| Collaborative software, also known as groupware, is application software that integrates work on a single project by several concurrent users at separated
workstations (see also Computer
supported cooperative work). In its modern form, it was pioneered by Lotus Software with the popular Lotus Notes application running in connection with a Lotus Domino server; some historians argue that groupware was anticipated by earlier monolithic systems like
NLS.
Collaborative software becomes more valuable when more people use it and thus Metcalfe's law applies. For example, calendaring becomes more useful when more people are connected to the
same electronic calendar and choose to keep their individual calendars up-to-date.
Overview
Collaboration, with respect to information technology, seems to have many definitions. Some are defensible but others are so
broad they lose any meaningful application. Understanding the differences in human interactions is necessary to ensure the
appropriate technologies are employed to meet interaction needs.
There are three primary ways in which humans interact; conversational interaction, transactional interaction, and
collaborative interaction.
Conversational interaction is an exchange of information between one or many participants where the primary purpose of
the interaction is discovery or relationship building. There is no central entity around which the interaction revolves but is a
free exchange of information with no defined constraints. Communication technology such as telephones, instant messaging, and e-mail are generally sufficient for conversational
interactions.
Transactional interaction involves the exchange of transaction entities where a major function of the transaction
entity is to alter the relationship between participants. The transaction entity is in a relatively stable form and constrains or
defines the new relationship. One participant exchanges money for goods and becomes a customer. Transactional interactions are
most effectively handled by transactional systems that manage state and commit records for persistent storage.
In collaborative interactions the main function of the participants' relationship is to alter a collaboration entity
(i.e., the converse of transactional). The collaboration entity is in a relatively unstable form. Examples include the
development of an idea, the creation of a design, the achievement of a shared goal. Therefore, real collaboration technologies
deliver the functionality for many participants to augment a common deliverable. Record or document management, threaded
discussions, audit history, and other mechanisms designed to capture the efforts of many into a managed content environment are
typical of collaboration technologies.
An extension of groupware is collaborative media, software that allows
several concurrent users to create and manage information in a
website. Collaborative media models include Wiki and Slashdot models. Some sites with publicly accessible content
based on collaborative software are: WikiWiki, Wikipedia and Everything2.
By method used we can divide them in:
- Web-based collaborative tools
- Software collaborative tools
By area served we can divide them in:
Three levels of collaboration
Groupware is sometimes divided into three categories depending on the level of collaboration. They are communication tools, conferencing tools, and collaborative management tools.
- Electronic communication tools send messages, files, data, or documents between people and hence facilitate the sharing of information. Examples include:
- Electronic conferencing tools also facilitate the sharing of information, but in a more interactive way. Examples
include:
- data conferencing -
networked PCs share a common “whiteboard” that each user can
modify
- voice conferencing - telephones allow users to interact
- video conferencing (and audio conferencing) - networked
PCs share video or audio signals
- discussion forums - a virtual discussion platform to facilitate
and manage online text messages
- chat rooms - a virtual discussion platform to facilitate and manage real-time
text messages
- electronic meeting systems (EMS) - a
conferencing system built into a room. The special purpose room will usually contain a large screen projector interlinked with
numerous PCs.
- Collaborative management tools facilitate and manage group activities. Examples include:
- electronic calendars (also called time management
software) - schedule events and automatically notify and remind group members
- project management systems - schedule, track, and chart the
steps in a project as it is being completed
- workflow systems - collaborative management of tasks and
documents within a knowledge-based business process
- knowledge management systems - collect, organize,
manage, and share various forms of information
Collaborative software can be either web based (such as UseModWiki or
Scoop), or desktop systems (such as CVS or RCS).
Implementation
The biggest hurdle in implementing groupware is convincing people to use it. Training is required to make people comfortable
using it. Employees should be given incentives to contribute : the rewards could be either financial or psychological.
In many cases collaboration is at odds with the company’s corporate culture so implementation will be disruptive.
Shifting a corporate culture from being competitive to being cooperative is no small undertaking. It will require changes at all
levels of the organization, including the CEO.
Voting methods
Voting has many uses in collaboration software. Condorcet voting
offers input from multiple experts or perspectives and can resolve intransitivity problems in decision making. In
recommendation systems, rating or voting on many items
can be used to formulate profiles for highly successful recommendations; and in document collaboration, such as Wikipedia, voting methods help to guide the creation of new pages.
Use of voting to order lists of sections such as this one remain largely unexplored. This also pertains to collective intelligence.
Examples of collaborative software
- Groupware
- classic client-server solutions
- web based solutions
- distributed solutions
- Lucane Groupware (http://www.lucane.org/) a distributed groupware platform and applications
- Collaborative Media
- web based solutions
- Other
- Project Collaboration
- Document Collaboration
- web based solutions
- Riters.com (http://www.riters.com/) An entirely free wiki farm.
For further reading
An extensive, frequently updated list of collaborative software (http://thinkofit.com/webconf/) is maintained at Thinkofit.com (http://thinkofit.com).
See also
External links
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