Computer-supported Collaboration - Basic Tasks

Basic Tasks

Tasks undertaken in this field resemble those of any social science, but with a special focus on systems integration and groups:

• Discover the multidisciplinary nature of computer supported cooperative work
• Discuss experiences with technologies that support communication, collaboration, and coordination
• Understand behavioral, social, and organizational challenges to developing and using these technologies
• Learn successful development and usage approaches
• Anticipate future trends in technology use and global social impacts
• Analyze CMC systems and interaction via social software
• Design CMC systems to facilitate desirable outcomes
• Apply CMC analysis and visualization tools
• Find uses of video conferencing, if any
• Apply social ergonomics
• Work environment design and A/V considerations
• Improve audio and video encoding - from grainy thumbnails to HD
• Improve and integrate common video conferencing tools
• Analyze work processes, e.g. with the support of video monitoring
• Deploy and evaluate systems for use in particular work contexts
• Take theoretical perspectives to fieldwork, dealing with social complexity.
• Performing observational studies
• Work in commercial and industrial settings, domestic environments and public spaces

Problems of method, communication and comprehension in collaborations between ethnographer and system developer are also of special concern.

A 2004 list of "coordination and communication technologies" included:

"Innovations and experiences with Intranets, the Internet, WWW"

"Innovative installations: CSCW and the arts"

"Innovative technologies and architectures to support group activity, awareness and telepresence"

"Social and organizational effects of introducing technologies"

"Theoretical aspects of coordination and communication"

"Methodologies and tools for design and analysis of collaborative practices", e.g. social network analysis

"Ethnographic and case studies of work practice"

"Working with and through collections of heterogeneous technologies"

"Emerging issues for global systems"

Plenary addresses on Open Source Society' and Hacking Law suggest a bold, civilization-building, ambition for this research.

Less ambitiously, specific CSC fields are often studied under their own names with no reference to the more general field of study, focusing instead on the technology with only minimal attention to the collaboration implied, e.g. video games, videoconferences. Since some specialized devices exist for games or conferences that do not include all of the usual boot image capabilities of a true "computer", studying these separately may be justified. There is also separate study of e-learning, e-government, e-democracy and telemedicine. The subfield telework also often stands alone.