CONFER (software)

Sites where CONFER was used

In addition to the University of Michigan CONFER was used at Wayne State University (WSU), the University of Alberta (UQV), Michigan State University (MSU), and at Hewlett-Packard (HP). MSU and HP both ran MTS so they could run CONFER. A Unix version, known as CONFER U, was created by the University of Michigan's Information Technology Division and used at U-M and at the Research Libraries Group. A version for the DEC VMS operating system, known as CONFER V, was created and used at Western Michigan University (WMU). The work on CONFER U at U-M and on CONFER V at WMU was done with the encouragement of and guidance from Bob Parnes.

Features

CONFER provides facilities for online discussion of topics of general interest. Discussions are organized around "conferences" that focus on a topic, a group or community, or an event. Conferences may be "public" (open to anyone with an account on the host system where CONFER runs) or private (invitation only). Each conference has one or more organizers. Individuals join conferences as participants, auditors, or observers. Conferences are accessed using terminals from various locations, allowing discussion without having to meet physically or participate at the same time.

As a system developed in the mid-1970s, CONFER is a text oriented, command driven system with extensive prompts and online help. It does not have a graphical user interface (but see InfoX below) or allow the display of photographs or other graphics.

Within a conference, discussions are managed as a collection of items. One person starts an item by entering the item text and giving it a title, called a header. Other people can then make their own responses to the initial entry. The item text and each response is signed with the name of its author. The item's author can specify the type of responses desired. The most common type of response is a discussion response where the response is simply text. Participants can make as many discussion responses to an item as they like. Another type of response is a vote where a numeric response followed by an optional text comment is given with only one response per item per participant. And still another response type is a dynamic value vote.

One can view items in chronological order, reverse chronological order, or by following a thread of related items linked together using next and previous item links. One can also view specific items, a range of items, new items or items that have new responses.

To participate in a conference one must first register as a permanent participant, an auditor, or a temporary observer. A participant may contribute items and responses, while an auditor or observer just views them. Once one has joined a conference, CONFER keeps track of what has been seen for participants and auditors, but not for observers. Each time a conference is visited by a participant or auditor, CONFER displays a list of new information that has been entered since the previous visit. Of course one can always go back and look at old items and responses as well.

CONFER allows the use of pseudonyms for items, responses, and messages, and participants can register in a conference under a pseudonym. Many conferences that allow pseudonymous comments ask participants to register under their own names to establish a legitimate tone for the conference, and help establish the credibility of the participants.

Bulletins, notices that are displayed when a conference is entered with no responses allowed, are another less frequently used form of communication.

CONFER also provides a "meeting" mode to allow real-time discussions and includes facilities to support "simulations" as described below.

Not only did CONFER offer the opportunity for various forms of group discussion, it also served as the first widely used e-mail system on the Michigan campus. And while the MTS $MESSAGE e-mail system eventually surpassed CONFER as the e-mail facility of choice at Michigan, the computer conferencing portion of CONFER continued to thrive.

Commands

Examples

InfoX

InfoX (pronounced “info-ex”, originally InfoDisk) is a program for the Apple Macintosh ("Classic"; not compatible with the modern Mac OS X) developed by the Information Technology Division at the University of Michigan. It provides a modern user interface (menus, icons, windows, and buttons) that can be used to check electronic mail, participate in CONFER II conferences, access the MTS User Directory, and create, edit, and manipulate files. InfoX adds Macintosh-style word processing features to the more traditional editing functions available from the CONFER command-line interface. One can use the standard Cut, Copy, and Paste commands under the Macintosh Edit menu to move text from any Macintosh file to a conference entry or message. Text is automatically wrapped text in conference entries and messages.

InfoX allows users to join a conference, enter or respond to an item, read a particular item or response, forget an item, or mark all items as seen. Unseen conference items are displayed in much the same way messages are displayed, so one can select an item by title, not just by item number. When a conference folder is opened, InfoX displays a variety of information about new items and new responses. The buttons at the top of the screen allow the user to join a conference, read any item, enter a new item, forget an item, and mark all items as seen.

Some CONFER II functions are not available through InfoX. One cannot use the program to enter organizer-defined commands, post or read bulletins, hold meetings, use polled or numeric responses, enter pseudonymous or anonymous responses, change entries, access the index or summaries, or send or receive CONFER messages. Because InfoX does not allow for many conference management features, organizers and advanced users choose to access conferences through the traditional CONFER II command-line interface.

Uses

The U-M Center for Research on Learning and Teaching (CRLT) was an early sponsor and proponent of CONFER and saw great promise in it for expanding learning environments.

The first major "test" for the CONFER system was the October 1976 International Society for Technology Assessment (ISTA) Conference held in Ann Arbor. Karl Zinn from U-M's CRLT was interested in testing the technology to facilitate the coordination of tasks among the conference staff as well as using the system to allow conference participants to extend discussions on conference topics. CONFER provided a new opportunity for group discussion and is credited for playing a "tremendous role in enlarging the electronic community" at the University of Michigan.

Those providing user support for the Merit Network in Michigan, particularly Chris Wendt, were excited by the potential for CONFER, and they created the statewide MNET:Caucus conference to help Merit users get quick answers to their questions and take some of the load off their consulting staff. The participants — both consultants and users — learned a lot from each other through the conference.

CONFER continued to gain in popularity with faculty, students, administrators, and staff through the 1980s. The following papers give a hint at the range of activities for which CONFER was used.

• "Computer-based educational communications at the University of Michigan", Proceedings of the ACM Annual Conference/Meeting, 1976
• A Meeting-related Information Exchange Facility within a computer conferencing environment, 1977, Committee for Information on Science and Technology (CIDST) of the Commission of the European Communities
• "Third party consulting in the network environment", CHI '81 Proceedings of the joint conference on Easier and more productive use of computer systems, 1981
• "The CONFER experience of the Merit Computer Network", CHI '81 Proceedings of the joint conference on Easier and more productive use of computer systems, 1981
• "Uses of CONFER at Wayne State University", CHI '81 Proceedings of the joint conference on Easier and more productive use of computer systems, 1981
• "Computer conference and message systems: Their use in a university computer center", Proceedings of the 9th annual ACM SIGUCCS conference on User services, 1981
• "Is It Time for CONFER, a Computer-Based Conference for Dental Public Health?", Journal of Public Health Dentistry, 1984

• "The Design and Implementation of a Statewide Perinatal Automated Medical Network for Michigan (PAM/NET)", Proceedings of the Annual Symposium on Computer Application in Medical Care, 1985
• "Using Computers to Teach Writing", U-M Computing News, 1986, describes how Richard Meisler, Lecturer in U-M's Department of English, uses CONFER to effectively teach students how to write
• "Politics and Computers", U-M Computing News, 1986, describes the use of Confer by Fred Goodman and Edgar Taylor of the U-M School of Education, and Raymond Tanter in Political Science at U-M, in their courses Poli Sci 471, "American Foreign Policy Process" and Poli Sci 353, "Arab-Israeli Conflict"
• "Computer conferencing for accounting instruction", Journal of Accounting Education, 1989
• "The Integration of Computer Conferencing into the Medical School Curriculum", Medical Teacher, 1989
• "Institutional Gaming through the use of Computer Conferencing", Empowering networks: computer conferencing in education, 1992
• "Connecting the University and the Field of Practice", Empowering networks: computer conferencing in education, 1992
• "Uses of Electronic Communication to Document an Academic Community: A Research Report", Archivaria 38, 1994
• "Crisscrossing Grand canyon: Bridging the gaps with computer conferencing", Computers and Composition, 1995

In 1985, a group of U-M students established the first computer conference exclusively for students called MEET:STUDENTS. This very popular conference marked, in a sense, the acceptance of online communications as a culturally accepted mode for student communication and exchange.

For many on the Michigan campus and elsewhere, the benefits of CONFER included meeting new people with similar interests, engaging in group discussion, and communicating outside the normal parameters defined by time and space. CONFER played a tremendous role in enlarging the electronic community at the University and in removing the traditional geographic borders of the classroom and campus. Said Parnes, "CONFER enabled a lot of people to talk together who wouldn't have otherwise."

Legacy

There is a group of computer conferencing programs whose designs were derived from CONFER which are sometimes called "WELL-style" systems, because The WELL has been very influential in spreading this design. WELL-style systems facilitate group discussion by treating discussion items as part of an ongoing conversation with an inherent structure. The conversations are organized as linear chains of items and responses with individual items and responses displayed as a continuous stream of text.

Examples of WELL-style Web conferencing software include: Backtalk, Caucus, COW, Motet, PicoSpan, Web crossing, WELL Engaged, and YAPP. Because of its influence on these programs, CONFER has had a strong influence on most of the major computer conferencing, blogs, social networking, and other similar programs and sites that followed.

Documentation

• MTS Volume 23: Messaging and Conferencing in MTS
• Confer and MTS Help, ITD Reference R1042, October 1, 1989 (1 page)
• Computer Conferencing Guidelines, ITD Reference R1043, October 1, 1989 (2 pages)
• Guidelines for Effective Conferencing for Organizers, ITD Reference R1044, October 1, 1989 (8 pages)
• Guidelines for Effective Conferencing for Participants, ITD Reference R1045, October 1, 1989 (5 pages)
• The Beginner’s Guide to Confer II (approximately 40 pages)
• An Intro Guide to Using Confer II (approximately 15 pages)
• The Reference Guide to Confer II (approximately 100 pages)
• The Organizer’s Guide to Confer II (approximately 75 pages)
• The Quick Reference Card for Confer II (2 pages)
• A summary of Confer commands (2 pages)
• A guide for using Confer with multiple userIDs (3 pages)
• A guide for the program CNFR:CHECK which monitors conference activity (3 pages)