Phase One of this study, comprised of Chapters Two through Five, constructs an
objective reality of the collaboratory based on the holdings of the library. Published
collaboratory research reflects the relative equality of contribution to, and inherent
interdisciplinarity of, the collaboratory environment. Chapter Two explores two of the
collaboratory's three key documents, neither of which was published or widely distributed,
but both of which are frequently cited. Wulf's (1988) White Paper provides the
philosophical foundation of the collaboratory and identifies the disciplines that need to
participate in and the focus of needed research for the collaboratory to develop.
Lederberg and Uncapher's (1989) report provides the intellectual foundation for the
collaboratory and identifies the topics and approaches of research needed. The
collaboratory literature (n=86) is defined as those publications made available through
the intermediation of the library, retrieved using the search term
"collaboratory," and accessed during skilled library research. The collaboratory
literature represents only those documents highly pertinent to the collaboratory, is
recognized to exclude a substantial relevant literature, and does not represent the total
literature of either criterion. The literature spans the first ten years of the
collaboratory (1988-1998),
and is recognized of insufficient number to support rigorous statistical analysis.
Therefore, taxonomic classifications and descriptive statistical techniques using counts,
frequencies, trend analysis, and various coanalyses are used for taxono-bibliometric
analysis of the literature.
In Chapter Three, two taxonomies are constructed and analysis of the documentary
evidence of the collaboratory is undertaken. The first taxonomy is based on Wulf's (1988)
research disciplines and focus, and the second on Haddow's (1997) article types. Chapter
Three identifies and confirms Wulf's assumption of relative equality of contribution to,
and interdisciplinarity of the collaboratory environment.
In Chapter Four, a taxonomy based on Lederberg and Uncapher's research topics and
approaches is constructed and used individually, in tandem, and in triangulation with the
Wulf and the Haddow taxonomies to reanalyze the collaboratory literature. Chapter Four
confirms as practiced principles the assumptions of relative equality of contribution to,
and inherent interdisciplinarity of, the collaboratory environment, and identifies
twenty-two Theory-Type Research articles for closer analysis.
Chapter Five relies on synoptic description to probe the twenty-two Theory-Type
Research articles for an emergent theory of the collaboratory environment. Common themes
of interdependence, sharing, fair and equal exchange, openness, and preservation of the
individual within the collaboratory environment are identified, and a theory that the
collaboratory is an harmonious, ungendered, intellectual information environment is put
forth.
Phase Two of this study creates a subjective reality of the collaboratory during
prolonged immersion in the online environment, develops criteria for inclusion as a
collaboratory, and presents four descriptive studies. Phase Three creates an
intersubjective reality of the collaboratory via a Delphi among collaboratory pioneers to
determine the "rules of the road" for the collaboratory and identify skills
collaboratory pioneers value in prospective participants. The study concludes with a
philosophical intertwining of the objective, subjective, and intersubjective realities of
the collaboratory and suggests areas of additional research.
