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The Virtual Notebook System : Distributed Hypertext for Collaborative Research
| Content Provider | Semantic Scholar |
|---|---|
| Author | Shipman, Frank M. Chaney, R. Jesse Gorry, G. Anthony |
| Copyright Year | 2004 |
| Abstract | We are developing the Virtual Notebook System (VNS), a prototype of an information integration and management environment for collaborative work. Our main goal is enhancing the productivity of scientific groups engaged in basic and clinical research in an academic medical center. As the name implies, the VNS is an electronic analog to the scientist’s notebook, and it functions as the repository of data, hypotheses and notes, patient information and the like. But unlike the traditional notebook, the VNS is expressly designed to enhance information sharing among the members of scientific teams. A hypertext program we have developed is the foundation for this sharing. Further, the hypertext enables us to integrate into the VNS a variety of computer-based information resources that are important in biomedicine. Early prototypes of the Virtual Notebook System used Xerox’s NoteCards* and later Knowledge System’s KMS.*[1] Both of these hypertext systems lack features that we feel are needed in our environment. NoteCards did not allow groups of users concurrent access to the hypertext network. Concurrent access is essential to our support of collaborative work. While KMS provided this capability, it was limited in its ability to incorporate external information resources and applications. Also, we wanted to distribute the VNS over a range of existing hardware and software platforms, many of which NoteCards and KMS did not run on. While other hypertext systems were discussed in literature, some with quite appealing functionality, we found all lacking for our application.[2] In some cases, the systems were simply not available in a supported form; in others, foreign applications could not be integrated with the hypertext; and for some, highly-specialized hardware or operating systems were required. Therefore, we somewhat reluctantly undertook the development of our own hypertext system for the VNS. Our principal goals were to provide strong support for collaborative work and facilitate the distribution of the VNS in a heterogeneous computing environment. The result of our efFigure 1. Information Flow within the VNS Work Group Members VNS |
| File Format | PDF HTM / HTML |
| Alternate Webpage(s) | http://www.csdl.tamu.edu/~shipman/papers/ht89.pdf |
| Language | English |
| Access Restriction | Open |
| Content Type | Text |
| Resource Type | Article |
