Information ecologies

Abstract

This paper argues that the way we see, think, and talk about technology has consequences for the way we use it. The author observes that we have difficulty bringing critical sensibilities into our evaluation and use of technology; she posits three reasons for this difficulty: the rhetoric of inevitability, the limitations of partial perspectives, and the effects of metaphor. The author proposes paying attention to technology and observing the social practices surrounding its use. One good way of paying attention to technologies and concomitant social practices is to think ecologically. By positing an information ecology, we will provide ourselves with a framework for thinking about and evaluating technology, both within and outside libraries. © 2000 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.