The goal of this book is to present a framework within which the myriad
of office technologies and office systems design techniques can be
better understood. There are a number of office books which deal with
the social/organizational aspects of office automation or with office
equip- ment introduction strategies. This book differs from those in
that it is written by technical computer people for technical computer
people. As such, it assumes a general computer literacy and contains a
technical emphasis with a social fiber woven in. Besides the framework,
we also present the current state of office primitives, office tools,
and office tech- nology. We cover relevant work on-going by
international standards bod- ies, and we discuss the concepts that are
emerging (or which we feel will be emerging) from universities and
industrial research laboratories. Office technologies and techniques are
classified as personal environment aids versus communal environment
aids. We now fully realize how difficult it is to write a coherent book
within this fuzzy, interdisciplinary, rapidly changing field. Concepts
have been stressed wherever possible; there are some sub-areas where the
generaliz- ing concepts have not yet emerged. We also realize the
potential danger of obsolescense. We have tried to combate this somewhat
by the presen- tation of concepts, generic tool design, and emphasizing
our framework. This book is not a substitute for reading of the current
periodical litera- ture - that is where the most timely information
lies.