Computer-supported cooperative work and the Internet

Research has been carried out in the field of computer-supported cooperative work (CSCW) for over ten years. Many different groupware prototypes have been developed and are being developed. However, CSCW is still considered as an isolated field of research and in several other areas of computer science collaborative aspects are neglected. Actually most Internet information services ignore the co-presence of many people in cyberspace at the same time. Consequently the possibilities of coordination and cooperation among the users are not taken advantage of. The authors are investigating ways in which this isolation of Internet users from each other could be reduced and how they could take advantage of the awareness of others