"[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
MIT Press Web Site, September, 2001
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
Acknowledgments
I Information Ecologies: Concepts and Reflections
1 Rotwang the Inventor
2 Framing Conversations about Technology
3 A Matter of Metaphor: Technology as Tool, Text, System, Ecology
4 Information Ecologies
5 Values and Technology
6 How to Evolve Information Ecologies
II Case Studies
7 Librarians: A Keystone Species
8 Wolf, Batgirl, and Starlight: Finding a Real Community in a Virtual World
9 Cultivating Gardeners: The Importance of Homegrown Expertise
10 Digital Photography at Lincoln High School
11 A Dysfunctional Ecology: Privacy Issues at a Teaching Hospital
12 Diversity on the Internet
13 Conclusion
