Bonnie Nardi and Vicki O’Day introduce us to the concept of information ecologies as a complex, flexible metaphor for our social interactions with information. They note:"We define an information ecology to be a system of people, practices, values, and technologies in a particular local environment. In information ecologies, the spotlight is not on technology, but on human activities that are served by ecology" (p. 49).
The also highlight the critical role of individual autonomy within an information ecology:
"An ecology is a place that is scaled to individuals...In an ecology, we are not cogs in sweeping sociological processes. instead, we are individuals with real relationships to other individuals. the scale of an ecology allow us to find individual points of leverage, ways into the system, and avenues of intervention" (p. 50).
Thus, an exploration of an information ecology to which you belong provides an ideal route to a more complex, more nuanced, more wide-ranging understanding of the interrelationships forming and reforming between people, machines and information in the digital age.
The Assignment
As your major individual project for this learning community, you will identify and analyze an information ecology with which you are very familiar.
For example, you might analyze the information ecology of your dorm. floor, your family home, your work place, your apartment (as long as you live with more than two room mates), a location where you volunteer, a course or learning community in which you are enrolled, a place on campus (such as the Johnson Center), and so on. You will submit your analysis as an individual research report.
As you develop both your proposal and your analysis, remember to investigate the key elements of an information ecology that Nardi & O'Day highlight:
- ecology as system (pp. 50 - 51)
- diversity (pp. 51 - 52)
- coevolution (pp. 52 - 53)
- keystone species (pp. 53 - 54)
- locality (pp. 54 - 56)
Throughout the project, remember to probe and evaluate the values encoded (or not) within your chosen information ecology.
The Process
Part I: (Due: 20 September)
Identify two information ecologies you might explore for your individual assignment. Explain clearly to us:
- why your chosen environments constitute information ecologies
- the value (to you and the rest of our community) of analyzing these information ecologies
- the sources of information on which you might be able to draw for your investigations in these environments
Part II: (Due 4 October)
Each group will present one of the information ecology case studies in our textbook to the learning community (case studies allocated by instructors). These presentations will introduce you to the methodologies required for the investigation of information ecologies, and help you to understand the multiple factors involved in the functioning of information ecology.
Your presentation should include an analysis of:
- the several different research routes Nardi and O’Day follow to explore a specific information ecology (observation, interviews, etc.)
- the kinds of information and knowledge (formal, informal, conceptual, skills-based, professional, personal, emotional, etc.) they identify as integral to a specific information ecology
- the different ways in which they develop conclusions about the structure and functionality of your specific information ecology from their raw data
Each presentation should last for approximately 20 minutes.
Part III: (Due 18 October)
You should complete a full draft of your information ecology analysis for presentation and review in class today. Your peers and instructors will provide you with feedback on your drafts.
Your draft should:
- stretch to at least 2500 words
- include significant external research
- integrate relevant theoretical concepts from our readings
- consider the institutional and cultural forces that shape your chosen ecology
- assess the stability of the ecology and its potential for transformation
- identify areas that you would like to see change, and those you would want to preserve (and why?)
You may want to include photographs, images, graphics, sound and video in your exploration. You may present a conventional paper or research report, or present your analysis and conclusions via a web site. Despite the range of presentation formats, we do expect the content to meet academic standards for university-level writing in intellectual rigor, citation, grammar and spelling.
Part IV: (Due 1 November)
Hand in your final version & rejoice!
*Adapted from the Information Ecologies assignment developed by Darren Cambridge, NCC