6. Research Initiatives to Support Collaborative Partnership Practice in USEIN

Research on Partnership: Long-term Relationships
What has not received attention in most of the literature on collaboration and partnership is the problem of maintaining a partnership and the changing nature of partnership (Bergquist, et al., 1995). The collaborative partnerships previously mentioned (EdLibWeb, Webliography, DLI, and others) have not existed long enough to find out what happens when the initial stages move to maintenance and change. Research in business ventures indicates that partnerships are risky, and many fail. Attention to failure , as seen in the Moen and McClure (1997) report, as well as success factors (Mattessich and Mosely, 1992) is relevant to the start-up of USEIN.

Perhaps the closest available relevant data exists on the many partnerships developed by ERIC since 1966. Studying both the maintenance and change factors would provide essential information at the start-up stage of USEIN. Using the research methodology of contextual analysis on data gathered from selected partnerships would provide a grounding in the actual characteristics of relationships termed collaborative partnerships. Examining effective partnerships, identifying "Best Practices", and analyzing the organizational structures of long-term partnerships is a necessary component of future research to support USEIN.

Evaluation: Formative "Best Practices"
As USEIN begins, the kinds of organizational structures seen in current partnerships and collaborations should inform beginning initiatives. Since much has been evaluated in behaviors seen as detracting from an information service (Moen and McClure, 1997), the recommendations from the GILS report should be useful to "learn by other's experiences". USEIN will be a hybrid enterprise, needing other research bases as well as that seen in the Moen and McClure report (1997). If one takes the primary findings from the GILS report and constructs an inverse set of expectations, the resulting listing would form a specific listing of "Best Practices" to guide the planning process of the USEIN

  • Confused purposes and expectations of what GILS should be
    --->Clarity of purposes and expectations
  • Lack of clear government-wide objectives to guide agencies' implementations
    --->development of clear government-wide objectives to guide the agency implementations
  • Expectations for functionality from GILS that were not realistic
    ---> Realistic expectations for functioning
  • Lack of government-wide coordination, management, and oversight,
    ---> attention to government-wide coordination, management, and oversight developed by examination of the relevant factors in the Dept. of Education,
  • Insufficient senior agency management attention and allocation of resources
    --->ensuring sufficiency of management attention and allocation of resources
  • Lack of demonstrable benefits to agencies
    ---> demonstrating value of USEIN to relevant agencies
  • A non-workable records component of GILS (This finding may not be applicable to the planning of USEIN: several records management options are in place that would most likely be satisfactory: ERIC, GEM, for instance)

    • Research: User Access and Practice with Networked Information
    Dissertations done during 1997 have provided a glimpse of the applications of Internet in K-12 classroom settings, college courses, and library use. What patterns of use would we expect to find with a parent population? A publisher? A teacher? What access to networked information might be possible for disadvantaged populations? These questions should form a research agenda, along with organizational effectiveness and collaboration over time.
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    [5. Partnerships Categorized] [Table of Contents] [7. Vision of USEIN]