A comprehensive investigation of researchers’ shared file management practices in cloud storage

Abstract

The use of cloud storage, which provides ubiquitous and simultaneous access to files, is prevalent among researchers for their collaborative projects. This study comprehensively examined researchers’ shared file management practices in cloud storage by conducting an online survey with 534 researchers across disciplines. This study uncovered activities that needed better support and possible ways of making shared file management practices more satisfactory by identifying variables associated with satisfaction. The findings revealed different practices and showed that researchers were not active in managing shared files. Among different shared file management activities, finding/re-finding, archiving, and organizing activities needed better support. Researchers’ satisfaction was the highest when their research team had explicit rules for organizing and archiving shared files, when they organized files regularly, used location/organization of the files when finding/re-finding files, and managed shared files frequently. There were only a few disciplinary differences in researchers’ shared file management practices. Some specific design suggestions for PIM tools and applications were made based on the results. This study deepens our understanding of researchers’ shared file management practices in cloud environments, shows possible ways to enhance researchers’ satisfaction, contributes to PIM literature, and informs the design of tools that better support researchers’ shared file management.