The Karst Collaborative Workspace for Analyzing and Annotating Scientific Datasets

Scientific fields of study such as astrobiology, nanotechnology, and cave and karst science involve the study of images and associated biological, physiochemical, and geological data. In order to ensure interdisciplinary analysis, it is important to make these kinds of datasets available for analysis and curation by the scientific community. The goal of this project is to design and develop an online workspace that enables scientists to collaboratively view, analyze, and annotate such datasets. The prototype contains scanning electron micrographs of karst and cave samples. The target users are the interdisciplinary community of scientists who study karst samples to learn more about critical biological and geological processes and the microbial communities often found in karst terrain. The prototype can inform the design and development of collaborative workspaces in other interdisciplinary fields.