The field of Information Science is so broad that it is a perfect place for an interdisciplinary individual with a wide range of interests. Still, all of my research questions address sociotechnical issues surrounding people (ranging from individuals, to organizations and institutions, to societies), technology (broadly defined – from the wetware that is our brain, to large-scale high-tech coordination systems, to economic mechanisms that underlie the behavior of global markets), and the interactions that happen among all levels of aggregation.
In general, my research focuses on sociotechnical questions related to
Currently, my thoughts are focused on four broad issues, one of which will be developed into a dissertation topic.
Changes in technology, student expectations, collaboration efforts, intellectual property regimes, and economic funding of research are causing significant shifts in the infrastructure of the university enterprise... Read more about the future of the research university.
The epistemic culture of the academy has evolved over centuries. The disciplines have branched, divided, and grown into disparate cultures of subspecialization. The categorization of scholarship is not without consequence, and signs exist that the evolution of disciplinarity is making another radical shift... Read more about disciplinarity.
Mobile computing advances, not surprisingly, have insinuated themselves into all modalities of our mobile lives. In particular, technological implements in automobiles and roadway systems offer expanded functionality, but also have unintended consequences... Read more about automotive informatics.
Networks are everywhere – technological, social, biological, and economic systems. The interconnectedness of everything is suddenly the "hot topic" in most sciences. In particular, the infrastructures that give stability to our operating lives are mostly invisible (or transparent). Our awareness of how these structures fit together (or often, don't) impact the flow of information and resources, and our ability to enact our goals... Read more about networks and infrastructure.
For more information or to give feedback on any of these research topics, feel free to contact me.
You can also find a listing of my publications, presentations, and papers.