inconsistencies have been because the boundaries that characterize virtual work-time, space, culture, organization, and so forth-are objective demarcations that are not uniformly problematic. It is only when those working in virtual settings perceive a boundary to be a discontinuity that it hinders work processes. We develop a model of virtual work that differentiates between boundaries and discontinuities, which helps account for contradictory findings. By examining the process of virtual work in more detail, we can uncover issues that are the underlying cause of problems, rather than deal with the more obvious symptoms that can mask underlying problem. Our model has implications both for research and for those working in virtual environments. }, keywords = {Discontinuity, Virtuality}, attachments = {https://crowston.syr.edu./sites/crowston.syr.edu/files/13412.pdf}, author = {Mary Beth Watson-Manheim and Chudoba, Katherine M. and Kevin Crowston} } @proceedings {Crowston:2003c, title = {Defining Open Source Software project success}, year = {2003}, address = {Seattle, WA, December}, abstract = {Information systems success is one of the most widely used dependent variables in information systems research. In this paper, we identify a range of measures that can be used to assess the success of Open Source Software (OSS) projects. We identify measures based on a review of the literature, a consideration of the OSS development process and an analysis of the opinions of OSS developers. For each measure, we provide examples of how they might be used in a study of OSS development.}, keywords = {FLOSS}, attachments = {https://crowston.syr.edu./sites/crowston.syr.edu/files/icis2003success.pdf}, author = {Kevin Crowston and Annabi, Hala and James Howison} } @article {Watson-Manheim:2002a, title = {Discontinuities and continuities: A new way to understand virtual work}, journal = {Information, Technology \& People}, volume = {15}, number = {3}, year = {2002}, pages = {191{\textendash}209}, abstract = {"Virtual{\textquoteright}{\textquoteright} is a potent buzzword, freely applied to many situations, with many meanings. In this exploratory study, we develop a more precise understanding of "virtual{\textquoteright}{\textquoteright} to describe changing work environments. Specifically, we propose a framework to classify work environments based on the type of discontinuities involved. Discontinuities are gaps or a lack of coherence in aspects of work. The framework allows us to compare research across different topics and work settings. We use the framework to classify 75 published articles on virtual work environments or earlier, related research streams. We observed that many studies were simultaneously addressing existing or emerging continuities, factors or strategies for overcoming discontinuities. The focus of "virtual{\textquoteright}{\textquoteright} is on changes in the work environment; however, our analysis suggests the need to be equally aware of factors that have not changed and which may become more critical with the introduction of discontinuities.}, keywords = {Discontinuity, Virtuality}, doi = {10.1108/09593840210444746}, attachments = {https://crowston.syr.edu./sites/crowston.syr.edu/files/itp2002.pdf}, author = {Mary Beth Watson-Manheim and Chudoba, Katherine M. and Kevin Crowston} } @conference {Chudoba:2002, title = {Discontinuities and Post-Bureaucratic Organizing: A Framework and Research Propositions}, booktitle = {Academy of Management Conference}, year = {2002}, address = {Denver, CO}, abstract = {Some organization theorists argue that prevailing theories of organizing are based primarily on detailed observations of bureaucratic work, but that the nature of work today is sufficiently different to bring the applicability of these theories into question. They note in particular the growth in white collar and service workers, the rise of “contingent work” and the increased application of computer technologies. While various kinds of non-bureaucratic work such as project-based work and non-traditional employees such as contractors is not new, the pace and intensity of work enabled by communications technologies suggest that a postbureaucratic theory of work may be appropriate. Indeed, “virtual” has become shorthand for novel work arrangements involving telecommuters or virtual organizations. We propose that an increasingly important characteristic of non-bureaucratic work settings is the fact that the workers in these environments face discontinuities, that is, a lack of coherence in aspects of their work, such as the work setting, task, relations with other workers or managers. In this paper, we argue that studying how discontinuities have been managed in a variety of settings may offer insights into the nature of post-bureaucratic work. The first contribution of this paper is a framework that illuminates commonalties in diverse non-bureaucratic work settings and thus suggests how the existing research in these settings might be integrated. Based on this framework, we then consider how various existing theories might be integrated into a theory of post-bureaucratic organizing. We conclude by proposing a set of questions for future research based on this perspective.}, keywords = {Discontinuity, Virtuality}, attachments = {https://crowston.syr.edu./sites/crowston.syr.edu/files/academy2002.pdf}, author = {Chudoba, Katherine M. and Kevin Crowston and Mary Beth Watson-Manheim} }