Groupware and Computer Supported Cooperative Work

1. Groupware andComputer Supported Cooperative Work • Clarence Ellis and Jacques Wainer • 발표자 : 임산공학과 95504-011 김 훈

2. 1. Introduction • Groupware H/W and S/W technology to assist interacting groups • Computer Supported Cooperative Work Study of how groups work, and how we can implement technology to enhance group interaction and collaboration • Definitions, concepts, examples, and issues related to groupware and CSCW • Functional 4-part groupware classification Keepers Coordinators Communicators Team-agents

3. 1. Introduction1.1 Well-Known Groupware Examples • Electronic mail Different times, Different places • Group Decision Support System Same time, Same place (Realtime face-to-face) Presentation technology, Computation technology, Group process technology • Video conferencing Same time, Different place • Workflow management system Analyzing, Coordinating, Executing business process Modeling subsystem : Allows admin and analysts to construct a procedural models of the flow of work among people and tasks Enactment subsystem : Uses the model to coordinate task executions by various participants at various workstations connected to a network

4. 2. Basic Definitions2.1 Groupware • Groups Collaborating communities of participants • Definition of Groupware Computing and communications technology based systems that assist groups of participants, and help to support a shared environment 2.2 Computer Supported Cooperative Work • CSCW Research area that studies the use of computing and communications technologies to support group activities • CSCW and various area CSCW ⇔ Human interaction phenomena

5. 3. Aspects of Groupware3.1 Keepers • Keepers The set of functionalities related to the storage and manipulation of the artifact (artifact = shared data) • Two distinction among keepers Allow more than one user at the same time to alter the artifact / Do not... • Typical Keepers Concurrent Editors, CAD, Computer Aided Software Engineering tools • Functionalities that fall within the Keeper Control access rights to the objects Control of simultaneous access to the artifact Versioning of the artifact Storage of time stamp and author information on objects of the artifact

6. 3. Aspects of Groupware3.2 Coordinators • Coordinators The set of functionalities related to the temporal evolution of the system, the enabling of an activity after all its preceding activities are terminated • Groupware with strong Coordinator components Workflow management system, software process management system, meeting coordinators, group decision support system • Functionalities of Coordinator Execution of a plan (Enacting) Enabling activities once its preceding activities have terminated Notification to the users that they may start a particular activity or that a particular activity is late Dynamic alteration of a process description to cope with surprises Helping participants to manage their work Defining the plan(Modeling)

7. 3. Aspects of Groupware3.3 Communicators • Communicators Groups the functionalities that allow different users to communicate explicitly among themselves • Typical groupware communicators E-mail, desktop conferencing system, chat and muds / moos, whiteboards • Functionalities of Communicator Sending and receiving a message Joining and leaving a conference Management help functions and abbreviations Mailing list, alias ...

8. 3. Aspects of Groupware3.4 Team-Agents • Team-Agents Artificial participants that perform specialized functions within a group setting • Distinction within the category of team agents Autonomous agents - work alone on an independent subtask Single user agents - interact / work for a single participant in the group Group agents - interact / collaborate with various members of the group • Group Critic Be aware that the problems it find in the design are the result of different users acting on different goals and all are responsible for the problem • Appointment Scheduler Depending on the functionalities it may also be a single user agent

9. 3. Aspects of Groupware3.5 Agent Models3.6 An Example of Aspect Analysis of a Groupware4. Multi-Aspect Groupware4.1 Chautauqua - A Multi-Aspect System4.2 Social and Group Issues in Designing Groupware Systems • Intuitions and experience appropriate for singe-ware may not be appropriate for groupware • There is an all/nothing or sometimes critical-mass characteristic to the adoption of such systems • How the people for whom the system is being build really work

10. 6. Supporting Technologies and Theories 6.1 Keepers • RAID disks, CD-ROM, File and DB system,Object Oriented, Relational DB schema technology 6.2 Coordinators • UNIX Make softeware, ISIS synchronizer, ADONIS, Network operating system, Interrupt hardware, Kernel scheduler, ATM 6.3 Communicators • Mbone, Ethernet, protocols … 6.4 Team-Agents • UIMS’s, NetEffect, distriduted server based toolkit for multi-user virtual worlds on the Internet, HTML, VRML

11. 7. Other Taxonomies of Groupware 7.1 Space / Time Matrix • Same / Different space, Same / Different time • Same Time ? - Require Keeper or Coordinator 7.2 Application Area • Group editing and reviewing, workflow, group decision support … • To provide methodological and technological support for meeting - Require 4 aspects of Groupware 8. Groupware and Internet 8.1 Internet as Infrastructure • Groupware design - non-standard protocols, non-Internet Network with its own protocols... 8.2 Internet as Presumed Software • WWW Browser - limited input, client-server protocol, “pull” technology • JAVA - Solution for all this problem, but at price

12. 9. Conclusions 9.1 Incorporating Communicators into Keepers Participants in a Keeper Other participants Communicate 9.2 Incorporating Keepers and Communicators into Coordinators Coordinator A B C D 9.3 Future Research on Agents • Domain Agents • Interaction Agents : Analyze state of the interaction, propose activities... 9.4 Future Research on Keepers • Lotus Notes : Free form DB, User can define and provide semantics