[Sigia-l] morality in IA

[Ginny Risk]

Yes, and I would say, of course.  I think everyone has moral ties to the
environment in which they live.  

Regrettably, the disciplines that think of themselves as 'science' have
tended to overlook the role of human intent in the choices researchers
and practitioners make and the impact of the work on culture and
society.  It is now fairly obvious to us that in medical domains, for
example, our science and engineering is far ahead of our ethics.

I like to think of the Shakers, who consider the effects, positive and
negative, that a given technology could have on the health of the
community before they decide whether to use it and how.  I like the
conscious and collective deliberation.

In our choices of classification, labels, symbols and associations, we
are promoting the creation of meaning that will have an impact on our
world.  It's powerful and it's important.  I think it's good to think
about these issues and to care, but for me it's not a cause for worry.
We are part of a larger process.

There are the information access issues, like the one you brought up
about Bin Laden.

There are choices as to how much to conform to the assumptions of user
groups, and how much to stretch them, beyond the explicit requirements
to things they love but wouldn't have imagined based on previous
experience.  How much to make suggestions and how much to question the
framework that subject matter experts come up with.

I think it would be useful to try to put together a list of the kinds of
choices we face in IA work.  (Yea, that's an inductive exercise and
that's part of the appeal!)

A third thing that occurs to me is along the lines of assimilation vs.
separatism.  If you have two frameworks, let's say advocated by
different groups, how much to you try to create a meta-framework that
accommodates everyone, or not.  I guess we're beyond thinking that all
people think the same way, but there does seem to be an assumption that
there is a single, correct ontology of let's say the natural world.

What other choices do you encounter?

Ginny


-----Original Message-----
From: sigia-l-admin at asis.org [mailto:sigia-l-admin at asis.org] On Behalf
Of Christina Wodtke
Sent: Thursday, November 14, 2002 2:03 PM
To: sigia-l at asis.org
Subject: [Sigia-l] morality in IA


I'd like to talk about our responsibility as designers... I wrote
earlier.. <snip>

>You aren't just organizing; you are sending a message."
<snip>

>Do anyone else feel like what we do isn't just mucking around in the 
>dotpop land
>anymore? that we have obligations?
<snip>