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 - CONF T1 - Project archetypes: A blessing and a curse for AI development T2 - International Conference on Information Systems (ICIS) Y1 - 2022 A1 - Mateusz Dolata A1 - Kevin Crowston A1 - Gerhard Schwabe AB -

Software projects rely on what we propose to call project archetypes, i.e., pre-existing mental images of how projects work. They guide distribution of responsibilities, planning, or expectations. However, with the technological progress, project archetypes may become outdated, ineffective, or counterproductive by impeding more adequate approaches. Understanding archetypes of software development projects is core to leverage their potential. The development of applications using machine learning and artificial intelligence provides a context in which existing archetypes might outdate and need to be questioned, adapted, or replaced. We analyzed 36 interviews from 21 projects between IBM Watson and client companies and identified four project archetypes members initially used to understand the projects. We then derive a new project archetype, cognitive computing project, from the interviews. It can inform future development projects based on AI-development platforms. Project leaders should pro-actively manage project archetypes while researchers should investigate what guides initial understandings of software projects.

JF - International Conference on Information Systems (ICIS) CY - Copenhagen, Denmark UR - https://aisel.aisnet.org/icis2022/is_design/is_design/6 ER - TY - JOUR T1 - Participation in Community-Based Free/Libre Open Source Software Development Tasks: The Impact of Task Characteristics JF - Internet Research Y1 - 2021 A1 - Kangning Wei A1 - Eseryel, U. Yeliz A1 - Kevin Crowston AB -

Prior research on participation in FLOSS development has focused mainly on factors at the individual and/or project levels. In this research, we focus on task characteristics and explore their impacts on participation in FLOSS development tasks. Analyzing tasks from five projects in two categories, we find differences in participation related to different task triggers and task topics. Further, our results suggest the mediating role of number of participants in the relationship between task characteristics and the number of messages and the moderating role of project type in the relationships between task characteristics and the number of participants.

VL - 31 IS - 4 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 - JOUR T1 - Pursuing best performance in research data management by using the Capability Maturity Model and rubrics JF - Journal of eScience Librarianship Y1 - 2017 A1 - Jian Qin A1 - Kevin Crowston A1 - Arden Kirkland AB - OBJECTIVE: To support assessment and improvement of research data management (RDM) practices to increase the reliability of RDM, this paper describes the development of a capability maturity model (CMM) for RDM. Improved RDM is now a critical need, but low awareness of—or indeed lack of—data management is still common among research projects. METHODS: A CMM includes four key elements: key practices, key process areas, maturity levels and and generic processes. These elements were determined for RDM by a review and synthesis of the published literature on and best practices for RDM. RESULTS: The RDM CMM includes five chapters describing five key process areas for research data management: 1) data management in general; 2) data acquisition, processing and quality assurance; 3) data description and representation; 4) data dissemination; and 5) repository services and preservation. In each chapter, key data management practices are organized into four groups according to the CMM’s generic processes: commitment to perform, ability to perform, tasks performed and process assessment (combining the original measurement and verification). For each of practice, the document provides a rubric to help projects or organizations assess their level of maturity in RDM. CONCLUSIONS: By helping organizations identify areas of strength and weakness, the RDM CMM provides guidance on where effort is needed to improve the practice of RDM. VL - 6 IS - 2 ER - TY - JOUR T1 - Perceived Discontinuities and Continuities in Transdisciplinary Scientific Working Groups JF - Science of the Total Environment Y1 - 2015 A1 - Kevin Crowston A1 - Alison Specht A1 - Carol Hoover A1 - Chudoba, Katherine M. A1 - Mary Beth Watson-Manheim VL - 534 ER - TY - JOUR T1 - “Personas” to Support Development of Cyberinfrastructure for Scientific Data Sharing JF - Journal of e-Science Librarianship Y1 - 2015 A1 - Kevin Crowston AB - Objective: To ensure that cyberinfrastructure for sharing scientific data is useful, system developers need to understand what scientists and other intended users do with data as well as the attitudes and beliefs that shape that use. This paper introduces personas—detailed descriptions of an “archetypical user of a system”—as an approach for capturing and sharing knowledge about potential system users. Setting: Personas were developed to support development of the ‘DataONE’ (Data Observation Network for Earth) project, which has developed and deployed a sustainable long-term data preservation and access network to ensure the preservation and access to multi-scale, multi-discipline, and multi-national environmental and biological science data (https://www.dataone.org/what-dataone) (Michener et al. 2012). Methods: Personas for DataONE were developed based on data from surveys and interviews done by members of DataONE working groups along with sources such as usage scenarios for DataONE and the Data Conservancy project and the Purdue Data Curation Profiles (Witt et al. 2009). Results: A total of 11 personas were developed: five for various kinds of research scientists (e.g., at different career stages and using different types of data); a science data librarian; and five for secondary roles. Conclusion: Personas were found to be useful for helping developers and other project members to understand users and their needs. The developed DataONE personas may be useful for others trying to develop systems or programs for scientists involved in data sharing. VL - 4 UR - http://escholarship.umassmed.edu/jeslib/vol4/iss2/2/ IS - 2 ER - TY - Generic T1 - Planet Hunters and Seafloor Explorers: Legitimate Peripheral Participation Through Practice Proxies in Online Citizen Science T2 - 17th ACM Conference on Computer Supported Cooperative Work and Social Computing (CSCW 2014) Y1 - 2014 A1 - Gabriel Mugar A1 - Carsten Østerlund A1 - Katie DeVries Hassman A1 - Kevin Crowston A1 - Corey Brian Jackson AB -

Making the traces of user participation in primary activities visible in online crowdsourced initiatives has been shown to help new users understand the norms of participation but participants do not always have access to others’ work. Through a combination of virtual and trace ethnography we explore how new users in two online citizen science projects engage other traces of activity as a way of compensating. Merging the theory of legitimate peripheral participation with Erickson and Kellogg’s theory of social translucence we introduce the concept of practice proxies; traces of user activities in online environment that act as resources to orient newcomers towards the norms of practice. Our findings suggest that newcomers seek out practice proxies in the social features of the projects that highlight contextualized and specific characteristics of primary work practice.

JF - 17th ACM Conference on Computer Supported Cooperative Work and Social Computing (CSCW 2014) ER - TY - JOUR T1 - Perceived discontinuities and constructed continuities in virtual work JF - Information Systems Journal Y1 - 2012 A1 - Mary Beth Watson-Manheim A1 - Chudoba, Katherine M. A1 - Kevin Crowston VL - 22 IS - 1 ER - TY - UNPB T1 - Poster: Socially intelligent computing for coding of qualitative data Y1 - 2012 A1 - Kevin Crowston A1 - McCracken, Nancy PB - Syracuse University School of Information Studies CY - Syracuse, NY ER - TY - UNPB T1 - Poster: Socially intelligent computing to support citizen science Y1 - 2012 A1 - Kevin Crowston PB - Syracuse University School of Information Studies CY - Syracuse, NY ER - TY - CONF T1 - Purposeful gaming & socio-computational systems: A citizen science design case T2 - Group '12 Conference Y1 - 2012 A1 - Nathan Prestopnik A1 - Kevin Crowston JF - Group '12 Conference CY - Sanibel Island, FL, USA ER - TY - JOUR T1 - Participation in ICT-Enabled Meetings JF - Journal of Organizational and End User Computing Y1 - 2011 A1 - Chudoba, Katherine M. A1 - Mary Beth Watson-Manheim A1 - Kevin Crowston A1 - Lee, Chei Sian KW - Computer-Mediated Communication KW - Information Technology AB - Meetings are a common occurrence in contemporary organizations, and almost everyone shares an understanding of what a meeting is and what participation in a meeting looks like. Yet our exploratory study at Intel, an innovative global technology company, suggests that meetings are evolving beyond this familiar perspective as the pervasive use of information and communication technologies (ICTs) changes work practices associated with meetings. Drawing on data gathered from interviews prompted by entries in the employees' electronic calendar system, we examine the multiple ways in which meetings build and reflect work in the organization and derive propositions to guide future research. Specifically, we identified four aspects of meetings that reflect work in the 21st century: meetings are integral to work in team-centered organizations, tension between group and personal objectives, discontinuities, and ICT support for fragmented work environment. VL - 23 IS - 2 ER - TY - CHAP T1 - Problems in the use-centered development of a taxonomy of web genres T2 - Genres on the Web: Computational Models and Empirical Studies Y1 - 2010 A1 - Kevin Crowston A1 - Kwaśnik, Barbara H. A1 - Rubleske, Joe ED - Mehler, Alexander ED - Sharoff, Serge ED - Santini, Marina JF - Genres on the Web: Computational Models and Empirical Studies T3 - Series: Text, Speech and Language Technology (Series Editors: Ide, Nancy & Véronis, Jean) PB - Springer CY - New York VL - 42 SN - 978-90-481-9177-2 ER - TY - Generic T1 - A proposed data and analysis archive for research on Free and Open Source Software and its development (Poster) Y1 - 2007 A1 - James Howison A1 - Squire, Megan A1 - Kevin Crowston KW - FLOSS JF - eSocial Science Conference CY - Ann Arbor, MI ER - TY - Generic T1 - A proposed data and analysis archive for research on Free and Open Source Software and its development (Poster) Y1 - 2007 A1 - James Howison A1 - Squire, Megan A1 - Kevin Crowston KW - FLOSS ER - TY - CONF T1 - The paradox of discontinuities and continuities: Toward a more comprehensive view of virtuality T2 - Academy of Management Conference Y1 - 2004 A1 - Mary Beth Watson-Manheim A1 - Chudoba, Katherine M. A1 - Kevin Crowston KW - Discontinuity KW - Virtuality AB - Understanding the fundamental dynamics in virtual work environments is a challenge for organizational researchers. We propose that virtuality is, paradoxically, generally composed of factors that simultaneously simplify and complicate the work environment. We use the metaphorical construction of continuities and discontinuities to explore this phenomenon, and show that considering boundaries as creating discontinuities in work environments enhances our understanding in two ways. First, the language of discontinuities allows us to employ the device of paradox to explore the underlying dynamics of virtuality. This device makes it easier to examine the more complex reality of virtual work. Second, consideration of discontinuities draws attention to possible problems encountered in virtual work environments and ways that individuals and teams may compensate for the tension and differences implicit in discontinuities; in other words, paying attention to the seemingly logical antithesis of discontinuities, or continuities. By taking a process perspective, one can focus on the behavioral component of work, which in turn, has a subjective component. An example from a field study of a global virtual team is examined to illustrate the usefulness of the discontinuities/continuities framework. JF - Academy of Management Conference CY - New Orleans, LA ER - TY - CONF T1 - The perils and pitfalls of mining SourceForge T2 - Workshop on Mining Software Repositories, 26th International Conference on Software Engineering Y1 - 2004 A1 - James Howison A1 - Kevin Crowston AB - SourceForge provides abundant accessible data from Open Source Software development projects, making it an attractive data source for software engineering research. However it is not without theoretical peril and practical pitfalls. In this paper, we outline practical lessons gained from our spidering, parsing and analysis of SourceForge data. SourceForge can be practically difficult: projects are defunct, data from earlier systems has been dumped in and crucial data is hosted outside SourceForge, dirtying the retrieved data. These practical issues play directly into analysis: decisions made in screening projects can reduce the range of variables, skewing data and biasing correlations. SourceForge is theoretically perilous: because it provides easily accessible data items for each project, tempting researchers to fit their theories to these limited data. Worse, few are plausible dependent variables. Studies are thus likely to test the same hypotheses even if they start from different theoretical bases. To avoid these problems, analyses of SourceForge projects should go beyond project level variables and carefully consider which variables are used for screening projects and which for testing hypotheses. JF - Workshop on Mining Software Repositories, 26th International Conference on Software Engineering CY - Edinburgh, Scotland ER - TY - Generic T1 - Process as theory in information systems research T2 - Proceedings of the IFIP TC8 WG8. 2 International Working Conference on the Social and Organizational Perspective on Research and Practice in Information Technology Y1 - 2000 A1 - Kevin Crowston KW - Process AB -

Many researchers have searched for evidence of organizational improvements from the huge sums invested in ICT. Unfortunately, evidence for such a pay back is spotty at best (e.g., Brynjolfsson 1994; Brynjolfsson and Hitt 1998; Meyer and Gupta 1994). On the other hand, at the individual level, computing and communication technologies are increasingly merging into work in ways that make it impossible to separate the two (e.g., Bridges 1995; Gasser 1986; Zuboff 198). This problem—usually referred to as the productivity paradox—is an example of a more pervasive issue: linking phenomena and theories from different levels of analysis. Organizational processes provide a bridge between individual, organizational, and even industrial level impacts of information and communication technologies (ICT). Viewing a process as the way organizations accomplish desired goals and transform inputs into outputs makes the link to organizational outcomes. Viewing processes as ordered collections of activities makes the link to individual work, since individual actors perform these activities. As well, process theories can be a useful milieu for theoretical interplay between interpretive and positivist research paradigms. A process-centered research framework is illustrated with an analysis of the process of seating and serving customers in two restaurants. The analysis illustrates how changes in individual work affect the process and thus the organizational outcomes and how processes provide a theoretical bridge between work at different levels of analysis.

JF - Proceedings of the IFIP TC8 WG8. 2 International Working Conference on the Social and Organizational Perspective on Research and Practice in Information Technology PB - Kluwer Academic Publishers CY - Aalborg, Denmark, 9–11 June N1 -

Reprinted in Malone, T. W., Crowston, K. & Herman, G. (Eds.) Organizing Business Knowledge: The MIT Process Handbook (pp. 177–190). Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 2003.

ER - TY - Generic T1 - Price Behavior in a Market with Internet Buyer's Agents (Research in progress paper) T2 - Proceedings of the International Conference on Information Systems (ICIS) Y1 - 1998 A1 - Kevin Crowston KW - Electronic Commerce KW - Internet Agent JF - Proceedings of the International Conference on Information Systems (ICIS) CY - Atlanta, GA, USA, December 14–17 ER -