I presented (with Dr Ralph Schroeder) an overview of how e-Research will reconfigure access to information and expertise in the coming years within a seminar series organized by the James Martin 21st Century School. It was entitled ’21st Century Research’, presented on 8 November 2007. I’ll post the slides if you are interested. http://billdutton.me/wp-content/uploads/2007/11/c21-nov07.pdf

I was struck by the difficulty of conveying the significance of developments that could transform the way in which researchers observe the world, collaborate, obtain services and use technology in their research activities. To me, the potential for these changes to impact all fields of the sciences and humanities is huge. But the case needs to be made in better and more convincing ways. How can we communicate the significance of e-Research? If you have thoughts or if you can refer me to relevant references, I’d be delighted. Are we trying too hard? Is the field too new?