Using technology to enhance research practice: analysing the use of ICT and e-science by academic researchers

Conference item

This paper will discuss the relationship between disciplinary differences and the adoption of a wide range of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) at a mid-sized, regional university at the end of 2007. Disciplinary differences have been shown to affect the adoption and use of ICTs across higher education, in e-learning, publication and collaborative writing. An analysis of US data from 1999 painted a more mixed picture of the effects of disciplinary differences on the use of e-mail and websites to communicate with students. The data presented here suggests that academic researchers use a wide variety of methods to communicate and collaborate with colleagues and that the choice of method varies significantly across faculty. In addition to this the use of wikis and blogs appears to be strongly related to the faculty in which a researcher is based. This might be due to substantially different cultural norms and values which might favour the adoption of one tool over another. The implications of this future research practice are discussed.

Authors: Pearce, N

• Publication status: Not published
• Peer review status: Not peer reviewed
• Language: English
• Keywords: ICT; e-Research; Web 2.0; disciplinary differences; e-Science