Links to sites for professional and research organizations concerned with information system design:

Association for Computing Machinery (ACM)

American Society for Information Science (ASIS)

British Computer Society Human-Computer Interaction Group

Centre de Hautes Etudes Internationales D'Informatique Documentaire (C.I.D.)

Computer Science and Telecommunications Board

D-Lib Forum

Interaction Design Lab, University of North Carolina

International Federation for Information Processing (IFIP)

Society for Technical Communication

SRI International Center for Technology in Learning

Stanford University Program in Human-Computer Interaction

U.S. National Information Infrastructure Virtual Library

University of Maryland Human-Computer Interaction Lab

World Wide Web Consortium

Organization Descriptions

Association for Computing Machinery (ACM)

• Computer-Human Interaction Special Interest Group (SIGCHI)
  SIGCHI is the ACM Special Interest Group on Computer-Human Interaction. The scope of SIGCHI consists of the study of the human-computer interaction process and includes research and development efforts leading to the design and evaluation of user interfaces. The focus of the SIG is on how people communicate and interact with computer systems. SIGCHI serves as a forum for the exchange of ideas among computer scientists, human factors scientists, psychologists, social scientists, systems designers and end users.

  ACM SIGCHI brings together people working on the design, evaluation, implementation, and study of interactive computing systems for human use. ACM SIGCHI provides an international, interdisciplinary forum for the exchange of ideas about the field of human-computer interaction (HCI).
  
  

• ACM Special Interest Group on Information Retrieval
  ACM SIGIR addresses issues ranging from theory to user demands in the application of computers to the acquisition, organization, storage, retrieval, and distribution of information.

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The American Society for Information Science (ASIS)
Since 1937 ASIS has been the society for information professionals leading the search for new and better theories, techniques, and technologies to improve access to information.

ASIS brings together diverse streams of knowledge, focusing what might be disparate approaches into novel solutions to common problems. ASIS bridges the gaps not only between disciplines but also between the research that drives and the practices that sustain new developments.

ASIS counts among its membership some 4,000 information specialists from such fields as computer science, linguistics, management, librarianship, engineering, law, medicine, chemistry, and education; individuals who share a common interest in improving the ways society stores, retrieves, analyzes, manages, archives and disseminates information, coming together for mutual benefit.

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British Computer Society Human-Computer Interaction Group
The British HCI Group is the longest-established and largest national group in Europe devoted to HCI. The British HCI Group was set up in 1984 as a Specialist Group of the British Computer Society, to provide an umbrella organisation for all those working on the requirements analysis, design, implementation and evaluation of technology for human use.

Members' professional interests embrace:

• user interface analysis, design and evaluation
• the structure of communication between humans and computers
• human-centred hardware and software engineering
• characterisation of the use and contexts of use for interactive systems
• methodology of design and design management
• innovation of new applications and products

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Centre de Hautes Etudes Internationales D'Informatique Documentaire (C.I.D.)
Society committed to studying information processing, storage and retrieval in a multimedia context.

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Computer Science and Telecommunications Board
More Than Screen-Deep: Toward Every-Citizen Interfaces to the Nation's Information Infrastructure

Drawing from a late 1996 workshop hosted by the Computer Science and Telecommunications Board, the steering committee responsible for this project derived ideas for research in computing, communications, and social science to advance the underlying sciences and enable development of innovative, implementable concepts for interfaces that are more usable and capable than today's technologies and are accessible by as many people as possible.

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D-Lib Forum
D-Lib Forum is based at the Corporation For National Research Initiatives and is sponsored by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) on behalf of the Digital Libraries Initiative.

• D-Lib Working Group on Digital Library Metrics
  This Working Group is aimed at developing a consensus on an appropriate set of metrics to evaluate and compare the effectiveness of digital libraries and component technologies in a distributed environment. Initial emphasis will be on (a) information discovery with a human in the loop, and (b) retrieval in a heterogeneous world.
  
  

• D-Lib Test Suite
  The D-Lib Test Suite is a group of digital library testbeds that are made available over the Internet for research in digital libraries, information management, collaboration, visualization, and related disciplines.
  
  

• D-Lib Reference
  A collection of links to research projects and resources related to digital libraries.
  
  

• D-Lib Magazine
  This online magazine frequently contains articles addressing usability of Web-accessible digital databases.

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Interaction Design Lab, University of North Carolina

Director: Gary Marchionini

The Interaction Design Laboratory facilitates research and development in electronic information environments such as digital libraries, electronic publications, distributed courses, and shared work spaces. The IDL aims to develop theories of information seeking and interaction design and supports activities such as: analysis of tasks and user behavior, design and testing of information systems and techniques, and evaluation of existing systems.

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International Federation for Information Processing (IFIP)
IFIP is a non-governmental, non-profit umbrella organization for national societies working in the field of information processing. It was established in 1960 under the auspices of UNESCO as an aftermath of the first World Computer Congress held in Paris in 1959.

IFIP Technical Committee No 13 on Human-Computer Interaction (HCI)
FIP Technical Comittee No 13 is focused on encouraging the development towards a science and technology of human-computer interaction, through pursuit of the following aims: to encourage empirical research (using valid and reliable methodology, including studies of the methods themselves where necessary); to promote the use of knowledge and methods from the human sciences in both design and evaluation of computer systems; to promote better understanding of the relation between formal design methods and system usability and acceptance; to develop guidelines, models and methods by which designers may be able to provide better human-oriented computer systems; to co-operate with other groups, inside and outside of IFIP, so as to promote user-orientation and 'humanization' in system design.

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Society for Technical Communication
STC is a professional association that advances the arts and sciences of technical communication. Its 25,000 members include technical writers, editors, graphic designers, multimedia artists, Web and Intranet page information designers, translators and others whose work involves making technical information understandable and available to those who need it.

• Usability SIG
  The Usability SIG focuses on issues related to the usability and usability assessment of technical communication, providing a forum in which STC members can share information and experience.

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SRI International Center for Technology in Learning

Co-Directors of the Center for Technology in Learning:
Roy Pea
Barbara Means

By the early 1990s, it became very clear that technology was to play an increasingly important role in the education of children, youth, and adults. The issues of how to effectively use technologies to support learning were considered to be so important that the Center for Technology in Learning (CTL) was established at SRI. The Center was established within SRI's Policy Division, where it is closely allied with ongoing education and health research programs.

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Stanford University Program in Human-Computer Interaction

Founder: Terry Winograd

The core of our philosophy is captured in our focus on "Interaction Design". By highlighting interaction as the object of design (rather than "interface" or "software" or "product"), we emphasize the interplay of what people do with computer-based systems and what the systems do in return. By highlighting design as our activity (rather than "engineering" or "research" or "evaluation"), we emphasize the kind of work that goes on in traditional design professions - the fitting together of technological possibilities with human needs and capabilities (for more discussion see Bringing Design to Software). Our curriculum is built around a philosophy of reflection in action, which integrates individual and group project work with coaching, reading and discussion to provide a larger perspective.

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U.S. National Information Infrastructure Virtual Library
The National Information Infrastructure Virtual Library was co-sponsored by the President's Information Infrastructure Task Force and the Council on Competitiveness.

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University of Maryland Human-Computer Interaction Lab

Director: Ben Bederson
Past director: Ben Schneiderman

The Human-Computer Interaction Lab (HCIL) at the University of Maryland conducts research on advanced user interfaces and their development processes. Interdisciplinary research teams study the entire technology development life-cycle which includes the initial technology design, implementation issues, and evaluation of user performance. Through this work we have developed new theories, methodologies, and technologies.

Our current work includes new approaches to: information visualization, interfaces for digital libraries, multimedia resources for learning communities, zooming user interfaces (ZUIs), technology design methods with and for children, and instruments for evaluating user interface technologies.

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World Wide Web Consortium
The W3's Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI), in coordination with organizations around the world, is pursuing accessibility of the Web through five primary areas of work: technology, guidelines, tools, education and outreach, and research and development.

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