A key feature of collaboration in science and software development is to have a {em log} of what and how is being done - for private use and reuse and for sharing selected parts with collaborators, which most often today are distributed geographically on an ever larger scale. Even better if this log is {em automatic}, created on the fly while a scientist or software developer is working in a habitual way, without the need for extra efforts. The {tt CAVES} and {tt CODESH} projects address this problem in a novel way, building on the concepts of {em virtual state} and {em virtual transition} to provide an automatic persistent logbook for sessions of data analysis or software development in a collaborating group. A repository of sessions can be configured dynamically to record and make available the knowledge accumulated in the course of a scientific or software endeavor. Access can be controlled to define logbooks of private sessions and sessions shared within or between collaborating groups.
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