ESRC/NSF Sponsored Special Activity:

Anthropology and the Development

of e-Science/CyberInfrastructure

Michael Fischer (Kent), H. Russell Bernard (Florida), David Zeitlyn (Kent)

History doesn’t repeat itself, but it sure does rhyme Mark Twain

Introduction

The main purpose of this workshop was to realistically assess where we are in Anthropology; what are some of the current issues with respect to research, conduct of research, data, publication, theory development and collaboration - aspects of anthropology where we could use some new capabiltiies that e-Science/cyberinfrastucture can support.

This workshop represents a first attempt to develop use requirements for AnthroGrid for anthropologists more generally. As we know from long experience, "build it and they will come" is not an adequate design principle. If a resource does not address real issues and needs, it will not be used, regardless of the overall potential of the resource. We have tried to identify some of the basic areas where we can meet recognised needs, in addition to our own visions of the future of anthropology.

New generations of anthropologists face a different range of possibilities and prospects in their careers. The Internet and related technologies will play a major role in these differences, greatly impacting social scientists' practice, advancing the scale of activities rendered feasible, creating significant changes in the kinds of research carried out and, importantly, the kinds of subjects deemed 'researchable'. Most important, the Internet has already become social infrastructure which people are using to create new social phenomena, and thus creating, in part, future objects of study for social scientists.

People are using new capabilities relating to the Internet to change the world around us. The opportunities for social scientists will be driven both by changes in societies and advances in our research methods. We will do some of the same things better, or at least on a larger scale. We will be able to carry out hitherto unimagined activities relating to data collection, analysis and dissemination. Concurrently, many of the social and cultural forms that emerge will create situations we are ill equipped to understand. We require new capabilities to enable anthropologists to operationalise some long established ideas and practices.

This raises a number of questions. How will we deal with new kinds of relationships? What do we do with the vast amounts of data that become available from technologically enhanced observation and participation? How will the formidable ethical issues be addressed? How do we study social and cultural phenomena that only exist for a few years, months or even weeks? How do we adapt to a dependence on 'smart' technological assistants in our research? How will we be able to disseminate our results, not just in static form but in formats that directly interact with potential users? What further technological change can we expect?