Lorna Heaton

Working with information: information management and culture in a professional services organization

The paper presents a case study of a large Canadian law firm with a distinctive information culture that is vigorously implementing an information management strategy. Our findings suggest that, at least for this organization, information culture trumps information management in its impact on information use outcomes. Thus, the strongly held information values and behaviors in the firm accounted for more than one-third of the variance in information use outcomes. Employees did perceive a high level of information management activity in the firm, although information management played a smaller, perhaps indirect role in explaining information use outcomes. What might organizations do to improve information use? This study suggests that organizations might do well to recognize that, in the hustle and bustle to implement strategies and systems, information values and information culture will always have a defining influence on how people share and use information.

Paradoxical empowerment of produsers in the context of informational capitalism

This article develops a critical perspective on how online contribution practices participate in the creation of economic value under informational capitalism. It discusses the theoretical relevance of the concept of empowerment for exploring online contribution practices. We argue that produsage practices are paradoxical insofar as they can be simultaneously alienating and emancipatory. This theoretical lens allows us to take a fresh look at the collective intelligence of produsers and the role of communities in the collective production of content. We illustrate the fruitfulness of this conceptual approach with two case studies: Facebook and TelaBotanica, a platform for the collaborative production of scientific knowledge.

Preserving communication context: virtual workspace and interpersonal space in Japanese CSCW

The past decade has seen the development of a perspective holding that technology is socially constructed. This paper examines the social construction of one group of technologies: systems for computer-supported cooperative work (CSCW). It describes the design of CSCW in Japan, with particular attention to the influence of culture on the design process. Two case studies are presented to illustrate the argument that culture is an important factor in technology design, despite commonly held assumptions about the neutrality and objectivity of science and technology. The paper further argues that, by looking at CSCW systems as texts which reflect the context of their production and the society from which they come, we may be better able to understand the transformations that operate when these texts are ‘read’ in the contexts of their implementation.

Talking heads vs. virtual workspaces: a comparison of design across cultures

The past decade has seen the development of a perspective holding that technology is socially constructed. This paper examines the social construction of one group of technologies, systems for computer supported cooperative work (CSCW). It compares the design of systems for computer supported cooperative work (CSCW) in Scandinavia and Japan with particular attention to the influence of culture on the resulting products. Two case studies are presented to illustrate the argument that culture is an important factor in technology design, despite commonly held assumptions about the neutrality and objectivity of science and technology. The paper further proposes an explanation for why, despite similar technical backgrounds and research interests, CSCW design is conducted differently and produces different results in Denmark and Japan. It argues that, by looking at CSCW systems as texts which reflect the context of their production and the society from which they come, we may be better able to understand the transformations that operate when these texts are ‘read’ in the contexts of their implementation.

Paradoxical Empowerment: Immaterial Labor Translated in a Web of Affective Connections

This perspective explores the production of user-generated content by contrasting two analyses that are convergent in some respects, divergent in others. In our first line of analysis we use the work of Negri (1996) and Moulier-Boutang (2007) on “cognitive capitalism” to extend some elements explored by Fuchs (2010; 2012) and Arvidsson and Colleoni (2012) on labor and value. This approach foregrounds the adaptability of capitalism and suggests that workers are endowed with “an inventive subjective power” that simultaneously influences and reproduces the mode of production. Our second line of analysis explores the later work of André Gorz (1997; 2003), who invites us to imagine a society in which social relationships would no longer be determined by the laws of the market, a postmarket utopia. This approach points to the importance of collective organization and relational value production of user-generated content and suggests recentering the debate not around individuals and their labor, but on the web of affective connections between them.

« Tela Botanica » : une fertilisation croisée des amateurs et des experts

Nous chercherons ici a montrer comment le projet Tela Botanica permet a la fois une transformation et une actualisation du savoir botanique. Trois elements particuliers retiendront notre attention : la libre circulation et la mise a disposition des donnees les plus recentes du travail des botanistes ; l’articulation nouvelle entre le travail scientifique des amateurs et celui des professionnels ; la creation d’une forme organisationnelle hybride combinant des elements propres au milieu associatif et a l’entreprise privee. Nous utiliserons ces trois axes d’analyse tour a tour, en fournissant des exemples et des reflexions theoriques pour chacun.

Information behavior realities in organizations

This short paper provides discussion on the influencing effect of information behavior in organizations, as well as the forces which influence information behavior itself. The research goal is to offer insight on the nature of information behavior in organizations. To do so, the authors present findings from their quantitative analysis of a Web-based survey administered in one particular information knowledge and information intensive firm. Results point to: i) the stronger role information behavior plays over information management processes and policies in affecting organizational information use outcomes; ii) the influencing effect of the information environment on organizational information behaviors; and iii) the influencing effect of both the information environment and organizational information behaviors on personal information behavior.

Cultures of Science and Technology in the Trading Zone: Biodiversity and Open Source Development

This paper explores the work of building open source biodiversity information infrastructure. We analyse collaboration between a Canadian team and a Brazilian one. In particular we focus on the use of WingLongitude, a GitHub space, as a trading zone within which the two teams co-developed solutions. We show how the choice to work in a neutral space, belonging to everyone, and the use of display, representation and assemblage practices enabled sharing of some infrastructural elements, while maintaining other specificities that best suit their diverse cultures. Working together in this trading zone appears as both a practical accomplishment and a commitment to shared ideals.

Encouraging Open Community Innovation: Outils-Réseaux ’s Modular Approach

Increasingly, individuals, groups and communities are participating actively in the process of technological innovation. Indeed, the novelty of Web 2.0 technologies and platforms appears to lie in the fact that the user has the possibility to produce—and not just consult—a vast array of content and tools. Users are more and more aware of their capacity for making and changing technologies, but participation does not happen automatically for most people. This chapter is a case study of Outils-Reseaux, a French group whose mission is to encourage the development and use of collaborative tools by associative movements. Drawing on interviews and an analysis of the content of various Wiki pages, we reflect on how Outils-Reseaux’s actions and approach participate in community innovation, in which the community itself is an essential element of the innovation. We explore the coevolution of both technical infrastructure (tools for collaboration) and the community, and show how Outils-Reseaux mediates between the (social) world of users and the technical world of software developers. We place particular emphasis on the modularity of the group’s approach to illustrate how it helps reconfigure boundaries for innovation and collaboration. First, we outline Outils-Reseaux’s general approach and several guiding principles. We then describe several “success stories” that illustrate key elements of the approach: simplicity, modularity, user-driven innovation. We conclude with reflections on emergent, community innovation and relate our experiences to academic literature on open, collaborative innovation.