In this paperback edition of The Social Life of Information, the authors dispel many of the futurists' sweeping predictions that information...
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Jan 05, 2011
Nathaniel
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Dated. Unless you're a historian of the evolution of the internet and digital technologies and want to hear in great detail what people in 2000 thought about the future of the internet, this book serves little purpose a decade later. Most of the authors' predictions are laughable by 21st century standards, and they tend to jump from one subject to another as though they have info ADHD. It obscures and cheapens any argument they're trying to make. While certain points would have been very interes
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Sep 26, 2009
Beth
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This book offers a counterargument to the claim that more information (and more Information Technology) will magically make life easier. It is not an argument against technology, but it is a call for more realistic expectations when it comes to things like telecommuting, the "paperless office", and the virtual university.
The authors' engaging tone helps to overcome the dryness of some of the material. As someone who has spent a good deal of time in online communities, however, I More...
The authors' engaging tone helps to overcome the dryness of some of the material. As someone who has spent a good deal of time in online communities, however, I More...
Jan 25, 2011
Liam
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"The ends of information, after all, are human ends. The logic of information must ultimately be the logic of humanity. For all information's independence and extent, it is people, in their communities, organizations, and institutions, who ultimately decide what it all means and why it matters." (18)
"[W]e tend to think of knowledge less like an assembly of discrete parts and more like a watercolor painting. As each new color is added, it blends with the others to prod More...
"[W]e tend to think of knowledge less like an assembly of discrete parts and more like a watercolor painting. As each new color is added, it blends with the others to prod More...
Jul 26, 2007
Meg
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this book is easily the most influential i read during library school. duguid and brown explore the many ways in which people use and share information, as well as the necessity of having a social aspect to information architecture. it changed the way i think about presenting information and "information overload." don't leave library school without it.
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Jan 26, 2011
Ben
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This book is essentially a 250 page argument that the idea "that information and its technologies can unproblematically replace the nuanced relations between people" (preface, p.xvi) is wrong.
Obviously we believe this is wrong but everyone who wants to monetise your "friend" relationships thinks otherwise.
It's also, if you read between the lines a bit, a quite remarkable book of design theory that looks at how small-scale cultural changes happen, or do More...
Obviously we believe this is wrong but everyone who wants to monetise your "friend" relationships thinks otherwise.
It's also, if you read between the lines a bit, a quite remarkable book of design theory that looks at how small-scale cultural changes happen, or do More...
Jan 26, 2011
Mark
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Review originally posted here: http://marklindner.info/blog/2011/01/26/...
This is the 8th book for my 12 Books, 12 Months Challenge.
Short version: Librarians, and others in any “information industry,” should read it and ponder its critiques of “information fetishism.”
I bought this book back in May 2005 and finally got around to reading it. I am following it up with Nardi and O’Day’s Information Ecologies which I bought in May 2006. Where this book focuses on the bin More...
This is the 8th book for my 12 Books, 12 Months Challenge.
Short version: Librarians, and others in any “information industry,” should read it and ponder its critiques of “information fetishism.”
I bought this book back in May 2005 and finally got around to reading it. I am following it up with Nardi and O’Day’s Information Ecologies which I bought in May 2006. Where this book focuses on the bin More...
Aug 08, 2010
Bruce
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Ultimately a useful book but poorly structured and even more poorly presented. A work of will is required not to drop this book in the middle of almost every page as it stutters and backfires like a poorly maintained Model T. Despite this, there are gems of perception and analysis embedded that are worth the read but make sure you capture them well so that this self-abuse need only be done once.
Dec 17, 2009
Mark
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I read this after seeing a version of it on the Web, appropriately enough. The authors, research scientists at Xerox's Palo Alto Research Center, explore how human beings actually incorporate and share information, and why the technological enthusiasm for things like virtual offices and a paperless society may not have panned out. One of the more interesting aspects, as I recall, was their discussion of how they created a shared knowledge network among Xerox copier repairmen that reduced their i
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Aug 05, 2009
Dedrick
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Very good book for what it does. It is more academic than accessible, but still a good read. It is great for anyone who must design for usability or for managers of "information".
Dec 10, 2011
Kevin
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Reminding me very strongly of the reading I did in college for Sociology and Anthropology classes, with a focus on enterprise use cases.
I find it strange to read, in 2010, a book written in 2000 about the effect of the Internet on human behavior with information. I can see places where the authors were quite prescient, and areas where they got it wrong - in particular, their prediction that newspapers will continue to be relevant and successful. I think in that case it's a matter of i More...
I find it strange to read, in 2010, a book written in 2000 about the effect of the Internet on human behavior with information. I can see places where the authors were quite prescient, and areas where they got it wrong - in particular, their prediction that newspapers will continue to be relevant and successful. I think in that case it's a matter of i More...
Feb 21, 2009
Wesley
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Information and knowledge are socially constructed, yada yada yada. Some good points are made, but overall nothing mindblowing was revealed.
Nov 26, 2008
Michael
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"...we all need to get outside the information tunnel, look around, and appreciate the social life that lies beyond and makes it possible."
Mar 22, 2009
Topher
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Makes one important point, and makes it clearly and repeatedly: Technology can't be understood apart from the social relations in which it's situated. Useful to have it repeated, since this seems a hard lesson for us to learn.
Jul 15, 2008
mcburton
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WOW. This book is amazing. Filled with stories and observation about the "Invisible Work" that surrounds information technology and is difficult to frame and articulate. This is a MUST READ for IT folk and engineers. While some of the anecdotes are a bit dated (MAC OS's Sherlock is long dead) the point they are trying to make is ever relevant. Don't dismiss the "old ways" before trying to understand how it was they became "ways." This is a vital starting point for l
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Jul 05, 2010
Sven
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This is an interesting view of information technology and the limits of a purely techie view. It emphasizes that information is not all worth considering, and shows how the social environment in which information is generated, transmitted, and used determines the effectiveness of new technologies much more than the technology itself.
Note that this is somewhat dated (2000, 2002) - Google isn't even mentioned in the index.
Note that this is somewhat dated (2000, 2002) - Google isn't even mentioned in the index.
Dec 16, 2009
Lucy
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Very interesting look at the importance of taking societal perceptions and views into consideration when introducing technological advances. Technology alone cannot overpower the comfort of habit (e.g. predictions of "paperless offices" have been foretold to the rooftops for decades now, where I don't believe it will ever happen). Just because we can doesn't mean it will happen (or that we should).
Aug 09, 2008
Keith
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dated.
I read mostly for the section on distance learning. JSB thinks that most learning happens outside the classroom which isn't covered by the distance learning crowd. I think that is no longer true. At least from the programs I have seen. one thing that the distance learning approaches and this book don't stress enough is the network. networking is a key aspect of higher education.
I read mostly for the section on distance learning. JSB thinks that most learning happens outside the classroom which isn't covered by the distance learning crowd. I think that is no longer true. At least from the programs I have seen. one thing that the distance learning approaches and this book don't stress enough is the network. networking is a key aspect of higher education.
Feb 17, 2011
John
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A classic Harvard Business book: full of notes and references and classifications that just don't add up to very much. It reads like a very thorough research paper with little in the way of insight or original ideas.
Feb 06, 2012
Barb
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Mildly interesting, but very dated look at the glut of information. Published in 2000, it doesn't anticipate the rise of social media, so it's hard to find it relevant for a look at today's information.
Nov 09, 2008
Rahmad
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Give a social perspective on how technology is use. Give a clue why many predictions that technology was suppose to bring never happened.
Sep 24, 2008
Drew
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Classic book that told us where we were heading in the information age. Hmm...even this site seems to have social networking features.
Oct 04, 2009
Chris
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Practical, relevant, and straightforward. Theory-based, but down-to-earth. Made for a good, simple, and eye-opening read.
Dec 17, 2009
Bridget
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A bit outdated for a "current issues" course in technology. The "Social Life of Information" is now the Web 2.0. What's next.
Feb 23, 2008
Joe
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Influential work reflecting then newly emerging concepts of a global collaborative workspace.
