AN INVESTIGATION INTO SUPPORTING COLLABORATION OVER THE INTERNET

This paper describes an investigation into the practical use of multi- media tools available on the Internet for the purpose of communication and collaboration between remotely located users, A prototype interfa ce incorporating voice. text and graphics-based communication tools wa s developed according to the needs of a group of researchers. Experime nts were conducted whereby the interface was used to carry out authent ic tasks for the joint preparation of a research paper. The tasks invo lved simultaneous activity between researchers located in the UK and A ustralia where the time difference between the sites was 8.5 h. From t he results of the investigation, issues that are relevant to multimedi a tool design and what users can expect in practice from their use on the Internet were identified. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science B.V.