Abstract
The parallel developments of sophisticated voice and data telephone technology and relatively low-cost microcomputers have created a situation in 1986 by which "knowledge workers," like the evaluation research community, can engage in large-scale tele communication on a nationwide scale. How the social organization of information and interpersonal interaction can be meshed with the technical organization of computing and computer-mediated telecommunications looms as the critical issue inhibiting adoption of this alternative mode of professional communication. A number of issues are discussed and two new international computer networks-SocNet and PoliNet-are used in detailed examples to illustrate how the evaluation research community can begin to make this transition possible.
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