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"[A] new and refreshing perspective on our technologically dependent society... Information Ecologies is an antidote to our current infection: our unquestioning acceptance of, and dependence upon, technology. Nardi and O'Day demonstrate how technology can have a more humane face when handled properly and integrated into a social environment where the human factor isn't ignored." David Howell, Daily Telegraph
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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.
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First Sentence
Fritz Lang's classic film Metropolis was released in Berlin in January 1927. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
Fritz Lang's classic film Metropolis was released in Berlin in January 1927. Read the first page
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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
II am taking a PhD course in E-Health and Methodology in Sweden. This book was assigned as a reference for our methodology course. In reading the book I am a disappointed that the writing is one dimensional...from a feminist point of view. Several of the "male" expert views where systematically refuted by "female champions". I believe the four pages poking at Bill Gate's view on the Internet were out of context.
The point to my review is to share my viewpoint on these two women's attempt to develop a framework on how technology should be developed and implemented from a non-technical aspect. As mentioned in an earlier review at Amazon.co.uk there was a bit of "stuffing" the pages with needless or trivial information that could have been summarized with a few pages.
Ch 1 (pp.3-11) history of the film Metropolis (filmed 1926) and its significance today's world.
Ch 2 (pp.13-24) Framing conversation about Technology.... literature review of current thought.
"This book is a personal response to the prospect of increasing technological change." (p.14).
Ch 3 (pp.25-47) Use of metaphor: reasoning, use, and purpose- Ecology
Introduces the reader to technique (no English equivalent?) p, 34.
Ch 4 (pp.49-58) explains the role of Information Ecologies.
Ch 5 (pp.59-64) SHORT description on values and technology (ethics?)
Ch 6 (pp.75-76) How Information Ecologies evolve.
CASE STUDIES:
Ch 7. (pp79-104) Substitution of Librarians with search engines, some negative effects.
Ch 8. (pp.105-138) Community in Virtual World. Description of an email chat between a 6th grader and a researcher.
Ch 9. (pp139-151) Another methaphor....the Gardner- individual that mediates between technology and other humans.
Ch 10. (pp.153-168) Introduction of technology in an art class during summer school.
Ch 11. (pp.169-184) Example on the issue of privacy and some other ethical questions to technology. Issue of a hospital monitoring its staff during surgery and operations.
Ch 12. (pp.185-207) Feminine rhetoric and bashing of Bill Gates.
Ch 13. (pp209-216) Conclusion.... this really only interesting part....the end.
My fellow PhD colleagues and I would argue that "Plans and Situated Actions" by Lucy A. Suchman is a more robust book on methodology for Human and Computer interaction.
Finally, the book is not written for the international market. The book is written from an explicitly American /Silicon Valley orientation.
I sincerely hope this information helps readers, researchers, and academicians in choosing this book.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
I had to read this book for a college course, sorry to say. Otherwise, trust me, I wouldn't have gotten through this entire mess. The authors have about three common sense points to make and take about 100 pages to make each of those points. I'd like to know what qualifies them to write this book anyways. Bottom line is it's a complete waste of time!
2 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
I work with the Web, while my husband is a Luddite who can barely manage an ATM card; this wonderful book speaks equally to both of us. Most of us assume that technology, whether we like it or not, is inevitable. Nardi and O'Day point out that this assumption is both unfortunate and preventable. We need to WAKE UP from our passive acceptance of the tide that overwhelms us with everything from cell-phones to cloning, and question WHY we use the technologies that have come to inhabit our everyday lives. We must also closely observe the technology-supported human encounters that we take for granted. For example, I use e-mail to serve the public; the e-mail makes my service much faster, but without thoughtful, compassionate, human-written responses, the swiftness of e-mail is pointless. By closely observing our habits with a questioning mind, we can then actively shape our use of technology, and even politely decline some of these fabulous new bells and whistles that do not serve us so well. In an information ecology, people engage in an interdependent manner with their local technology. The authors explain this concept at length, with plenty of historical references, and cite fascinating examples, such as invisible services performed by corporate librarians, and a virtual world within an elementary school that has jumpstarted reading, writing, and social skill levels for at-risk students. O'Day's and Nardi's careful writing makes this a breeze to read, even for those completely unfamiliar with technological terms. I finished this book with a new sense of power over my own environment, equipped with keener observation and the reminder to always ask "Why?"
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