N.B : This is a set of topics , and this one is related to the previous and next one ( soon ) .

Introduction :
Solo Research it not a prime type of medical research or many scientific researches , Most of these researches depend of team . so

” it’s a team work , that need a collaboration of the members ( group ) to establish something ( target ) , in certain time . ”

That simple definition Rings a bell in my mind that i wrote a definition of group-ware similar to that one :
“so Groupware: it’s about Individuals (People => Team), those who communicate have a shared goal (Project) with same interests , willing to do it through tasks (missions) in certain time (time line).” ( link )

So here is a lot of elements that we should consider when :

  • Working -on- a research .
  • Working -on- a project .
  • Working -with- a Team .
  • Attached -to- certain time -in- work and -for- production .

Groupware as an Example to Collaborative Software :

Here i Want to consider the Groupware as an example to collaborative software , which will ease on the new to web2.0 to reach the concept of e-Collaboration .

Elements of Groupware :

Groupware as it suggest from it’s name a Group software , it developed for multi users capabilities , and interaction , and as i listed before in the definition of group ware it consider the main basic elements for production as :

  1. Individuals .
  2. Time .
  3. Tasks .
  4. Production .

So in simple few steps :

  1. What should I do ? : Management the People : Tasks , Duties , Tracking the work process .
  2. I finished this what’s Next ? Time Management : Calender and roadmap .
  3. Did you finished that ? : establish a proper communication pathways .
  4. Involve Them : Feedback , The result , online meetings . and open discussions .

That would help you to consider the importance of collaboration in many level of medicine either in practice or , education .

The main goal of e-Collaboration is to Organize that collaboration , and make it less time consuming , more interactive , more time oriented , also more productive . as it also aims to decrease the lack of communication between the team members . which unfortunately is one of the major problems between the members in some work groups .

Collaborative Software and The use in research purpose :

Social Writing ( Documents ) and research Papers : Researchers who used to write papers in collaboration with other colleagues ,Needs an interactive tool , which suppose to be built on what are the people really need ? , However social writing is a web2.0 that can be used to speed the process up ( writing , revisions , editing , and finishing ) .

Examples of social writing softwares :

  1. Google Documents : Include Word Documents , Spreadsheets , and Presentation , it’s easy to invite your friends , colleagues , partners or you team to collaborate ( write , revision , edit ) . the usability of Google Documents has it’s compatibility features ( with common office file’s extensions )
  2. Zoho Online Office.
  3. ThinkFree Online Office .

Social Bookmarking : Sharing The Bookmarks between the researchers is one of the best ways to share the resources , however this type of sharing developed on the top of web2.0 to social search engine powered for web sites , as well as social web links directory . that is an easy to search , browse , and share again .
Facebook.com has many application and modules which ease the sharing and increase the connectivity for the team members .
Examples of social bookmarking :

  1. Del.icio.us : the famous usable targetable one , but also there are many others, but the usability and simplicity of it allow the users to pull up the needed tags , that the users submit . as it build a networking system , allow you to submit and share your bookmarks to certain users ( friends ) in your network
  2. Nature has build an old social bookmarking service for scientists , doctors and researchers . easy to search , favorite , and share with your team there.

Sharing resources : Resources could be confusing her a bit but , we still talking about web2.0 , so the resources those i mean are ( Feeds , search results , Bookmarks , Social media , Broadcasts , Podcasts , Online documents) .

Social Networking : It’s about connecting the people , ( Work , Interest , social relations , ) , which provides now these days the capabilities of working teams , in the ease of communication and support tools , adaptation of Social networking in research purposes , may be not that far . as well as it can be used for sharing the resources with the team members and the people .
Example : Facebook.com , It can handle the events , communications and discussions , also has many application that teamwork members can use ( todo lists , calenders ) and portabilities of other web2.0 and social software into facebook as applications ( Zoho online office , google documents , )


Groupware : Was my primary example for collaborative software , it’s primary use to management the team work in the research team , and that includes ” management their time dedicated for the research , assign tasks and duties , keep tracking the results , and handle the project ( research goal ) rodamap .
Example of groupwares :

  1. Simple Groupware : is a Free Open source Groupware software build on top of PHP flexibility , Which i personally consider as a revolutionary generation of groupwares , it takes care of the main elements of any successful Team work need ( Communication , Time , and Members ) , as it attended more to be a suitable plateform for everyone whom may work on as it has a syndication system ( emails online documentation ) , and compatibility and portability capability with other softwares and services .
  2. Horde Groupware : another free open source groupware , could used in team management in research purposes .Horde Takes more care of syndication and notification as ( Syndication to Cellphones and PDAs )

N.B : These are just simple examples , i’ll list a special topic with details on groupware for research purposes with many examples , tips and more attention to Online groupware services .

Social Online File Storage Services :Sharing Your Files with your network is a piece of cake in web2.0 , now there are many free services , which allow you to share and organize your files online . which will be accessible anytime , anywhere , and shared with you want them to ( edit , review , comment , revision ) .

  1. Box.net :
  2. omnidrive.com
  3. fluxiom.com


Social Calenders : Calenders are part of Groupware , and at the same time Calenders are common used Web2.0 tools used there days . however the capabilities of Calender expanded to notification ( Email , RSS , SMS ) and becomes more socialized by allow you to assign and mark some of your events to the public .
Examples : one of the most featured examples is : Google Calender

Social ToDo Lists : ToDo List , is another way to manage our tasks , however Web2.0 ToDo lists makes it a little bit amusing . there is many social ToDo Lists , which allow the researcher to share and view the shared tasks .

Social Statistics : Soon as Google Lunched Form Designer for for google spreadsheets , it’s easy now to create a survey which collect the results in shared Spreadsheet file with your research team members
.

P.s This was a little summarized introduction and incomplete classification to collaborative softwares . adding related articles soon .

Hamza Emadeen Mousa

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