GroupLens: An open architecture for collaborative filtering of netnews
Publication Type  Conference Paper
Year of Publication  1994
Authors  Resnick, P.; Iacovou, N.; Sushak, M.; Bergstrom, P.
Conference Name  Computer Supported Collaborative Work Conference
Publisher  Association of Computing Machinery
Abstract  

Collaborative
filters help people make choices based on the opinions of other people.
GroupLens is a system for collaborative filtering of netnews, to help
people find articles they will like in the huge stream of available
articles. News reader clients display predicted scores and make it easy
for users to rate articles after they read them. Rating servers, called
Better Bit Bureaus, gather and disseminate the ratings. The rating
servers predict scores based on the heuristic that people who agreed in
the past will probably agree again. Users can protect their privacy by
entering ratings under pseudonyms, without reducing the effectiveness
of the score prediction. The entire architecture is open: alternative
software for news clients and Better Bit Bureaus can be developed
independently and can interoperate with the components we have
developed.