Howard Rosenbaum

Invoked on the Web

Where, how, and why are scholars invoked on the World Wide Web? An inductively derived typology was used to capture genres of invocation. Comparative data were gathered using five commercial search engines. It is argued that the Web fosters new modalities of scholarly communication. Different categories of invocation are identified and analyzed in terms of their potential to inform sociometric and bibliometric analyses of academic interaction.

Can search engines be used as tools for web‐link analysis? A critical view

The paper investigates the problems of using commercial search engines for web‐link research and attempts to clarify the nature of the problems involved in the use of these engines. The research finds that search engines are highly variable in the results they produce, are limited in the search functions they offer, have poorly and/or incorrectly documented functions, use search logics that are opaque, and change the search functions they offer over time. The limitations which are inherent in commercial search engines should cause researchers to have reservations about any conclusions that rely on these tools as primary data‐gathering instruments. The short‐comings are market‐driven rather than inherent properties of the web or of web‐searching technologies. Improved functionalities are within the technical capabilities of search engine programmers and could be made available to the research community. The findings also offer mild support for the validity of the connection between web links and citations as analogues of intellectual linkage.

Social informatics in information science: an introduction

Social informatics (SI) refers to a multidisciplinary research field that examines the design, uses, and implications of information and communication technologies (ICTs) in ways that account for their interactions with institutional and cultural contexts. This Special Issue presents seven articles that illustrate the range and depth of research in SI. This essay outlines the concerns of SI researchers and briefly describes the articles that follow.

The information environment of electronic commerce: information imperatives for the firm

Electronic commerce (e-commerce) is an activity which takes place in a social context called the ‘digital information environment’. The advantage of using this concept is its emphasis on the information-intensive character of business conducted on the Web. After a brief discussion of a definition and the current state of e-commerce, the digital information environment of e-commerce is introduced and two of its constitutive elements, rules and resources, are discussed. Attention then shifts to a subset of rules, called ‘information imperatives’, that are critical for e-commerce. The paper concludes with a discussion of the organizational changes that can be expected to accompany the incorporation of these imperatives into the mission and core business processes of e-commerce firms.

Revising the Conceptualization of Computerization Movements

One interesting problem arising from Kling and Iaconos pioneering work on computerization movements (CMs) is the question of empirically determining a movements success or failure. This article questions the question and argues that it is based on two assumptions that upon closer examination seem problematic. The first is that Kling and Iaconcos concept of a CM is sufficient to cover the range of CMs. Their approach to CMs is explicated, pointing out three ways in which it is limited, concluding that it should be reconceptualized. The second is that CMs are similar enough so that a single set of criteria is sufficient to judge the success or failure of any given CM. Using a heuristic analysis to examine a set of 41 CMs, a typology is introduced demonstrating that there are important differences among CMs. The article concludes that since a single set of criteria is no longer appropriate, different sets of criteria are needed to evaluate the success or failure of different types of CMs.

Digital access to government information: To what extent are agencies in compliance with EFOIA?

Citizen access to government information is thought by many to be a cornerstone of democracy. The Electronic Freedom of Information Act (EFOIA), passed in 1996, established a legal right for people to request and receive government information in digital format and required agencies to provide specific information on their websites. Many commentators agreed that this law was a positive step and would improve citizen access to government information. This paper adopts a social informatics perspective to assess this prevailing view by examining the underlying assumptions about technology on which discourse is based. It then supports this critical assessment with an empirical investigation. First, compliance with Department of Justice guidelines was examined (following Gordon-Murnane, 1999). Then we analyzed the content of agencies’ electronic reading rooms to determine if they were in compliance with the law. Our analysis determined that agencies are in better compliance with the Department of Justice guidelines, but many do not comply with the legal requirements. Agencies could improve their compliance with the letter and the spirit of EFOIA. In this way, our study contributes to bodies of research concerned with information access, social informatics, and digital government.

Data Science and Online Education

We discuss the Data Science program at Indiana University, which is offered in both traditional residential and online formats. We describe Data Science, our chosen curriculum and its motivation. We describe experience in online delivery for both traditional lectures and online programming laboratories, and discuss implications for the technology used.

Letter from America: Digital entrepreneurship: doing business on the information superhighway

Three examples of network-based businesses are described: a document storage and delivery service, a digital asynchronous radio programme, and a print journal with an electronic supplement. They are among the first of the early players to venture out onto the playing field. Whether they succeed or fail, they will provide valuable lessons about the future of digital entrepreneurship on the information superhighway

Charting a new course: developing and implementing a curriculum for a Master's of Information Science degree

This paper describes the development and implementation of an innovative curriculum, the Masters of Information Science (MIS), which is being offered at the School of Library and Information Science (SLIS) at Indiana University. After briefly describing the dynamics of the North American information studies marketplace, the paper focuses on the reengineering effort which led to the new curriculum. The paper concludes with a discussion of the marketing effort currently under way to promote the MIS.

Social informatics of data norms

Big data has been widely promoted across disciplines and sectors for its potential to enhance lives and promote knowledge discovery. However, challenges arise at all stages of the data lifecycle due to the complexity of interactions between data and the contexts within which they are collected and managed, which has implications for interpretations of this data and eventual use of information and the creation of knowledge products from these data. Starting from the perspective of social informatics, this panel will discuss: the reciprocal relationships between data and context; specific challenges in distinct stages of data generation, data repository implementation, data curation, data use, and data reproducibility; and the implications of these challenges and their potential solutions for both social informatics research and society in general.