Collaborative computing/Cooperative work arrangement

A term closely related to Common Field of Work; The work arrangement and Field of Work are separate terms, but their definitions are entwined. A Work Arrangement cannot exist without a Common Field of Work.

Whenever you cooperate, you cooperate on "something" - this "something" is the Common Field of Work - whereas the Cooperative Work Arrangement (CWA) refers to the organisation of the cooperation - how agents and tools (though not actual artifacts) support the work environment.

Example: When Jørgen and Stine offer a number of definitions, which need to be written and uploaded to the wiki, the actual tasks are our Common Field of Work. The different teams of contributors are the CWA, within which articulation work of first and second order is carried out in order to fulfill the tasks at hand.

There are several aspects of the actual consistence of a Cooperative Work Order. A CWA is rarely assembled incidentally:

"Cooperative work arrangements emerge in response to different requirements and must serve different generic functions such as augmentation of capacity, differentiation and combination of specialities and techniques, mutual critical assessment, and combination of perspectives" (Schmidt, 1994).

Ref: Schmidt, K. (1994). Modes and Mechanisms of Interaction in Cooperative Work. Risø National Laboratory. [Chapter 2]