Using studies of collaborative activity in physical environments to inform the design of digital libraries

This paper considers how studies of collaborative activities in the real world can be used to aid in the design of digital libraries. We describe two studies of collaboration in physical environments. The first study examines behaviour at the enquiry desk in an academic library. The second study examines collaboration in an office environment concentrating on 'over the shoulder learning'. The natural characteristics, or affordances, of these physical environments suggest that digital libraries should be designed to utilise the specific characteristics of digital environments. To be presented at the CSCW'98 Workshop on Collaborative and co-operative information seeking in digital information environments Using studies of collaborative activity in physical environments to inform the design of digital libraries Michael B. Twidale1 and David M. Nichols2 [email protected] | [email protected]