Collaborative Authoring of Hypermedia Documents

This paper identifies issues in computer-support for collaborative authoring of hyperdocuments and shows how SEPIA, a cooperative authoring environment, addresses these issues. First, hyperdocuments can be used to create and maintain technical documentation. Second, activity spaces support the cognitive and social processes involved in the creation of hyperdocuments. Third, a shared hyperdocument database, versioning, different modes of collaborative work, and awareness of the activities of other group members support asynchronous and synchronous distributed collaboration, as well as smooth transitions between them. Fourth, annotations can be used to communicate about drafts and plans. Although initial experience with SEPIA indicates that it provides strong dedicated support for collaborative writing of hyperdocuments, we identify annotations as one area where further improvement is possible and outline issues involved in providing better support for generating, receiving, and reacting to annotations. Keywords: hyperdocuments, collaborative authoring support, SEPIA, annotations INTRODUCTION Technical writers are making increased use of hypermedia documents to facilitate the maintenance and even the original authoring of technical documents (Glushko, 11; Walker, 42). In a hypermedia document, for example, a single piece of information can be stored in only one location, even though it may be used in many places in a document or set of documents. This is accomplished through what is called a hypermedia architecture: The document contents are segmented into units called "nodes" and the document is put together by linking the nodes together (so any given node can be linked into more than one place). The structure of nodes and links that results often resembles a network, th..

Distributed collaborative writing: a comparison of spoken and written modalities for reviewing and revising documents

Previous research indicates that voice annotation helps reviewers to express the more complex and social aspects of a collaborative writing task. Little direct evidence exists, however, about the effect of voice annotations on the writers who must use such annotations. To test the effect, we designed an interface intended to alleviate some of the problems associated with the voice modality and undertook a study with two goals; to compare the nature and quantity of voice and written comments, and to evaluate how writers responded to comments produced in each mode. Writers were paired with reviewers who made either written or spoken annotations from which the writers revised. The study provides direct evidence that the greater expressivity of the voice modality, which previous research suggested benefits reviewers, produces annotations that writers also find usable. Interactions of modality with the type of annotation suggest specific advantages of each mode for enhancing the processes of review and revision

Coexistence and Transformation of Informal and Formal Structures: Requirements for More Flexible Hypermedia Systems

In this paper, we argue that some tasks (e.g., meeting support) require more flexible hypermedia systems and we describe a prototype hypermedia system, DOLPHIN, that implements more flexibility. As part of the argument, we present a theoretical design space for information structuring systems and locate existing hypertext systems within it. The dimensions of the space highlight a system's internal representation of structure and the user's actions in creating structure. Second, we describe an empirically derived range of activities connected to conducting group meetings, including the pre- and postpreparation phases, and argue that hypertext systems need to be more flexible in order to support this range of activities. Finally, we describe a hypermedia prototype, DOLPHIN, which implements this kind of flexible support for meetings. DOLPHIN supports different degrees of formality (e.g., handwriting and sketches as well as typed nodes and links are supported), coexistence of different structures (e.g., handwriting and nodes can exist on the same page) and mutual transformations between them (e.g., handwriting can be turned into nodes and vice versa)

ABSTRACT Coexistence and Transformation of Informal and Formal Structures: Requirements for More Flexible Hypermedia Systems

In this paper, we argue that some tasks (e.g., meeting support) require more flexible hypermedia systems and we describe a prototype hypermedia system, DOLPHIN, that implements more flexibility. As part of the argument, we present a theoretical design space for information structuring systems and locate existing hypertext systems within it. The dimensions of the space highlight a system’s internal representation of structure and the user’s actions in creating structure. Second, we describe an empirically derived range of activities connected to conducting group meetings, including the pre- and postpreparation phases,and argue that hypertext systemsneed to be more flexible in order to support this range of activities. Finally, we describe a hypermedia prototype, DOLPHIN, which implements this kind of flexible support for meetings. DOLPHIN supports different degreesof formality (e.g., handwriting and sketches as well as typed nodes and links are supported), coexistence of diffenmt structures (e.g., handwriting and nodes can exist on the same page) and mutual transformations between them (e.g., handwriting can be turned into nodes and vice versa). KEY WORD S: hypermedia interface, information structures, meeting support, design space for hypermedia systems, flexibility Permission to copy without fee all or part of thk material is granted provided that the copies are not made or distributed for direct commercial advantage, the ACM copyright notice and the title of the publication and its date appear, and notice is given that copyright is by permission of the Association for Computing Machinery. To copy otherwise, or to republish, requires a fee and/or specific permission

Coexistence and Transformation of Informal and Formal Structures: Requirements for More Flexible Hypermedia Systems

In this paper, we argue that some tasks (e.g., meeting support) require more flexible hypermedia systems and we describe a prototype hypermedia system, DOLPHIN, that implements more flexibility. As part of the argument, we present a theoretical design space for information structuring systems and locate existing hypertext systems within it. The dimensions of the space highlight a system's internal representation of structure and the user's actions in creating structure. Second, we describe an empirically derived range of activities connected to conducting group meetings, including the pre- and postpreparation phases, and argue that hypertext systems need to be more flexible in order to support this range of activities. Finally, we describe a hypermedia prototype, DOLPHIN, which implements this kind of flexible support for meetings. DOLPHIN supports different degrees of formality (e.g., handwriting and sketches as well as typed nodes and links are supported), coexistence of different st..

Assoc. Computer Support for Distributed Collaborative Writing: A Coordination Science Perspective

The goal of our research is to provide computer support for distributed collaborative writing. Writers can be said to be distributed when they have distributed knowledge and skill, and they share that knowledge and skill in order to develop a draft; or, even when they have significant overlap in knowledge and skill, they distribute the work of producing the draft itself among them. But in this sense, all collaborative writing is distributed. In the sense we will use the term here, distributed collaborative writing refers to, additionally, situations in which the writers are distributed in time (i.e., they do not work on the artifact at the same time) or place (i.e., they do not meet face-to-face). The central research questions in distributed collaborative writing are "What does the process of producing a written product look like when it is divided among writers who coordinate to produce it over time and space? " and "What is the relationship of these processes to success? " When the process includes "active agents, " the scope of the first question shifts slightly to include not only people, but computers as well. This question is, of course, the central question of "distributed cognition " or "coordination science, " applied to collaborative writing. In analogy with the way cognitive scientists (psychologists, AI researchers, etc.) are interested in identifying strategies and representations involved in individual cognition, coordination scientists are intereste

Designing for Serendipity: Supporting End-User Configuration of . . .

The future world of ubiquitous computing is one in which we will be surrounded by an ever-richer set of networked devices and services. In such a world, we cannot expect to have available to us specific applications that allow us to accomplish every conceivable combination of devices that we might wish. Instead, we believe that many of our interactions will be through highly generic tools that allow end-user discovery, configuration, interconnection, and control of the devices around us. This paper presents a design study of such an environment, intended to support serendipitous, opportunistic use of discovered network resources. We present an examination of a generic browser-style application built on top of an infrastructure developed to support arbitrary recombination of devices and services, as well as a number of challenges we believe to be inherent in such settings

Human-Computer Interaction in the School of Computer Science

The SCS faculty interested in Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) presents its position on what role HCI can play in Carnegie Mellon's School of Computer Science. We present a short description of the need for HCI research and recommend a task/human/computer approach to satisfying that need. After presenting illustrative research scenarios, we draw implications of adopting this approach for our research and educational programs. SCS is well positioned to implement this approach, given the interests and skills of our faculty and faculty in other organizations at CMU. We recommend that the Computer Science Department form a new area in HCI. Human-Computer Interaction in the School of Computer Science Edited by Bonnie E. John, Philip L. Miller, Brad A. Myers, Christine M. Neuwirth, and Steven A. Shafer October 1992 CMU-CS-92-193 Keywords: Human Computer Interaction (HCI), strategic plan, curriculum Executive Summary The Problem. Computers have the potential to revolutionize many areas ..