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The purpose of this paper is to gain a better understanding of the collaborative information seeking (CIS) behaviors of students conducting authentic group work projects, and the features of a collaborative search system that are most useful to these students.

An exploratory study was conducted with 41 participants in ten groups working on an in class, for-credit group project assignment utilizing a collaborative search system. Quantitative and qualitative data were gathered on the everyday search practices of students over the course of the group project, along with quality scores for the sources found.

Results showed that student behavior during their CIS related to the quality of their search outcomes, as the effective and efficient searchers found better quality sources. Students’ pre-task attitudes and experiences toward group work also relate to the quality of their search outcomes. Student feedback demonstrated the importance of making collaborative search tools convenient, lightweight, and easy to use.

These findings may be useful to researchers designing and studying the effectiveness of collaborative search tools, and to instructors planning to incorporate group projects into their classes.

In this paper, the authors document the authentic behaviors and attitudes of students conducting group projects in an classroom setting, and offer specific recommendations for developers of collaborative search systems. These findings provide greater context for CIS research into the collaborative search behaviors of students conducting group work projects.

This paper seeks to propose a conceptual framework to promote value‐enhanced collaborative working (VECW) for a small management advisory firm.

The research methodology was qualitative. It involved a comprehensive review of literature leading to a better understanding of collaborative working requirements in a small firm context and the barriers to derive value from collaborative working. Initially, exploratory observations helped to identify issues of collaborative working in the case study organisation. Following the exploratory observations, a detailed case study was undertaken. The emphasis was on semi‐structured interviews under a guiding questionnaire along with field observations to produce a conceptual framework for VECW.

The research enables an understanding of the apparent failure of a particular small and medium‐sized enterprise (SME) management advisory firm (case study organisation) to derive value from its collaborative working model. The study identifies major issues that affect the long‐term relationships of the organisation with their collaborating stakeholders and recognises the common understanding required by the stakeholders working in collaboration. Further, in order to solve these issues, the research develops a conceptual VECW framework within the current context. The major components of the conceptual VECW framework consist of process, people and tools factors to give a structured approach to agree common goals, share risks and rewards, provide faster and clearer communications and information transparency between collaborating stakeholders.

Owing to the nature of the study (case study), current paper is based on the findings of a single SME management advisory firm. Hence, further research for organisations of similar size and providing similar services would be required to investigate the robustness of the approach.

Most studies on collaboration are concentrated on either larger organisations or product organisations. Here, the attempt is to understand the collaboration among small firms providing professional services. The research paper is an important milestone on an ongoing research to produce a detailed framework eventually to be presented to the industry for evaluation to ensure its contribution to the industry as well as increasing the knowledge on the subject.

Process modeling is a complex organizational task that requires many iterations and communication between the business analysts and the domain specialists. The challenge of process modeling is exacerbated, when the process of modeling has to be performed in a cross‐organizational, distributed environment. This paper aims to suggest a three‐dimensional (3D) environment for collaborative process modeling, using virtual world technology.

The paper suggests a new collaborative process modeling approach based on virtual world technology. It describes the design of an innovative prototype collaborative process modeling approach, implemented as a 3D Business Process Modeling Notation (BPMN) modeling environment in Second Life. We use a case study to evaluate the suggested approach.

Based on a case study application, the paper shows that our approach increases user empowerment and adds significantly to the collaboration and consensual development of process models even when the relevant stakeholders are geographically dispersed.

The paper presents design work and a case study. More research is needed to more thoroughly evaluate the presented approach in a variety of real‐life process modeling settings.

The research outcomes as design artifacts are directly available and applicable by business process management professionals and can be used by business, system and process analysts in real‐world practice.

This research is the first reported attempt to develop a process modeling approach on the basis of virtual world technology. It describes a novel and innovative 3D BPMN modeling environment in Second Life.

The purpose of this paper is to understand the current practices of tool and die development, particularly in the Malaysian context with respect to collaborative manufacturing (CM). It is important to gauge the presents of CM, which is one of the key elements of Industrial Revolution 4.0 (IR 4.0) so that significant initiatives could be taken. The findings are also expected to address the issues pertaining limited information related to collaborative tool and die development in Malaysia.

A survey was carried out among the key players in the local tool and die industry, covering issues such as operational structure in practice, internal collaboration, external collaboration and application of collaborative technology.

The results revealed that although practitioners realise that there are systems and available technological support, unfortunately, it has not been embraced due to poor communication, lack of commitment and cooperation from employees and business owners. In addition, industry players also need to be aware of the benefits concerning CM for a sustainable future.

Many industry players are rather reluctant to participate in surveys and tend to reserve their opinions regarding their operational practices. Lack of awareness among the industry players contributed to the poor participation of the survey and based on the feedback, some of the industry players are not well-informed regarding the latest developments in the industry.

The data and feedback gained through the research offer the perspective for the current state of CM particularly the tool and die industry in Malaysia. This may be a preliminary study with limited data but the value of the information is significant for further in-depth study and policy alignment towards enhancing the tool and die industry which is rarely given attention to. Understanding the current state of CM particularly in the tool and die development would be critical for the expansion of IR 4.0 concerning this field in Malaysia.

The purpose of this paper is twofold. First, to study collaborative research in general and identify its characteristics, advantages and disadvantages by conglomerating various views and ideas from the literature and from expert opinion research. Second, to determine the importance of and attitudes toward the usage of information technology (IT) in collaborative research projects.

Initially, an extensive literature review and ten in‐depth interviews have been conducted to determine the identifying characteristics of collaborative research. Consequently, a questionnaire is used as the major data collection tool to assess academicians' opinions about collaborative research and attitudes toward IT utilization in such studies.

Collaborative research has been most distinctively defined with the concepts of teamwork, knowledge and experience sharing and direct and continuous communication. Increased visibility and recognition of such projects and enhanced access to various resources have also been pinpointed as important advantages. Academicians have shown a highly positive tendency to utilize IT and adopt IT tools that will enhance convenience and communication and contribute to the conduction of various basic and support processes of collaborative research projects.

The major implication of this research is the general need for more collaborative research projects in academia and the necessity to develop and employ various IT tools that can be used in such studies. Similar studies can be done with larger sample sizes or across various contexts, for comparative purposes, to overcome the limitations of the study.

In this paper, the dispersed literature about collaborative research has been assembled and a unified scope has been drawn around the concept. Attitudes toward collaborative research and the potential value of utilizing IT in such projects, which has been studied at an inadequate level in the literature, have been evaluated comprehensively from the perspective of academicians.

The purpose of this paper is to profile various types of Web-based tools to facilitate research collaboration within and across institutions.

Various Web-based tools were tested by the author. Additionally, tutorial videos and guides were reviewed.

There are various free and low-cost tools available to assist in the collaborative research process, and librarians are well-positioned to facilitate their usage.

Librarians and researchers will learn about various types of tools available at free or at low cost to fulfill needs of the collaborative research process.

As the tools highlighted are either free or of low cost, they are also valuable to start-ups and can be recommended for entrepreneurs.

As the realm of Web-based collaborative tools continues to evolve, the options must be continually revisited and reviewed for currency.

This study aims to examine users’ experiences and perceptions associated with the use of two wiki variants in the context of collaborative learning and knowledge management in higher education.

Participants included two groups of postgraduate students from a university in Hong Kong who used MediaWiki (n=21) and TWiki (n=16) in completing course requirements. Using a multiple case study approach and a mixed methods research design, data logs on the wiki platforms were downloaded and the contents were analysed. Students’ perceptions were examined through a survey.

The findings indicate that both wikis were regarded as suitable tools for group projects, and that they improved group collaboration and work quality. Both wikis were also viewed as enabling tools for knowledge construction and sharing.

This study provides insights that may inform the decisions of educators who are considering the use of wikis in their courses as a platform to enhance collaborative learning and knowledge management.

Previous research has shown that wikis can be effectively used in education. However there are a number of wiki variants and it may be difficult to identify which variant would be the best choice. There is a dearth of research comparing the effectiveness of different types of wikis. This study compares two wiki variants on a number of outcomes which may provide some insights to teachers who are in the process of selecting an appropriate wiki for teaching and learning.

This study investigates the role of collaborative spaces as organizational support for internal innovation through cross-functional teams and for open innovation with external stakeholders. In particular, the study focuses on collaborative spaces as tools for multiplex (i.e., simultaneous internal and external boundary management in innovation projects).

The authors conducted a qualitative study in a multi-divisional organization that set up in its headquarters a collaborative space for collaborative product development. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews and participant observations.

Findings highlight that the relation between expectations and experiences about the collaborative space impact on employees' ability to perform boundary work inside and outside the organization. In addition to the collaborative space's affording role for expectations about hands-on collaborative innovation (space as laboratory), the study also highlights a set of collaboration constraints. These latter are generated by perceived boundary configurations (i.e. degree of boundary permeability and infrastructure in internal and external collaborations) and by discrepancies between expectations (space as laboratory) and actual collaboration experiences in the space (i.e. space as maze, cloister, showcase and silo). We show that space-generated constraints slow down internal and external boundary work for innovation and generate a trade-off between them.

Using the process-based perspective of boundary work, the paper connects studies on cross-functional teaming and open innovation through the concept of “multiplex boundary work.” It also contributes to the literature on boundary work by showing the challenges of using collaborative spaces as organizational support tools for multiplex boundary spanning.

In this paper the aim is to present Debate Dashboard, an online collaborative platform designed to support distributed knowledge management and decision making. The platform integrates an argument mapping tool with visual widgets with the objective of enhancing collective sense‐making and mutual understanding as well as to compensate for the costs of mediated communication in virtual collaborative environments.

The design of Debate Dashboard is based on the theory of common ground according to which participants involved in a conversation build mutual understanding thanks to the exchange of different types of feedback. Using the concept of grounding cost, the authors identified several features of the Dashboard supposed to favour mutual understanding and knowledge sharing. Such features have been implemented through six visual widgets selected through a benchmarking of currently available visualization tools.

The paper discusses the limitations and advantages of online argumentation to support online discussions and presents a review of current visualization tools. The design of a new platform able to integrate online argumentation and visualization technologies is described and it is argued that Debate Dashboard will improve online collaboration in many respects especially in terms of supporting the construction of shared knowledge representations for geographically distributed collaborative teams.

First, the work adds to the debate on the development of online argumentation platforms by offering an alternative theoretical perspective based on language and conversational studies. Second, it proposes for the first time to integrate argumentation and visualization technologies in the same tool to create an augmented collaborative platform able to overcome the limitations of both traditional online collaboration technologies, such as forums and wikis, as well as the criticalities associated with the use of argumentation technologies.

Effective collaboration between mental health services (MHS) and criminal justice services (CJS) impacts on mental illness and reduces reoffending rates. This paper proposes the change laboratory model (CLM) of workplace transformation as a potential tool to support interagency collaborative practice that has potential to complement current integration tools used in this context. The purpose of this paper is to focus specifically on the theoretical dimension of the model: the cultural historical activity systems theory (CHAT) as a theoretical perspective that offers a framework with which interactions between the MHS and CJS can be better understood.

The structure and rationale behind future piloting of the change laboratory in this context is made. Then CHAT theory is briefly introduced and then its utility illustrated in the presentation of the findings of a qualitative study of leaders from MHS and CJS that explored their perspectives of the characteristics of collaborative working between MHS and prison/probation services in a Norwegian context and using CHAT as an analytical framework.

Leaders suggested that interactions between the two services, within the Norwegian system at least, are most salient when professionals engage in the reintegration and rehabilitation of the offender. Achieving effective communication within the boundary space between the two systems is a focus for professionals engaging in interagency working and this is mediated by a range of integration tools such as coordination plans and interagency meetings. Formalised interagency agreements and informal, unspoken norms of interaction governed this activity. Key challenges limiting the collaboration between the two systems included resource limitations, logistical issues and differences in professional judgments on referral and confidentiality.

Current tools with which MHS/CJS interactions are understood and managed, fail to make explicit the dimensions and nature of these complex interactions. The CLM, and CHAT as its theoretical underpinning, has been highly successful internationally and in other clinical contexts, as a means of exploring and developing interagency working. It is a new idea in prison development, none as yet being applied to the challenges facing the MHS and CJS. This paper addresses this by illustrating the use of CHAT as an analytical framework with which to articulate MHS/CJS collaborations and the potential of the CLM more widely to address current challenges in a context specific, bottom-up and fluid approach to interagency working in this environment.