AIP study of multi-institutional collaborations: Phase 1, high-energy physics

Although the multi-institutional collaboration is increasingly the organizational framework for scientific research, it has received only incidental attention from scholars. Without a dedicated effort to understand the process of collaborative research, even the records necessary for efficient administration, for historical and: studies, and for posterity, will be largely scattered or destroyed. The Center for History of Physics of the American Institute of Physics (AIP) is working to redress this situation with a multi-stage investigation. The aim is to identify patterns of collaborations, define the scope of the documentation problems, field test possible solutions, and recommend future actions. The first phase of the study addressed high-energy physics. The two-year study of high-energy physics research focused on experiments approved between 1973 and 1984 at five of the world's major accelerator laboratories. A broad-scale picture of changes in the structure of collaborations was obtained by using databases on high energy physics experiments and publications, At a more detailed level, the project conducted interviews on 24 selected experimental collaborations. Still more detailed ''probes'' of some highly significant collaborations featured historical research as well as many additional interviews and work to preserve records. Some 300 interviews were analyzed to identify patterns of collaborative research and records creation, retention, and location. Meanwhile project staff surveyed the records-keeping practices of key physicists and made numerous site visits to accelerator facilities and university archives to discuss archival issues and records policies