Ebook: Web Work: Information Seeking and Knowledge Work on the World Wide Web

This book brings together three great motifs of the network society: the seeking and using of information by individuals and groups; the creation and application of knowledge in organizations; and the fundamental transformation of these activities as they are enacted on the Internet and the World Wide Web. Of the three, the study of how individuals and groups seek information probably has the longest history, beginning with the early "information needs and uses" studies soon after the Second World War. The study of organizations as knowledge-based social systems is much more recent, and really gained momentum only within the last decade or so. The study of the World Wide Web as information and communication media is younger still, but has generated tremendous excitement, partly because it has the potential to reconfigure the ways in which people seek information and use knowledge, and partly because it offers new methods of analyzing and measuring how in fact such information and knowledge work gets done. As research endeavors, these streams overlap and share conceptual constructs, perspectives, and methods of analysis. Although these overlaps and shared concerns are sometimes apparent in the published research, there have been few attempts to connect these ideas explicitly and identify cross-disciplinary themes. This book is an attempt to fill this void. The three authors of this book possess contrasting backgrounds and thus adopt complementary vantage points to observe information seeking and knowledge work.

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This book brings together three great motifs of the network society: the search for and use of information by individuals and groups; the creation and application of knowledge in organizations; and the fundamental transformation of these activities as they take place on the World Wide Web and corporate intranets. As research endeavors, these streams overlap and share conceptual constructs, perspectives, and methods of analysis. Although these overlaps and shared concerns are sometimes apparent in published research, there have been few attempts to connect these ideas explicitly and identify cross-disciplinary themes. This book is an attempt to fill this void.
Audience: The book's primary audience is faculty and students in masters and doctoral programs in information science, information systems, and management schools. Consultants and organizations designing and implementing intranets and portals will find the book useful in providing research-based insights into how information search and knowledge sharing may be enhanced.

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This book brings together three great motifs of the network society: the search for and use of information by individuals and groups; the creation and application of knowledge in organizations; and the fundamental transformation of these activities as they take place on the World Wide Web and corporate intranets. As research endeavors, these streams overlap and share conceptual constructs, perspectives, and methods of analysis. Although these overlaps and shared concerns are sometimes apparent in published research, there have been few attempts to connect these ideas explicitly and identify cross-disciplinary themes. This book is an attempt to fill this void.
Audience: The book's primary audience is faculty and students in masters and doctoral programs in information science, information systems, and management schools. Consultants and organizations designing and implementing intranets and portals will find the book useful in providing research-based insights into how information search and knowledge sharing may be enhanced.
Content:
Front Matter....Pages i-xiv
Front Matter....Pages 1-1
Information Seeking....Pages 3-27
The Structure and Dynamics of Organizational Knowledge....Pages 29-67
Front Matter....Pages 69-69
The Intranet as Infrastructure for Knowledge Work....Pages 71-100
Designing Intranets to Support Knowledge Work....Pages 101-130
Front Matter....Pages 131-131
Models of Information Seeking on the World Wide Web....Pages 133-158
Understanding Organizational Web Use....Pages 159-187
Coda....Pages 189-190
Back Matter....Pages 191-219

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This book brings together three great motifs of the network society: the search for and use of information by individuals and groups; the creation and application of knowledge in organizations; and the fundamental transformation of these activities as they take place on the World Wide Web and corporate intranets. As research endeavors, these streams overlap and share conceptual constructs, perspectives, and methods of analysis. Although these overlaps and shared concerns are sometimes apparent in published research, there have been few attempts to connect these ideas explicitly and identify cross-disciplinary themes. This book is an attempt to fill this void.
Audience: The book's primary audience is faculty and students in masters and doctoral programs in information science, information systems, and management schools. Consultants and organizations designing and implementing intranets and portals will find the book useful in providing research-based insights into how information search and knowledge sharing may be enhanced.
Content:
Front Matter....Pages i-xiv
Front Matter....Pages 1-1
Information Seeking....Pages 3-27
The Structure and Dynamics of Organizational Knowledge....Pages 29-67
Front Matter....Pages 69-69
The Intranet as Infrastructure for Knowledge Work....Pages 71-100
Designing Intranets to Support Knowledge Work....Pages 101-130
Front Matter....Pages 131-131
Models of Information Seeking on the World Wide Web....Pages 133-158
Understanding Organizational Web Use....Pages 159-187
Coda....Pages 189-190
Back Matter....Pages 191-219
....