Abstract
This paper discusses how representation andinterpretation affect the degree and character of awarenessafforded by computer systems: awareness of people and ofinformation artifacts. Our discussion ranges from system designto theoretical concepts, and we focus on consistencies acrossthis spectrum. We begin by briefly describing a prototypecollaborative filtering system, Recer. This system tracks ongoingactivity in the web browsers and text editors of a group ofpeople, and offers recommendations of URLs and local programfiles that are specific to and adaptive with that activity, andthat reflect patterns of earlier activity within the community ofuse. We then take a more general look at collaborative filtering,and compare it with two other approaches to engendering awarenessof useful artifacts: information retrieval and software patterns.We discuss how each implicitly or explicitly involvescollaboration, formalisation and subjectivity in its corerepresentations. We then explore the artifact-centred approach toawareness that Recer represents, and relate it to theactivity-centred approach more familiar within CSCW. We use thiscomparison in discussing, in more theoretical terms, howrepresentation and formalisation affects awareness,interpretation and use. Our intention is to explore andunderstand the choices that designers have for the corerepresentations of information systems, and the consequences forawareness that follow for users. We wish to relate such practicaldesign issues to the more theoretical discussion in CSCW aroundconcepts such as common information spaces, the space-placedistinction, and the status of formal constructs.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Alexander, C. (1979): The Timeless Way of Building. Oxford University Press.
Bannon, L. and S. Bødker (1997): Constructing Common Information Spaces. Proceedings of the European Conference on Computer Supported Cooperative Work. Lancaster, U.K., pp. 81–96.
Chalmers, M., K. Rodden and D. Brodbeck (1998): The Order of Things: Activity-Centred Information Access, In Proceedings of the 7th World Wide Web Conference. Brisbane, Australia, pp. 359–367.
Chalmers. M. (1999a): When Cookies Aren't Enough: Tracking and Enriching Web Activity with Recer, Jan van Eyck Academy Design Symposium: Preferred Placement: The Hit Economy, Hyperlink Diplomacy and Web Epistemology, Amsterdam. In Preferred Placement: Knowledge Politics on the Web. Jan van Eyck Academie Editions, 2000, pp. 99–102.
Chalmers, M. (1999b): Informatics, Architecture and Language. In A. Munro, K. Höök and D. Benyon (eds.): Social Navigation in Information Space. Springer.
Chalmers, M. (1999c): Comparing Information Access Approaches. Journal of the American Society for Information Science, 50th Anniversary Issue, vol. 50, no. 12, pp. 1108–1118.
Crampton Smith, G. (1995): The Hand That Rocks the Cradle. I.D., May/June, pp. 60–65.
Dourish, P. and S. Bly (1992): Portholes: Supporting Awareness in a Distributed Work Group. In Proceedings of ACMCHI92 Human Factors in Computer Systems. Monterey, USA, pp. 541–547.
Gamma, E. et al. (1995): Design Patterns: Elements of Reusable Object-Oriented Software. Addison Wesley.
Goldberg, D. et al. (1992): Using Collaborative Filtering to Weave an Information Tapestry. Communications of the ACM, vol. 35, no. 12, pp. 61–70.
Harrison, S. and P. Dourish (1996): Re-Place-ing Space: The Roles of Place and Space in Collaborative Systems. In Proceedings of Conference on Computer Supported Cooperative Work. ACM Press, pp. 67–76.
Hillier, B. (1996): Space is the Machine: A Configurational Theory of Architecture. Cambridge University Press.
Karatani, K. (1995): Architecture as Metaphor: Language, Number Money. MIT Press.
Kristoffersen, S. and F. Ljungberg (1999): An Empirical Study of How People Establish Interaction: Implications for CSCWSession Management Models. In Proceedings ACM CHI99 Human Factors in Computing Systems. pp. 1–8.
LaMarca, A. et al. (1999): Taking the Work Out of Workflow: Mechanisms for Document-Centred Collaboration. Proceedings European Conference on Computer Supported Cooperative Work. Copenhagen, Denmark, pp. 1–20.
Nesbitt, K. (ed.) (1996): Theorizing a New Agenda for Architecture: An Anthology of Architectural Theory 1965–1995. Princeton Architectural Press.
Resnick, P. and H. Varian (eds.) (1997): Communications of the ACM, special issue on Recommender Systems, vol. 40, no. 3, March.
Ricoeur, P. (1981): Hermeneutics and Human Sciences: Essays on Language, Action, and Interpretation, trans. J. Thompson. Cambridge University Press.
Sarwar, B. et al. (1998): Using Filtering Agents to Improve Prediction Quality in the GroupLens Research Collaborative Filtering System. Proceedings of Conference on Computer Supported Cooperative Work. ACM Press, pp. 345–354.
de Saussure, F. (1983): Course in General Linguistics, trans. Wade Baskin. McGraw-Hill (original published in 1906).
Schmidt, K. (1997): Of Maps and Scripts: The Status of Formal Constructs in Cooperative Work. In Proceedings of Group' 97. Phoenix, USA: ACM Press, pp. 138–147.
Suchman, L. (1987): Plans and Situated Actions: The Problem of Human Machine Communication. Cambridge University Press.
Winograd, T. and F. Flores (1986): Understanding Computers and Cognition. Addison Wesley.
Wittgenstein, L. (1958): Philosophical Investigations, 3rd edn., trans. G.E.M. Anscombe. Oxford University Press.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Chalmers, M. Awareness, Representation and Interpretation. Computer Supported Cooperative Work (CSCW) 11, 389–409 (2002). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1021209028381
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1021209028381