Social Informatics is a relatively new term that can serve as a banner for those who are interested in contributing to these studies. The name “Social Informatics” can also serve as a pointer, by which we can help lead others to appropriate theories, key ideas, studies, findings, books, articles, courses of study, etc. (Rob Kling Center for Social Informatics)

• Rob Kling, defines Social Informatics as the body of research and study that examines social aspects of computerization — including the roles of information technology in social and organizational change and the ways that the social organization of information technologies are influenced by social forces and social practices. SI includes studies and other analyses that are labeled as social impacts of computing, social analysis of computing, studies of computer-mediate communication (CMC), information policy, “computers and society,” organizational informatics, interpretive informatics, and so on.

SI studies and SI courses are organized within diverse fields, including information systems, anthropology, computer science, communications, sociology, library and information science, political science and science and technology studies (STS). SI provides a common meeting ground for isolated and scattered scholars to locate each other as well as relevant academic programs and courses.

REFERENCES

Kling, R., Rosenbaum, H., & Sawyer, S. (2005). Understanding and Communicating Social Informatics: A Framework for Studying and Teaching the Human Contexts of Information and Communications Technologies. Medford, New Jersey: Information Today, Inc.

Rob Kling Center for Social Informatics

Day. R, Hara, N., & Robbins, A. (2005). Social Informatics Education in I-schools

Rosenbaum, H. & Sawyer, S. (2000). Social Informatics in the Information Sciences

Kling, et al. (2000). Social Informatics Report

Kling, R. (2001). What is Social Informatics?