Conditions of Boundary Crossing Research

Abstract

The researchers’ information activities do not take place in isolation. Their ability to import and export across disciplinary boundaries and conduct integrative research projects is moderated by the organizational and cultural conditions of their work environment. What forces affect interdisciplinary information practices and processes, and what are the conditions of work that lead to successful boundary crossing research? The researchers’ everyday work practices, affinities, affiliations, and interactions direct attention to certain problem areas and in time work to change the shape of disciplines. Global and local organizational structures also influence what problems are addressed and how individuals investigate these problems. In the scientists’ work worlds there are centrifugal forces that help to move people, things, and ideas outward into other domains, and centripetal forces that work to hold elements together in established frameworks. The Center’s research environment has been deliberately designed to facilitate boundary crossing research activities, and many scientists thrive in this climate. There are others who, despite the Center’s amenities, spend little time there. Their cases highlight features and predilections of interdisciplinary research that are not dependent on the Center’s resources.