Module 5 - Information Ecologies

"As you read, think about the following questions – you may want to discuss with other students, or make notes in preparation for your concept project - LOG ENTRY: make sure you include some reflections on these questions in your learning log:

• Q- "How might the metaphor of an ‘ecology’ impact on the way you think about, understand or use the Internet?"

A- It makes me of the people that make the web/net not the technology. It also makes me think of the inequities of access and sharing of information. As a big fan of open source mentality I think economic and information rich governments/corporations need to be careful of the balance in the information ecology as they are slowly becoming in the natural ecology. The market values and social values both have to be thought of in the highest policy decisions.

• Q-"How are the concepts ‘information’ and ‘communication’ understood within the framework of an ‘information ecology’?"

A- Information is the ever growing and changing human knowledge base and communication is the means of retrieving and disseminating this information. Communication is the "flow" between the "nodes". (1)

• Q- "Why don’t we talk of a ‘communication ecology’?"

A- I have to dispute that this concept is not in use. The Annanberg School of Communication at USC has published a lot on this concept.
"A communication ecology approach comes closer to the reality of everyday life where people select new, traditional, and/or geo-ethnic media and interpersonal modes of communication from all of the options they have available to them. For example, we ask people to think about all of the ways they go about gaining understanding or getting information about their community, their health, etc. and to tell us which ways are most important to them. In this way, their responses are in context of their communication ecologies." (2)

(1) Rafael Capurro, Towards an Information Ecology. In: Irene Wormell (Ed.): Information and Quality. London: Taylor Graham 1990, 122-139.
(2) http://www.metamorph.org/research_areas/communication_ecology_and_icts/