Computer-Mediated Communication Systems: Status and Evaluation

Elaine B. Kerr · Starr Roxanne Hiltz

Sep 2013 · Academic Press

About this ebook

Computer-Mediated Communication Systems: Status and Evaluation synthesizes current knowledge about computerized conferencing systems, electronic mail, and office information-communication systems. It should be of interest both to students and researchers studying this new form of electronic communication and to organizations that are planning the installation of electronic mail or other computer-mediated communication systems and that need to be aware of the information gleaned from the studies presented here. The book is organized into four main sections, focusing on the following issues: (1) What are the important considerations in designing software or choosing a system from the many available options and capabilities? (2) What factors determine whether such systems are likely to be accepted or rejected? (3) What are the likely impacts of such systems upon the individuals, groups, and organizations which use them? It is not the economic costs and benefits, but the social problems and ""payoffs"" in the form of enhanced performance and organizational efficiency that should be the main considerations in deciding whether or not to use a computer-mediated communication system. (4) Given the conditional nature of many of the possible impacts, no system should be implemented without formal evaluation and feedback from users to guide the implementation. The major kinds of evaluational strategies that have been successfully employed are described in this book.

About the author

Starr Roxanne Hiltz was born in Little Rock, Arkansas, and educated at Vassar College and Columbia University, where she received an M.A. (1964) and Ph.D. (1969) in sociology. She has taught at Upsala College and Rutgers University, as well as the New Jersey Institute of Technology, where she holds the title of Distinguished Professor in the Departmentof Computer and Information Science. Hiltz has also served as director of the Collaborative Systems Laboratory and associate director of the Computerized Conferencing and Communications Center, both at New Jersey Institute of Technology. Hiltz's book Network Nation (1978), which was co-authored with Murray Turoff, received the "TSM Award" of the Association of American Publishers for the Best Technical Publication, and quickly became the standard reference in the field of computer-mediated communications (CMC). The first part of this work covered the nature of computerized conferencing; the second part dealt with its potential applications and impacts; and the third part discussed the future of computerized conferencing and its regulation. The second edition of Network Nation (1993) contains new material on superconnectivity developments during the last fifteen years, and updates on the future. Hiltz is a member of the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) and has received major grants from the National Science Foundation, the National Institutes of Mental Health, the Annenberg Foundation and Corporation for Public Broadcasting, and the Sloan Foundation. In 1990 she was recipient of the Electronic Networking Association's Rodale Award for Creative Achievement. Her research focuses on video and the virtual classroom.