Theories, Practices and Examples for Community and Social Informatics

Tom Denison, Mauro Sarrica, Larry Stillman

• Publisher: Monash University Publishing
• Year: 2014
• Topic: Computer Science
• eBook ISBN:
  9781921867637
• Subtopic: Human-Computer Interaction
• Index: Computer Science

'Community Informatics' is an emergent discipline with a dual focus: the conduct of research about the relationship between the design of information and communications technologies (ICTs) and local communities, as well as the implementation of ICT projects in local communities. While most of the Community Informatics literature focuses on empirical work and its relationship to more technically oriented Information or Management Systems thinking, this book uses a combination of theoretical and case study approaches to explore the relationship between Community Informatics, Social Informatics, and broader social theory. Themes include: social order mediated through ICTs * community and cohesion * class and power * social psychology and technology * the relationship between personal agency and social structure mediated through technology * the nature of institutional or community formations in the age of ICTs.

Table of contents

• Front cover
• Preliminaries
• Ch 1: Internet use and informal help for surrounding communities in Finland
• Ch 2: New technologies, ageing and social wellbeing in a southern Italian context
• Ch 3: Studying crisis communication on social media
• Ch 4: Social movements, social media and post-disaster resilience
• Ch 5: Expanding the academic research community-building bridges into society with the Internet
• Ch 6: What’s so special about the mobile phone?
• Ch 7: Understanding the use of mobile phones in difficult circumstances
• Index
• Back cover