TY - JOUR T1 - Gravity Spy: Lessons Learned and a Path Forward JF - European Physical Journal Plus Y1 - 2024 A1 - Michael Zevin A1 - Corey B. Jackson A1 - Zoheyr Doctor A1 - Yunan Wu A1 - Carsten Østerlund A1 - L. Clifton Johnson A1 - Christopher P. L. Berry A1 - Kevin Crowston A1 - Scott B. Coughlin A1 - Vicky Kalogera A1 - Sharan Banagiri A1 - Derek Davis A1 - Jane Glanzer A1 - Renzhi Hao A1 - Aggelos K. Katsaggelos A1 - Oli Patane A1 - Jennifer Sanchez A1 - Joshua Smith A1 - Siddharth Soni A1 - Laura Trouille A1 - Marissa Walker A1 - Irina Aerith A1 - Wilfried Domainko A1 - Victor-Georges Baranowski A1 - Gerhard Niklasch A1 - Barbara Téglás AB -

The Gravity Spy project aims to uncover the origins of glitches, transient bursts of noise that hamper analysis of gravitational-wave data. By using both the work of citizen-science volunteers and machine-learning algorithms, the Gravity Spy project enables reliable classification of glitches. Citizen science and machine learning are intrinsically coupled within the Gravity Spy framework, with machine-learning classifications providing a rapid first-pass classification of the dataset and enabling tiered volunteer training, and volunteer-based classifications verifying the machine classifications, bolstering the machine-learning training set and identifying new morphological classes of glitches. These classifications are now routinely used in studies characterizing the performance of the LIGO gravitational-wave detectors. Providing the volunteers with a training framework that teaches them to classify a wide range of glitches, as well as additional tools to aid their investigations of interesting glitches, empowers them to make discoveries of new classes of glitches. This demonstrates that, when giving suitable support, volunteers can go beyond simple classification tasks to identify new features in data at a level comparable to domain experts. The Gravity Spy project is now providing volunteers with more complicated data that includes auxiliary monitors of the detector to identify the root cause of glitches.

VL - 139 ER - TY - JOUR T1 - Data quality up to the third observing run of Advanced LIGO: Gravity Spy glitch classifications JF - Classical and Quantum Gravity Y1 - 2023 A1 - Glanzer, J A1 - Banagiri, S A1 - Coughlin, S B A1 - Soni, S A1 - Zevin, M A1 - Berry, C P L A1 - Patane, O A1 - Bahaadini, S A1 - Rohani, N A1 - Crowston, K A1 - Østerlund, C KW - FOS: Physical sciences KW - General Relativity and Quantum Cosmology (gr-qc) KW - Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysics (astro-ph.IM) VL - 40 IS - 6 ER - TY - ICOMM T1 - A decade of surveys on attitudes to data sharing highlights three factors for achieving open science Y1 - 2023 A1 - Joshua Borycz A1 - Alison Specht A1 - Kevin Crowston JF - LSE Impact of Social Science UR - 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/ IS - 22 August ER - TY - JOUR T1 - Perceived benefits of open data are improving but scientists still lack resources, skills, and rewards JF - Humanities and Social Sciences Communications Y1 - 2023 A1 - Borycz, Joshua A1 - Olendorf, Robert A1 - Specht, Alison A1 - Grant, Bruce A1 - Crowston, Kevin A1 - Tenopir, Carol A1 - Allard, Suzie A1 - Rice, Natalie M. A1 - Hu, Rachael A1 - Sandusky, Robert J. VL - 10 IS - 1 ER - TY - ICOMM T1 - Surveys Provide Insight Into Three Factors That Encourage Open Data and Science Y1 - 2023 A1 - Joshua Borycz A1 - Alison Specht A1 - Kevin Crowston JF - Social Science Space UR - https://www.socialsciencespace.com/2023/09/surveys-provide-insight-into-three-factors-that-encourage-open-data-and-science/ ER - TY - JOUR T1 - Assessment, Usability, and Sociocultural Impacts of DataONE: A Global Research Data Cyberinfrastructure Initiative JF - International Journal of Digital Curation Y1 - 2021 A1 - Robert J. Sandusky A1 - Suzie Allard A1 - Lynn Baird A1 - Leah Cannon A1 - Kevin Crowston A1 - Amy Forrester A1 - Bruce Grant A1 - Rachael Hu A1 - Robert Olendorf A1 - Danielle Pollock A1 - Alison Specht A1 - Carol Tenopir A1 - Rachel Volentine AB -

DataONE, funded from 2009-2019 by the U.S. National Science Foundation, is an early example of a large-scale project that built both a cyberinfrastructure and culture of data discovery, sharing, and reuse. DataONE used a Working Group model, where a diverse group of participants collaborated on targeted research and development activities to achieve broader project goals. This article summarizes the work carried out by two of DataONE’s working groups: Usability & Assessment (2009-2019) and Sociocultural Issues (2009-2014). The activities of these working groups provide a unique longitudinal look at how scientists, librarians, and other key stakeholders engaged in convergence research to identify and analyze practices around research data management through the development of boundary objects, an iterative assessment program, and reflection. Members of the working groups disseminated their findings widely in papers, presentations, and datasets, reaching international audiences through publications in 25 different journals and presentations to over 5,000 people at interdisciplinary venues. The working groups helped inform the DataONE cyberinfrastructure and influenced the evolving data management landscape. By studying working groups over time, the paper also presents lessons learned about the working group model for global large-scale projects that bring together participants from multiple disciplines and communities in convergence research.

VL - 16 IS - 1 ER - TY - JOUR T1 - Discovering features in gravitational-wave data through detector characterization, citizen science and machine learning JF - Classical and Quantum Gravity Y1 - 2021 A1 - S Soni A1 - C P L Berry A1 - S B Coughlin A1 - M Harandi A1 - C B Jackson A1 - K Crowston A1 - C Østerlund A1 - O Patane A1 - A K Katsaggelos A1 - L Trouille A1 - V-G Baranowski A1 - W F Domainko A1 - K Kaminski A1 - M A Lobato Rodriguez A1 - U Marciniak A1 - P Nauta A1 - G Niklasch A1 - R R Rote A1 - B Téglás A1 - C Unsworth A1 - C Zhang VL - 38 IS - 19 ER - TY - JOUR T1 - Examining Open Innovation in Science (OIS): What Open Innovation can and cannot offer the science of science JF - Innovation: Organization & Management Y1 - 2021 A1 - Susanne Beck A1 - Marcel LaFlamme A1 - Carsten Bergenholtz A1 - Marcel Bogers A1 - Tiare-Maria Brasseur A1 - Marie-Louise Conradsen A1 - Kevin Crowston A1 - Diletta Di Marco A1 - Agnes Effert A1 - Despoina Filiou A1 - Lars Frederiksen A1 - Thomas Gillier A1 - Marc Gruber A1 - Carolin Haeussler A1 - Karin Hoisl A1 - Olga Kokshagina A1 - Maria-Theresa Norn A1 - Marion Poetz A1 - Gernot Pruschak A1 - Laia Pujol Priego A1 - Agnieszka Radziwon A1 - Alexander Ruser A1 - Henry Sauermann A1 - Sonali Shah A1 - Julia Suess-Reyes A1 - Christopher L. Tucci A1 - Philipp Tuertscher A1 - Jane Bjørn Vedel A1 - Roberto Verganti A1 - Jonathan Wareham A1 - Sunny Mosangzi Xu AB -

Scholars across disciplines increasingly hear calls for more open and collaborative approaches to scientific research. The concept of Open Innovation in Science (OIS) provides a framework that integrates dispersed research efforts aiming to understand the antecedents, contingencies, and consequences of applying open and collaborative research practices. While the OIS framework has already been taken up by science of science scholars, its conceptual underpinnings require further specification. In this essay, we critically examine the OIS concept and bring to light two key aspects: 1) how OIS builds upon Open Innovation (OI) research by adopting its attention to boundary-crossing knowledge flows and by adapting other concepts developed and researched in OI to the science context as exemplified by two OIS cases in the area of research funding; 2) how OIS conceptualises knowledge flows across boundaries. While OI typically focuses on well-defined organizational boundaries, we argue that blurry and even invisible boundaries between communities of practice may more strongly constrain flows of knowledge related to openness and collaboration in science. Given the uptake of this concept, this essay brings needed clarity to the meaning of OIS, which has no particular normative orientation toward a close coupling between science and industry. We end by outlining the essay’s contributions to OI and the science of science, as well as to science practitioners.

ER - TY - RPRT T1 - Imagine All the People: Citizen Science, Artificial Intelligence, and Computational Research Y1 - 2021 A1 - Lea A. Shanley A1 - Lucy Fortson A1 - Tanya Berger-Wolf A1 - Kevin Crowston A1 - Pietro Michelucci AB -

Machine learning, artificial intelligence, and deep learning have advanced significantly over the past decade. Nonetheless, humans possess unique abilities such as creativity, intuition, context and abstraction, analytic problem solving, and detecting unusual events. To successfully tackle pressing scientific and societal challenges, we need the complementary capabilities of both humans and machines. The Federal Government could accelerate its priorities on multiple fronts through judicious integration of citizen science and crowdsourcing with artificial intelligence (AI), Internet of Things (IoT), and cloud strategies.

JF - A Computing Community Consortium (CCC) Quadrennial Paper PB - Computing Community Consortium (CCC) CY - Washington, DC UR - https://cra.org/ccc/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/03/CCC-TransitionPaperImagine-All-the-People.pdf ER - TY - Generic T1 - Impacts of the Use of Machine Learning on Work Design T2 - 8th International Conference on Human-Agent Interaction Y1 - 2020 A1 - Kevin Crowston A1 - Bolici, Francesco KW - artificial intelligence KW - automation KW - Coordination KW - machine learning KW - work design AB -

The increased pervasiveness of technological advancements in automation makes it urgent to address the question of how work is changing in response. Focusing on applications of machine learning (ML) to automate information tasks, we draw on a simple framework for identifying the impacts of an automated system on a task that suggests 3 patterns for the use of ML—decision support, blended decision making and complete automation. In this paper, we extend this framework by considering how automation of one task might have implications for interdependent tasks and how automation applies to coordination mechanisms.

JF - 8th International Conference on Human-Agent Interaction PB - ACM CY - Virtual Event, NSW, Australia SN - 978-1-4503-8054-6/20/11 ER - TY - JOUR T1 - Knowledge Tracing to Model Learning in Online Citizen Science Projects JF - IEEE Transactions on Learning Technologies Y1 - 2020 A1 - Kevin Crowston A1 - Carsten Østerlund A1 - Tae Kyoung Lee A1 - Corey Brian Jackson A1 - Mahboobeh Harandi A1 - Sarah Allen A1 - Sara Bahaadini A1 - Scott Coughlin A1 - Aggelos Katsaggelos A1 - Shane Larson A1 - Neda Rohani A1 - Joshua Smith A1 - Laura Trouille A1 - Michael Zevin AB -

We present the design of a citizen science system that uses machine learning to guide the presentation of image classification tasks to newcomers to help them more quickly learn how to do the task while still contributing to the work of the project. A Bayesian model for tracking volunteer learning for training with tasks with uncertain outcomes is presented and fit to data from 12,986 volunteer contributors. The model can be used both to estimate the ability of volunteers and to decide the classification of an image. A simulation of the model applied to volunteer promotion and image retirement suggests that the model requires fewer classifications than the current system.

VL - 13 ER - TY - JOUR T1 - Teaching Citizen Scientists to Categorize Glitches using Machine-Learning-Guided Training JF - Computers in Human Behavior Y1 - 2020 A1 - Corey Jackson A1 - Carsten Østerlund A1 - Kevin Crowston A1 - Mahboobeh Harandi A1 - Sarah Allen A1 - Sara Bahaadini A1 - Scott Coughlin A1 - Vicky Kalogera A1 - Aggelos Katsaggelos A1 - Shane Larson A1 - Neda Rohani A1 - Joshua Smith A1 - Laura Trouille A1 - Michael Zevin AB -

Training users in online communities is important for making high performing contributors. However, several conundrums exists in choosing the most effective approaches to training users. For example, if it takes time to learn to do the task correctly, then the initial contributions may not be of high enough quality to be useful. We conducted an online field experiment where we recruited users (N = 386) in a web-based citizen-science project to evaluate the two training approaches. In one training regime, users received one-time training and were asked to learn and apply twenty classes to the data. In the other approach, users were gradually exposed to classes of data that were selected by trained machine learning algorithms as being members of particular classes. The results of our analysis revealed that the gradual training produced “high performing contributors”. In our comparison of the treatment and control groups we found users who experienced gradual training performed significantly better on the task (an average accuracy of 90% vs. 54%), contributed more work (an average of 228 vs. 121 classifications), and were retained in the project for a longer period of time (an average of 2.5 vs. 2 sessions). The results suggests online production communities seeking to train newcomers would benefit from training regimes that gradually introduce them to the work of the project using real tasks.

VL - 105 ER - TY - JOUR T1 - Classifying the unknown: Discovering novel gravitational-wave detector glitches using similarity learning JF - Physical Review D Y1 - 2019 A1 - Scott Coughlin A1 - Sara Bahaadini A1 - Neda Rohani A1 - Michael Zevin A1 - Patane, Oli A1 - Mahboobeh Harandi A1 - Corey Brian Jackson A1 - Noroozi, V. A1 - Sarah Allen A1 - Areeda, J. A1 - Coughlin, M. A1 - Ruiz, P. A1 - Berry, C. P. L. A1 - Kevin Crowston A1 - Aggelos Katsaggelos A1 - Andrew Lundgren A1 - Carsten Østerlund A1 - Joshua Smith A1 - Laura Trouille A1 - Vicky Kalogera AB -

The observation of gravitational waves from compact binary coalescences by LIGO and Virgo has begun a new era in astronomy. A critical challenge in making detections is determining whether loud transient features in the data are caused by gravitational waves or by instrumental or environmental sources. The citizen-science project Gravity Spy has been demonstrated as an efficient infrastructure for classifying known types of noise transients (glitches) through a combination of data analysis performed by both citizen volunteers and machine learning. We present the next iteration of this project, using similarity indices to empower citizen scientists to create large data sets of unknown transients, which can then be used to facilitate supervised machine-learning characterization. This new evolution aims to alleviate a persistent challenge that plagues both citizen-science and instrumental detector work: the ability to build large samples of relatively rare events. Using two families of transient noise that appeared unexpectedly during LIGO's second observing run, we demonstrate the impact that the similarity indices could have had on finding these new glitch types in the Gravity Spy program.

VL - 99 IS - 8 ER - TY - Generic T1 - Impacts of machine learning on work T2 - Proceedings of the 52nd Hawai'i International Conference on System Sciences (HICSS-52) Y1 - 2019 A1 - Kevin Crowston A1 - Bolici, Francesco KW - artificial intelligence KW - automation KW - machine learning KW - work design AB -

The increased pervasiveness of technological advancements in automation makes it urgent to address the question of how work is changing in response. Focusing on applications of machine learning (ML) that automate information tasks, we present a simple framework for identifying the impacts of an automated system on a task. From an analysis of popular press articles about ML, we develop 3 patterns for the use of ML--decision support, blended decision making and complete automation--with implications for the kinds of tasks and systems. We further consider how automation of one task might have implications for other interdependent tasks. Our main conclusion is that designers have a range of options for systems and that automation of tasks is not the same as automation of work.

JF - Proceedings of the 52nd Hawai'i International Conference on System Sciences (HICSS-52) CY - Wailea, HI UR - http://hdl.handle.net/10125/60031 ER - TY - JOUR T1 - Gravity Spy: Integrating Advanced LIGO Detector Characterization, Machine Learning, and Citizen Science JF - Classical and Quantum Gravity Y1 - 2017 A1 - Michael Zevin A1 - Scott Coughlin A1 - Sara Bahaadini A1 - Emre Besler A1 - Neda Rohani A1 - Sarah Allen A1 - Miriam Cabero A1 - Kevin Crowston A1 - Aggelos Katsaggelos A1 - Shane Larson A1 - Tae Kyoung Lee A1 - Chris Lintott A1 - Tyson Littenberg A1 - Andrew Lundgren A1 - Carsten Oesterlund A1 - Joshua Smith A1 - Laura Trouille A1 - Vicky Kalogera VL - 34 ER - TY - JOUR T1 - A pragmatic approach to managing enterprise IT infrastructures in the era of consumerization and individualization of IT JF - International Journal of Information Management Y1 - 2017 A1 - Mohammad Hossein Jarrahi A1 - Kevin Crowston A1 - Bondar, Kateryna A1 - Bernhard Katzy AB - Historically, organizations owned and controlled the information technologies (IT) their employees used: telephone, inter-office memos, mainframes and timesharing systems. Today, employees often want to use their own IT: not only personal smart phones and tablets, but also Twitter and Google Docs. This new trend can diversify and extend enterprise IT infrastructure, but leaves organizations struggling with technology uses that they cannot control. With the emergence of new technological paradigms in consumer markets and organizations, the management of IT infrastructure requires a more pragmatic and holistic approach that goes beyond simple technological considerations. In this paper, we present a three-part framework—technology, people and practice—that helps managers understand and mitigate these tensions. Drawing on two empirical studies of European executives and consultants form multiple management consulting firms, the paper further outlines changes taking place along the three aspects of the framework. It concludes by discussing three distinct approaches to the management of organizational IT infrastructure (passive, reactive, and pragmatic), and by offering greater insight regarding a pragmatic approach. VL - 37 IS - 6 ER - TY - Generic T1 - Work features to support stigmergic coordination in distributed teams Y1 - 2017 A1 - Kevin Crowston A1 - James Howison A1 - Bolici, Francesco A1 - Carsten Østerlund KW - Coordination KW - Stigmergy AB -

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.

JF - Academy of Management Annual Meeting ER - TY - RPRT T1 - Manifesto on Engineering Academic Software (Dagstuhl Perspectives Workshop 16252) Y1 - 2016 A1 - Alice Allen A1 - Cecilia Aragon A1 - Christoph Becker A1 - Jeffrey Carver A1 - Andrei Chiş A1 - Benoit Combemale A1 - Mike Croucher A1 - Kevin Crowston A1 - Daniel Garijo A1 - Ashish Gehani A1 - Carole Goble A1 - Robert Haines A1 - Robert Hirschfeld A1 - James Howison A1 - Kathryn Huff A1 - Caroline Jay A1 - Daniel S. Katz A1 - Claude Kirchner A1 - Katie Kuksenok A1 - Ralf Lämmel A1 - Oscar Nierstrasz A1 - Matt Turk A1 - van Nieuwpoort, Rob A1 - Matthew Vaughn A1 - Jurgen Vinju AB - Software is often a critical component of scientific research. It can be a component of the academic research methods used to produce research results, or it may itself be an academic research result. Software, however, has rarely been considered to be a citable artifact in its own right. With the advent of open-source software, artifact evaluation committees of conferences, and journals that include source code and running systems as part of the published artifacts, we foresee that software will increasingly be recognized as part of the academic process. The quality and sustainability of this software must be accounted for, both a priori and a posteriori. The Dagstuhl Perspectives Workshop on “Engineering Academic Software” has examined the strengths, weaknesses, risks, and opportunities of academic software engineering. A key outcome of the workshop is this Dagstuhl Manifesto, serving as a roadmap towards future professional software engineering for software-based research instruments and other software produced and used in an academic context. The manifesto is expressed in terms of a series of actionable “pledges” that users and developers of academic research software can take as concrete steps towards improving the environment in which that software is produced. JF - Dagstuhl Manifestos PB - Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz Center for Informatics CY - Wadern, Germany VL - 6 IS - 1 ER - TY - JOUR T1 - Stigmergic coordination in FLOSS development teams: Integrating explicit and implicit mechanisms JF - Cognitive Systems Research Y1 - 2016 A1 - Bolici, Francesco A1 - James Howison A1 - Kevin Crowston KW - Coordination KW - Stigmergy VL - 38 ER - TY - CHAP T1 - Open Source Technology Development T2 - Handbook of Science and Technology Convergence Y1 - 2015 A1 - Kevin Crowston ED - Bainbridge, William Sims ED - Roco, Mihail C. JF - Handbook of Science and Technology Convergence PB - Springer International Publishing CY - Cham SN - 978-3-319-04033-2 ER - TY - CONF T1 - Forgotten island: A story-driven citizen science adventure T2 - CHI '13 Extended Abstracts on Human Factors in Computing Systems Y1 - 2013 A1 - Nathan Prestopnik A1 - Souid, Dania AB -

Forgotten Island, a citizen science video game, is part of an NSF-funded design science research project, Citizen Sort. It is a mechanism to help life scientists classify photographs of living things and a research tool to help HCI and information science scholars explore storytelling, engagement, and the quality of citizenproduced data in the context of citizen science.

JF - CHI '13 Extended Abstracts on Human Factors in Computing Systems PB - ACM Press CY - Paris, France SN - 9781450319522 UR - http://delivery.acm.org/10.1145/2480000/2479484/p2643-prestopnik.pdf JO - CHI EA '13 ER - TY - Generic T1 - Amazon Mechanical Turk: A research tool for organizations and information systems scholars T2 - IFIP Working Group 8.2 Conference: Shaping the Future of ICT Research: Methods and Approaches Y1 - 2012 A1 - Kevin Crowston ED - Anol Bhattacherjee ED - Brian Fitzgerald JF - IFIP Working Group 8.2 Conference: Shaping the Future of ICT Research: Methods and Approaches T3 - IFIP AICT PB - Springer CY - Tampa, FL VL - 389 SN - 978-3-642-35141-9 ER - TY - CONF T1 - Work as coordination and coordination as work: A process perspective on FLOSS development projects T2 - Third International Symposium on Process Organization Studies Y1 - 2011 A1 - Kevin Crowston A1 - Carsten Østerlund A1 - James Howison A1 - Bolici, Francesco JF - Third International Symposium on Process Organization Studies CY - Corfu, Greece UR - http://www.process-symposium.com/ ER - TY - Generic T1 - The under-appreciated role of stigmergic coordination in software development Y1 - 2010 A1 - Bolici, Francesco A1 - James Howison A1 - Kevin Crowston KW - Coordination KW - FLOSS KW - Stigmergy AB -

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.

ER - TY - CONF T1 - Coordination without discussion? Socio-technical congruence and Stigmergy in Free and Open Source Software projects T2 - 2nd International Workshop on Socio-Technical Congruence, ICSE Y1 - 2009 A1 - Bolici, Francesco A1 - James Howison A1 - Kevin Crowston KW - Coordination KW - FLOSS JF - 2nd International Workshop on Socio-Technical Congruence, ICSE CY - Vancouver, Canada UR - http://docs.google.com/View?id=dhncd3jd_405fzt842gv ER - TY - Generic T1 - Group Maintenance Behaviours of Core and Peripheral Members of Free/Libre Open Source Software Teams T2 - Proceedings of The Fifth International Conference on Open Source Systems (OSS) Y1 - 2009 A1 - Scialdone, Michael J. A1 - Heckman, Robert A1 - Kevin Crowston ED - Boldyreff, Cornelia ED - Kevin Crowston ED - Lundell, Björn ED - Wasserman, Tony KW - FLOSS KW - Group Maintenance AB - Group Maintenance is pro-social, discretionary, and relation-building behavior that occurs between members of groups in order to maintain reciprocal trust and cooperation. This paper considers how Free/libre Open Source Software (FLOSS) teams demonstrate such behaviors within the context of e-mail, as this is the primary medium through which such teams communicate. We compare group maintenance behaviors between both core and peripheral members of these groups, as well as behaviors between a group that remains producing software today and one which has since dissolved. Our findings indicate that negative politeness tactics (those which show respect for the autonomy of others) may be the most instrumental group maintenance behaviors that contribute to a FLOSS group‘s ability to survive and continue software production. JF - Proceedings of The Fifth International Conference on Open Source Systems (OSS) CY - Skövde, Sweden, 3-6 June ER - TY - Generic T1 - Heartbeat: Measuring Active User Base and Potential User Interest in FLOSS Projects T2 - Proceedings of The Fifth International Conference on Open Source Systems (OSS) Y1 - 2009 A1 - Wiggins, Andrea A1 - James Howison A1 - Kevin Crowston ED - Boldyreff, Cornelia ED - Kevin Crowston ED - Lundell, Björn ED - Wasserman, Tony AB - This paper presents a novel method and algorithm to measure the size of an open source project’s user base and the level of potential user interest that it generates. Previously unavailable download data at a daily resolution confirms hypothesized patterns related to release cycles. In short, regular users rapidly download the software after a new release giving a way to measure the active user base. In contrast, potential new users download the application independently of the release cycle, and the daily download figures tend to plateau at this rate when a release has not been made for some time. An algorithm for estimating these measures from download time series is demonstrated and the measures are examined over time in two open source projects. JF - Proceedings of The Fifth International Conference on Open Source Systems (OSS) PB - Springer Boston CY - Skövde, Sweden, 3-6 June VL - 299 SN - 978-3-642-02031-5 ER - TY - ABST T1 - ICIS 2008 Panel Report: Open Access Publishing to Nurture the Sprouts of Knowledge and the Future of Information Systems Research Y1 - 2009 A1 - Avital, Michel A1 - Björk, Bo-Christer A1 - Boland, Richard J A1 - Kevin Crowston A1 - Lyytinen, Kalle A1 - Majchrzak, Ann KW - Information System AB -

The advent of the Internet and the subsequent adoption of Open Access schemata are changing the nature of the scholarly discourse. In response, we seek to stimulate a debate about the role and desired forms of Open Access publishing in the context of the Information System (IS) discipline. We explore the potential contribution of an Open Access perspective on publishing IS-related research and also discuss the roles of traditional journals and their prospects in the contexts of our observations. In particular, we focus on the new possibilities of publishing work-in-progress and its potential benefit for knowledge dissemination including the prospects of turning today's limited scholarly exchange into mass collaboration. We illustrate our vision with a working prototype of an Open Access disciplinary repository entitled Sprouts (http://sprouts.aisnet.org). Our aim is to inspire new thinking about the role of Open Access publishing, the potential of its application to disciplinary repositories of emergent work, its anticipated repercussions on our work practices, and its long-term implication for the impact of IS scholarship and the well-being of our community at large. We call for participation and further action in realizing a global repository of IS research in progress. This paper builds on a panel on Open Access that was presented at the 2008 International Conference on Information Systems (ICIS), held in Paris, France, in December 2008.

JF - Communications of the Association for Information Systems VL - 24 ER - TY - CONF T1 - Effective work practices for software engineering T2 - Proceedings of the 2004 ACM workshop on Interdisciplinary software engineering research (WISER '04) Y1 - 2004 A1 - Kevin Crowston A1 - Annabi, Hala A1 - James Howison A1 - Masango, Chengetai KW - FLOSS AB - We review the literature on Free/Libre Open Source Software (FLOSS) development and on software development, distributed work and teams more generally to develop a theoretical model to explain the performance of FLOSS teams. The proposed model is based on Hackman’s [34] model of effectiveness of work teams, with coordination theory [52] and collective mind [79] to extend Hackman’s model by elaborating team practices relevant to effectiveness in software development. We propose a set of propositions to guide further research. JF - Proceedings of the 2004 ACM workshop on Interdisciplinary software engineering research (WISER '04) PB - ACM Press CY - Newport Beach, CA, USA SN - 1581139888 JO - WISER '04 ER - TY - JOUR T1 - Tools for inventing organizations: Toward a handbook of organizational processes JF - Management Science Y1 - 1999 A1 - Malone, Thomas W. A1 - Kevin Crowston A1 - Lee, Jintae A1 - Pentland, Brian A1 - Dellarocas, Chrysanthos A1 - Wyner, George A1 - Quimby, John A1 - Osborn, Charley A1 - Bernstein, Avi A1 - Herman, George A1 - Klein, Mark A1 - O'Donnell, Elissa KW - Coordination KW - Handbook KW - Process AB - This paper describes a novel theoretical and empirical approach to tasks such as business process redesign and knowledge management. The project involves collecting examples of how different organizations perform similar processes, and organizing these examples in an on-line "process handbook." The handbook is intended to help people: (1) redesign existing organizational processes, (2) invent new organizational processes (especially ones that take advantage of information technology), and (3) share ideas about organizational practices. A key element of the work is an approach to analyzing processes at various levels of abstraction, thus capturing both the details of specific processes as well as the "deep structure" of their similarities. This approach uses ideas from computer science about inheritance and from coordination theory about managing dependencies. A primary advantage of the approach is that it allows people to explicitly represent the similarities (and differences) among related processes and to easily find or generate sensible alternatives for how a given process could be performed. In addition to describing this new approach, the work reported here demonstrates the basic technical feasibility of these ideas and gives one example of their use in a field study. VL - 45 IS - 3 N1 - Reprinted in Malone, T. W., Crowston, K. & Herman, G. (Eds.) Organizing Business Knowledge: The MIT Process Handbook. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 2003. Reprinted in Malone, T. W., Laubacher, R. & Scott Morton, M. S. (Eds.). Inventing the Organizations of the 21st Century. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 2003. ER - TY - Generic T1 - How do experienced Information Lens users use rules? T2 - Proceedings of the Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (SIGHI) Y1 - 1989 A1 - Mackay, Wendy E. A1 - Malone, Thomas W. A1 - Kevin Crowston A1 - Rao, Ramana A1 - Rosenblitt, David A1 - Card, Stuart K. ED - Bice, Ken ED - Lewis, Clayton KW - Computer-Mediated Communication AB - The Information Lens provides electronic mail users with the ability to write rules that automatically sort, select, and filter their messages. This paper describes preliminary results from an eighteen-month investigation of the use of this system at a corporate test site. We report the experiences of 13 voluntary users who have each had at least three months experience with the most recent version of the system. We found that: 1. People without significant computer experience are able to create and use rules effectively. 2. Useful rules can be created based on the fields present in all messages (e.g., searching for distribution lists or one's own name in the address fields or for character strings in the subject field), even without any special message templates. 3. People use rules both to prioritize messages before reading them and to sort messages into folders for storage after reading them. 4. People use delete rules primarily to filter out messages from low-priority distribution lists, not to delete personal messages to themselves. JF - Proceedings of the Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (SIGHI) CY - Austin, TX N1 - Proceedings Reprinted as ACM SIGCHI Bulletin, Volume 20, Issue SI. ER -