Information and Communication Technology Challenges to Scientific Professional Identity

Increasingly, information and communication technology (ICT) uses are transforming professional activities and interactions in ways that challenge traditional assumptions about professional identity. In this paper, we consider how ICT uses by research scientists in oceanography and marine biology shape professional identity. Empirical data are drawn from an ongoing study of ICT use in collaborative scientific research projects in these disciplines. We examine uses of basic communication technologies as well as scientific technologies with embedded ICT components. Our analysis suggests that development and use of ICT-enabled scientific technologies are identity enhancing for many scientists, facilitating their development of unique areas of scientific knowledge. ICT-related changes in data collection, collaborative coordination and scientific interaction also challenge traditional definitions of expertise and professional identity. Draft 1.3, December, 2003 © 2003, Lamb and Davidson. Do not quote without permission from the authors. To appear in The Information Society