Networking

Abstract

The thesis is a collection of five papers that approach networking from the perspective of “the New Informatics.” Networking is a kind of working practice that typically is concerned with knowledge or service work, carried out by empowered employees who are engaged in highly co-operative efforts, and who rely extensively on the use of information technology (IT). “The New Informatics” is an artificial zcience that explores the possibilities for inventing new ways of using IT with the objective to produce elaborated ideas that seem likely to be applicable in several situations. The overall research question asked in the thesis is: What are the possibilities to improve existing and invent new ideas of CSCW technology use in networking? The research question is approached from an individual and a group perspective. These perspectives are investigated in two empirical studies exploring the work in a dispersed and mobile IT support group and a clinical trial management group. The field studies involved approximately 400 hours of ethnography and 20 qualitative interviews. One overall result is the empirically based analysis and confirmation of networking as an emerging kind of work. Exploring the research question from a group perspective revealed three overall results. First, networking individuals involved in close and continuous interaction with their personal networks and customers, experience difficulties in sharing experiences and co-ordinating work with the group they formally belong to. A second result is the design, implementation, evaluation, and detailed discussion of the potential use of the DARWIN application to resolve the conflict between networking and group work. The third result is MOSCOW, a development framework that in taking a unified approach to CSCW technology use seeks to reflect the condition of group work in networking. Investigating the research question from the perspective of the individual revealed two overall results. First, the study of the use of IT as an integrated part of clinical trial work shed light on novel problems. A second result is the exploration and development of the Collaboration Interface prototype, which is an attempt to unify the experiences from the fieldwork with theoretical claims in CSCW, to approach one of the obstacles explored in the field study: how to launch CSCW sessions appropriately.