Two posts in one day!

Bonnie A. Nardi and Vicki L. O'Day, Information Ecologies: Using Technology with Heart

Though I might argue that this book could be condensed to half its length without losing much substance, I did enjoy reading it. I was alternately amused (by photos of Rotwang the inventor), alarmed (at the thought of the Internet restricted to a vehicle for commerce), and touched (by nervous older people finding acceptance from the younger members of Pueblo when they met in real life). The case studies were particularly interesting, as they gave more personal examples of communities working successfully and unsuccessfully with technology. As the authors put it, "The technological system is the water we swim in, and it has become life-sustaining and almost invisible to us" (43). We're all already part of several information "ecologies", and to think of them as communities that require group participation is helpful. The virtual word of Pueblo, connected to Longview Elementary, struck me as a particularly good example. All of the members of the community seem to be very conscious of the steps they are taking, and they're doing a good job evaluating and tweaking the program to make sure it's achieving the results they hoped for. I did find myself wondering about the parents, though, who I don't remember being mentioned. Were they also included in discussions and decisions about Pueblo? Are any of them members of the online community? I also found the example of the hospital particularly telling, as I suspect that not keeping everyone informed and not asking workers for input in decisions are both at the root of a lot of supposedly technology-related workplace issues. I also enjoyed that sometimes the "solution" was surprisingly un-technical: students in Patricia Lynch's digital photography class put a plastic cup on top of their computers when they were having trouble. Different solutions work in different places, and I think in the end that that's exactly what Nardi and O'Day are saying: communities need to work together to make technology workable for them.