As the most comprehensive reference work dealing with decision support systems (DSS), this book is essential for the library of every DSS practitioner, researcher, and educator. Written by an international array of DSS luminaries, its more than 70 chapters approach decision support systems from a wide variety of perspectives ranging from classic foundations to cutting-edge thought, informative to provocative, theoretical to practical, historical to futuristic, human to technological, and operational to strategic. The chapters are conveniently organized into 10 major sections: foundations of decision support systems, DSS fundamentals, multiparticipant DSSs, intelligent DSSs, effects of decision support, time and space issues, scopes of decision support, developing and managing decision support systems, cases and applications, and decision support horizons. Novices and experts alike will refer to the authoritative and stimulating content again and again for years to come.

Decision support systems have experienced a marked increase in attention and importance over the past 25 years. The aim of this book is to survey the decision support system (DSS) field - covering both developed territory and emergent frontiers. It will give the reader a clear understanding of fundamental DSS concepts, methods, technologies, trends, and issues. It will serve as a basic reference work for DSS research, practice, and instruction. To achieve these goals, the book has been designed according to a ten-part structure, divided in two volumes with chapters authored by well-known, well-versed scholars and practitioners from the DSS community.

This book constitutes the proceedings of the 20th Collaboration Researchers' International Working Group Conference on Collaboration and Technology, held in Santiago, Chile, in September 2014. The 16 revised papers presented together with 18 progress papers and 3 invited talks were carefully reviewed and selected from 49 submissions. The papers published in proceedings of this year's and past CRIWG conferences reflect the trends in collaborative computing research and its evolution. There was a growing interest in social networks analysis, crowdsourcing and computer support for large communities in general. A special research topic which has been traditionally present in the CRIWG proceedings has been collaborative learning.

Decision support systems have experienced a marked increase in attention and importance over the past 25 years. The aim of this book is to survey the decision support system (DSS) field - covering both developed territory and emergent frontiers. It will give the reader a clear understanding of fundamental DSS concepts, methods, technologies, trends, and issues. It will serve as a basic reference work for DSS research, practice, and instruction. To achieve these goals, the book has been designed according to a ten-part structure, divided in two volumes with chapters authored by well-known, well-versed scholars and practitioners from the DSS community.

As the most comprehensive reference work dealing with decision support systems (DSS), this book is essential for the library of every DSS practitioner, researcher, and educator. Written by an international array of DSS luminaries, it contains more than 70 chapters that approach decision support systems from a wide variety of perspectives. These range from classic foundations to cutting-edge thought, informative to provocative, theoretical to practical, historical to futuristic, human to technological, and operational to strategic. The chapters are conveniently organized into ten major sections that novices and experts alike will refer to for years to come.

This volume of Annals of Information Systems will acknowledge the twentieth anniversary of the founding of the International Society for Decision Support Systems (ISDSS) by documenting some of the current best practices in teaching and research and envisioning the next twenty years in the decision support systems field. The volume is intended to complement existing DSS literature by offering an outlet for thoughts and research particularly suited to the theme of describing the next twenty years in the area of decision support.

Several subthemes are planned for the volume. One subtheme draws on the assessments of internationally known DSS researchers to evaluate where the field has been and what has been accomplished. A second subtheme of the volume will be describing the current best practices of DSS research and teaching efforts. A third subtheme will be an assessment by top DSS scholars on where the DSS discipline needs to focus in the future. The tone of this volume is one of enthusiasm for the potential contributions to come in the area of DSS; contributions that must incorporate an understanding of what has been accomplished in the past, build on the best practices of today, and be integrated into future decision making practices.

This volume of Annals of Information Systems will acknowledge the twentieth anniversary of the founding of the International Society for Decision Support Systems (ISDSS) by documenting some of the current best practices in teaching and research and envisioning the next twenty years in the decision support systems field. The volume is intended to complement existing DSS literature by offering an outlet for thoughts and research particularly suited to the theme of describing the next twenty years in the area of decision support.

Several subthemes are planned for the volume. One subtheme draws on the assessments of internationally known DSS researchers to evaluate where the field has been and what has been accomplished. A second subtheme of the volume will be describing the current best practices of DSS research and teaching efforts. A third subtheme will be an assessment by top DSS scholars on where the DSS discipline needs to focus in the future. The tone of this volume is one of enthusiasm for the potential contributions to come in the area of DSS; contributions that must incorporate an understanding of what has been accomplished in the past, build on the best practices of today, and be be integrated into future decision making practices.

The primary questions raised by this volume are:

• What will information systems-based decision support entail in twenty years?
• What research is needed to realize the envisioned future of information systems-based decision support?
• How will the teaching of information systems-based decision support change over the next twenty years?
• What are the best practices of teaching in the decision support area that can be leveraged to best disseminate DSS knowledge advances to students and practitioners?