Handbook of Research on Socio-Technical Design and Social Networking Systems

A Book Edited by Brian Whitworth (Massey University) and Aldo de Moor (CommunitySense)

Currently planned for publication in March 2009. Written by 100 international authors from a variety of disciplines, with a forward by Ben Shneiderman, and section prologues by Mark Aakhus, Starr Roxanne Hiltz, Anton Nijholt, Ronald Stamper, Charles Steinfield Tom Erickson and Tom Stewart. The book presents 53 chapters in seven sections as follows:

Section 1: General Socio-Technical Theory
Section 2: Socio-Technical Perspectives
Section 3: Socio-Technical Analysis
Section 4: Socio-Technical Design
Section 5: Socio-Technical Implementation
Section 6: Socio-Technical Evaluation
Section 7: The Future of Socio-Technical Systems

LINKS:
... This link: http://brianwhitworth.com/sts
... Email correspondence: soctech08@gmail.com
....Chapter Format Guide

CALL FOR CHAPTERS

Introduction

This handbook addresses current research into Socio-Technical Systems (STSs) - computer technologies that enable social interaction of any type, whether conversation (email), group discussion (chat), group writing (wiki), trading (E-bay), online learning (WebCT), social networking or others. The Internet has evolved from hosting information to hosting social interactions. Yet as technology becomes part of social life, social requirements must become part of technical design. Without this, a "social-technical gap" emerges - a deficit between what society wants and what technology does. This book aims to help reduce that gap, by combining social and technical knowledge. The new multi-disciplinary field of socio-technical systems, spans traditional disciplines like Engineering, Psychology, Computing, Sociology and Business. A socio-technical system is a social system that emerges from a technical one, so its success requires social as well as technical performance. The term "socio-technical" generalizes and includes the idea of an HCI system (see Figure). This book then asks not how to make technology more efficient, nor how technology affects society, but how human and social level concepts affect technology design, use and evaluation. The premise is that technology is not a "given", but something created by people, and so should work for us, not vice-versa.

Vision

Every day, throughout the world, people use computer technology to conduct previously impossible social interactions, whether global or local. The technologies that allow this are, in general, socio-technical systems. This book asks what makes such systems work well or poorly. How to connect people electronically is a complex problem, but how to connect people socially and electronically is an even more complex problem. Both social and electronic issues must be solved for STS success. Spam illustrates what happens when technical but not social problems are addressed, as ISP and user inboxes now fill with messages no-one reads or wants, wasting online time, money and resources. Online security, education, trade and communication depend intimately on social issues, which have become as critical as technical ones for socio-technical designers and users.

As humanity enters a new millennium one cannot but feel that humanity has, over thousands of years of often bitter struggle, made some social progress. Villages formed into towns, then cities, then city states, then nations, then "nations of nations" like the USA or Europe, with hundreds of millions of people per social unit. Is the next step an online global society, with us all "citizens of the world"? If so, the social learning of the past is important. Are social ideas like accountability, group identity, friendship, fairness or public good now also relevant to technology? If technology enables new social forms, will they follow old social principles? With several thousand years of physical history, and many online social generations come and gone, it is time to address critical socio-technical questions. A technologized society is affected by its technology, but must also socialize its technology, as the technology designs must engage the social contexts within which they are embedded. Without a social direction, technology will not flourish as it should, just as without technology society lose potential. We suggest that:

1. The information technology revolution is only just beginning, and socio-technical systems are leading the way.

2. Socio-technical systems that ignore social requirements will face serious challenges.

3. Integrating social and technical requirements can overcome these challenges.

We invite new perspectives on how social ideas can enlighten technical design, evaluation and operation, and how technical practices can inspire new forms of social interaction.

Recommended topics include, but are not limited to, combinations of social theory and technical practice, e.g. theories from but not limited to the FIRST LIST below, and application(s) from but not limited to the SECOND LIST below:

FIRST LIST: Possible Theory Perspectives
- Active knowledge systems
- Anthropological models
- Applied pragmatics
- Archeological and history models
- Collaborative working environments
- Communication and meaning theory
- Community informatics
- Contextual theory models
- Criminal and social justice theories
- CSCW theory
- Decision support theory
- Digital trace analysis models
- E-business, E-government, E-politics, E-health etc. perspectives
- Educational/learning theory - Game theory
- HCI theory
- Human sensory processing and recognition models
- Information brokers and mediators
- Interpersonal relationship models
- IS design models
- IS quality evaluation
- Language/action theory
- Leadership theories
- Media choice theories
- Negotiation and conflict models - Open source theories
- Organizational communication modeling
- Political models, theories of social rights and obligations
- Pragmatic web theory
- Semantic modeling
- Small group theory
- Sociological models and social philosophy
- Socio-technical systems theory
- Technology appropriation
- Technology acceptance or social diffusion theories
- ANY OTHER SOCIAL THEORY

SECOND LIST: Possible Technology Application Areas
-- Information Management Systems: Browsers, Search engines, ListServs, Web-crawlers, Portals
-- Human Expression Systems: Home pages, Virtual museum/art gallery,Online music publishing, Online books/journals, E-zines, Blogs, Online news
-- Interpersonal Relation Systems: Email, Internet phone (e.g. Skype),Video-phone and conferencing, Instant messages, Chat, Social networking, texting
-- Group Interaction Systems: Wikis, Bulletin boards, Group writing systems, Collaborative tools, Commenting systems, Online voting, E-governance, Online leadership, Online norms, Communities of Action, Group membership systems, Online democracy, Communities of Practice, Online multi-player games, Online cooperatives
-- Trade and Business Systems: Electronic markets, Recommender systems, Enterprise information systems, Job markets, Work flow systems, Web-bots (buyer/sellers), End-user license agreements (EULA),Online barter systems, RFID systems.
-- Health Support Systems: Diagnostic support systems, Patient record systems, Out-patient support systems, Patient empowerment systems
-- Learning Support Systems: Online learning systems, Asynchronous Learning Systems, E-learning practices, Help agents, Video teaching, FAQ's and Help-boards, Training and tutorial systems
-- Anti-social systems: Spyware, Phone-home systems, Spam, Unwanted software installs, Spoofing, Phishing, Identity theft, Hacking tools
-- ANY OTHER SOCIO-TECHNICAL APPLICATION

Important Dates

Submission Procedure

Individuals interested in submitting chapters (5,000-7,500 words) on the above-suggested topics or other related topics in their area of interest should submit via e-mail a 2-3 page manuscript proposal clearly explaining the mission and concerns of the proposed chapter by August 31, 2007. We strongly encourage other topics that have not been listed in our suggested list, particularly if the topic is related to the research area in which you have expertise. Upon acceptance of your proposal, you will have until January 15, 2008, to prepare your chapter of 5,000-7,500 words and 7-10 related terms and their appropriate definitions.  Guidelines for preparing your paper and terms and definitions will be sent to you upon acceptance of your proposal.  This book is tentatively scheduled for publishing by Information Science Reference (formerly Idea Group Reference) (an imprint of IGI Global, formerly Idea Group, Inc.), www.info-sci-ref.com in 2009.

We invite both theorists and practitioners to submit original articles that connect social theory and technical practice. If the author feels their ideas reach beyond current practice, we invite them to suggest how they can be put into practice. If the author feels their practice is beyond current theory, we invite them to explain why their technology worked (or not). Either way, this book is not about theory or practice alone, but their integration. Since it may be difficult to see the socio-technical forest for the trees, we ask authors to be:

Please forward your e-mail of interest including your name, affiliation and a list of topics on which you are interested in writing a chapter to soctech08@gmail.com