Ebook: Computer Supported Collaborative Writing

M. Sharples 1. 1 The Collaborative Tradition Collaborative writing is nothing new. The description below is from the introduction to a book published in 1911: Every page, however, has been debated and passed by the three of us. Our usual method has been, first to pick up a subject that interested us, perhaps a subject we had been talking about for a long while, then to discuss it and argue over it, ashore and afloat, in company and by ourselves, till we came to our joint conclusion. Then on a rough day, in a set-to discussion, I would take down notes, which frequently amounted in length to more than half the finished article. From the notes I would make a rough draft, which, after more discussion, would be re­ written, and again, after revision, typewritten. We would go through the printer's proofs together and finally, after reading the matter in print, we have once more revised it for book publication. Collaboration could not be more thorough. (Reynolds, et al. 1911, p. x) The book, Seems So! A Working-class View of Politics, was written by an aca­ demic working closely with two fishermen.

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The distinction between loose, informal collaboration in private and single authorship or formal co-authorship in public has been crumbling for some years. The growth of interdisciplinary studies, international research projects, and distributed work groups within large companies, has exerted political and organizational pressure on writers to be seen to be collaborating. These writing groups often consist of people who rarely meet face-to-face, yet they are expected to collaborate closely, and to tight schedules. However, far more widespread than acknowledged co-authorship, is the practice of loose, informal collaboration: the sharing of ideas and opinions, supportive but critical reading of drafts, and emotional support. Behind the imprint of a single author there lies a complex web of friends, colleagues and unacknowledged influences. Computers seem merely to extend the traditional means of collaboration: electronic mail substitutes for letter writing, computer conferencing substitutes for meetings, shared databases stand in for filing systems and libraries. In fact, each of these systems offers new ways of working and blurs the boundary between informal and formal collaboration. Not until recently have software designers proposed that the best systems to support collaboration are toolkits which enable groups to build software specific to their needs. Computer Supported Collaborative Writing arose from a one-day meeting which provided the first major opportunity for those working in the area of computers and collaborative writing to meet, present their work, and exchange ideas. The aim of the meeting was to bring together people with differing interest - design of software, studies of collaborating writers, CSCW for technical authoring, models of the collaborative writing process - to explore the research problems and offer practical solutions. The chapters of this book are fuller accounts of the work presented during the meeting. Computer Supported Collaborative Writing offers in-depth studies of formal and informal collaboration and proposes preliminary designs for computer tools. It will provide invaluable reading for researchers and students, software designers, and writers.

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The distinction between loose, informal collaboration in private and single authorship or formal co-authorship in public has been crumbling for some years. The growth of interdisciplinary studies, international research projects, and distributed work groups within large companies, has exerted political and organizational pressure on writers to be seen to be collaborating. These writing groups often consist of people who rarely meet face-to-face, yet they are expected to collaborate closely, and to tight schedules. However, far more widespread than acknowledged co-authorship, is the practice of loose, informal collaboration: the sharing of ideas and opinions, supportive but critical reading of drafts, and emotional support. Behind the imprint of a single author there lies a complex web of friends, colleagues and unacknowledged influences. Computers seem merely to extend the traditional means of collaboration: electronic mail substitutes for letter writing, computer conferencing substitutes for meetings, shared databases stand in for filing systems and libraries. In fact, each of these systems offers new ways of working and blurs the boundary between informal and formal collaboration. Not until recently have software designers proposed that the best systems to support collaboration are toolkits which enable groups to build software specific to their needs. Computer Supported Collaborative Writing arose from a one-day meeting which provided the first major opportunity for those working in the area of computers and collaborative writing to meet, present their work, and exchange ideas. The aim of the meeting was to bring together people with differing interest - design of software, studies of collaborating writers, CSCW for technical authoring, models of the collaborative writing process - to explore the research problems and offer practical solutions. The chapters of this book are fuller accounts of the work presented during the meeting. Computer Supported Collaborative Writing offers in-depth studies of formal and informal collaboration and proposes preliminary designs for computer tools. It will provide invaluable reading for researchers and students, software designers, and writers.
Content:
Front Matter....Pages i-xv
Introduction....Pages 1-7
Research Issues in the Study of Computer Supported Collaborative Writing....Pages 9-28
Social Writing: Premises and Practices in Computerized Contexts....Pages 29-40
Computer Networking for Development of Distance Education Courses....Pages 41-67
How Collaborative is Collaborative Writing? An Analysis of the Production of Two Technical Reports....Pages 69-85
A Survey of Experiences of Collaborative Writing....Pages 87-112
Multimedia Conferencing as a Tool for Collaborative Writing: A Case Study....Pages 113-135
Reviewing Designs for a Synchronous-Asynchronous Group Editing Environment....Pages 137-160
A Case Study in Task Analysis for the Design of a Collaborative Document Production System....Pages 161-184
MILO: A Computer-Based Tool for (Co-)Authoring Structured Documents....Pages 185-202
Back Matter....Pages 203-222

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The distinction between loose, informal collaboration in private and single authorship or formal co-authorship in public has been crumbling for some years. The growth of interdisciplinary studies, international research projects, and distributed work groups within large companies, has exerted political and organizational pressure on writers to be seen to be collaborating. These writing groups often consist of people who rarely meet face-to-face, yet they are expected to collaborate closely, and to tight schedules. However, far more widespread than acknowledged co-authorship, is the practice of loose, informal collaboration: the sharing of ideas and opinions, supportive but critical reading of drafts, and emotional support. Behind the imprint of a single author there lies a complex web of friends, colleagues and unacknowledged influences. Computers seem merely to extend the traditional means of collaboration: electronic mail substitutes for letter writing, computer conferencing substitutes for meetings, shared databases stand in for filing systems and libraries. In fact, each of these systems offers new ways of working and blurs the boundary between informal and formal collaboration. Not until recently have software designers proposed that the best systems to support collaboration are toolkits which enable groups to build software specific to their needs. Computer Supported Collaborative Writing arose from a one-day meeting which provided the first major opportunity for those working in the area of computers and collaborative writing to meet, present their work, and exchange ideas. The aim of the meeting was to bring together people with differing interest - design of software, studies of collaborating writers, CSCW for technical authoring, models of the collaborative writing process - to explore the research problems and offer practical solutions. The chapters of this book are fuller accounts of the work presented during the meeting. Computer Supported Collaborative Writing offers in-depth studies of formal and informal collaboration and proposes preliminary designs for computer tools. It will provide invaluable reading for researchers and students, software designers, and writers.
Content:
Front Matter....Pages i-xv
Introduction....Pages 1-7
Research Issues in the Study of Computer Supported Collaborative Writing....Pages 9-28
Social Writing: Premises and Practices in Computerized Contexts....Pages 29-40
Computer Networking for Development of Distance Education Courses....Pages 41-67
How Collaborative is Collaborative Writing? An Analysis of the Production of Two Technical Reports....Pages 69-85
A Survey of Experiences of Collaborative Writing....Pages 87-112
Multimedia Conferencing as a Tool for Collaborative Writing: A Case Study....Pages 113-135
Reviewing Designs for a Synchronous-Asynchronous Group Editing Environment....Pages 137-160
A Case Study in Task Analysis for the Design of a Collaborative Document Production System....Pages 161-184
MILO: A Computer-Based Tool for (Co-)Authoring Structured Documents....Pages 185-202
Back Matter....Pages 203-222
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