Cscw in Practice: An Introduction and Case Studies (Computer Supported Cooperative Work) Book

This book provides an introduction to both the technical and human aspects of CSCW, from the perspectives of the technology, the users, and the user interface. Most of the material was initially presented at meetings organized by the UK's CSCW Special Interest Group in 1991 (the chapters are coherently cross-referenced and indexed). The authors examine what has been done, or can be done, with existing technology, and discuss CSCW, not as a set of technologies, but rather as a set of issues. The book is primarily about real CSCW, not arcane academic theories of CSCW. Particular topics such as collaborative writing, conferencing, office automation, decision support, process modelling, and medicine, are covered by case studies. The first three chapters provide an introduction to CSCW from three different perspectives. The next three chapters discuss, using case studies, the most researched and used area of CSCW - collaborative authoring - and propose some novel and informative 'solutions' to the problems encountered. The remaining five chapters cover a broad range of CSCW applications. The final chapter describes a CSCW system that was tested, and failed, in a commercial application. While many of the problems appear obvious and trivial in retrospect, it is hoped that those in industry will agree with this accurate portrayal of the real world and that academies will be more practical in their proposals to their industrial collaborators. Although CSCW may be considered a 'young' field, it has existed as something recognisably different from its 'parent' fields of research for at least a decade. This book will be of value to those who are relatively new to CSCW, both students and the more qualified, and to those with greater knowledge, because it collects and reports practical experience, which, at present, is in short supply in accessible form.Read More