Web-based Support Systems

Web-based Support Systems (WSS) are an emerging multidisciplinary research area in which one studies the support of human activities with the Web as the common platform,mediumandinterface.TheInternetaffectseveryaspectofourmodernlife. Moving support systems to online is an increasing trend in many research domains. One of the goals of WSS research is to extend the human physical limitation of information processing in the information age. Research on WSS is motivated by the challenges and opportunities arising from the Internet. The availability, accessibility and ?exibility of information as well as the tools to access this information lead to a vast amount of opportunities. H- ever, there are also many challenges we face. For instance, we have to deal with more complex tasks, as there are increasing demands for quality and productivity. WSS research is a natural evolution of the studies on various computerized support systems such as Decision Support Systems (DSS), Computer Aided Design (CAD), and Computer Aided Software Engineering (CASE). The recent advancement of computer and Web technologies make the implementation of more feasible WSS. Nowadays, it is rare to see a system without some type of Web interaction. The research of WSS is classi?ed into four groups. • WSS for speci?c domains.

Web-based Support Systems (WSS) are an emerging multidisciplinary research area in which one studies the support of human activities with the Web as the common platform, medium and interface. One of the goals of WSS research is to extend the human physical limitation of information processing in the information age.

Research on WSS is motivated by the challenges and opportunities arising from the Internet. The availability, accessibility and flexibility of information as well as the tools to access this information lead to a vast amount of opportunities. It identifies both domain independent and dependent activities before selecting suitable computer and Web technologies to support them. It also examines how applications and adaptations of existing methodologies on the web platform benefit our decision-making and other various activities.

This book presents research related to fundamental issues of WSS, frameworks for WSS and current research on WSS. The research on Web-based support systems is classified into three parts:

- Web-based support systems for specific domains

- Web-based applications and WSS techniques

- Design and Development of WSS.