Information sharing-beyond the Network Computer

The Network Computer is often described as an appliance for accessing networked information, with the World Wide Web as its principal raison d'etre. But the information publishing/browsing paradigm on which the Web is based supports only a part of users' needs for information sharing. Many forms of cooperative work demand coordinated access to shared information that is updated to reflect progress. In large-scale networks this entails support for replicated information objects and distributed event processing. Their potential is illustrated with reference to the Mushroom Project, an ongoing research project whose goal is to develop a software framework to support synchronous and asynchronous cooperative activities.