CoWare: a Web-based groupware for effective collaboration

Since most CSCW (Computer-Supported Cooperative Work) systems have been developed for particular computing platforms, they are usable only within the specific organizations supporting those particular platforms. Recently, according to the rapid growth and continuing success of the World-Wide Web, which offers a globally accessible platform-independent infrastructure, many CSCW systems has been constructed and developed on the basis of the Web. As one of such CSCW systems. In this paper, we describe the design and implementation of the CoWare system. The CoWare system provides shared workspaces, which enable members of a work group easily share information for collaborative work through their Web browsers. The shared workspaces support information sharing and management between users, and also support event monitoring and synchronization between collaborative works. In addition, the CoWare system provides channel management facilities for registering and searching electronic documents and messaging facility for synchronous and/or asynchronous communication.