Information Ecologies : Using Technology with Heart

by Nardi, Bonnie A.

• ISBN13: 9780262140669
• ISBN10: 0262140667
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 1999-01-01
• Publisher: Mit Pr
• More Book Details
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Summary

The common rhetoric about technology falls into two extreme categories: uncritical acceptance or blanket rejection. Claiming a middle ground, Bonnie Nardi and Vicki O'Day call for responsible, informed engagement with technology in local settings, which they call information ecologies. An information ecology is a system of people, practices, technologies, and values in a local environment. Nardi and O'Day encourage the reader to become more aware of the ways people and technology are interrelated. They draw on their empirical research in offices, libraries, schools, and hospitals to show how people can engage their own values and commitments while using technology.

Table of Contents

Preface	ix
Acknowledgments	xiii
I Information Ecologies: Concepts and Reflections	1	(76)
Rotwang the Inventor	3	(10)
Framing Conversations about Technology	13	(12)
A Matter of Metaphor: Technology as Tool, Text, System, Ecology	25	(24)
Information Ecologies	49	(10)
Values and Technology	59	(6)
How to Evolve Information Ecologies	65	(12)
II Case Studies	77	(140)
Librarians: A Keystone Species	79	(26)
Wolf, Batgirl, and Starlight: Finding a Real Community in a Virtual World	105	(34)
Cultivating Gardeners: The Importance of Homegrown Expertise	139	(14)
Digital Photography at Lincoln High School	153	(16)
A Dysfunctional Ecology: Privacy Issues at a Teaching Hospital	169	(16)
Diversity on the Internet	185	(24)
Conclusion	209	(8)
Notes	217	(10)
Index	227