Thispaperprovides a critique of current conceptions of “organizational memory ” as presented in a number of recent studies. It briefly reviews some of the rich and varied contributions from both administrative studies and information systems concerning this topic, while aC the same time noting the vagueness of the term as it is commonly used. What is of interest is the pervasiveness and perseverance of this nebulous concept across a wide range of disciplinary endeavors. The paper provides an important re-formulation of one aspect of “memory “ thal is implicit if twt explicit in most current views, i.e. the notion of memory as a passive store, arguing instead for an active, constructive view of “remembering ” that has a long, if forgotten history within psychology and other fields. In the final section, some implications of such an approach are discussed, paying particular attention to the need for empirical studies of “memories in use ” and the need to focus on the active construction of common information spaces,from information repositories, and expanding the domain qf discourse to include sociological as well as psychological perspectives on concepts such as memory, learning, remembering, talking, etc. in rhe context of organizations. This re-formulation of the issues surrounding organizational memory has significant implications for the kinds of computer “support ” for this phenomenon which might be possible or feasible, which can only be touched on in this paper, but will be extended in.fiture work.

This dissertation analyzes the usefulness of existing "conventional" collaboration-transparency systems, which permit the shared use of legacy, single-user applications. I find that conventional collaboration-transparency systems do not use network resources efficiently, and they impose an inflexible, tightly coupled style of collaboration because they do not adequately support important groupware principles: concurrent work, relaxed WYSIWIS, group awareness, and inherently collaborative tasks. This dissertation proposes and explores solutions to those deficiencies. The primary goal of this work is to maintain the benefits of collaboration transparency while relieving some of its disadvantages. To that end, I present an alternate implementation approach that provides many features previously seen only in applications specifically designed to support cooperative work, called collaboration-aware applications. The new approach uses a replicated architecture, in which a copy of the application resides on each user's machine, and the users' input events are broadcast to each copy. I discuss solutions to certain key problems in replicated architectures, such as maintaining consistency, unanticipated sharing, supporting late-joiners, and replicating system resources (e.g., files, sockets, and random number generators). To enhance the collaborative usability of a legacy application, the new approach transparently replaces selected single-user interface objects with multi-user versions at runtime. There are four requirements of an application platform needed to implement this approach: process migration, run-time object replacement, dynamic binding, and the ability to intercept and introduce low-level user input events. As an instance of this approach, I describe its incorpor...

Domain-oriented design environments are cooperative problem-solving systems that support designers in complex design tasks. In this paper we present the facilities and architecture of Argo, a domain-oriented design environment for software architecture. Argo’s architecture is motivated by the desire to achieve reuse and extensibility of the design environment. It separates domain-neutral code from domain-oriented code, which is distributed among intelligent design materials as opposed to being centralized in the design environment. Argo’s facilities are motivated by the observed cognitive needs of designers. These facilities extend previous work in design environments to support reflection-in-action, opportunistic design, and comprehension and problem-solving. Keywords: Domain-oriented design environments, critics, software architectures, architectural styles, humancomputer interaction, human cognitive skills.

Hypertext research in the mid-1980s on representing argumentation for design rationale (DR) foreshadowed what are now dominant concerns in knowledge management: representing, codifying and manipulating semiformal concepts, the use of formalisms to mediate collective sensemaking, and the construction of group memory. With the benefit of 15 years ’ hindsight, we can see the failure of so many hypertext DR systems to be adopted as symptomatic of the more general problem of fostering ‘hypertext literacy’ in real working environments. Pursuing Englebart’s goal of “augmenting human intellect”, we describe the Compendium approach to collective sensemaking, which demonstrates the impact that a hypertext facilitator can have on the learning and adoption problems that plagued earlier hypertext systems. We also describe how conventional documents and modelling notations can be morphed into and out of Compendium’s ‘native hypertext’ in order to support other modes of working across diverse communities of practice.

The field of knowledge-based software engineering has been undergoing a shift in emphasis from automatic programming to human augmentation. We support this shift with an approach that embeds human-computer cooperative problem-solving tools into knowledge-based design environments that work in conjunction with human software designers in specific application domains. Domain orientation reduces the large conceptual distance between problem-domain semantics and software artifacts. Integrated environments support the coevolution of specification and construction while allowing designers to access relevant knowledge at each stage of a software development process. The access and development of knowledge is supported in a cycle of location, comprehension, and modification. Modification includes the evolution of the knowledge base and tools. A framework for building such tools and mechanisms is described and illustrated in terms of three systems: CATALOGEXPLORER, EXPLAINER, and MODIFIER. User...

Abstract: What can happen if we combine the best ideas from the Social Web and Semantic Web? The Social Web is an ecosystem of participation, where value is created by the aggregation of many individual user contributions. The Semantic Web is an ecosystem of data, where value is created by the integration of structured data from many sources. What applications can best synthesize the strengths of these two approaches, to create a new level of value that is both rich with human participation and powered by well-structured information? This paper proposes a class of applications called collective knowledge systems, which unlock the "collective intelligence " of the Social Web with knowledge representation and reasoning techniques of the Semantic Web.

This work analyzes the central role of interpretation in non-routine design. Based on this analysis, a theory of computer support for interpretation in cooperative design is constructed. The theory is grounded in studies of design and interpretation. It is illustrated by mechanisms provided by a software substrate for computer-based design environments, applied to a sample task of lunar habitat design. Computer support of

Hypertext is a computer-supported medium for information in which many interlinked documents are displayed with their links on a high-resolution computer screen. The links may be directly activated by a pointing device such as a mouse, which causes the document referenced by the link to appear instantly in a new window on the screen. While the concepts of hypertext are not new, the technology to make it effective is new. This paper reviews most of the existing hypertext systems, and then explores in some detail the fundamental features of hypertext and some of the design options in constructing hypertext systems. The advantages and disadvantages of hypertext are discussed in terms of four major application categories: macro literary systems, problem exploration systems, structured browsing systems, and systems developed to explore hypertext technology.

This chapter introduces Semantic Association Networks (SANs), a novel means of using semantic web technology to tag and interlink scientific datasets, services (e.g., algorithms, techniques, or approaches), publications (e.g., papers, patents, grants), and expertise (i.e., author and user information) to improve scholarly knowledge and expertise management. Among other ends, the proposed SANs

This paper examines unstated, but critical, social assumptions which underlie social analyses of computerization. It focuses on the popular, professional and scholarly literature which claims to describe the actual nature of computerization, the character of computer use, and the social choices and changes that result from computerization. Many articles and books in this large and diverse literature are written within the conventions of specific genres. These conventions of each of these genres limit the kinds of ideas which authors can explore and communicate effectively. This paper examines five common and important genres: technological utopian, technological anti-utopian, social realism, social theory, and analytical reduction. Each genre is characterized and illustrated. The strengths and weaknesses of each genre are described. A major theme of this paper is the way that any genre's conventions limits the kinds of ideas which authors can examine and communicate. In the 1990s, there will be a large market for social analyses of computerization. Technological utopian analyses are most likely to dominate the popular and professional discourse. The empirically oriented accounts of social realism, social theory and analytical reduction, are likely to be much less common and also less commonly seen and read by computer professionals and policymakers. These genres are relatively subtle, portray a more ambiguous world, and have less rhetorical power to capture readers' imaginations. Even though they are more scientific, these empirically anchored genres don't seem to appeal to many scientists and engineers. It is ironic that computing -- often portrayed as an instrument of knowledge -- is primarily the subject of a popular and professional literature that are Reading "All...