The academic collaboratory as a bridge across space, time, and social worlds

Collaboration is at the heart of the academic enterprise; the proposal for national collaboratory seeks to support these collaborative efforts by means of a variety of computing technologies. The authors examine the assumptions of the model of collaborative work behind the collaboratory proposal and suggest ways of extending that model. They draw on a case study of collaborative efforts in classical scholarship in order to explore more fully the existing modalities of academic collaboration as it actually occurs. The development of a broader understanding of collaborative activities will enable one to more effectively address the national collaboratory challenge