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From: alee@utcsri.UUCP
Newsgroups: comp.ai,comp.cog-eng,news.admin,news.misc
Subject: Re: comp.cog-eng
Message-ID: <5113@utcsri.UUCP>
Date: Mon, 20-Jul-87 10:01:58 EDT
Article-I.D.: utcsri.5113
Posted: Mon Jul 20 10:01:58 1987
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> From Henry Spencer:
> > Speaking as an ex-reader of comp.cog-eng, more people would read it if it
> > wasn't full of cross-posted sludge that has nothing to do with human
> > factors.  Perhaps it needs renaming.
> 
> As one of the people who helped create the group, I agree with Henry.
> The name is probably incorrect and elicits the wrong kind of postings.
> Perhaps comp.humfac? Even if that name means we get the occasional
> article about the placement of controls in aircraft cockpits, it would
> be much better than the current situation (and could even be interesting,
> as those concerns, the province of traditional industrial human factors,
> do have lessons for designers of user interfaces).
> 
> So, I suggest that comp.cog-eng be deleted and comp.humfac be created.
> 
> Peter Rowley, University of Toronto Computer Systems Research Institute
> peterr@csri.toronto.DU, utcsri!peterr

Yes, in the last 6-8 months, the articles have definitely moved away
from those addressing user interface, human factors, etc.  My suggestion
would be that if we plan to create a group that will better reflect
the intended topics of discussion, I think a more appropriate name
than comp.humfac is "comp.chi" or "comp.hci".
These names are more indicative of the field.
"chi" is the name of the conference (computer-human interaction)
and "hci" is the commonly used name in the literature for the field
(human-computer interaction).
This does not preclude human factors materials and may in fact focus these
materials to those that apply to computers.

Alison Lee
	    Computer Systems Research Institute    University of Toronto
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