Cooperative view mechanisms in distributed multiuser hypermedia environments

Distributed multi-user hypermedia environments provide not only information-sharing mechanisms but also user collaboration/communication facilities. The provision of integrated views of heterogeneous information resources is necessary to create a common understanding among the users, who are possibly distributed in terms of geography and time. However, the requirements of customization must also be considered, since such diverse users would want to personalize their views of shared information. In order to integrate these views while considering the requirements of flexible customization, we propose cooperative view mechanisms of Dexter-based hypermedia systems, introducing environmental objects and their participation relationships. The mechanisms instantiate hypermedia deputies on the screen using participation relationships of the users, hypermedia components and environments. The relationships are also used for the purpose of supporting awareness. Using a novel user collaboration facility, the relationships are visualized so that users can easily recognize other users and/or user groups having the same, slightly different or very different views. Attributes of environment objects are discussed so that the mechanisms can be effectively utilized in computer-supported cooperative work settings such as distance presentations, virtual offices and virtual classrooms