An introduction to web-based support systems

Abstract

We view Web-based Support Systems (WSS) as a multidisciplinary research area that focuses on supporting human activities in specific domains or fields based on computer science, information technology, and Web technology. Research on WSS is motivated by the challenges and opportunities of the Internet and the Web. The recent advancements of computer and Web technologies make the implementation of WSS feasible. This paper presents the fundamental issues of WSS, a framework of WSS, and research on WSS. We also present preliminary studies on two examples of WSS, Web-based research support systems (WRSS) and Web-based information retrieval support systems (WIRSS).