Page 2 RAIN July 1979 RAIN's office is at 2270 N.W. Irving, Portland, OR 97210. Ph: (503) 227-5110. RAIN STAFF: Phil Conti Steven Arries Yale Lansky Pauline Deppen Jeff Paine Del Greenfield Tad Mutersbaugh Layout Jill Stapleton CONTRIBlJTORS. Tom Bender Lane deMoll Steve Johnson Copyright © 1979 RAIN Umbrella Inc. Typesetting: Irish Setter Printing: Times Litho arios of an electronically orchestrated global village. There are discussions along the way that we are involved in daily, and decisions that have to be made that include cost/benefit analysis, social impact and resource allocation. ==================== The Network Nation is an important rt/'"\1\ Jr1\ lrTTN]n A m]ON contribution to an intelligent conversa- \.J\.JJ.VJ..LV.L U un.J. tion about communication systems. The The Network Nation, Starr Roxanne Hiltz and Murray Turoof, 1978, 528 pp., $17.50 from: Addison-Wesley Publishing Co. Reading, Massachusetts 01867 It strikes me that I see very little discussion, interest or tough analysis of alternative communication technologies. A careful analysis of communication systems has not taken hold among groups working in the area of appropri.: ate technology, even though an analysis of the activities and budgets of these groups would probably reveal a large expenditure for what one could inter- ~ pret as communication goals, for example: education, publications, information exchange, making contact with resource persons, mail, phone, handling referrals, maintaining an active group of participants (a board, for example), and participating in interest-based networks. The analysis of communication systems surely must include the entire range, from personal contact to seenbook focuses on computer-aided conferencing systems such as EIES, the Electronic Information Exchange System, of which Hiltz and Turoof are prime movers. EIES uses a central computer at the New Jersey Institute of Technology to structure, store and process written communication among individuals, and groups of individuals who enter typewritten messages through terminals located in their homes or offices. There / - <.- -t?f!& ', • ~ -..... ---...__ ~- i t - - Oo • --==.... ~-~ -=:-:=~::::-:g---£!> are presently some 600 members and 45 groups. On EIES an individual can send a message to any other individual on the system. If both individuals are on-line at the same time they can send one line messages directly to each other; otherwise a message can be sent and the recipient will be told there is a message waiting whenever they next log on (phone up the EIES computer from their termipal). Groups on EIES serve a variety of functions. Communication that goes between members can be read by all other participants in the conference; but in order for an individual on the EIES system to participate in the conference, they must submit a request to the designated conference coordinator. In some cases the groups are just a loose collection of individuals all interested in some particular subject area. Others have used EIES to coordinate research, and communicate between branch offices. For example, the World Symposium on Humanity used EIES to coordinate its three-site conference in April. The wide range of individuals presently on EIES is testimony to its unique capability as a catalyst for restructuring social and information networks. The system allows one to remain in social and information networks of one's own choosing (by forming or becoming a member of certain groups-co.riferences), while opening up possible channels of communication through a private message mechanism. One can also locate descriptions of all individuals, and in that way find kindred souls, contacts, resource persons, etc. LEGITECH is an interesting sub-part of EIES. Legislative researchers in 25 states and resource-reviewers in a like number of federal agencies and other resource organizations use EIES to exchange inquiries, response and leads about scientific and technical matters of interest to state legislatures. There are many delicately wrought software programs on EIES that allow individuals and groups to, for example,
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