Computer Supported Collaborative Research

Abstract: It is suggested that a new area of CSCR (Computer Supported Collaborative Research) is distinguished from CSCW (Computer Supported Collaborative Work) and CSCL (Computer Supported Collaborative Learning) and that the demarcation between the three areas could do with greater clarification and prescription. Although the areas of Human Computer Interaction (HCI), CSCW, and CSCL are now relatively well established, the related field of Computer Supported Collaborative Research (CSCR) is new and little understood. An analysis of the principles and issues behind CSCR is undertaken with a view to determining precisely its nature and scope and to delineate it clearly from CSCW and CSCL. This determination is such that it is generally applicable to the building, design and evaluation of collaborative research environments. A particular instance of the CSCR domain is then examined in order to determine the requirements of a collaborative research environment for students and supervisors (CRESS).