Description:The area of intelligent support systems has experienced increasing interest in developing intelligent systems that would enable users to accomplish complex tasks in a web-centric environment utilizing intelligent agents, distributed computing in heterogeneous environments, and computer-supported collaborative work. With the sharing of experiences and lessons learned in deploying intelligent support systems, this guide presents an interdisciplinary approach to the computer arena. Among some of the topics addressed are intelligent information systems, adaptive systems, scientific discovery systems, knowledge-based systems, and genetic and evolutionary algorithms.