LCHC: the evolution of a hybrid collaboratory

Abstract

ABSTRACTThe focus of this paper is the role and context of electronic mail and Internet use in the evolution of the Laboratory of Comparative Human Cognition (LCHC) at UC San Diego, a long-lived international and interdisciplinary social science collaboratory or “laboratory without walls”. I analyse excerpts from LCHC publications, presentations, project reports, websites and archival materials to show how LCHC performs the functions of two collaboratory subtypes (Distributed Research Centre and Virtual Community of Practice) identified in the Science of Collaboratories literature. Strategic use of information and computing technology (ICT) amplified members’ inclusive practices predating the Internet to support collocated and distant researchers. Furthermore, becoming a hybrid collaboratory using ICT to support said practices was crucial to LCHC's sustainability. While prior research on collaboratories identified taxonomies (success factors, main functions), this paper explores connections between collaboratory technology use, membership and sustainability. LCHC members’ adaptation to organisational challenges over several decades may be of interest to scholars of early uses of the Internet to support international and interdisciplinary work.