Information Ecologies: Using Technology with Heart

by Bonnie A. Nardi, Vicki L. O'Day

A call for informed, responsible engagement with information technology at the local level. The common rhetoric about technology falls into two extreme 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.

Genres: Nonfiction, Technology, Design, Academic

246 pages, Paperback

First published March 1, 1999

Reviews

[Margaret Heller · Rating 4 out of 5]

This review is going to be all over the place as it's partly review, partly outlining future class lectures, and partly rough draft for a paper.

I am taken with the idea of information ecologies as a way to understand what happens when you introduce a new technology. Using technology has to be done with a certain purposefulness. The subtitle "Using Technology with Heart" refers to the central theme of Metropolis; i.e. the heart must be the mediator between the brain and the hand. Let's consider one example from the film: it was by no means "inevitable" that Rotwang's technology of the robot Maria must have been introduced into the workers' meetings, it was also by no means "inevitable" that they respond the way they do. It was the nature of the ecology into which that technology was introduced that dictated what would happen. We are, of course, leaving aside the basic question of what mechanized work had done to the workers in the first place.

They consider several metaphors for technology, including tool, text, and system. These have various implications, the most striking of which is system--in this reading of technology, it could elide what it means to be human by valuing the sterility of correctness and efficiency over the... well, not that of humanity. This is kind of what we see in Metropolis and Modern Times, among others.

In choosing technology and its role in an ecology, the authors suggest that acting locally in a thoughtful and committed way will both shape the use of the technology appropriate to the setting, as well as act as a model for other ecologies.

What follows are several case studies, of which my favorite is the one that explores the ecology of a corporate library. They suggest that in many information ecologies librarians are the keystone species that keep it all together. Some of the other case studies are less compelling, and of course the book is over 10 years old, so some information about computer access at home is surely different. But I think the basic message is applicable in any setting and any time.

I think librarians should absolutely read this book, definitely instead of some of the "rah rah librarians" stuff that's come out recently.

[stella begey · Rating 4 out of 5]

An excellent tool for families, schools, churches any kind of community as they navigate the ever-changing, ever-advancing technology.

[Murray · Rating 3 out of 5]

Shares a similar title with Davenport and Prusak's Information Ecology, but has a different focus. Rather than breaking down all the elements of an information ecology as Davenport and Prusak's book does, it focuses a lot on people's perceptions of technology and how an ecology functions or doesn't function, along with some case studies for illustration. I wasn't as engaged on first read, but looking back feel that the book helps to more easily grasp the concept of an IE and how people act within it.

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

nonfiction,computer science,information science,ethics

[Sibyl · Rating 3 out of 5]

A few interesting ideas, but distractingly out-of-date and repetitive.