Alexandre Caldas

Science Networks on the Internet: Information Technology, Electronic Collaboration, Invisible Colleges and Digital Knowledge Bases Alexandre Caldas

This book discusses how Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) and the Internet impact on Science and the "Global Research Village". Since the birth of modern Science in seventeenth century England, scientists have been at the forefront of creating and using Technology. They lead the future of Society on the Internet. How is the "structure" of electronic science communication? Are electronic patterns similar to traditional, non-electronic forms of collaboration? The Internet is used across a wide spectrum of communications, from the formal to the more informal, and from individual to highly collaborative activities. Traditional Science collaborations are being reproduced within electronic environments. The Internet does not radically transform traditional hierarchies, contradicting that the major impact of the Internet is the creation of revolutionary forms of research. We identify "digital knowledge bases", large-scale distributed electronic knowledge spaces, reproducing off-line collaborations. The author develops new methods and indicators, bibliometrics, network analyses, surveys and cybermetric techniques for mapping Networks and Science on the Internet.