Studies in Computer Supported Cooperative Work: Theory, Practice, and Design (Human Factors in Information Technology)

Computer Supported Cooperative Work (CSCW) is rapidly expanding the horizons of research on the relations between humans and computers. Presented in this book is a selection of studies which, between them, define and discuss many fundamental issues in CSCW. The book offers an overview of research alongside some new contributions which address key issues in the field and which have not previously been published. Readers with many different backgrounds will find this book of interest, including, but not confined to: - computer scientists: particularly those concerned with networks, messaging services and distributed systems; - social scientists: many sociologists and anthropologists have contributed to CSCW research and interest in the design of computing technologies is increasing in the social sciences generally; - psychologists, cognitive scientists, cognitive ergonomists and students of HCI: these researchers may see CSCW as an important extension to HCI, and Artificial Intelligence workers may see important parallels between CSCW and issues in Distributed AI; - educators and advanced students: a number of specialist undergraduate and masters level courses involving CSCW are beginning to start up in Europe and the USA; it is hoped that this book could serve as a resource for teaching; - workers and users in general: as this book contains accounts of the systems being developed to support the kinds of work that many people will be doing in the future, it can serve to help future users and workers know what to expect and plan how they might best exploit or resist these developments.Bowers, J. is the author of 'Studies in Computer Supported Cooperative Work: Theory, Practice, and Design (Human Factors in Information Technology)' with ISBN 9780444888112 and ISBN 044488811X.