Initially targeting academic researchers in the fields of media and performing arts, 'Formations' has the flexibility to extend its reach into related areas of the humanities and social sciences if successful. A user will open the 'Formations' home page with any frames-capable browser and will select any of the currently available Channels. There is no theoretical limit to the number of Channels that can be carried by the system. A Channel consists, in turn, of any number of Venues - the 'indwelling' places, as it were, for contributing papers and engaging in distributed conversations. While the Channels will be set up by the system's administrators, Venues can be launched by any registered user.
Registration is a straightforward online form-based procedure.
Users can request 'alerts' of various kinds to the arrival of new material on a 'Formations' Channel. A Venue, in turn, consists of any submitted material. Contributors choose the Venue for which their material is best suited. So hypertext links can be included within submitted documents, and the formatting controlled by a contributor who wishes to take advantage of this facility. As wordprocessing programs increasingly offer the option to save as HTML, the system's direct handling of such material is likely to be seen as a highly useful feature.