*** Apologies for cross-posing ***

CALL FOR PAPERS

Workshop on Research 2.0

18 June, Manchester

(To be held in conjunction with the 4th International e-Social Science 
conference, 18-20 June 2008, http://www.ncess.ac.uk/events/conference/)

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Background
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Contemporary research challenges increasingly demand collaborative and 
cross-disciplinary methods. In recognition of this, research funders 
worldwide have, in recent years,  invested substantial resources in 
building large-scale and networked e‑Infrastructure (or Cyberinfrastructure 
as it is known in the US) and tools. These tools include virtual research 
environments (VREs) and virtual observatories. However, these Grid-based, 
heavy-weight computing infrastructures, driven as they largely have been by 
the needs of researchers requiring High Performance Computing or High 
Throughput Computing, do not necessarily address the different needs of 
scientists across the full range of research areas and disciplines. 
Consequently, what we now observe is a ‘grass roots’ led appropriation by 
these latter groups of more flexible, lightweight, easily configurable and 
rapidly deployable technologies originating from the Web sphere.

Web 2.0 promises a peer-to-peer, dynamic environment that extends beyond 
one-way presentation of information, and engages large numbers of Internet 
users to create, annotate, review, reuse, recreate, and represent the 
information publicized on the Web. Well-known Web 2.0 tools include wikis, 
blogs, folksonomies, Web feeds, websites for sharing digital objects such 
as videos, photos, slides, bookmarks, professional networking, especially 
for business contacts and job-search and various other web-based social 
networking platforms, which provide a variety of ways for users to 
interact. For the developer, Web 2.0 is characterised by a set of tools and 
technologies which facilitate rapid development of Web site functionality, 
including the creation of ‘mashups’ drawing on functionality from multiple 
sites, using a community software development model.

Participation in online, social networking activities has become highly 
popular in contemporary society. Commercial websites integrating with a 
range of Web 2.0 tools have created a new discourse, replacing the static, 
top-down nature of Web 1.0. Web 2.0 is also changing the way we do 
research. It has been envisioned that a well-designed social networking 
site can facilitate communications between scientists at different physical 
locations and in different disciplines, and can encourage them or at least 
make it easier for them to share their data and findings, and possibly 
recreate and reuse these resources. Research 2.0 is the term commonly used 
to describe the extension of Web 2.0 tools to support academic and other 
research. But do all lessons we have learnt from generic social networking 
sites apply to scientific social networking ones? Or are there any 
substantial differences between the two, given the specific needs of users 
working in scientific field?

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Format of the workshop
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This one-day workshop, which will be held in conjunction with the 4th 
International e-Social Science conference at Manchester, aims to map 
current territory of Research 2.0 (What Web 2.0 applications exist in 
research and how have they been adopted), and to identify the opportunities 
and challenges in the development and implementation of Research 2.0. It 
will consist of a number of short papers and a discussion session 
identifying promising research directions and initiating interdisciplinary 
collaboration.

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Topics of interest include (but are not limited to)
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* new Web 2.0-based technologies for facilitating scientific work
* design and evaluation methodologies for Research 2.0 sites (including new 
research methods such as virtual ethnography)
* usability and performativity issues of Research 2.0 sites
* cultural, legal and social issues around Research 2.0
* case studies on scientific use of web 2.0 tools and concepts
* how Research 2.0 shape the production of scientific knowledge (Do Web 2.0 
applications in research make a difference to existing Internet 
applications like email, content management systems or newsgroups?)
* good practice of engaging users and fostering a Research 2.0 community

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Submission Guidelines
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Participants interested in presenting a short paper should submit a 
500-word abstract to Yuwei Lin <[log in to unmask]> not later than 15 
May, 2008. All submissions will be reviewed by the workshop organisers.

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Important Dates
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Abstract submission: 15 May, 2008
Author notification: 19 May, 2008
Date of Workshop: 18 June, 2008

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Organisers
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Yuwei Lin (University of Manchester)
Rob Procter (University of Manchester)
Meik Poschen (University of Manchester)
Rachel Gibson (University of Manchester)
David De Roure (University of Southampton)

For further information please see http://www.ncess.ac.uk/events/conference/

-- 
Dr. Yuwei Lin
ESRC National Centre for e-Social Science (NCeSS)
University of Manchester
Arthur Lewis Building 2C
Manchester M13 9PL
UK
T. +44-(0)161-2751388
F. +44-(0)161-2751390
W. (work) http://www.ncess.ac.uk
W. (personal) http://www.ylin.org