Scholarly collaboration across time zones

Lynch, K; Heinze, A; Scott, E

Abstract

The barriers to global collaboration of yesteryear were, for example, country boundaries and time zones. Today however, in a world where communication is thriving on new technologies, these barriers have been overcome, not only by the technology itself, but also by the collaborators in a desire (and need) to extend knowledge, seize opportunities and build partnerships.
This chapter reports on one such collaboration: a case study where the focus is the writing of a scholarly article between authors from Australia, England and South Africa. The challenges of different time zones, academic calendars, and managing the collaboration are outlined in this chapter. Findings from the case study suggests that the key elements of success are related to the individuals and project management techniques, and not the technology per se. The constructivist learning theory as well as the e-Moderation model are supported by this work and thus extend their application to the academic writing process.

Citation

Lynch, K., Heinze, A., & Scott, E. (2008). Scholarly collaboration across time zones. In J. Salmons, & L. Wilson (Eds.), Handbook of Research on Electronic Collaboration and Organizational Synergy (237-249). London: Information Science Reference

• Publication Date: Jan 1, 2008
• Deposit Date: Sep 27, 2011
• Publicly Available Date: Sep 27, 2011
• Pages: 237-249
• Book Title: Handbook of Research on Electronic Collaboration and Organizational Synergy
• ISBN: 9781605661063
• Publisher URL: http://www.igi-global.com/book/handbook-research-electronic-collaboration-organizational/463
• Related Public URLs: http://www.igi-global.com/chapter/scholarly-collaboration-across-time-zones/20177