The current group annotation support is very simple (one group per
group annotation server, one group annotation server per Mosaic
session, no security except through obscurity), since it's mostly a
proof of concept, but it does work and Mosaic 1.1 has built-in
client-side support.
Suggestions as to future functionality and user interface components
for same are welcome.
(How it works: every time you access a document in Mosaic, the group
annotation server [if you're using one] is queried with the URL of the
document you're viewing; if any group annotations exist for that
document, the group annotation server returns to Mosaic corresponding
hyperlinks which are inlined into the document just like personal
annotations. So the assumption is that you've got a fast local net
and group annotation server host. In the Mosaic Annotate and Audio
Annotate window there are option menus that let you select 'Personal'
or 'Workgroup' each time you make an annotation; for the latter,
Mosaic sends the annotation over a socket to the group annotation
server.)
Cheers,
Marc
-- Marc Andreessen Software Development Group National Center for Supercomputing Applications marca@ncsa.uiuc.edu