JCSCW Vol. 12 (2003)

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  • Journal Article
    The Camera as an Actor Design-in-Use of Telemedicine Infrastructure in Surgery
    (Computer Supported Cooperative Work (CSCW): Vol. 12, No. 1, 37653) Aanestad, Margunn
    This paper describes the evolvinginterrelationship between a pre-establishedwork practice and a new technology, with anemphasis on how the technology itselfparticipates in the process and introduceschanges, while at the same time being changeditself. The case study concerns theintroduction of multimedia communicationtechnology into a surgical operating theatre.Concepts from Actor-network theory are found toprovide a useful perspective on the descriptionand analysis of the case. The technology andthe work practice are viewed as a newheterogeneous actor-network, whoseconfiguration changed continuously. Thesechanges are conceptualised as alignmentattempts where the different actants' interestsare translated and inscribed into e.g.artefacts, rules or routines. The alignment ofthis heterogeneous network was achieved througha continuous process of design, test andredesign of different configurations of people,practices and artefacts. The relevance of thefindings is discussed, related to how we maythink about design of open and generictechnologies. Viewing design as design ofconfigurations ; the creation of a well-workingmix of people, practices and artefacts, may bea helpful and relevant design metaphor.
  • Journal Article
    Synchronizations in Team Automata for Groupware Systems
    (Computer Supported Cooperative Work (CSCW): Vol. 12, No. 1, 37653) ter Beek, Maurice H.; Ellis, Clarence A.; Kleijn, Jetty; Rozenberg, Grzegorz
    Team automata have been proposed in Ellis (1997) as a formal framework for modeling both the conceptual and the architectural level of groupware systems. Here we define team automata in a mathematically precise way in terms of component automata which synchronizeon certain executions of actions.At the conceptual level, our model serves as a formal framework in whichbasic groupware notions can be rigorously defined and studied.At the architectural level, team automata can be used as building blocksin the design of groupware systems.
  • Journal Article
    Workplace Studies: Recovering Work Practice and Informing System Design, Paul Luff, Jon Hindmarsh and Christian C. Heath (eds.)
    (Computer Supported Cooperative Work (CSCW): Vol. 12, No. 1, 2003) Hinds, Pamela
  • Journal Article
    Infrastructure Management as Cooperative Work: Implications for Systems Design
    (Computer Supported Cooperative Work (CSCW): Vol. 12, No. 1, 2003) Sandusky, Robert J.
    This study looks at the data communicationsnetwork management organization (NMO) within alarge financial institution and appliesconcepts from Computer-Supported CooperativeWork (CSCW) and other domains to developtechniques for describing work within this andother similar organizations. Networkmanagement is one form of infrastructuremanagement, which is comprised of two kinds ofwork: real-time supervisory control work anddesign work. While many studies of group workfocus on the activities of small groups ofpeople engaged in either real-time supervisorycontrol or design work, examinations oforganizations where both kinds of work occurare relatively rare. The focus is on the workpatterns and data forms that are found withinthe NMO. Some of the implications of theanalysis in regard to the design of CSCWsystems are presented and discussed.
  • Journal Article
    Intermediary Objects as a Means to Foster Co-operation in Engineering Design
    (Computer Supported Cooperative Work (CSCW): Vol. 12, No. 2, 2003) Boujut, Jean-François; Blanco, Eric
    In this paper we argue that co-operation is aparticular way to co-ordinate an industrialactivity and that it is particularly suited tocollaborative design activity. Through a welldocumented case study of the development of afront truck axle, we point out several keyfeatures of co-operation in an industrialsetting. We particularly pay attention to theinterfaces between the actors involved in thecollaborative process. We observed thepre-eminence of the representations and theobjects created, manipulated, and finally weclaim that they support knowledge creation andtherefore allow the development of a commonunderstanding of the design situation (i.e. theproblem and the solution). We propose theconcept of ``intermediary object'' as aconceptual framework for the involvement ofobjects in the design process. We demonstratethe power of this concept in the analysis andmodelling of particular design situations andin the development of specific objects thatfoster co-operation in real design situations.
  • Journal Article
    Boundary Objects and Prototypes at the Interfaces of Engineering Design
    (Computer Supported Cooperative Work (CSCW): Vol. 12, No. 2, 2003) Subrahmanian, Eswaran; Monarch, Ira; Konda, Suresh; Granger, Helen; Milliken, Russ; Westerberg, Arthur; Then-dim group
    The primary hypothesis of this paper is thatinternal and external changes in design andmanufacturing organizations affect theviability of boundary objects (representations,drawings, models – virtual and physical) andrequire changes in the underlying distributedcognitive models. Internal and external factorsinclude new advances in technologies, insightsinto organizational processes, organizationalrestructuring and change of market focus. Ifthe above hypothesis is true, then there areconsequences for the methodologies of designingcomputational support systems for co-operativeengineering work. We provide evidence bydescribing three empirical studies ofengineering design we have performed in largeorganizations. We investigate how changingtechnologies disrupt the common grounds amonginterfaces and how this opens debate onthe role of boundary objects, especially in theproduct visualization and analysis arena. Wethen argue that changes in market forces andother factors leading to changes inorganizational structures often lead to erosionof common understanding of representations andprototypes, above all at the interfaces. Weconclude by making the case that everystructural and information flow change inengineering organizations is accompanied by thepotential deterioration of the common ground.This requires the synthesis of new commongrounds to accommodate the needs of newinterfaces.
  • Journal Article
    A Patchwork Planet Integration and Cooperation in Hospitals
    (Computer Supported Cooperative Work (CSCW): Vol. 12, No. 1, 2003) Ellingsen, Gunnar; Monteiro, Eric
    The `seamless' integration of a collectionof information systems has been recognised asvital in promoting and realising thecollaborative aspects of work. This emphasis onthe collaborative role of integrationsupplements other studies in CSCW focusing onmore singular tools for collaboration.Empirically, we analyse the design and use ofan electronic patient record system (EPR) inlarge hospitals in Norway. We discuss theconditions for and types of integration of EPRwith the host of related information systems inhospitals. We formulate design principles forthe integration of collaborative informationsystems based on a pragmatic study of theproductive role of redundant, fragmented andambiguous information.
  • Journal Article
    Constructing Interdependencies with Collaborative Information Technology
    (Computer Supported Cooperative Work (CSCW): Vol. 12, No. 4, 37956) Karsten, Helena
    Interdependencies are constructed when peoplegradually build mutual relationships betweenthemselves. In this study the focus is oninterdependencies at work, in long-termprojects or groups. Viewing interdependencerelationships dynamically, as social practices,it is possible to appreciate the complex andsituated nature of this formation. The maingoal of the study is to develop a theoreticalaccount of the dynamics of the intertwinedprocesses of interdependence construction andcollaborative technology appropriation and use.The main dimensions of this account are: (1)how interdependence is constructed andestablished as a social process, (2) howinformation and communication are involved inthese processes, and (3) in what wayscollaborative information technology cancontribute to or hamper these processes. Thefirst dimension builds upon structurationtheory. Three earlier case studies arere-visited with the approach, with the outcomeof several issues to be explored. Thetheoretical approach opens up an extensiveresearch program of interdependenceconstruction in relation to collaborativeinformation technology appropriation and use.
  • Journal Article
    Wireless World – Social and Interactional Aspects of the Mobile Age, Barry Brown, Nicola Green and Richard Harper (eds.)
    (Computer Supported Cooperative Work (CSCW): Vol. 12, No. 1, 2003) Juhlin, Oskar
  • Journal Article
    Tree-Based Concurrency Control in Distributed Groupware
    (Computer Supported Cooperative Work (CSCW): Vol. 12, No. 3, 2003) Ionescu, Mihail; Marsic, Ivan
    We present a novel algorithm, called dARB, forsolving the concurrency control problem indistributed collaborative applications. Themain issue of concurrency control is resolvingthe conflicts resulting from simultaneousactions of multiple users. The algorithmreduces the need for manual conflict resolutionby using a distributed arbitration scheme. Themain advantages of our approach are thesimplicity of use and good responsiveness, asthere are no lock mechanisms. Our algorithmrequires the applications to use a tree as theinternal data structure. This makes itapplication independent and suitable forgeneral collaborative applications. The treerequirement is reasonable since many newapplications use XML (extensible MarkupLanguage) for data representation and exchange,and parsing XML documents results in treestructures. Example applications of thealgorithm, a group text editor and acollaborative 3D virtual environment calledcWorld, are implemented and evaluated in theDISCIPLE collaboration framework. We alsointroduce awareness widgets that users avoidgenerating the conflicting events and help inmanual conflict resolution.