collaborative information systems, virtual teams, virtual institutes, research institutes, university research, unstructured collaboration, structured collaboration, learning, innovation, knowledge sharing, Ireland
University-based research is recognised as an increasingly important factor for economic growth. One of the mechanisms for improving university research is to support the collaboration between research teams. Information systems that support collaboration have gained widespread application in industry in recent years. They offer organisations various facilities for managing, sharing and documenting mission-critical information. Two distinct types of systems have evolved ¿ unstructured collaborative information systems and structured collaborative information systems. This paper presents the background to the development of a structured collaborative information system, designed to help manage information in a university-based research institute, and presents a detailed case study of the system in use