OLSEN, Dorothy Sutherland <br/><br/>
Emerging interdisciplinary practice :  making nanoreactors 

 - Bingley, UK :  Emerald,  2009 
<br/><br/> Purpose – The paper aims to gain a better understanding of how different disciplines work together to develop new technologies. Design/methodology/approach – The study employs qualitative methods in the form of semi-structured interviews and observations. A socio-cultural approach is taken and the concept of the activity system is used to examine emerging practices. Findings – In the process of creating common practices the community overcomes some of the challenges normally associated with disciplinary diversity. What develops cannot really be described as a convergence of knowledge, more as an intertwining of work practices. Research limitations/implications – Although only tentative conclusions can be drawn from a single case study, the findings may have implications for the organisation of multidisciplinary tasks.   Originality/value – The paper suggests a conceptualisation of emerging interdisciplinary practice and provides a descriptive account of knowledge creation in a new field within nanosciences and nanotechnologies.