This book seeks to establish an interdisciplinary, applied social scientific model for researchers and students that advocates a cooperative effort between machines and people. After showing that basic research on social processes offers much needed guidance for those creating technology and designing tools for group work, its papers demonstrate the mutual relevance of social science and information system design, and encourage better integration of these disciplines.
This comprehensive collection closely examines the variety of electronic tools being deployed to solve traditional problems in communication and coordination. Unfortunately, research shows that these tools have not been as successful as their designers had envisioned, partially because they were not always produced with the needs and goals of their human users in mind. The editors' goal is to entice more social scientists to orient their research around questions of practical interest to information system designers and to convince designers to search for the knowledge about social and organizational behavior that would make their tools more useful.
Contents: J. Galegher, R.E. Kraut, Technology for Intellectual Teamwork:
Perspectives on Research and Design. Part I:Basic Social Processes. J.E.
McGrath, Time Matters in Groups. B.A. Gutek, Work Group Structure and
Information Technology: A Structural Contingency Approach. J.J. Gabarro, The
Development of Working Relationships. R.M. Krauss, S.R. Fussell, Mutual
Knowledge and Communicative Effectiveness. Part II:Field Studies of
Collaborative Work. R.E. Kraut, C. Egido, J. Galegher, Patterns of Contact
and Communication in Scientific Research Collaborations. D.G. Ancona, D.F.
Caldwell, Information Technology and Work Groups: The Case of New Product
Teams. E. Hutchins, The Technology of Team Navigation. A.V. Cicourel, The
Integration of Distributed Knowledge in Collaborative Medical Diagnosis. Part
III:Experiences With Technology for Cooperative Work. T.K. Bikson, J.D.
Eveland, The Interplay of Work Group Structures and Computer Support. T.
Finholt, L. Sproull, S. Kiesler, Communication and Performance in ad hoc Task
Groups. R.E. Rice, D.E. Shook, Voice Messaging, Coordination, and
Communication. C. Egido, Teleconferencing as a Technology to Support
Cooperative Work: Its Possibilities and Limitations. K.L. Kraemer, A.
Pinsonneault, Technology and Groups: Assessments of the Empirical Research.
Part IV:Technology for Cooperative Work. G.P. Landow, Hypertext and
Collaborative Work: The Example of Intermedia. G.M. Olson, D.E. Atkins,
Supporting Collaboration With Advanced Multimedia Electronic Mail: The NSF
EXPRES Project. F. Lakin, Visual Languages for Cooperation: A Performing
Medium Approach to Systems for Cooperative Work. M. Abel, Experiences in an
Exploratory Distributed Organization. D.R. Vogel, J.F. Nunamaker, Design and
Assessment of a Group Decision Support System.
