Social Informatics Education in I-Schools

This essay focuses on the philosophical and conceptual underpinnings of a program of study in Social Informatics. We examine foundational concepts and analytical tools, ideas worked out by Rob Kling and others about the key components of an ICToriented education (even when the intent of their discussion was not pedagogical). Our intention is to assay Kling’s program of critical inquiry for a Social Informatics education that prepares information professionals to respond appropriately and ethically in their future careers. We do not to recommend the adoption of specific courses for a Social Informatics education. We had also planned to identify those components of a Social Informatics education that I-schools and library and information science schools have incorporated in their program offerings to determine how much progress has been made to adopt a critical perspective on the relationship between technology and people. However, this proved to be nearly impossible; we discuss our limited findings based on our initial exploration. Our concluding remarks address additions to the Kling perspective on a Social Informatics education that we would like to see and offer some thoughts on ways to support a Social Informatics education for information professionals.Indiana Universit

On Rob Kling: The Theoretical, the Methodological, and the Critical

We explore Rob Kling’s conceptual scaffolding for Social Informatics: his integration of theory, method and evidence and philosophical underpinnings and moral basis of his commitment to a critical stance towards computers and social life. He extended his focus on organizational practices and a lifelong meditation on democracy, value conflicts and social choices to the discourses of computerization and social transformation and to the education of the information professional. He came to his project through careful observation of organizational life and a critical reading of research conducted by other scholars and the rhetoric about ICTs, As Kling conceptualized it, the project of Social Informatics was to intervene in the social construction of the meaning, value, use and even design of technologies as shaped by discourse and education.Indiana Universit

Identifying critical factors for developing effective rural community technology centers

The purpose of this research is to inform both existing and developing community technology initiatives as to the critical factors for building effective rural community technology centers. Rural community technology centers which had been operating for at least two years were identified and contacted by telephone. Either a paid or volunteer staff person was interviewed using a semi-structured protocol of open-ended questions. Responses were taped, transcribed and coded using standard tools and procedures for qualitative investigation. Codes were grouped in 12 thematic groups. Relative occurrences of codes within each group were analyzed. Participants were asked what criteria were used to measure effectiveness of their centers. Participants also made recommendations about alternative evaluation metrics that could be evidence of the impact of their centers on participants. The findings suggest eleven areas that require attention when developing rural community technology centers or networks. Results also support Maughan\u27s model of a robust communication system and Kling\u27s Social Informatics theory

Information society policies 2.0: a critical analysis of the potential and pitfalls of social computing & informatics in the light of e-inclusion

In this paper we reflect on how research and policies can and/or should help in the development of a sustainable information society for all. More specifically, we critically investigate how social computing & informatics can entail both potential and pitfalls, especially with regard to the difficult relationship between digital and social inclusion. First of all, traditional information society policies are scrutinized. Furthermore, we point at the existence of digital inequalities and we reflect briefly on policy intervention on this (e-inclusion). In addition, we also evaluate the raise of social computing & informatics. Finally, attention is given to the challenge of how research can contribute to the participation of all in the information society

The STIN in the Tale: A Socio-technical Interaction Perspective on Networked Learning

In this paper, we go beyond what have been described as 'mechanistic' accounts of e-learning to explore the complexity of relationships between people and technology as encountered in cases of networked learning. We introduce from the social informatics literature the concept of sociotechnical interaction networks which focus on the interplay between participants, technology, learning artefacts and practices. We apply this concept to case material drawn from transnational trade union education to identify and to analyse three aspects of networked learning: the local sociotechnical networks of learners; the construction of an overarching, global sociotechnical network for learning; and the evolution of such networks over time. Finally we identify issues for further research highlighted by these models

Data, ideology, and the developing critical program of social informatics

The rapidly shifting ideological terrain of computing has a profound impact on Social Informatics's critical and empirical analysis of computerization movements. As these movements incorporate many of the past critiques concerning social fit and situational context leveled against them by Social Informatics research, more subtle and more deeply ingrained modes of ideological practice have risen to support movements of computerization. Among these, the current emphasis on the promises of data and data analytics presents the most obvious ideological challenge. In order to reorient Social Informatics in relation to these new ideological challenges, Louis Althusser's theory of ideology is discussed, with its implications for Social Informatics considered. Among these implications, a changed relationship between Social Informatics's critical stance and its reliance on empirical methods is advanced. Addressed at a fundamental level, the practice of Social Informatics comes to be reoriented in a more distinctly reflective and ethical direction

A Social Informatics Perspective on Socio-Technical Networks

Network-centric perspectives have gained increasing salience, as interconnected information and communication technologies (ICTs) become more ubiquitous in our daily lives. In this paper, we provide an overview of socio-technical network studies, which we then use to help situate the development and use of ICTs within social and organizational domains. We briefly review traditional conceptualizations of socio-technical systems, and then introduce some contemporary theoretical extensions and sociological reconceptualizations. This discussion emphasizes the capability of social informatics perspectives to guide our current and future examinations of ICT use in sociotechnical networks

Addressing the Technical in Socio-Technical Systems Research: A Review of Social Informatics Literature

Social informatics (SI) is a socio-technical approach for studying information and communication technologies (ICT) that makes explicit the interconnectedness of technical artifacts and their social contexts. However, there have been claims that limited attention has been paid to the technical in SI research. Using a modified framework for studying technological artifacts in information systems literature (Orlikowski and Iacono 2001; Sawyer and Chen 2003), this review of SI literature explores how technology has been viewed, how its material and structural natures have been considered, and at what levels of analysis technology has been studied. This study finds that further work is needed in SI for studying ICT as socio-technical ensembles; that attention should be paid to ICT development and use at macro- and individual-levels of analysis; and that it should engage with approaches from other socio-technical domains for studying the technical and non-technical material components of ICT

Individual emergence in contextual analysis

Located within the tradition of Hermeneutic Dialectics (HD) this paper offers an approach which can further an analysis of a fit between information and organizational systems. Drawn upon Information Systems Development projects a relationship between theory and practice is aided through a multi-disciplinary approach to sense making activity. Using a contemporary version of contextual analysis to understand a way in which individuals construct adapt and create meaning from their environment offers a route to improve a systems analysis process. This type of enquiry into contextual dependencies of knowledge creation can help direct a development of systems that have the intention to serve specific organizational actors and their needs. Combining methods outside of a traditional polar divide, sense making research undertaken within a systems thinking arena can enrich understanding by complementing qualitative and / or quantitative analysis with reflective depth. Drawing together interdisciplinary strands through a critical systems thinking approach offers new levels of professionalism for computer- and management-, practitioners or researchers in the 21st Century