IT C515 CSCW - Reading for Week 3

• J. Grundin: Computer-Supported Cooperative Work: History and Focus
• What factors and developments led to the establishment of the area of CSCW?
  
  
• In the mid 1970s Office Automation (OA) was introduced to help/support groups and organizations in an interactive way. OA also tried to extend and integrate single-user application by adding software’s like word processors and spreadsheets.
  
  But still OA was not as much as expected for solving problems of collaborative work in a group or organization. Therefore CSCW started as an effort by technologists to learn a group activity from economists, social psychologists, and anyone who has experience on group active so that it will help to establish a proper tool to facilitate a group work.
  
  In addition to that there are some factors like needing additional application while conducting a group activity such as desk-top and video conferencing system, email, electronic meeting rooms and real time network conferencing. So more or less the above some factors has some impact to the establishment of CSCW.
  
  
• What are the differences between US and EU research traditions in CSCW?

• American and European approaches to CSCW overlap but have marked differences. These partially reflect the small-system/product development and large- system/internal development distinction.

  If we try to see some differences between the US and EU regarding research traditions is CSCW,

  • US computer industry research labs and industry support for universities are very influential, research and developments are more intertwined where as in Europe case more research is government sponsored and activity focuses on large scale systems development, often in user organizations.
  • US researchers and developers focus on experimental, observational, and sociological data where as European researchers focus on philosophy or by social, economic, or political theory.
  • And also there is even a different understanding of a sentence or a word in these two countries. For example an American used the “task analysis” term to describe a cognitive task analysis based on experimental interface testing, a standard practice in human-computer interface studies. On the other hand the European used the same term meant an organizational task analysis based on mapping the flow of information from person to person. He thought the term was "nonsensical" in an experimental setting.
  • In European CSCW cultural norms are reflected. Such as national homogeneity, code determination laws, strong trade unions and extensive social welfare systems. But in the American CSCW they do not reflect much on cultural norms.
  • In Europe, conferences are often gatherings of professionals to interact and share current results; most of those who attend also present. In the US, a conference is often organized for a larger audience, with greater emphasis on polished results. This difference leads to misunderstandings over submission requirements.
    
    
  Therefore basically the above five points can be mentioned as some of the differences between US and EU research traditions in CSCW.
  
  
• J. Nunamaker: Collaborative Computing: The Next Millenium
• What does Nunamaker tell about the role of anonymity in groupware systems?
  
  
• Basically anonymity can help collaborative computing is such a way that by giving a freedom of expression for group member about a given project anonymously and contribute back to the group. This kind of method can help a project leader or manager to get to the desired goal faster and efficiently with the help of all anonymous group members. Anonymity can also help to establish team-oriented thinking. Even though anonymity can help a collaborative work with a great deal it can also be misused by individuals. For example as Mr. Nunamaker says
  
  “A person wanting to harass a co-worker might submit a dumb idea and append to it the name of the person he wants to antagonize.”
  
  Therefore to avoid such negative behavior giving a proper education and feedback, and also telling to the individual such behavior can slow down the collaborative process, can be solved or minimized.
  
  In general even though anonymity might seem strange for the first time users, when they start using it they will learn the effect of freedom of anonymity to the corporative work, they will start to appreciate the idea. And they also “must learn to use the freedom of anonymity responsibly.” (Nunamaker)