+ Page 37 + ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ####### ######## ######## ########### ### ### ## ### ## # ### # Interpersonal Computing and ### ### ## ### ## ### Technology: ### ### ## ### ### An Electronic Journal for ### ######## ### ### the 21st Century ### ### ### ### ### ### ### ## ### ISSN: 1064-4326 ### ### ### ## ### October, 1994 ####### ### ######## ### Volume 2, Number 4, pp. 37-52 --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Published by the Center for Teaching and Technology, Academic Computer Center, Georgetown University, Washington, DC 20057 Additional support provided by the Center for Academic Computing, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802 This article is archived as GRESHAM IPCTV2N4 on LISTSERV@GUVM ---------------------------------------------------------------- FROM INVISIBLE COLLEGE TO CYBERSPACE COLLEGE: COMPUTER CONFERENCING AND THE TRANSFORMATION OF INFORMAL SCHOLARLY COMMUNICATION NETWORKS John L. Gresham, Jr. Scholarly communication is in the midst of a technological revolution. Much has been published regarding the changes in the formal scholarly communications network that will follow the shift from print to electronic journals (Robison, 1993). Less consideration has been given to the transformation of informal scholarly communications networks through computer mediated communication. However, the impact of technology on informal networks of scholarly communication or "invisible colleges" also merits attention. In fact, the changes in scholarly communication are coming more rapidly along these informal channels. The academic community and publishing industry have been slow to replace print journals with electronic publications as a medium of formal scholarly communication, while the use of email and online discussion groups for informal scholarly communication expands with breathtaking rapidity. Informal scholarly networking is moving from physical locations in conference and research centers into "cyberspace," the virtual space created by electronic networks. The transformation of informal scholarly communications has already begun and academia is in the initial stages of a shift from the invisible college to the cyberspace college as a new form of the informal research network. In order to analyze that shift, I begin with a brief description of invisible colleges followed by a descriptive and historical introduction to computer conferencing. Then I describe the current uses of computer conferencing within the academic community and reflect upon the present and future impact this new form of communication will have on informal scholarly networks. + Page 38 + Background: the Invisible College The importance of informal networks to the growth and dissemination of scientific knowledge was noted by Price (1961, cited in Cronin, 1982) who coined the term, "invisible colleges" to describe these informal communities of scientific specialists. Since Price, informal collaboration and communication within invisible colleges is commonly viewed as an essential prequel to the formal publication and dissemination of advances in scientific knowledge. In a review of research on invisible colleges, Cronin concluded that such informal scholarly communication networks are the "lifeblood of scientific progress for both the physical and the social sciences" (1982, p. 225). An invisible college is a social network of generally around 100 individuals who function as the scholarly in-group within a given specialization. Most of the significant research within the specialization is usually produced by members of such an invisible college. This research is facilitated by the informal exchange of information through contacts within this social network at conferences and other forums. While these informal networks vary in structure across various research areas, they share the common functions of facilitating group identity and purpose within a research specialization and keeping participants abreast of current trends and new developments within their area of specialized interest. These informal communication networks provide a forum for the sharing and testing of new ideas through feedback and discussion. Inter-disciplinary exchange of ideas emerges along the peripheries of inter-connecting invisible colleges. Cronin points to this generation and exploration of new ideas as a key contribution of the invisible college to the expansion of knowledge, especially in the social sciences. Also, practical information about research and funding opportunities is often exchanged initially through these informal networks. Due to publication lags in the formal scholarly communication networks, the cutting edge of information in a given scholarly specialization is frequently found within these invisible colleges. Cronin notes the following advantages of the invisible college in contrast to the more formal channels of scholarly communication: currency of information; specialization of information; opportunity for feedback and input at formative stages of idea development; and potential for interdisciplinary transmission of ideas. The disadvantages of invisible colleges as a means of scholarly communication include the elitist and restrictive nature of the networks. These colleges emerge around nuclei of major researchers, leaving many institutionally and geographically remote scholars cut off from the significant communication channels in their specialization. High costs are another disadvantage. Invisible colleges function through personal contacts and this requires funding for frequent travel to conferences. As an informal communications system, invisible colleges have the further disadvantage of disseminating large amounts of trivial and irrelevant data, along with more significant information. + Page 39 + In the conclusion to his review of research, Cronin notes the potential for computer conferencing to emerge as a new means of informal scholarly communication but does not foresee any drastic changes in the invisible college through the introduction of computer mediated communication. Others foresee computer networks as having a more radical impact on informal scholarly communication. In their discussion of the social impact of computer mediated communication, Hiltz and Turoff (1993) suggest that electronic networks might lead to a more open form of invisible colleges with wider participation and faster exchange of information leading to more rapid paradigm development within specialties, greater interdisciplinary communication between specialties, and an expanded rate of research breakthroughs. Tracz, (1980) based on his experience with the EIES computer conferencing system, confidently predicts, " the old style invisible college will be easily replaced by the new style electronic college." Past experience with new technologies would suggest that Tracz may be overstating to speak of the electronic college "replacing" the invisible college. Rather than replacing print and face-to-face communications, electronic publishing and communications seem to foster a flood of additional print literature and conferences devoted toward analysis of the new media. It is more realistic to consider the impact of computer conferencing upon invisible colleges as the emergence of a new form of informal network in cyberspace existing alongside traditional invisible colleges. The emergence of new electronic or cyberspace colleges can be traced through a review of the nature and history of computer conferencing and description of the current uses of computer conferencing in academic communication. Introduction to Computer Conferencing Electronic conferences are known by many names and no consistent nomenclature has yet emerged. The following names for this form of communication have appeared: electronic conferences, e-conferences, computer conferences, mailing lists, lists, listservs, electronic forums, online discussion groups, scholarly discussion groups, special interest groups, news groups, and netgroups. Harnad (1993) creatively describes this new form of academic communication as "scholarly skywriting." All of these terms describe the special use of computer mediated communication or email for group communication. Hiltz and Turoff define computer conferencing systems as the use of the computer "to structure, store, and process written communications among a group of persons" (1993, p.7). Harnad succinctly describes e-conferences as "multiple reciprocal email--electronic discussion groups in which every message is immediately disseminated to all members" (1993, p.82). + Page 40 + There are some helpful introductions to computer conferencing (Collins, 1993; Nickerson, 1992b) but most users learn how electronic conferences work by using them. Subscription to a conference is usually accomplished automatically with an email message to the computer conferencing program. Electronic conferences use computer conferencing software such as LISTSERV to handle subscriptions and to automatically distribute messages or "posts" to all subscribers to the online conference. E-conferences differ from other types of teleconferencing such as video- or audio- in that messages are typed and transmitted as text. While synchronous or real-time electronic communication is possible, the most common form of current e-conference is based on asynchronous communication. Messages are instantaneously transmitted to all conference subscribers but each participant reads and responds to these postings at his or her own convenience. Several topics or conversational "threads" can proceed simultaneously, each identified by its subject heading. Subscribers can easily follow the threads of interest to them and delete the others. They can respond to postings by replying to the list (in which case the message goes out to every subscriber) or replying to one individual subscriber (via that person's individual email address.) The person who creates an electronic conference is known as the list owner. The conferencing software makes subscribing and most other activities automated but the list owner is usually available to assist conference participants with technical questions and problems. The list owner(s) will usually send a charter or mission statement to all subscribers describing the suggested subject areas encompassed by that particular conference and giving technical instructions for using the list. These instructions will usually include directions for searching the archives of the conference in which previous postings are filed, and sometimes other electronic documents as well. With computer conferencing software such as LISTSERV, keyword searching of these archives is possible. On moderated lists, the listowner or designate engages in various degrees of editing or selecting what messages appear on the list and/or directing the conversation in order to keep the conference within the stated parameters of discussion. Moderators try to keep the list away from the email practice known as flaming in which discussion degenerates to ad hominem attacks rather than scholarly debate and polite disagreement. Scholarly electronic conferences have been compared to: a library where one goes to gather information, read, and think; a seminar, conference or salon where one informally debates ideas with colleagues; a room of people or dinner party with several interesting conversations going on at once; and a newspaper (especially the editorials and opinion columns) where one simply subscribes and reads the exchange of ideas without participating in the discussion (called + Page 41 + "lurking" on computer conferences) (Berge & Collins, 1993b). Another has compared e-conferences to the conversation in the faculty lounge: "We pose queries, ask leading questions, report on conferences, review books and articles, ask for collaborators, call for papers, invite constructive criticism of new ideas, discuss each other's work, gossip and so on (Reimer, 1993)." Such comments point to many of the ways in which academics are adopting computer conferencing as a medium for informal scholarly (and sometimes not-so-scholarly) communication. Before investigating the academic uses of electronic conferences in more detail, I will trace the history of this technological development from its roots in government research centers to its adoption by the wider academic community. History of Computer Conferencing The history of computer conferencing and computer networks has been traced by Hiltz & Turoff (1993), Nickerson,(1992a, 1992b, 1992c) Quarterman (1990, 1993), and Williams (1992). The first computer conference was developed by Turoff for the United States Office of Emergency Preparedness in 1970. The system was named EMISARI (Emergency Management Information System and Reference Index). EMISARI was originally conceived as a means of electronically facilitating the Delphi method of structured group communication for the purpose of collaborative decision making and forecasting. It was successfully implemented as a communications system during the wage price freeze of the early seventies when it was used to share information among the ten regional centers of the Office of Emergency Preparedness. This system served as the prototype for Turoff's later system, EIES (Electronic Information Exchange System) developed at and operated from the National Research Foundation at the New Jersey Institute of Technology. The 1970s saw the development of a number of other conferencing systems such as FORUM and then PLANET at the Institute of the Future, CONFER at the University of Michigan, ORACLE at Northwestern University, CONCLAVE in England and others. The most significant development during this time, however, was the ARPANET wide area network created by the U. S. Defense Department agency, DARPA (Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency). Originally created to facilitate information sharing among defense research centers, ARPANET was the testing ground for the TCP/IP protocols. These protocols became the basis for the subsequent emergence of the international network of networks known as the Internet. Interestingly enough, ARPANET's developers were primarily interested in file transmission (FTP) and remote logon (TELNET); email and computer conferencing capabilities were only added to the system as an afterthought (Quarterman, 1993). Nonetheless, by 1978 the predecessor of later online discussion groups had already emerged on the ARPANET network, the unofficial SF-LOVERS (science fiction lovers) electronic conference which flourished despite the opposition of + Page 42 + network authorities. Whereas the earlier conferencing systems like EIES ran on one central mainframe computer which all conference participants would have to log in to, ARPANET introduced the present era of distributed networks in which email and other data flow from site to site via packet switching technology. By 1986, ARPANET was replaced by NSFNet (National Science Foundation Network), the major backbone for the Internet, network access was expanded beyond defense research to the wider scientific and academic research communities, and the stage was set for the present explosion of scholarly electronic discussion groups on the Internet. While the Internet is the major carrier of electronic conference email today, the significant developments in computer conferencing in the 1980s took place on other networks. The largest electronic conferencing network had its beginnings in 1979 when two Duke University graduate students took advantage of the networking capability of the new UNIX mainframes to write software for a UNIX Users network called Usenet. By 1984, the network included 150 e- conferences or "newsgroups" distributed to 2000 sites. By 1992, there were more than 15,000 sites and over 2,000 newsgroups on Usenet. While Usenet rapidly developed into a forum for online discussion groups on an incredible number and variety of topics, the scholarly use of this medium remained unrealized. With the exception of some of the computing technology and other scientific newsgroups, most Usenet newsgroups had the often deserved reputation of being "mostly havens for under informed students and dilettantes rather than respectable scholarly forums for learned societies" (Harnad, 1993, p. 82). A significant variety of scholarly e-conferences first emerged on the BITnet network. BITnet began as a network connecting Yale University and City University of New York in 1981 and rapidly grew to connect 500 colleges and universities. BITnet's acronym was originally explained as meaning "Because its there" with the explanation that the network emerged for no other reason than the fact that the technology was available to network university IBM mainframes together and it was done. Later, the acronym was reinterpreted to mean, "Because it's time." Through links to other networks such as EARN in Europe and ASIANET in the Far East, BITnet or CREN (College Research Education Network) as it came to be officially known, provided connections to over 2000 sites by the early nineties. BITnet provided fertile ground for the development of scholarly electronic conferences for two reasons-- first and obvious was the fact that it was a network of institutions of higher education; and second it offered only limited file transmission (FTP) capabilities, leaving email and computer conferencing as its basic services. The proliferation of electronic conferences on BITnet was facilitated by Eric Thomas' development of LISTSERV computer conferencing software for IBM mainframes in 1986. This software has proven so popular that "LISTSERV" is often used as a generic term for + Page 43 + electronic conferences/ discussion groups and the software has recently been made available in UNIX and VMS formats. By the early 1990s, over 900 electronic conferences were carried on BITnet. The growth in scholarly or academically oriented electronic conferences and discussion groups on Internet and BITnet in the early nineties can be traced through the various editions of The Directory of Scholarly Electronic Journals Newsletters and Academic Discussion Lists. The first edition (1991) listed 517 academic discussion lists, the second edition (1992) listed 769, the third edition (1993) listed 1152 (Strangelove & Kovacs, 1993). The current situation is such that with gateways between networks the distinctions between Internet, BITnet and even Usenet mean little to most e-conference participants. Most scholarly discussion groups have both Internet and BITnet addresses and many of the conferences have Usenet feeds which allow them to be accessed as Usenet newsgroups as well. What is of most interest to the scholarly participant in electronic conferences is not the networking technology which supports the discussion group but the content of the discussion itself. How are scholars actually using electronic conferences for research and communication? Academic Uses of Computer Conferencing Little research and reporting has appeared on the uses of computer mediated discussion groups or conferences in the academic community. Hiltz (1984) surveyed participants in four scientific conferences on the EIES system which included scholars doing research on futurology, social networks, general systems theory and devices for the disabled. According to the survey, the results of participation in these four conferences included clarification of theoretical controversies, expanded networks of professional contacts, greater awareness of information sources and scholarly activity in the subject areas, and increased communication both within specializations and across disciplines. In another study, Freeman (1984) pointed to the EIES conference as an important factor in the emergence of Social Networks Analysis as a new scientific specialty. Based on a survey of participants in communications and psychology e-conferences, Schaefermeyer and Sewell (cited in Kovacs & Kovacs, 1991) noted that for these network users, email had begun to replace telephone, postal mail, and face-to-face communications as a preferred means for the scholarly exchange of information concerning research and instructional interests as well as for social communication. Kovacs & Kovacs (1991) surveyed a number of subscribers to ARACHNET, an e-conference for e-conference moderators and e-journal editors. Their survey included 20 moderators of e-conferences in the subject areas of computer science, English, ethnomusicology, labor economics, library and information science, literature, history, philosophy, physics, political economy, postmodern culture, psychology, south-east Asian studies, and text processing. These moderators observed the following uses of e-conferences as a research + Page 44 + tool: establishment of collaborations, information exchange/ confirmation, maintaining current awareness, development of research ideas, medium of publication. Many moderators noted that email was replacing postal and phone communication among scholarly colleagues. These activities correspond almost identically to the informal communication exchanges described in earlier research on invisible colleges, illustrating the movement of the invisible college into cyberspace. Berge and Collins (1993a) also observed the use of computer conferencing to augment personal and professional networks, noting that "co-authors for articles and books have been discovered, researchers with similar projects have been found, employment, funding and research opportunities have been turning up regularly through computer conferencing." In a later article, Berge and Collins (1994) provide a more qualitative report on electronic conferencing. They provide several quotes from an e-conference discussion on the potential social impacts of computer mediated communication to illustrate the quality of scholarly debate and discussion possible in an electronic conference. In order to get a more detailed picture of how scholars within a particular discipline are using electronic conferences for scholarly communication, I subscribed to a number of religious studies conferences for a few months in Winter 1993-1994 to observe the interactions and to query participants. Religious Studies provides a helpful case study because of its interdisciplinary character. The discipline encompasses historical, philosophical, literary and social scientific approaches dispersed among a number of sub-disciplines such as Biblical studies, historical, comparative and social scientific study of religions, archeological studies, and theological/ philosophical studies. The variety of religious studies oriented e- conferences reflects this. I subscribed to lists for historical and comparative study of religions (RELIGION), study of Greco-Roman Judaism and related religious movements and religious texts of the time (IOUDAIOS), social scientific study of religion (SSREL-L), study of new religions (NUREL-l), Archaeology (ARCH-L), history of American evangelicalism (HISTEC-L), history of American Catholicism (AMERCATH), and constructive theology (THEOLOGOS). I posted queries to several of these lists asking religious studies scholars to tell how they were using the Internet, and especially e-conferences to facilitate research and instruction. I received 20 responses describing a variety of uses of e-conferences. Based on these responses and my own observation and participation in these and other e-conferences, I have learned that scholars are using e-conferences to do the following: 1. Communicate with an international community of scholars (especially useful to geographically remote scholars); 2. Communicate with scholars sharing common interests, subject specialties; + Page 45 + 3. Ask questions of scholars in fields outside one's specialization; 4. Track down sources, texts and other bibliographic information; 5. Discuss, review and debate new publications in the field; 6. Meet and interview experts for research; 7. Exchange and critique pre-publication papers; 8. Do collaborative research and writing; 9. Share teaching tips: syllabi, textbooks, etc.; 10. Seek advice for research and fieldwork from more experienced scholars; 11. Gather advice & bibliographic suggestions for dissertation research; 12. Observe, participate in discussion beyond academia (Usenet groups); 13. Read up-to-date accounts and evaluations of new discoveries, publications; 14. Learn about relevant resources on the Internet and other electronic resources; 15. Learn about research opportunities; calls for papers, reviews, job openings; 16. Get feedback on new ideas; 17. Maintain and continue relationships with distant colleagues; 18. Chat; 19. Make new friends; 20. Become part of a virtual community. These uses of e-conferencing reinforce earlier observations concerning electronic networks becoming a communications medium for informal scholarly networking. In addition to describing how they were using computer conferencing, several of the religion scholars who responded to my queries also noted some of the advantages of this communications medium. Several scholars noted the geographic access provided by the Internet. Religious scholars in Hong Kong, Saskatchewan, Canada and Fort Worth, Texas noted how e-conferences enabled them to overcome their remote locations and maintain scholarly communication with other specialists in their areas of interest. Another scholar, teaching in a small religion department with little opportunity for ongoing dialogue with other scholars in his particular specialization, expressed a similar appreciation for the ability to transcend geographic barriers through e-conferencing. Not only geographical, but other barriers to access were overcome via e- conferencing. Graduate students, who might otherwise find it very difficult to break into the old style invisible colleges note the ease by which they gain access to a variety of scholarly experts in their area of study with whom they may discuss their dissertation research. The speed and currency of information was noted in one response which described the reporting and analysis of a recent archeological discovery weeks before its reporting in print and at least months before its analysis in the scholarly literature. A couple of + Page 46 + respondents commented on the benefits of participation in e- conferences in areas beyond their specialty. This suggests that the value of invisible colleges for the interdisciplinary and cross- disciplinary exchange of information is also enhanced by computer conferencing. The only significant negative comments on e-conferencing related to the great amounts of trivial and irrelevant information exchanged and problems of information overload. The first problem, irrelevant information, seems intrinsic to informal communication. The same problem was noted as a weakness of invisible colleges as an information system. The second problem, information overload, is a persistent feature of electronic communication. However, as scholars use computer mediated communication they learn techniques to overcome these problems. One scholar who responded to my survey noted how he sought to overcome these problems by using the LISTSERV software to receive e-conferences in a digest format in order to quickly skim messages and save only those of interest and relevance to him. From Invisible Colleges to Cyberspace Colleges From this survey and earlier studies, it is evident that the kinds of informal scholarly communications that characterized those social networks known as invisible colleges are now increasingly taking place across computer networks. Moreover, computer conferencing is transforming and improving the invisible college. One of the most significant transformations will involve the size and scope of informal scholarly networks. The fairly localized and limited invisible college of about 100 or so individuals will expand into huge international electronic networks of scholars. Rossman (1992) refers to the "global enlargement" of the scholarly network and Quarterman explains how the "global matrix of interconnected computer networks facilitates the formation of global matrices of minds" (1993, p.56). This global expansion in size will be accompanied by an equally significant increase in the speed of information exchange. Harnad argues that computer conferencing "promises to restore the speed of scholarly communication to a rate much closer to the speed of thought" (1993, p.85). Thus, the expenses of travel and the limitations of time and space which hampered the effectiveness of the invisible college will be overcome by computer mediated communication. Of equal importance, the elitism of the old scholarly networks will be overcome. Electronic conferences tend to be interesting and illuminating mixes of teachers and students, academics and non- academics, graduates and undergraduates, theoreticians and practitioners with all having equal access to contribute to and learn from the ongoing conversations. For those with access to the electronic networks, entrance into these scholarly discussion groups comes quite easy. (Hopefully, access to the networks will become more and more universal as well.). More resistant barriers of race and gender prejudice which had the potential of forming invisible + Page 47 + colleges along the lines of "old boys networks" are overcome through the text based medium of communication. Communicating textually, postings are more easily judged by their content than the by the physical characteristics or appearance of the poster (Rheingold, 1993). The textual record leads to certain other improvements over the old style invisible college, as well. The elusive and ephemeral nature of information in verbal networks is overcome because computer conferencing creates a written and searchable record of previous information exchanges. While the problems of information overload and irrelevant information which hampered the usefulness of the invisible college will remain and may be intensified in the cyberspace college, the format of the information as electronic text allows for alleviation of the problem through the use of technology to store, organize, search and retrieve needed information. Thus, many of the weaknesses of the invisible college such as limitations of size, geography, and access, social barriers to access, and problems in managing the flow of information will be overcome by computer mediated communication. The introduction of a new communication medium not only improves invisible colleges, it transforms them into something new-- "cyberspace colleges." The textual basis of e-conferencing coupled with the speed and interactivity of electronic communication creates a hybrid form of communication. Yates (1993) demonstrated the hybrid nature of computer conference posts by applying a measurement known as "lexical density" which has been used to describe differences between speech and text. Yates measured the lexical density of computer conferencing messages to show how they range across the spectrum of lexical differences between speech and writing. With characteristics of both speech and writing, computer conferencing represents a new and evolving form of media communication. Levinson (1990) sees computer conferencing as a natural evolution in the history of media communication. That history is characterized by the development of means (such as written, and later, printed text) to escape the limitations of face-to-face communication followed by subsequent attempts to recover the interactivity and immediacy of pre- technological communication through development of new communications media (such as telecommunications). Computer conferencing represents a further step toward recovering the interactivity of face-to-face communication while maintaining the gains in permanency afforded by textual communication. Harnad (1993) ranks this new communications medium as the fourth major revolution in the history of communication following the beginning of human speech, the development of writing, and the invention of the printing press. He emphasizes that each of these revolutions has impacted both the processes and contents of human thought and this latest revolution will have similar far reaching impacts. The invisible college, as it moves into cyberspace via computer mediated communication, will not remain unchanged. + Page 48 + Since computer conferencing is a new form of communications media, its full impact on the informal scholarly networks cannot be fully predicted. Nonetheless, some potential impacts of this communications medium on informal scholarly networking can be predicted by relating the purposes of the invisible college to the capabilities of computer conferencing. The old style invisible college was based on the free exchange of information among persons in the social network, even though this form of exchange did not carry the tangible recognition and rewards of actual publication in the formal communications network represented by journals and monographs. Does computer conferencing foster this free exchange of information in the absence of the social contacts available in the old style invisible colleges? According to Sproull and Kiesler, (1991) computer conferencing actually enhances such information exchanges. Noting the high rate of response to queries broadcast over computer networks despite the absence of personal contact, Sproull and Kiesler suggest that the ease of responding to information requests in a computer conference fosters a form of "electronic altruism" which stimulates the free exchange of information in this environment. In a discussion of online education, Harasim (1990) has outlined several more aspects of computer conferencing which suggest the potential for this medium to enhance intellectual collaboration. The textual basis of computer conferencing fosters the reflective and analytical cognitive skills associated with the task of expressing ideas in written form. The asynchronous flow of information encourages fuller group participation by giving all participants opportunity to add to the conversation at their own pace. The opportunity for feedback and ongoing discussion makes computer conferencing an ideal active learning tool. Harasim finds computer conferencing especially effective in the area of idea generation. Harasim's focus is on the use of computer conferencing as an educational tool utilized by teacher and students, but her comments are quite relevant to the use of this medium for collaborative research among scholars. As was noted above, research on the invisible colleges suggested that a chief value of the informal scholarly networks for the expansion of knowledge consisted in the generation of new ideas, precisely the area of intellectual activity Harasim finds most augmented by computer conferencing. Thus, we find a convergence of form and function as the cyberspace college uses computer conferencing to generate and explore new ideas through collaboration and free exchange of information. Due to the unique features of computer conferencing, the role of the informal scholarly communication network in the expansion of knowledge should be enhanced by the shift from invisible college to cyberspace college. Current Trends and Future Developments Current trends and future developments in computer conferencing include the following: + Page 49 + 1. Clarification of questions of intellectual ownership and copyright in relation to electronic conference postings: The similarities of these postings to verbal conversation has led to some loose practices in regard to quoting, disseminating and otherwise reusing other's postings, but the textual character of these postings is now leading toward the development of more careful practices of attribution and permission for such re-use. 2. The proliferation of paired e-conferences and e-journals: This is a current trend in which e-conferences emerge as companions to e-journals, providing a virtual meeting spot for discussion and debate of the journal contents, and e-journals emerge as outgrowths of e-conferences, providing a forum for more formal and lengthy articles and reviews to complement the conference discussion. This may lead to merging and overlap between the two media such as is the case now in the highly interactive e-journal PSYCOLOQUY. These developments will lead toward the growth of "virtual research institutes," such as the Institute for Research on Virtual Culture, in which interrelated e-journals, e- conferences, electronic archives and other forms of computer mediated communication will support larger scale coordinated collaborative research and study over electronic networks (Stepp, 1993). 3. Multimedia: Computer conferencing itself will be transformed as network hardware and software continues to become more supportive of the transmission of multimedia information. E-conferences of the future may carry graphics, sound, and video as well as text, moving computer conferencing into the realm of virtual reality (Sinclair & Kearns, 1993). The cyberspace college will be succeeded by the "virtual college." Conclusion Technology will transform the future of scholarly communication. Just as the formal scholarly communication network will be impacted by the e-journal, even so shall the informal networks of scholarly communication known as invisible colleges be impacted by the e- conference. Computer conferencing is leading toward a new form of informal scholarly communication I have described as cyberspace colleges. The significance of cyberspace colleges is suggested by Rossman's claim that, "the primary importance of computer tools for the electronic university lies not in machines that will think for scholars but in scholars using such tools to amplify 'collective intelligence,' bringing many minds together for more effective collaborative research" (1992, p.58). The cyberspace college represents such use of computer technology to expand and enhance the human element in research by facilitating larger and more effective networks of scholarly communication. + Page 50 + REFERENCES Berge, Z. L. & Collins, M. P. (1993a). Computer conferencing and online education. The Arachnet Electronic Journal on Virtual Culture [Online], 1 (3). Available FTP: byrd.mu.wvnet.edu Directory: pub/ejvc File: BERGE V1N3. Berge, Z. L. & Collins, M. P. (1993b). The founding and managing of IPCT-L: a listowners' perspective. Interpersonal Computing and Technology: an Electronic Journal for the 21st Century [Online], 1 (2). Available e-mail: LISTSERV@guvm.georgetown.edu Message: Get BERGE IPCTV1N2. Berge, Z. L. & Collins, M. (1994). Life on the net. Educom Review, [Online], 29, (2). Available e-mail: editor@educom.edu. Collins, M. P. (1993). Computer networks and networking: a primer. Interpersonal Computing and Technology: An Electronic Journal for the 21st Century [Online], 1(1). Available email: LISTSERV@guvm.georgetown.edu Message: Get COLLINS IPCTV1N1. Cronin, B. (1982). Progress in documentation: invisible colleges and information transfer, a review and commentary with particular reference to the social sciences. Journal of Documentation, 38, 212-236. Freeman, L. (1984). The impact of computer-based communication on the social structure of an emerging scientific specialty. Social Networks, 6, 201-221. Harasim, L. M. (1990). Online education: an environment for collaboration and intellectual amplification. In L. M. Harasim (Ed.), Online education: perspectives on a new environment (pp. 39-64). New York: Praeger. Harnad, S. (1993). The post-Gutenberg galaxy: The fourth revolution in the means of the production of knowledge. In Mason, R. (Ed.), Computer conferencing: the last word (pp. 77-89). Victoria, B.C.: Beach Holme Publishers. (Originally published in The Public Access Computer Systems Review, [Online], 2 (1). Available e-mail: LISTSERV@uhupvm1 Message: Get HARNAD PRV1N2.) Hiltz, S. R. (1984). Online communities: a case study of the office of the future. Norwood, NJ: Ablex Publishing. Hiltz, S. R. & Turoff, M. (1993). The Network nation: human communication via computer. Rev. Ed. Cambridge: MIT Press. Kovacs, M. J. & Kovacs, D. K. (1991). The state of scholarly electronic conferencing. Electronic Networking, 1(2), 29-36. Levinson, Paul. (1990). Computer conferencing in the context of the evolution of media. In L. M. Harasim (Ed.), Online education: perspectives on a new environment (pp. 3-14). New York: Praeger. + Page 51 + Nickerson, G. (1992a). Computer mediated communication on BITnet. Computers in Libraries, 12(2), 33-36. Nickerson, G. (1992b). Listservers. Computers in Libraries, 12(3), 13-18. Nickerson, G. (1992c). Usenet. Computers in Libraries, 12(4), 31-34. Quarterman, J. S. (1990). The matrix: computer networks and conferencing systems worldwide. Burlington, Ma.: Digital Press. Quarterman, J. S. (1993). The global matrix of minds. In Harasim, L. M. (Ed.), Global networks: computers and international communication (pp. 35-56). Cambridge: MIT Press. Reimer, D. (1993). Ioudaios e-manual [Online]. Available email: dreimer@ox.ac.uk. Rheingold, R. (1993). Virtual communities. In Mason, R. (Ed.), Computer conferencing: the last word (pp. 103-108). Victoria, B.C.: Beach Holme Publishers. (Originally published in Whole Earth Review, Winter 1988). Robison, D. F. W. (1993). Bibliography on electronic journal publication and publishing. In Strangelove, M. & Kovacs, D. Directory of electronic journals, newsletters, and academic discussion lists (pp. 27-38). Washington, D.C.: Association of Research Libraries. Rossman, P. (1992). The emerging worldwide electronic university: information age global education. Westport, Ct.: Greenwood Press. Sinclair, G. & Kearns, L. (1993). From text to multimedia: computer mediated communication in the 80's and 90's. In Mason, R. (Ed.), Computer conferencing: the last word (pp. 251-261). Victoria, B.C.: Beach Holme Publishers. Sproull, L. & Kiesler, S. (1991). Computers, networks and work. Scientific American, 265 (3), 84-91. Stepp, E. (1993). Virtualization of institutes for research. The Arachnet Electronic Journal on Virtual Culture [Online], 1 (6). Available FTP: byrd.mu.wvnet.edu Directory: pub/ejvc File: STEPP V1N6 Strangelove, M. & Kovacs, D. (1993). Directory of electronic journals, newsletters, and academic discussion lists. Washington, D.C.: Association of Research Libraries. Tracz, G. (1980). Computerized conferencing: an eye opening experience with EIES. The Canadian Journal of Information Science, 5, 16-20. + Page 52 + Williams, B. (1992). Directory of computer conferencing in libraries. Westport, Ct.: Meckler. Yates, S. (1993). Speech, writing and computer conferencing: an analysis. In Mason, R. (Ed.), Computer conferencing: the last word (pp. 37-56). Victoria, B.C.: Beach Holme Publishers. ---------------------------------------------------------------- BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH John L. Gresham, Jr. is Director of Library Services at Sterling College, Sterling Kansas. He received a Ph.D. in Religious Studies from Baylor University and a Master of Library Science from University of North Texas. He is author of a guide to Religious Studies resources on the Internet entitled "Finding God in Cyberspace". Email Address: STCOL1LB@INK.ORG Smail address: Sterling College Library, Box 98 Sterling KS 67579. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Interpersonal Computing and Technology: An Electronic Journal for the 21st Century Copyright 1994 Georgetown University. Copyright of individual articles in this publication is retained by the individual authors. Copyright of the compilation as a whole is held by Georgetown University. It is asked that any republication of this article state that the article was first published in IPCT-J. Contributions to IPCT-J can be submitted by electronic mail in APA style to: Gerald Phillips, Editor IPCT-J GMP3@PSUVM.PSU.EDU