TY - GEN
T1 - Citizen science system assemblages
T2 - 2012 iConference: Culture, Design, Society, iConference 2012
AU - Prestopnik, Nathan R.
AU - Crowston, Kevin
PY - 2012
Y1 - 2012
N2 - We explore the nature of technologies to support citizen science, a method of inquiry that leverages the power of crowds to collect and analyze scientific data. We evaluate these technologies as system assemblages, collections of interrelated functionalities that support specific activities in pursuit of overall project goals. The notion of system assemblages helps us to explain how different citizen science platforms may be comprised of widely varying functionalities, yet still support relatively similar goals. Related concepts of build vs. buy and web satisfiers vs. web motivators are used to explore how different citizen science functionalities may lead to successful project outcomes. Four detailed case studies of current citizen science projects encompassing a cross-section of varying project sizes, resource levels, technologies, and approaches to inquiry help us to answer the following research questions: 1) What do typical system assemblages for citizen science look like? 2) What factors influence the composition of a system assemblage for citizen science? 3) What effect does the assemblage composition have on scientific goals, participant support, motivation, and satisfaction? and 4) What are the design implications for the system assemblage perspective on citizen science technologies?
AB - We explore the nature of technologies to support citizen science, a method of inquiry that leverages the power of crowds to collect and analyze scientific data. We evaluate these technologies as system assemblages, collections of interrelated functionalities that support specific activities in pursuit of overall project goals. The notion of system assemblages helps us to explain how different citizen science platforms may be comprised of widely varying functionalities, yet still support relatively similar goals. Related concepts of build vs. buy and web satisfiers vs. web motivators are used to explore how different citizen science functionalities may lead to successful project outcomes. Four detailed case studies of current citizen science projects encompassing a cross-section of varying project sizes, resource levels, technologies, and approaches to inquiry help us to answer the following research questions: 1) What do typical system assemblages for citizen science look like? 2) What factors influence the composition of a system assemblage for citizen science? 3) What effect does the assemblage composition have on scientific goals, participant support, motivation, and satisfaction? and 4) What are the design implications for the system assemblage perspective on citizen science technologies?
KW - citizen science
KW - socially intelligent computing
KW - system assemblages
KW - web technology
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84857676890&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=84857676890&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1145/2132176.2132198
DO - 10.1145/2132176.2132198
M3 - Conference contribution
AN - SCOPUS:84857676890
SN - 9781450307826
T3 - ACM International Conference Proceeding Series
SP - 168
EP - 176
BT - Proceedings of the 2012 iConference
Y2 - 7 February 2012 through 10 February 2012
ER -