Glossary » Groupware

delay

a measure of the time it takes for a message to be transmitted across a network. The variance of the delay is also an important measure. Delay affects the perceived fluidity of a conversation and becomes a more serious problem…

distributed architecture

an architecture for distributed applications which divides work among several processes. Generally no process has any privileged role in the application and the processes don’t depend on each other to continue operating.

distributed cognition

the notion of people thinking and solving problems collectively, rather than simply as isolated individuals. Those interested in distributed cognition are interested in how people communicate and jointly use artifacts to accomplish joint work.

document management systems

systems for entering, tracking, routing, and processing documents, whether documents that were originally created electronically (email and online forms) or documents that are scanned (“imaged documents”). Document management systems form a subset of workflow systems, though they may also have…

EBS

electronic brainstorming; the use of computers to support idea generation, especially in a collaborative setting. Computer support can be helpful by simplifying the collection and organization of ideas, by providing anonymity and thus supporting more fluid generation of ideas, and…

EDS

electronic discussion systems

email

by far the most common groupware application (ignoring of course, the traditional telephone). While the basic technology is designed to pass simple messages between 2 people, even relatively basic email systems of today typically include interesting features for forwarding messages,…

emoticons

symbols used in electronic communication to convey emotional overtones, especially in text-based systems such as email and chat. The prototypical example is the smiley , and its many variants, such as frowning , winking , with tongue sticking out ,…

EMR

electronic meeting room -and- electronic medical record. As a meeting room, an EMR is a room equipped with computer stations designed to aid in the meeting process. These computer systems are typically set up with Group Decision Support Systems (GDSS),…

EMS

electronic meeting systems

ephemeral awareness

information about others and their activities that changes quickly, such as their current facial expression, location, or posture; as opposed to more permanent awareness information about them, such as their current address, job position, or favorite food.

eye contact

in conversations, people are aware of when people are looking into their eyes or not, and they use eye contact to signal turn-taking and attentiveness. In conventional videoconferencing systems, the camera is spatially offset from the monitor for viewing other…

face-to-face

or FTF; people interacting with each other in the same place, as opposed to over a telephone, for instance. Refers to group meetings, group work, and groupware interactions which are co-located, in contrast to “distance” or “distributed” work.

facilitator

a person who leads meetings to help make the meeting process successful, e.g. by helping to establish meeting goals, encourage input from all participants, help the meeting flow from one topic to the next, and ensure suitable completion of issues.…

floor control

the mechanism by which access to a shared object is mediated — for instance, controlling access to a shared whiteboard (so only one person can draw at a time) or determining who can speak during a chat session (determining who…

gaze awareness

the ability to tell what someone is looking at by watching the direction of their eyes. In videoconferencing systems, gaze awareness may be an important aspect of effectively communicating. For videoconferencing, gaze awareness is a more relaxed design principle than…

GDSS

group decision support systems. Computer systems that are designed especially to support the decision process, especially in meetings (such as Electronic Meeting Rooms). These systems typically support aspects of the decision process such as brainstorming, idea organization, evaluation, prioritization, and…

gesture

an input method commonly used in pen-based systems -or- a physical movement used in communication such as a hand motion or a facial expression.

1. input method – gestures are pen movements that can be recognized as various symbols…

glance

a view that automatically closes after a brief delay, thus freeing the user from the overhead of determining when and how to close the view. Used in videoconferencing, a glance enables a person to quickly check on the availability of…

GPSS

group process support systems. Groupware designed to support a process, as opposed to a conversation. Workflow systems are the typical example. Industrial processes are another good example — for instance, by coordinating the efforts on an assembly line to avoid…

group calendar

allows scheduling, project management, and coordination among multiple people, and may provide support for scheduling equipment as well. Typical features are to detect when schedules conflict for people or finding a meeting time that will work for everyone. Group calendars…

group-enabling technologies

systems that add group support to single-user applications, by providing, for instance, telepointers, overlays for collaborative annotations, shared windows, chat facilities, and methods for finding and connecting to other users.

groupware

any type of software designed for groups and for communication, including email, videoconferencing, workflow, chat, and collaborative editing systems.

This technology may be used to communicate, cooperate, coordinate, solve problems, compete, or negotiate. While traditional technologies such as the telephone…

hypertext

a collection of text documents with links from one document to another. A “hypermedia” system is the same sort of collection, but including documents of any type, such as graphics, video, etc. The links may pass between essentially any two…

instant messaging

IM; a technique of sending a message: the sender specifies the recipient and typically types a simple text message; the recipient has a window pop up automatically that displays the short message. This differs from email in that the interface…