Abstract
Computational support for collaboration may be realized through the interplay between communication, coordination, and cooperation tools. Communication is related to the exchange of messages and information among people; coordination is related to the management of people, their activities and resources; and cooperation is the production taking place on a shared workspace. This model, which we call the 3C model, was originally proposed by Ellis, Gibbs, and Rein (1991), with some terminological differences. Cooperation, which Ellis et al. denominates “collaboration,” here characterizes the joint operation in a shared workspace.
Key Terms in this Chapter
3C Collaboration Model: A model for the analysis, representation, and development of groupware by means of the interplay between the 3Cs, namely, communication, coordination, and cooperation.
Cooperation: Joint operation in the shared workspace.
Collaboration: The interplay between communication, coordination, and cooperation.
Communication: Conversation to negotiate and make decisions through an augmentation process.
Component-Based Development Techniques: Techniques that seek to develop modular systems composed of software components that may be adapted and combined as needed, always having reuse and maintenance in mind.
Awareness: The human beings’ capability of perceiving the activities of the others and their own activities in the context of collaboration. A groupware generally provides elements and information to enable awareness.
Component Framework: Defines overall invariants and protocols for plugging components.
Coordination: The management of people, their activities and resources, in the context of collaboration. In a narrower definition, it consists in managing interdependencies between tasks that are carried out to achieve a goal.