The explosive growth of the Internet has opened the door to a rich and complex field of exploration the sociocultural dimensions of this ever-changing technological phenomenon.
Two SLIS professors at the forefront of the field were keynote speakers at the first conference of the Association of Internet Researchers, held at the University of Kansas, Lawrence, in September. The conference was designed to bring together international scholars to discuss the Internet as a distinct interdisciplinary field of research.
Rob Kling, professor of information science and information systems and the director of SLIS's Center for Social Informatics, and Associate Professor Susan Herring, a specialist in computer-mediated discourse, were two of five invited keynote speakers. SLIS Visiting Associate Professor John Paolillo also gave a presentation, as did visiting scholar Marta Torres and telecommunications Professor Harmeet Sawhney, a fellow of CSI. Several SLIS students also attended the event.
"The conference was an historic event it set precedents for the field of Internet studies and SLIS was a prominent presence," says Susan Herring, who spoke about computer-mediated communication human-to-human communication through electronic messages and about computer-mediated discourse analysis, which focuses on usage and analysis of language.
Kling's keynote addressed systematic studies of social behavior that involve the Internet. During the last 25 years, his research has included the study of the social impact of computerization in the workplace and among the general public and an analysis of the impact of new media on the creation and structuring of knowledge networks among scientists.
Posted December 08, 2000