In this paper, we describe the influence of physical proximity on the development of collaborative relationships between scientific researchers and on the execution of their work. Our evidence is drawn from our own studies of scientific collaborators, as well as from observations of research and development activities collected by other investigators. These descriptions provide the foundation for a discussion of the actual and potential role of communications technology in professional work, especially for collaborations carried out at a distance.

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Interfaces to databases have traditionally been designed as single-user systems that hide other users and their activity. This paper aims to show that collaboration is an important aspect of searching online information stores that requires explicit computerised support. The claim is made that a truly user-centred system must acknowledge and support collaborative interactions between users. Collaborative working implies a need to share information: both the search product and the search process. Searches need not be restricted to inanimate resources but people can also search for other people. The ARIADNE system is introduced as an example of computerised support for collaboration between browsers. A number of systems offering varied approaches to supporting collaboration are surveyed and a structure for analysing the various aspects of collaboration is applied.

Existing Cooperative Virtual Environments present the same shared world to each of the cooperating users. This is analogous to the use of strict-WYSIWIS in early 2D interfaces. Research in the area of shared 2D interfaces has shown a strong trend to support individual tailoring of the shared views, and move away from the strict-WYSIWIS abstraction. This paper argues that the development of Cooperative Virtual Environments can gain from the experience of research into in shared 2D interface systems, and presents a model to manage the use of subjective views in Cooperative Virtual Environments. Keywords WYSIWIS, Shared interfaces, view coupling, VR INTRODUCTION Early 2D multi user interface systems supported shared interfaces by presenting exactly the same image of the application to all users. This simple replication of the system's image secured a founding abstraction for multi user interfaces: What You See is What I See (WYSIWIS). However, the early applications based on this abst...

For groupware to be considered successful, it must be usable and acceptable by most, if not all, members of the group. Yet the differences present between group members---their varying roles, needs, skills---and the differences between groups as a whole are a serious obstacle to achieving uniform acceptance of the groupware product, especially when the product treats all people and groups identically. This paper raises several consequences of not accommodating individual differences, and then offers a possible solution to the problem. First, instances of groupware failure are described: the inability of the group to reach a critical mass; the unequal accessibility of the groupware by participants; the failure to accommodate the different roles participants may play; the failure to balance the work done against the benefits received; and the failure of groupware to evolve with the needs of the group. Second, the notion of personalizable groupware is proposed, defined as a system whose b...

be more precise, "...the support requirements of cooperative work. " (Bannon & Schmidt, 1989). An important contribution to the understanding of these requirements, therefore, are the results from research into group working, its structure, and dynamics. A well recognised concept in group work is the role of the group facilitator; someone who's responsibility it is to assist the group in achieving its objectives. This recognition, however, is not yet reflected by work published under the CSCW banner. This paper aims to take a first step at addressing this omission. 1

. This paper proposes a model for integrated CSCW systems, the model of Objectoriented Activity Support OOActSM. In contrast to existing systems for the support of collaborativework, the model aims at the integrated support of all aspects of CSCW in a single frame system. The major properties of our model are the use of #activity" as the basic concept and the use of object-oriented mechanisms for providing solutions of typical CSCW problems. I demonstrate how all major aspects of current CSCW systems can be supported and integrated with each other in our model. Key words: Integrated CSCW, activity support, object-oriented paradigm, work#ow support, activity design 1. Introduction Nearly all CSCW systems whichhave been developed so far concentrate on a more or less narrow sub#eld of cooperativework. Examples of these sub#elds are work- #ow speci#cation, electronic meetings, or collaborative editing. As a consequence, users are forced to employ several di#erent CSCW application system...

A large portion of an office worker's time involves real time collaboration with fellow associates. Many traditional tools assist this process, such as telephones, meeting rooms, specialized media such as whiteboards, and so on. This paper is concerned with the potential of the computer as a tool to further enhance the group work process through direct support of real time communication needs and the specific collaboration requirements of the group. General computer support for four styles of real-time interactions are distinguished and surveyed: 1) face to face meetings; 2) remote conferencing; 3) casual real time interaction; and 4) multi-user applications. Each topic is introduced, motivations discussed, and the key technical systems and related research described. 1 Introduction Although computers are now familiar tools used by people to pursue their own individual tasks, they have not, until recently, been exploited to assist people working together. Computer-supported cooperativ...

This paper presents an infrastructure to support the dynamic sharing of information across a range of cooperative environments. The infrastructure builds upon the use of shared common spaces by using a distributed tuple space to provide information sharing at its base level. The platform extends existing considerations of tuple spaces by adding mechanisms to provide active support for sharing data elements. The use of a tuple space moves away from previous models of distribution in cooperative systems that focus on the propagation of events to focus on active data sharing. The use of data tuples allows the sharing of information to be independent of the information model allowing a wide range of applications and environments to be supported. The paper presents the infrastructure and shows how it can be used to support information sharing across a number of different forms of cooperative system and application.

this report. This section provides a conceptual framework for future applications of the network. The framework borrows heavily from a report summarizing a National Science Foundation (USA) workshop on the National Collaboratory, a vision of a nation-wide structure that provides tools enabling researchers to perform their work and collaborations without regard to geographical location (Lederberg and Uncapher, 1989). The framework is a multi-tiered hierarchy (see Figure 1, adapted from Lederberg and Uncapher, 1989). At the top are the research functions in the scientific process that researchers and developers cycle through. Scientists achieve these functions through a variety of collaboration functions, which in turn are implemented via collaboration tools and underlying technologies.