Did you know that some of the seminal work in CSCW, and some of the most well-known papers in practice-centered computer, were initially presented at ECSCW conferences?
Throughout this winter and spring, we will revisit some of these papers to promote our excellent conference, but also try to re-learn the wisdom that resides in these gems. Believe us, ECSCW papers are like good wine, they just become better the older they are! Remember that by publishing your paper in ECSCW you will join a vibrant community of researchers who are interested in critically investigating how technologies change our practices.
And not to forget: All these papers are available for free. You can download them from our own EUSSET digital library!
To start this series of ECSCW gems, which paper could be better than the seminal work of Liam Bannon and Kjeld Schmidt?
Presented in the first ever ECSCW conference, “CSCW: Four Characters in Search of a Context” is still a strong read and a must for those interested in our field. In their paper the authors went beyond a technology-driven “groupware” perspective, and defined CSCW to be a practice-centered discipline investigating topics such as articulation work, shared information, and sociotechnical systems. The conference paper was later expanded as a journal paper in the inaugural issue of the journal of CSCW.