[Sighci-l] Live or let die?

[Ping Zhang]

Yes, there are many SIGs on HCI out there. For example, Association for Information Systmes (AIS) has a SIGHCI (http://melody.syr.edu/hci) that is about a little more than one year old and is very active now.

I do think that ASIS should have a SIG on HCI. Two issues came to mind are that (1) the overlaps between SIGHCI and other SIGs such as IA, USE, etc. need to be laid out clearly. (2) The scope of HCI should be more than just literally Human, computer, and the interface between them. If so, then I'd say HCI died or should die. The involved issues can be much broader. This of cause needs to be identified by ASIS members who can see it.

My 2 cents,

Ping

_________________________

Dr. Ping Zhang
Associate Professor
CST 4-295
School of Information Studies
Syracuse University
Syracuse, NY 13244
Phone: (315) 443-5617
Fax: (315) 443-5806
IST at SU: http://istweb.syr.edu
AIS SIGHCI: http://melody.syr.edu/hci
Dr. Zhang: http://melody.syr.edu/pzhang
_________________________


>>> "Joe Konopka" <jkonopka at nj.devry.edu> 12/05/02 11:13AM >>>
To be quite honest, there are many sigs out there from other organizations
covering the topic of HCI. ACM is the one that comes to mind immediately. I
think HCI as a central theme for IS research needs to remain but whether
asis is a good fit, should be the real question. When I receive mailings
from asis, many of the topics cover the area of library science rather than
information systems.
joe
----- Original Message -----
From: "Andrew Dillon" <adillon at gslis.utexas.edu>
To: <sighci-l at asis.org>
Sent: Tuesday, December 03, 2002 5:21 PM
Subject: [Sighci-l] Live or let die?


> Well there are a couple of points to consider here. First, is the field of
> HCI dying? That is a real question but I sense that Joette is asking more
> about the SIG within ASIST and I thank her for raising this.
>
> Is  this SIG beyond dying and in fact dead? Where is the discussion on
this
> list? Where were the members at the recent annual meeting? Barbara
mentioned
> Sig USE which seems to be thriving- I was not aware until the recent
annual
> that SIG USE now covers usability (appratently) as part of its
> discussions....why have we got an HCI list if that is the case? Barbara
> mentioned that SIG Use is more concerned with people's interactions with
> information than technology. Again, I always felt that HCI did cover that
> too......so I have to ask, what are we here for if the major areas we
> consider important to HCI are covered by other SIGs? I cannot subscribe
that
> HCI is only about people and technology without information being part of
> that use of the 'technology' word, but that might just be me....Do others
> SIGS cover HCI issues adequately? If not, why is there so little activity
in
> this list?
>
> And if this is not enough, I have a bigger question than these (it is
> possible)....just what do we expect from a SIG?
>
> According to the official ASIST view:
>
> "SIGs give members with similar professional specialties the opportunity
to
> exchange ideas and keep themselves informed about current and discrete
> developments in their fields. The activities of the SIGs, planned by their
> members and elected officers, provide clear indication of the diverse
> interests and needs of ASIST members. Through participation in SIGs, you
can
> help design what, in essence, are small professional organizations within
> the broader national society. "
>
> So we have the forum but we have not had the events or plans. I am not
sure
> I need another list to discuss ideas on when I find the various divisions
> between HCI, UE, IA, USE etc. to be largely irrelevant to me, and if I
just
> need to talk narrow usability or interface design issues then there are
many
> other dedicated lists I can use outside of ASIST. So, I have to ask the
> members,  what do we want here? If we cannot answer this, then this group
> is, in my view, defunct. I hope it is not so, and cannot help but think
that
> ASIST without an HCI group would be a poorer society but the evidence of
the
> last year makes me wonder how we might consider it otherwise. Is there
> really room for an HCI sig anymore? I'd love to hear some voices.....
>
>
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> Sighci-l mailing list
> Sighci-l at asis.org 
> http://mail.asis.org/mailman/listinfo/sighci-l 

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