A passive information grazing system (PIGS) is presented which is a prototype information delivery and filtering system for casual users. In PIGS, information articles in multimedia form are electronically transmitted to users over a prototype broadband network. To assist users in managing the potential flood of articles, PIGS selects information for individual users based on their personalized interest profiles. As users' interests change over time, their profiles could be automatically adapted using implicit and explicit feedback about each article. An examination is made of PIGS, with particular emphasis on transmission and call processing capacity requirements.>

Three keys are suggested for unlocking the broadband future based on an analysis of human and societal communication needs. A framework is adopted that distinguished three categories of communication needs: access to people, access to information, and access to information processing. Within this framework, it is argued that applications that emphasize shared visual material, that accommodate advertisers as important end-users, and that include effective security provisions may play a crucial role in realizing the broadband future.>

We describe two experiments that compare the relative utility of pictures, labels, and the combination of both as navigational aids for computerized catalog browsing. The results point to the usefulness of example pictures as search aids in the context of menu traversal through hierarchically structured pictorial databases. We take this outcome to be a reflection of the disambiguating role that pictures can play for verbal category labels.

Teleconferencing systems and services, are the main set of technologies developed thus far to support group work. Within this set of technologies, videoconferencing is often thought of as a new, futuristic communication mode that lies between the telephone call and the face-to-face meeting. In fact, videoconferencing has been commercially available for over two decades, and, despite consistently brilliant market forecasts, to date it has failed to succeed except in limited niche markets. This paper reviews existing teleconferencing literature and provides an analysis of the reasons behind the failure of videoconferencing.

In this paper, we describe the influence of physical proximity on the development of collaborative relationships between scientific researchers and on the execution of their work. Our evidence is drawn from our own studies of scientific collaborators, as well as from observations of research and development activities collected by other investigators. These descriptions provide the foundation for a discussion of the actual and potential role of communications technology in professional work, especially for collaborations carried out at a distance.

What are the requirements on computer- and telecommunications-based tools to aid groups in producing intellectual products? In this article we examine research collaborations as a particularly informative example of group work and propose a framework for describing research collaboration that should provide guidance to those developing technology to support collaborative work. The framework is based on 50 semistructured interviews with researchers in psychology, management science, and computer science. It focuses on the problems in forming and maintaining personal relationships and completing tasks that researchers must solve to have a successful collaboration. These problems occur when collaborators are initiating projects, executing them, and documenting results.

Most computer-based aids for researchers and other workers have had individuals rather than groups or teams as their beneficiaries. This is unfortunate, since much work in business, government, and academia is performed by groups of people. In this paper we examine research collaborations as a particularly informative example of group work and propose a model of research collaboration that should provide guidance to those developing technology to support collaborative work. The model is based on 50 semi-structured interviews with researchers in psychology, management science, and computer science. It focuses on the problems in forming and maintaining personal relationships and completing tasks that researchers must solve to have a successful collaboration. These problems occur when collaborators are initiating projects, executing them, and documenting results.