Designers, implementers, and users of computer network applications are all deeply involved in the processes of social and cultural change, whether or not they consciously and actively choose to consider these processes. Issues such as community and privacy, dependence and individualism are no longer simply the province of philosophers and social scientists; they are tightly interwoven in the design and use of network applications. Virtual Individuals, Virtual Groups explores the social dimensions of the powerful computing applications that are shaping our culture. It addresses design and theoretical issues relating to groupware and other applications of computer networks. It considers computer network applications in terms of the notions of genre and narrative, in a framework that is broadly applicable to the development of a wide range of computing and communication systems, such as virtual reality and multimedia.

Computing environments that furnish a large set of tools (such as editors, mail programs and language processors) are difficult to use, primarily because there is no means of organizing the tools so that they are at hand when needed. Because of the dearth of knowledge of how users behave when issuing commands to general purpose computer systems, user support facilities are ad-hoc designs that do not support natural work habits. The Computer User as Toolsmith, first published in 1993, describes several empirical studies from which the author has developed a computer version of a handyman's workbench that would help users with their online activities. For the practitioner and interface designer, the guidelines and principles offered here are directly applicable to the rational design of new systems and the modernization of old ones. For the researcher and graduate student, the book offers a wealth of analysis and interpretation of data, as well as a survey of research techniques.

Semiotics is the science of signs: graphical, such as pictures; verbal (writing or sounds); or others such as body gestures and clothes. Computer semiotics studies the special nature of computer-based signs and how they function in use. This 1991 book is based on ten years of empirical research on computer usage in work situations and contains material from a course taught by the author. It introduces basic traditional semiotic concepts and adapts them so that they become useful for analysing and designing computer systems in their symbolic context of work. It presents a novel approach to the subject, rich in examples, in that it is both theoretically systematic and practical. The author refers to and reinterprets techniques already used so that readers can deepen their understanding. In addition, it offers new techniques and a consistent perspective on computer systems that is particularly appropriate for new hardware and software (e.g. hypermedia) whose main functions are presentation and communication. This is a highly important work whose influence will be wide and longlasting.

Significant amounts of our time and energy are devoted to creating, managing, and avoiding information. Computers and telecommunications technology have extended our regard for information and are driving changes in how we learn, work, and play. One result of these developments is that skills and strategies for storing and retrieving information have become more essential and more pervasive in our culture. This book considers how electronic technologies have changed these skills and strategies and augmented the fundamental human activity of information seeking. The author makes a case for creating new interface designs that allow the information seeker to choose what strategy to apply according to their immediate needs. Such systems may be designed by providing information seekers with alternative interface mechanisms for displaying and manipulating multiple levels of representation for information objects.Information Seeking in Electronic Environments is essential reading for researchers and graduate students in information science, human-computer interaction, and education, as well as for designers of information retrieval systems and interfaces for digital libraries and archives.