August 2009 Archives

Exploring the web, I came across this website. The site is dedicated to hawking the wares of a Marcus P. Zillman and he's co-opted the term 'social informatics' for precisely that purpose.  An obvious reason to exclude Mr. Zillman from your consideration as a commentor on social informatics is that there is not a single bona fide social informatics resource listed on his social informatics resource page.

If you're curious about social informatics research, two better places to start are The Rob Kling Center fo Social Informatics and Wikipedia

Sara Kiesler who is very active in the Social Informatics / Cyberinfrastructure research community is seeking candidates for a post doc position that sounds pretty fantastic:

I am seeking someone to conduct an NSF-funded interview study of scientific collaborations. This task will involve quite a bit of traveling to universities and talking with a variety of people including top scientists (half of whom will be CS, the other half a variety of disciplines), grad students, and staff including bureaucratic personnel such as people in budget offices. The task will also involve coding and analysis of the interviews.

If you are interested in virtual organization, the science of science, e-science, CSCW, and other related topics, you would have a chance to carve out your own paper from this work.

The postdoc would be for one year. It would not be necessary to live in Pittsburgh since the study is nationwide, however, would require you to visit periodically.

For the upcoming fall semester I will be teaching three courses at Washington & Jefferson:

ITL 100 - Information Technology & Society

A survey of information technology innovations that changed society in fundamental ways, within the context of a more broadly defined discussion of the "history of technology."Topics within the history of information technology include the development of the integrated circuit, the personal computer, the Internet and the world wide Web, etc.Topics within the history of technology (broadly defined) include ethical, legal, environmental, and feminist issues involved in the development and implementation of new technologies.The course entails a combination of historical overview and a number of individual case studies of technology development and implementation.The latter will focus on issues of leadership, the identification and solution of complex problems, and the unexpected consequences of technological advances.

ITL 102 - Introduction to Proramming

An introduction to object-oriented programming, with an emphasis on program design, problem solving, methodology, and algorithms. Students will master the fundamental concepts and structures common to programming.

ITL 112 - Database Concepts

An overview of the role of databases within a variety of academic, business, and governmental organizations, and an introduction to database design and management. Students will be required to create databases related to their major fields or areas of academic interest using both small business and enterprise-class database management systems.