LabChart: A Support System for Collaborative Research Activities in University Laboratories and its Practical Evaluations

This paper describes a support system for collaborative research activities in university laboratories. The system includes (1) a research information transition graph (RITG) to visually express research information and the relationships among the information for personal management, and (2) a method that enables collaborative research activities and knowledge sharing on a large scale by converting an RITG into a common view with specified constraints on redrawing. These issues are related to the solving of a trade-off problem between the management of research information based on personal viewpoints and the sharing of such information on a large scale. Furthermore this paper describes the results of the system evaluation through application of it. Furthermore this paper describes the results of the system evaluation through application of it.