To better support Michigan State University’s research faculty, IT Services formed a Collaborative Tools Team to analyze the needs for collaborative tools for researchers on campus. This team was sponsored by IT Services Content and Collaboration.
Interviews and observations were conducted by the Collaborative Tools Team with a small group of faculty researchers. The purpose of this research is to refine the types of needs researchers have for collaborative tools.
The Collaborative Tools Team also investigated what collaborative tool requirements are necessary for IT Services to launch and support new tools for the MSU community.
This initial research with recommendations is available in the “Collaborative Tools: Analysis and Evaluation” report PDF. Additionally, there is an “Executive Summary” PDF available.
The next step is comparing the initial collaborative tools research and recommendations with broader feedback from the MSU research community.
Report recommendations
The main recommendations in the report include:
- Providing improved solutions for sharing files.
- Providing more specific information regarding existing conferencing tools.
- Delivering improved collaborative tool assistance and consultation.
Further feedback
IT Services is gathering feedback about collaborative tool usage.
Faculty researchers and those who support researchers are encouraged to review the report recommendations and provide feedback through online Collaborative Tools Survey.
