Despite extraordinary advances in digital and communication technology over recent years, we know very little about the way these complex systems affect everyday work and interaction. This book seeks to explore these issues through a series of video-based field studies that look at the introduction of basic information systems in general medical practice, news production, the control rooms of the London Underground and computer aided design in architectural practice. It focuses in particular on social interaction and the way video-based field studies can inform the design, development and implementation of new technology.
Author(s): Christian Heath, Paul Luff
Series: Learning in Doing: Social, Cognitive and Computational Perspectives
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Year: 2000
Language: English
Pages: 280
Cover......Page 1
Half-title......Page 5
Series-title......Page 6
Title......Page 7
Copyright......Page 8
Contents......Page 9
Preface......Page 11
1 Technology and social action......Page 19
1.1 Computers and situated conduct......Page 26
1.2 Technological innovation and collaborative work......Page 30
1.3 Naturalistic studies of work and technology......Page 33
1.4 Technologies and social interaction......Page 37
1.5 A note on an analytic orientation......Page 41
1.6 Observing a case......Page 45
1.7 Summary......Page 48
2.1 Introduction......Page 49
2.2 The traditional medical record card......Page 52
2.3 The mapping of category items......Page 54
2.4 Descriptive economies: interclass defeasibility......Page 56
2.5 The description as a whole......Page 57
2.6 Intra-entry defeasibility......Page 58
2.7 The computerisation of clinical records in general practice......Page 60
2.8 Some unanticipated consequences of the system......Page 63
2.9 Medical records and the interaction between patient and doctor......Page 66
2.10 Formalising the ‘informal’......Page 72
2.11 Discussion......Page 75
3.1 Introduction......Page 79
3.2 The setting......Page 81
3.3 Giving voice to the news......Page 84
3.4 Apostrophic readings......Page 88
3.5 Viewing stories together......Page 91
3.6 Forestalling a rendition......Page 95
3.7 Discussion: texts in interaction......Page 99
4.1 Introduction......Page 106
4.2 The technology in the control room......Page 109
4.3 Assessing the service......Page 112
4.4 ‘Monitoring’ and discriminating action......Page 114
4.5 Rendering activities visible......Page 120
4.6 The production of convergent activities......Page 123
4.7 The co-ordination and mutual visibility of conduct......Page 134
4.8 Technology and collaboration in action......Page 137
5.1 Introduction......Page 143
5.2 The setting: scheduling trains and dealing with problems on the line......Page 146
5.3 Transforming calls into commands......Page 150
5.4 Discriminating calls’ relevancies......Page 154
5.5 Concurrent participation in multiple activities......Page 158
5.6 The collaborative production of a command......Page 162
5.7 Intervention......Page 165
5.8 Discussion......Page 169
6.1 Introduction......Page 173
6.2 Technologies in architectural work......Page 175
6.3 The manipulation of objects......Page 176
6.4 Navigating the design: preserving coherence......Page 181
6.5 Interweaving resources......Page 186
6.6 Discussion......Page 193
7.1 Introduction......Page 197
7.2 Organisational form and technical innovation......Page 199
7.3 Disembodied conduct......Page 201
7.3.1 Observations and findings......Page 202
7.3.2 Looking through technology......Page 204
7.3.3 Talk and visual conduct......Page 207
7.3.4 Gestural insignificance......Page 210
7.4 Enriching the work space......Page 217
7.4.1 Reconfiguring media space......Page 222
7.4.2 Preliminary designs: multiple target video (MTV-I and MTV-II)......Page 223
7.5 Summary......Page 233
8.1 Introduction......Page 235
8.2 Interaction and organisational conduct......Page 236
8.3 The analysis of workplace activities and the design of technology......Page 246
8.3.1 London Underground: collaboration and control......Page 250
8.3.2 Supporting consultative practice......Page 254
8.4 Methods, cases and design......Page 263
8.5 Summary......Page 266
References......Page 270
Index......Page 285
