Collaborative Refinery: A Collaborative Information Workspace for the World Wide Web

The conceptual framework of a new system, Collaborative Refinery, is motivated by a scenario involving the creation of an FAQ. The scenario introduces the concepts of collecting, culling, organizing and distilling. Distilling is a specialized form of collaborative authoring with support for content selection and genre. The Web-based user interface supporting access to the four conceptual functions is presened in detail. As well, the system architecture and a current implementation are described in detail. Several research directions are discussed with respect to Collaborative Refinery. Collaborative Refinery is related to prior research in personal information management, collaborative authoring, and shared workspaces. A common problem with large information sources, like the World Wide Web (WWW), Usenet news, or even a group memory system, is the difficulty of find useful information. The sheer volume of information prevents a novice from differentiating between the genuinely useful or interesting items and other less useful information. Summaries,

[1]  Richard Bentley,et al.  Supporting Collaborative Information Sharing with the World Wide Web: The BSCW Shared Workspace System , 1995, WWW Spring 1995.

[2]  Jörg M. Haake,et al.  Supporting collaborative writing of hyperdocuments in SEPIA , 1992, CSCW '92.

[3]  Boris Magnusson,et al.  A Model for Semi-(a)Synchronous Collaborative Editing , 1993, ECSCW.

[4]  Judith S. Olson,et al.  Concurrent editing: the group's interface , 1990, INTERACT.

[5]  David Kaufer,et al.  Computer support for distributed collaborative writing: defining parameters of interaction , 1994, CSCW '94.

[6]  Clarence A. Ellis,et al.  Groupware: some issues and experiences , 1991, CACM.

[7]  Robin Jeffries,et al.  Where did you put it? Issues in the design and use of a group memory , 1993, INTERCHI.

[8]  David Kaufer,et al.  Issues in the design of computer support for co-authoring and commenting , 1990, CSCW '90.

[9]  Lucy A. Suchman,et al.  Supporting collaboration in notecards , 1986, CSCW '86.

[10]  Larry Stead,et al.  Group Asynchronous Browsing on the World Wide Web , 1995, World Wide Web J..

[11]  Mark Handley,et al.  Support for Collaborative Authoring via Electronic Mail: The MESSIE Environment , 1993, ECSCW.

[12]  Tom Rodden,et al.  Contact: Support for Distributed Cooperative Writing , 1995, ECSCW.

[13]  Jerry Fowler,et al.  Experience with the virtual notebook system: abstraction in hypertext , 1994, CSCW '94.

[14]  Susan T. Dumais,et al.  The vocabulary problem in human-system communication , 1987, CACM.

[15]  Robert E. Kraut,et al.  Collaborative document production using quilt , 1988, CSCW '88.

[16]  Ronald M. Baecker,et al.  How People Write Together , 1992 .

[17]  Thomas W. Malone,et al.  How do people organize their desks?: Implications for the design of office information systems , 1983, TOIS.

[18]  Richard Bentley,et al.  Supporting Collaborative Information Sharing with the WWW: The BSCW Shared Workspace System , 1996, World Wide Web J..