Abstract: The present invention provides a computer implemented collaboration system and method for accessing multiple domain data sources and allowing data from those sources to be analyzed and manipulated within a multi-user distributed environment where all visualization, processing, and agent applications work collaboratively. In one embodiment, the collaboration system (10) is organized into an N-tier infrastructure including a data management tier (50), an information access tier (52), a services tier (54), and a user interface tier (56). The infrastructure of the collaboration system (10) rides upon a CORBA communications framework. The data management tier (50) includes data sources (112) and provides data management capabilities normally supplied by database management systems.