MOVING: A User-Centric Platform for Online Literacy Training and Learning

In this paper, we present an overview of the MOVING platform, a user-driven approach that enables young researchers, decision makers, and public administrators to use machine learning and data mining tools to search, organize, and manage large-scale information sources on the web such as scientific publications, videos of research talks, and social media. In order to provide a concise overview of the platform, we focus on its front end, which is the MOVING web application. By presenting the main components of the web application, we illustrate what functionalities and capabilities the platform offer its end-users, rather than delving into the data analysis and machine learning technologies that make these functionalities possible.

Visions of a Future Research Workplace Arising from Recent Foresight Exercises

The results of recent foresight projects reveal the impact of future ICT tools on the practice of scientific research. This paper presents several aspects of the process of building scenarios and trends of selected advanced ICT technologies. We point out the implications of emerging global expert systems (GESs) and AI-based learning platforms (AILPs). GESs will be capable of using and processing global knowledge from all available sources, such as databases, repositories, video streams, interactions with other researchers and knowledge processing units. In many scientific disciplines, the high volume, density and increasing level of interconnection of data have already exhausted the capacities of any individual researcher. Three trends may dominate the development of scientific methodology. Collective research is one possible coping strategy: Group intellectual capacity makes it possible to tackle complex problems. Recent data flow forecasts indicate that even in the few areas, which still resist ICT domination, research based on data gathered in non-ICT supported collections will soon reach its performance limits due to the ever-growing amount of knowledge to be acquired, verified, exchanged and communicated between researchers. Growing automation of research is the second option: Automated expert systems will be capable of selecting and processing knowledge to the level of a professionally edited scientific paper, with only minor human involvement. The third trend is intensive development and deployment of brain–computer interfaces (BCIs) to quickly access and process data. Specifically, GESs and AILPs can be used together with BCIs. The above approaches may eventually merge, forming a few AI-related technological scenarios, as discussed to conclude the paper.

Digital Research Infrastructure

Digital research infrastructures can be divided into four categories: large equipment, IT infrastructure, social infrastructure, and information infrastructure. Modern research institutions often employ both IT infrastructure and information infrastructure, such as databases or large-scale research data. In addition, information infrastructure depends to some extent on IT infrastructure. In this paper, we discuss the IT, information, and legal infrastructure issues that research institutions face.

The Use of Digital Tools in Scholarly Activities. Empirical Findings on the State of Digitization of Science in Germany, Focusing on Saxony

Scholars are only beginning to understand what digitization means for their work, that is, the conduct of science. Taking a broad perspective on e-science, this paper provides empirical insights about two important aspects of the digitization of science, namely the use of digital tools in scholarly activities and scholars’ perceptions of the change such use entails. The results of a German-wide survey of scholars and supplementary qualitative interviews in the years 2012 and 2013 show that the majority of scholars have adopted digital tools and that scholarly practice is affected profoundly by the use of such tools. This does not apply to web 2.0 tools, which remain a niche medium for some scholars. Small but significant differences exist between disciplines, and decisions about individual tool use are utilitarian. Further research is needed to assess the changes from a longitudinal perspective.

Designing External Knowledge Communication in a Research Network The Case of Sustainable Land Management

Designing knowledge communication with external partners is a core activity of research networks. In science, such communication has been addressed only recently and is still considered as non-academic activity. Successful communication with practitioners, that is knowledge transfer, is a crucial factor for effective research. In the age of online communication, this requires special attention and skills, for example related to social media communication. Based on our own empirical results derived from interviews, the authors identify what factors affect the communication process and how the design of communication content may be influenced.To do so, successful examples of communication with external stakeholders are presented. For the theoretical basis, science communication, knowledge communication, knowledge management, and knowledge transfer were selected and consolidated. Although the findings stem from a research network specializing in sustainable land management, they can be transferred to other academic collaborations. Our results indicate that external communication is effective when knowledge has been transferred between academics and practitioners.

Organising Academia Online

Research on organisational arrangements of scholarly networks in both e-learning and e-research is located at the intersection of different theoretical justifications and developmental contexts such as organisational theory, computer science, education science and media informatics. However, there is still a lack of research on the organisational context of e-learning arrangements and its impact on collaboration in academic communities. E-learning research shows that the integration of electronic media in scientific communities negatively impacts their effectiveness and causes conflicts within communities. Research networks however are far less investigated as there is not direct didactic focus on how to collaborate. Recent theories on organisational design, virtual organisations and governance provide concepts for organising e-collaboration more effectively. Managerial instruments such as direct control of results and behaviours need to be supplemented or even replaced by concepts of social control; typically trust and confidence become the central mechanisms for the new forms of inter- and intra-organisational coordination. This paper starts with concepts. Then, to exemplify the organisational coordination mechanisms in scholarly e-communities, the authors critically discuss and reflect on these organisational arrangements and managerial concepts for two higher education portals and one research network in Germany. The conclusion is that, just as previous research has confirmed for educational networks, governance within academic networks relies heavily on the functionality of social and communicative forms of control.

Researching Scientific Structures via Joint Authorships—The Case of Virtual 3D Modelling in the Humanities

One of the topics addressed by e-science research is the measurement of academic knowledge production based on electronic data and its relevance in defining the academic landscape. The author employs e-science methods to research cooperative authorships and scientific structures in a specific area of applied e-sciences: virtual 3D modelling in the humanities. Based on the findings, possibilities for cross-disciplinary and international cooperation are discussed. The number of international publications and average number of authors involved in each publication are lower than those found in other scientific fields. Moreover, research indicates that in the humanities, 3D modelling is relatively new and still emergent. Besides such general indications, several key players as people and institutions which interconnect groups of researchers could be identified on a structural level.

CLARIN-D: An IT-Based Research Infrastructure for the Humanities and Social Sciences

The paper discusses the idea of bridging the gap between computer sciences and the humanities by referring to an e-humanities infrastructure that provides tools and services for well-defined and frequently encountered tasks. The main goal of this infrastructure is to enable researchers in the humanities and social sciences to better exploit their potential by reusing available digital resources, and thus to increase the efficiency of e-humanities projects. CLARIN-D is an example of such a research infrastructure. The paper provides a brief overview of the basic principles and services of the CLARIN-D infrastructure, such as metadata harvesting, federated content search, and chaining Web services.

Toward Process Variability Management in Online Examination Process in German Universities: A State of the Art

In contemporary organizations, multiple variants of the same business process are often considerable. Such business process variability has caused considerable challenges, both while modeling processes and in their execution. In order to develop a new approach to managing process variants, or extend an existing one, in this research, we review the state of the art in a particular area: online examination processes. We show to what extent variability should be considered in exam processes, whether this is due to special legal restrictions and regulations, different exam frameworks, or even different technical infrastructure. This could be the foundation for developing an approach to managing process variability in the field of e-assessment. Initial findings indicate that examination processes have many similarities, but also considerable differentiation. Therefore, there an appropriate model needs to be developed in order to manage variability in e-assessment and the developed approach must then be validated in identifying faculties. This paper constitutes a first step in this direction.

Understanding e-Science—What Is It About?

Our daily life has experienced significant changes in the Internet age. The emergence of e-science is regarded as a dramatic one for science. Wikis, blogs, virtual social networks, grid computing and open access are just a brief selection of related new technologies. In order to understand the changes, it is necessary to define these aspects of e-science precisely. Right now, no generally used term or common definition of e-science exists, which limits the understanding of the true potential of the concept. Based on a well-known approach to science in terms of three dimensions—human, task and technology—the author provides a framework for understanding the concept which enables a distinctive view of its development. The concept of e-science emerged in coherence with the technological development of web 2.0 and infrastructure and has reached maturity. This is impacting on the task and human dimensions as in this context, the letter “e” means more than just electronic.