Minority Institutions Astrobiology Collaborative

The Center of Excellence Information Systems at Tennessee State University is part of a collaborative with other minority universities to do research, education, and community outreach in the field of astrobiology. The purpose of forming the Minority Institution Astrobiology Collaborative (MIAC) is to bring together members to share expertise, resources, and to create an environment for faculty and students to make significant contributions to the field of astrobiology. The term “collaborative” or ‘collaboratory” was used for this to highlight the unique nature and purpose of the group. See below the interesting research that has been conducted about virtual collaboratives.

Internet Resources for Collaboratives

Collaboratory Definition

1. A “collaboratory” is a "center without walls" in which the nation’s researchers can perform their research without regard to geographical location—interacting with colleagues, accessing instrumentation, sharing data and computational resources, and accessing information in digital libraries." - William Wulf. In 1989, William Wulf, president of the National Science Foundation, coined the term “collaboratory.”

National Collaboratories: Applying Information Technology for Scientific Research.

http://www7.nationalacademies.org/cstb/pub_collaboratories.html

Washington, DC: National Academy Press. 1993.

2. A Collaboratory is defined as a place where scientists and researchers work together to solve complex interdisciplinary problems, despite geographic and organizational boundaries

Kouzes, R. T., J. D. Myers, and W. A. Wulf. “Collaboratories: Doing Science on the Internet.” IEEE Computer, Vol.29, No.8, August 1996. http://citeseer.nj.nec.com/context/318841/0

Readings about Collaboratories

National Collaboratories: Applying Information Technology for Scientific Research (1993)
http://www.nap.edu/books/0309048486/html/index.html