Track: Collaboration Systems and Technology
Minitrack: Measuring Collaborative Technologies and Processes

Collaboration technologies are seeing widespread adoption and implementation at all levels of organizations. Examples include collaborative tools and processes to support short-term, ad-hoc projects, to long-term project teams, and even large scale inter-organizational systems such as extranets and wide area networks. However, it is often difficult to determine whether a deployed system or work practice yielded the desired results. We therefore seek papers that do one or more of the following: (1) reliably and accurately measure variables that instantiate the theoretical constructs and propositions supporting implementations, (2) validate instruments to measure such constructs, (3) identify and measure experimental manipulations that impact the outcomes of collaboration initiatives, and (4) study the outcomes of implementation of collaboration technologies and processes. Papers that address these issues are encouraged to submit to this minitrack.

The focus of this minitrack is on evaluating collaborative technologies and processes, and thus is not limited to a particular form of technology. The types of collaborative technologies examined would include but are not limited to group support systems (GSS), knowledge management systems (KMS), email systems, video conferencing systems, blogs/wikis, instant messaging, virtual communities, company intranets, scheduling systems, and social software, and collaborative markets.

We invite papers taking a variety of approaches to answering the research questions presented above. Such approaches might be described as experiments or quasi-experiments, case studies, surveys, action research, psychometrics, and ethnography. For example, a researcher may wish to conduct an experiment to test the effectiveness of various interface designs or, alternatively, a research may conduct a case study or action research initiative that examines the use of collaborative technology in an actual organization. We also welcome studies that are grounded in theory and studies that use second-generation multivariate statistical techniques.

Co-chairs:
John D. Murphy (Primary Contact)
College of Information Systems and Technology
University of Nebraska at Omaha
Omaha, Nebraska USA 68182-0116
Phone: +1-402-554-2084
Email: jmurphy@mail.unomaha.edu

Alanah J. Davis
College of Information Systems and Technology
University of Nebraska at Omaha
Omaha, Nebraska USA 68182-0116
Phone: +1-402-554-2084
Email: alanahdavis@mail.unomaha.edu