Electronic communication in a geographically dispersed community of forensic scientists

ABSTRACT

Electronic communication creates new pathways for knowledge sharing, through e-mail, listservers, electronic repositories of information, and web-based forums. This study focuses on two questions in the context of electronic communication in a distributed knowledge intensive community: (1) How do individuals in the community seek answers to their questions? and (2) Why do other individuals answer those questions? Thus, the first question addresses an individual's activities of knowledge seeking, whereas the second question focuses on an individual's willingness to share his or her knowledge with the questioner.

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INDEX TERMS

Keywords:
DNA, altruism, electronic communication, forensic scientists, geographically dispersed communities, knowledge sharing, prosocial behavior