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INTEL-ethnographers challenge our assumptions of the digital divide

Published on October 27, 2005 by lorenz Posted in anthropology in the news, Asia, corporate & business anthropology, development empowerment, internet, Latin- and Central America, technology

(via Bits and Bytes Interesting story by INTEL-etnographers Tony Salvador and John Sherry (one of them – Sherry – is actually an anthropologist!) on their work in India, Peru and Hungary. They summarize some of their findings after four years circling the world to find out how computers are being used by typical people in different cultures.

One of their main points:

The split between those with and those without access to digital technologies is referred to as the digital divide. But that phrase hides the complexity of the problem, because it focuses on the “having” and the “not having” of technology. Instead, what really matters is the ability to benefit from technology, whether or not that technology is personally owned.

They go on with various examples, among others they show how even the computer illiterate reap the advantages of the Web, made possible by public Internet facilities. The ethnographers remind us of that only about 10 percent of the people on the planet are familiar with the Internet and what it can do.

>> read the whole story in Spectrum Online

UPDATE Kerim Friedman comments:

I believe we can better understand the impact of new communications technologies if we emphasize the similarities, rather than just the differences, with older technologies.

>> read his post on Savage Minds

SEE ALSO

Internet and development in India

“How Media and Digital Technology Empower Indigenous Survival

Intel is using locally hired anthropologists in new development centers

More and more blogging anthropologists – but the digital divide persists

(via Bits and Bytes Interesting story by INTEL-etnographers Tony Salvador and John Sherry (one of them - Sherry - is actually an anthropologist!) on their work in India, Peru and Hungary. They summarize some of their findings after four years…

Tagging and Folksonomies: Xerox Scientists Apply Insights From Ethnography

Published on October 7, 2005 by lorenz Posted in anthropology in the news, corporate & business anthropology, design anthropology, technology

An older story from last summer: In a (cryptic) press release, Xerox writes that they have used insights from ethnography in product development:

Employing the same ethnographic methods used to observe the social order on a Polynesian atoll or document the culture of natives in southern Siberia, Xerox Corporation (NYSE: XRX) scientists have injected more human know-how into text mining, the practice of using computer analysis of documents to extract new information. The result is better categorization, with higher-quality, customized results.

>> read the whole press release

In their article Tag it as you see it, Computerworld explains us (in a more understandable way), what Xerox actually has found out: They go for using tags for organizing content – as on flickr and del.icio.us:

The best systems allow a combination of predetermined categories with the ability for the end user to create new tags on the fly and organize them in a way that has meaning to the individual as well as to the organization. Recent research at Xerox Corp. shows how this approach can achieve bottom-line results

>> read the whole story: Tag as you like it

SEE ALSO
The practice of classification by tags is also called Folksonomy. See Wikipedia article on folksonomy and article by Kerim Friedman on How folksonomy websites can be used by anthropologists

An older story from last summer: In a (cryptic) press release, Xerox writes that they have used insights from ethnography in product development:

Employing the same ethnographic methods used to observe the social order on a Polynesian atoll or document the…

From housewife to mousewive – Anthropological study on women and Internet

Published on September 29, 2005 by lorenz Posted in anthropology in the news, gender, internet, technology

We’ve already heard of the TIF-woman (a new tech-savvy woman), now we read about “mousewives”. A recent anthropological study (combined with nationwide polling) by Demos shows the traditional housewife has been transformed into a ‘mousewife’ as women drive forward the increasing use of computers in the home. John Craig, the report’s author, said the advent of high-speed broadband was a crucial breakthrough

Some findings:

– half of all women who go online have moved the home PC into the living room so it can play a central role in family life

– Punishment has also changed: Removing internet privileges for children is becoming commonplace

– The PC is becoming the social hub for gossip with family and friends as well as a means of bargain hunting, without leaving the living room.

>> read the whole study in The Scotsman (link updated)

PS: I don’t know how “anthropologically” this study actually has been conducted. Anyhow, I couldn’t find any anthropologists among Demos’ staff

We've already heard of the TIF-woman (a new tech-savvy woman), now we read about "mousewives". A recent anthropological study (combined with nationwide polling) by Demos shows the traditional housewife has been transformed into a 'mousewife' as women drive…

To provide better services at the library: Another anthropologist is studying college students

Published on August 10, 2005 by lorenz Posted in anthropology in the news, applied anthropology, design anthropology, fieldwork / methods, technology, University / Academia

“Rebekah Nathan” isn’t the only anthropologist who is studying students.

The article in Democrat & Chronicle starts like this (quite typically for journalists who are somehow puzzeled by recent changes in anthropology)

On and off for two years, anthropologist Nancy Foster lived with and observed the Wapishana, an indigenous tribe in Guyana and northern Brazil whose members live as hunters, farmers and fishermen. Now she’s studying a group nearly as exotic — college students.

And it goes on:

Employing the same methods numerous companies use to study their workers, University of Rochester’s River Campus library system is dissecting how its students live and work. The goal is to figure out ways of making the library more accessible to them for research papers and other projects.

The work comes on the heels of a similar study led by Foster of UR faculty to see how they used the library, particularly its online offerings. The result was that UR faculty now have personalized pages on the library’s UR Research Web site — it being a repository of various studies and papers done by faculty.

PS: We read about the possible consequences of this research. Students might be able to send an instant message to a reference librarian with questions. Something similar is already possible at the public library in Oslo. You can send sms and chat with librarians, see here

www.biblioteksvar.no/en/

"Rebekah Nathan" isn't the only anthropologist who is studying students.

The article in Democrat & Chronicle starts like this (quite typically for journalists who are somehow puzzeled by recent changes in anthropology)

On and off for two years, anthropologist Nancy Foster…

How Media and Digital Technology Empower Indigenous Survival

Published on August 6, 2005 by lorenz Posted in anthropology in the news, development empowerment, indigenous people / minorities, internet, journal articles / papers, media, Regions, technology

(via Putting People First) Worldchanging has “tracked projects that use new technologies to empower indigenous cultural survival — from digital applications using Inuktitut, the Inuit native language, to the Aboriginal Mapping Project, which harnesses the power of GIS to help indigenous peoples manage their lands and resources, to the networked reindeer tracking of Saami Networked Connectivity Project”. Additionally, they point to the latest volume of Cultural Survival Quarterly. It is devoted to Indigenous Peoples Bridging the Digital Divide. Much to read! >> continue to Worldchanging

PS: Worldchanging is a blog devoted to “Models, Tools, and Ideas for Building a Bright Green Future” and Dina Mehta (Conversations with Dina) is one of the contributers

Modern technology revives traditional languages

Internet and development in India

(via Putting People First) Worldchanging has "tracked projects that use new technologies to empower indigenous cultural survival -- from digital applications using Inuktitut, the Inuit native language, to the Aboriginal Mapping Project, which harnesses the power of GIS to help…