© 1982 by British Computer Society
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The BLEND system: programme for the study of some ‘Electronic Journals’*,
Department of Human Sciences, University of Technology, Loughborough, UK
The paper describes a three-year experimental programme organized jointly by the two Universities as the Birmingham and Loughborough Electronic Network Development. The aims are to assess the cost, efficiency and subjective impact of such a system, and to explore and evaluate alternative forms of user communication through an electronic journal and information network. Using a host computer at Birmingham University, a community of initially about 50 scientists (the Loughborough Information Network Community) will be connected through the public telephone network to explore various type of electronic journal. The concept of the electronic journal involves using a computer to aid the normal procedures whereby an article is written, refereed, accepted and ‘published’. The subject of this experimental programme will be Computer Human Factors. Each member will contribute at least one research article and one shorter note in each year of the project, and will also use other forms of communication such as newsletter, annotated abstracts, workshop conferences, co-operative authorship, etc. Throughput the project relevant data will be gathered to enable the assessment of system and user performance, cost, usefulness and acceptability.
Received April 1981.
* This paper has been refereed, accepted and archived (in electronic form only) in the British Library R&DD experimental journal Computer Human Factors.
Because of the interest widely expressed in this British Library sponsored research, the editors of The Computer Journal, Ergonomics and the Journal of the American Societyfor Information Science have kindly accepted this paper for parallel publication.
¶ Department of Human Sciences, University of Technology, Loughborough, Leicester, UK