Session Number
06
Description
This paper describes the progress after 3 years of a 4 year experimenial programme organised jointly by two Universities as the Birmingham and Loughborough Electronic Network Development (BLEND). The aims of the programme are to explore and evaluate alternative forms of user communication through an 'electronic journal' and information network and to assess the cost, efficiency and subjective impact of such a system. Several communities of users are being studied, and the progress of the project is described during the development of various types of 'electronic journal' with a community of initially about 50 scientists (the Loughborough Information Network Community - LINC).
Considerable problems have been experienced with the hardware available to LINC members, with communications equipment, with modifying and developing software to obtain an acceptable operating system, and with various unexpected bureaucratic and organisational difficulties. These problems and the results to date are reviewed. Nevertheless, more than 30 papers are in the system and the second number of the 'Computer Human Factors' experimental electronic journal was open to LINC members on 1st May 1983.
Progress of the BLEND-LINC 'Electronic Journal' Project
This paper describes the progress after 3 years of a 4 year experimenial programme organised jointly by two Universities as the Birmingham and Loughborough Electronic Network Development (BLEND). The aims of the programme are to explore and evaluate alternative forms of user communication through an 'electronic journal' and information network and to assess the cost, efficiency and subjective impact of such a system. Several communities of users are being studied, and the progress of the project is described during the development of various types of 'electronic journal' with a community of initially about 50 scientists (the Loughborough Information Network Community - LINC).
Considerable problems have been experienced with the hardware available to LINC members, with communications equipment, with modifying and developing software to obtain an acceptable operating system, and with various unexpected bureaucratic and organisational difficulties. These problems and the results to date are reviewed. Nevertheless, more than 30 papers are in the system and the second number of the 'Computer Human Factors' experimental electronic journal was open to LINC members on 1st May 1983.