My research is focused on investigating how people share, evaluate and integrate diverse types of information, in both formal and informal environments.
I am a Co-Investigator on The Origin, History, and Distribution of Water and its Relation to Life in the Universe, a 5-year grant awarded to the University of Hawaii NASA Astrobiology Institute, where I work with scientists from a wide range of disciplines studying life beyond Earth. In collaboration with Kim Binsted, also of the UH ICS Department, I am developing the Astrobiology Integrative Research Framework (AIRFrame) component. Based on XML standards, AIRFrame will:
* Relate the work of astrobiology researchers from diverse disciplines both conceptually (by subject) and functionally (by researcher, hypothesis, mission, research questions, NASA goals, etc.)
* Allow Web-browsable concept-map type visualizations of these relationships for researchers, students and the public
* Encourage collaboration by allowing researchers to identify those in other fields who are working on similar questions
* Create a persistent framework for the interdisciplinary education of future astrobiology researchers
In informal information environments, the Answerbag question answering community is my primary testbed. Answerbag is built around a “one question—multiple answers” architecture, allowing users to see the range of diverse answers on a single page, ranked by user ratings and enhanced by comment threads around each answer. The collected answer pages serve as boundary objects, or common spaces in which novices and experts can share opinions, allowing users to integrate the ideas of a wide range of contributors. My research addresses questions of how online community members produce, evaluate and synthesize diverse content, virtual social capital, online identity and aggregate peer authority.
Both threads of my research build on my past work with collaborative digital library development projects, where scientists and professionals confronted many of the same challenges while attempting to integrate diverse collections of information, and the work of people with diverse expertise.
Some other projects I've worked on:
Alexandria Digital Earth Prototype (ADEPT), design and evaluation of a digital library of geospatial resources for undergraduate education (UCLA Department of Information Studies, 2000-2003)
NatureBib, a database of plants and animals found in Pacific Area national parks (U.S. National Park Service, 1998)