Science friction
Data, metadata, and collaboration
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 11923366 |
|---|---|
| Authors | P Edwards (0000-0001-6228-1520, University of Michigan, corresponding author), Paul N Edwards (University of Michigan), Matthew S Mayernik (0000-0002-4122-0910, University of California, Los Angeles), Archer L Batcheller (University of Michigan), G C Bowker (0000-0002-7920-0413, University of Pittsburgh), Christine L Borgman (0000-0002-9344-1029, University of California, Los Angeles) |
| Year | 2011 |
| Volume | 41 |
| Issue | 5 |
| Pages | 667-690 |
| Publication date | 2011-08-15 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Social Studies of Science (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0306-3127 • E-ISSN: 1460-3659 |
| Publisher | SAGE Publishing (PUBLISHER • US) |
| DOI | 10.1177/0306312711413314 |
| PMID | 22164720 |
| OpenAlex | W2155354890 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 178 |
| References cited | 52 |
When scientists from two or more disciplines work together on related problems, they often face what we call 'science friction'. As science becomes more data-driven, collaborative, and interdisciplinary, demand increases for interoperability among data, tools, and services. Metadata--usually viewed simply as 'data about data', describing objects such as books, journal articles, or datasets--serve key roles in interoperability. Yet we find that metadata may be a source of friction between scientific collaborators, impeding data sharing. We propose an alternative view of metadata, focusing on its role in an ephemeral process of scientific communication, rather than as an enduring outcome or product. We report examples of highly useful, yet ad hoc, incomplete, loosely structured, and mutable, descriptions of data found in our ethnographic studies of several large projects in the environmental sciences. Based on this evidence, we argue that while metadata products can be powerful resources, usually they must be supplemented with metadata processes. Metadata-as-process suggests the very large role of the ad hoc, the incomplete, and the unfinished in everyday scientific work
Data science · Data sharing · Interoperability · Metadata · Open Science · Process (computing · World Wide Web · Computer Science · Research Data Management Practices · Scientific Computing and Data Management · Semantic Web and Ontologies
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| Unique citing works | 178 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 12,71 |
| Citation span | 2012 - 2026 (15) |
| Citation velocity | current |
| Highly cited | Yes |
| Citation types | Neutral: 173 |