[Asis-l] ASIST> 5th Annual Social Informatics Research Symposium (SIG SI)

[Howard Rosenbaum]

[Apologies for cross-posting]

First Call for Papers and Participation:

The 5th Annual Social Informatics Research Symposium (SIG SI, co- 
sponsored by SIG-CRIT)
People, information, technology: The social analysis of computing in a  
diverse and pluralistic world.

Saturday, November 7, 2009, 8:30-12:30 PM; Hyatt Regency Vancouver

The purpose of this ASIST preconference research symposium is to  
disseminate current research and research in progress that investigate  
the social aspects of information and communications technologies  
(ICT) across all areas of ASIST.  The symposium includes members of  
many SIGs and defines "social" broadly to include critical and  
historical approaches as well as contemporary social analysis. It also  
defines "technology" broadly to include traditional technologies   
(i.e., paper), state-of-the-art computer systems, and mobile and  
pervasive devices.

This year's theme is "People, information, technology: The social  
analysis of computing in a diverse and pluralistic world” In keeping  
with the theme of the conference, the symposium is soliciting work  
that focuses on the mutual shaping of people and information as  
mediated by ICTs. According to Horton, Davenport, and Wood-Harper  
(2005; 52) “the impetus for researchers to consider both social and  
technical aspects as mutually constitutive as a means of understanding  
technology introduction and use has a growing audience.” This  
symposium will highlight research focusing on the social realities of  
ICT-based information systems (broadly defined) in information science  
in order to better understand the following:

~ How do difference and diversity shape design, implementation, use,  
disuse, and reconfiguration of information and ICTs where groups, and  
organizations work and play in a global environment?

~ In what ways do information and ICTs shape those creating,  
implementing and using them? How does this vary across cultures? How  
may such difference be managed in global interactions?

~ What can we learn about information and ICT and ongoing social and  
cultural change at different levels of social analysis such as groups,  
organizational units, political entities or cultural systems? Can we  
harmonize our insights?

~ How may we explore the complex reciprocal relationships among  
information, ICT, people, groups and the social and cultural  
environments that surround and pervade them?

~ What are the variations in meanings or interpretations of  
information and ICT across social groups, organizations, and cultures?

~ What are the moral obligations of ICT system development and use  
particularly in global communication networks and what are the  
consequences for diverse ethnic groups?

We are particularly interested in work that assumes a critical stance  
towards the notion of difference – what is involved in the subtle  
interplay between people's uses of information and ICT and the  
increasingly diverse and global environments in which they are  
immersed? Critical analyses are useful because they “bring into  
question established social assumptions and values regarding  
information and ... ICTs and established understandings of   
‘information,’ particularly as they play themselves out and are  
institutionalized in social and professional discourses and  
professional training.” (Day, 2007; 575).

We encourage all scholars, both beginning and established, interested  
in social aspects of ICT (broadly defined) to share their research and  
research in progress by submitting an extended abstract of their work  
and attending the symposium.

Following last year's successful symposium, SIG SI will partner again  
with SIG USE to offer a comprehensive full day program. The theme of  
this symposium fits well with the main themes of the SIG USE  
symposium, “Collaborative Information Seeking and Sharing,” meaning  
that there would be a full day of exploration of the question of the  
transformative relationships between people, information, and ICTs  
from different but clearly related perspectives. The SIG SI symposium  
will take place on Saturday morning and the SIG USE symposium will be  
in the afternoon. Collectively, the two sessions can offer a  
comprehensive full day program, although each is a stand-alone event.  
The two SIGs will co-sponsor a networking lunch [Pay-on-your-own] that  
will take place in between the two events There will be a discount for  
people who register for both symposia.*

Call for papers and posters:

Submit a short paper (2000 words) or poster (500 words) by September  
4, 2009.

Submissions may include empirical, critical and theoretical work, as  
well as richly described practice cases and demonstrations.

Acceptance announcements made by September 20, in time for conference  
early registration (ends Sept 25, 2009).

Tentative Schedule

Paper presentations: 8:30-10:45 AM
Break: 10:45-11:00 AM (with poster viewing)
Paper presentations: 11:00:11:45 AM
Closing Keynote: 11:45-12:30 PM
Lunch with SIG-USE: 12:30-1:30 PM

Fees

Members $75, non-members $85, before Sept. 25, 2009

Members $85, non-members $95, after Sept. 25, 2009

*If you register for the SIG-SI Symposium and the SIG-USE Symposium  
you will receive a $10 discount:

Organizers:

Howard Rosenbaum, School of Library and Information Science -Indiana   
University
hrosenba at indiana.edu

Elisabeth Davenport, Visiting Scholar, Indiana University and  
Professor Emeritus, School of Computing, Napier University
e.davenport at napier.ac.uk

Pnina Shachaf, School of Library and Information Science -Indiana   
University
shachaf at indiana.edu

Kalpana Shankar, School of Informatics -Indiana University
shankark at indiana.edu

Day, R. (2007). Kling and the “critical”: Social informatics and   
critical informatics. Journal of the American Society for Information  
Science and Technology. 58(4): 575–582.

Horton, K., Davenport, E. and Wood-Harper, T. (2005). Exploring  
sociotechnical interaction with Rob Kling: five “big” ideas.  
Information Technology & People 18(1): 50-67