Overview

What is the Internet? Is it an information technology, broadcast and publishing medium, communication, or social technology? How does the Internet fit with the everyday professional and personal lives of people living in a modern democracy? Government, business, the education sector, and the media are consistently promoting the view that the Internet represents the cutting edge for human communication and access to information. In light of this, it is surprising that very little has been written about the people who are using the network and how it is being used. In fact, we know very little about the citizens of this so-called global village. This is due, in part, to the complexities of Internet use. The sheer numbers of people now using the Internet defy the writer and researcher trying to define, systematically observe, theorize, generalize, and recommend policy. Existing studies of Internet users have tended to focus on particular groups like academics, lawyers, and managers because these groups are discrete and definable. The problem is that the Internet user in 2002 and beyond is not necessarily affiliated with an institution, organization, or profession. These new users are the consumer users, casual users, local library users, and school users who surfaced in the late 1990s with broaderbased public access to the Internet. The story of the Internet is a story about research, technology and innovation, information, and communication, but most of all, the Internet is a story about people. It is about people buying and selling, learning and teaching. It is a story about innovative and creative thinkers and the ideas and values of individuals and groups of people. This book answers the question, 'What is the Internet?' by focusing on who is the Internet. The User's View of the Internet provides the first comprehensive analysis of public access to the Internet. It considers the evolution of the Internet through the lens of use and using. It will appeal to Internet stakeholders who need to know more about the impact of the network on their audience, market, clients, users, or constituencies. These stakeholders include business, government, Internet service providers, digital service/product developers, librarians, media and publishing professionals, educators, academics, and students.

Full Product Details

9780810843660

Table of Contents

Reviews

A cohesive, well-researched collection of thoughts about the internet.--JOURNAL OF INTERLIBRARY LOAN Document Delivery & Information Supply

A highly competent synthesis of research into the use of the Internet by specific groups...an impressive attempt to analyse the anarchic. Library Review ...provides rich information on the users of the internet and the services they are using. Bruce's prose has an academic pitch and would be well understood and regarded by readers in the social science, psychology and human factors fields. There is little or no other published work covering similar ground... Australian Academic & Research Libraries A cohesive, well-researched collection of thoughts about the internet. Document Delivery and Information Supply ...could be called a series of thoughtful observations about people and their relationships to the Internet...This book is not about technology or a glimpse into the future, but a (light) scholarly reflection on how various groups of people actually use the Internet. Detailed reference lists accompany each chapter. Easily readable for non-specialists. CHOICE

A highly competent synthesis of research into the use of the Internet by specific groups...an impressive attempt to analyse the anarchic. * Library Review * ...provides rich information on the users of the internet and the services they are using. Bruce's prose has an academic pitch and would be well understood and regarded by readers in the social science, psychology and human factors fields. There is little or no other published work covering similar ground.... * Australian Academic & Research Libraries * A cohesive, well-researched collection of thoughts about the internet. * Document Delivery and Information Supply * ...could be called a series of thoughtful observations about people and their relationships to the Internet....This book is not about technology or a glimpse into the future, but a (light) scholarly reflection on how various groups of people actually use the Internet. Detailed reference lists accompany each chapter. Easily readable for non-specialists. * CHOICE *

Author Information

Harry Bruce is Associate Dean for Research at the Information School of the University of Washington. He has been actively involved in researching information behaviour and uses of the Internet for the past ten years. He received the UMI Doctoral Dissertation Award by the American Society for Information Science and Technology.

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