the University of Michigan. Those providing user support for the Merit Network in Michigan, particularly Chris Wendt, were excited by the potential for CONFER, and they created the statewide MNET:Caucus conference to help Merit users get quick answers to their questions and take some of the load off their consulting staff. The participants — both consultants and users — learned a lot from each other through the conference. CONFER continued to gain in popularity with faculty, students, administrators, and staff through the 1980s. The following papers give a hint at the range of activities for which CONFER was used. "Computer-based educational communications at the University of Michigan", Proceedings of the ACM Annual Conference/Meeting, 1976 A Meeting-related Information Exchange Facility within a computer conferencing environment, 1977, Committee for Information on Science and Technology (CIDST) of the Commission of the European Communities "Third party consulting in the network environment", CHI '81 Proceedings of the joint conference on Easier and more productive use of computer systems, 1981 "The CONFER experience of the Merit Computer Network", CHI '81 Proceedings of the joint conference on Easier and more productive use of computer systems, 1981 "Uses of CONFER at Wayne State University", CHI '81 Proceedings of the joint conference on Easier and more productive use of computer systems, 1981 "Computer conference and message systems: Their use in a university computer center", Proceedings of the 9th annual ACM SIGUCCS conference on User services, 1981 "Is It Time for CONFER, a Computer-Based Conference for Dental Public Health?", Journal of Public Health Dentistry, 1984 "The Design and Implementation of a Statewide Perinatal Automated Medical Network for Michigan (PAM/NET)", Proceedings of the Annual Symposium on Computer Application in Medical Care, 1985 "Using Computers to Teach Writing", U-M Computing News, 1986, describes how Richard Meisler, Lecturer in U-M's Department of English, uses CONFER to effectively teach students how to write "Politics and Computers", U-M Computing News, 1986, describes the use of Confer by Fred Goodman and Edgar Taylor of the U-M School of Education, and Raymond Tanter in Political Science at U-M, in their courses Poli Sci 471, "American Foreign Policy Process" and Poli Sci 353, "Arab-Israeli Conflict" "Computer conferencing for accounting instruction", Journal of Accounting Education, 1989 "The Integration of Computer Conferencing into the Medical School Curriculum", Medical Teacher, 1989 "Institutional Gaming through the use of Computer Conferencing", Empowering networks: computer conferencing in education, 1992 "Connecting the University and the