Field of Practice", Empowering networks: computer conferencing in education, 1992 "Uses of Electronic Communication to Document an Academic Community: A Research Report", Archivaria 38, 1994 "Crisscrossing Grand canyon: Bridging the gaps with computer conferencing", Computers and Composition, 1995 In 1985, a group of U-M students established the first computer conference exclusively for students called MEET:STUDENTS. This very popular conference marked, in a sense, the acceptance of online communications as a culturally accepted mode for student communication and exchange. For many on the Michigan campus and elsewhere, the benefits of CONFER included meeting new people with similar interests, engaging in group discussion, and communicating outside the normal parameters defined by time and space. CONFER played a tremendous role in enlarging the electronic community at the University and in removing the traditional geographic borders of the classroom and campus. Said Parnes, "CONFER enabled a lot of people to talk together who wouldn't have otherwise." Legacy There is a group of computer conferencing programs whose designs were derived from CONFER which are sometimes called "WELL-style" systems, because The WELL has been very influential in spreading this design. WELL-style systems facilitate group discussion by treating discussion items as part of an ongoing conversation with an inherent structure. The conversations are organized as linear chains of items and responses with individual items and responses displayed as a continuous stream of text. Examples of WELL-style Web conferencing software include: Backtalk, Caucus, COW, Motet, PicoSpan, Web crossing, WELL Engaged, and YAPP. Because of its influence on these programs, CONFER has had a strong influence on most of the major computer conferencing, blogs, social networking, and other similar programs and sites that followed. Documentation MTS Volume 23: Messaging and Conferencing in MTS Confer and MTS Help, ITD Reference R1042, October 1, 1989 (1 page) Computer Conferencing Guidelines, ITD Reference R1043, October 1, 1989 (2 pages) Guidelines for Effective Conferencing for Organizers, ITD Reference R1044, October 1, 1989 (8 pages) Guidelines for Effective Conferencing for Participants, ITD Reference R1045, October 1, 1989 (5 pages) The Beginner’s Guide to Confer II (approximately 40 pages) An Intro Guide to Using Confer II (approximately 15 pages) The Reference Guide to Confer II (approximately 100 pages) The Organizer’s Guide to Confer II (approximately 75 pages) The Quick Reference Card for Confer II (2 pages) A summary of Confer commands (2 pages) A guide for using Confer with multiple userIDs (3 pages) A guide