A bit more to it: Scholarly Communication Forums as Socio-Technical Interaction Networks

Socio-technical networks of infrastructure management: Network concepts and motifs for studying digitalization, decentralization, and integrated management

Networked infrastructure systems - including energy, transportation, water, and wastewater systems - provide essential services to society. Globally, these services are undergoing major transformative processes such as digitalization, decentralization, or integrated management. Such processes not only depend on technical changes in infrastructure systems but also include important social and socio-technical dimensions. In this article, we propose a socio-technical network perspective to study the ensemble of social actors and technical elements involved in an infrastructure system, and their complex relations. We conceptualize structurally explicit socio-technical networks of networked infrastructure systems based on methodological considerations from network analysis and draw on concepts from socio-technical system theories and social-ecological network studies. Based on these considerations, we suggest analytical methods to study basic network concepts such as density, reciprocity, and centrality in a socio-technical network. We illustrate socio-technical motifs, i.e., meaningful sub-structures in socio-technical networks of infrastructure management. Drawing on these, we describe how infrastructure systems can be analyzed in terms of digitalization, decentralization, and integrated management from a socio-technical network perspective. Using the example of urban wastewater systems, we illustrate an empirical application of our approach. The results of an empirical case study in Switzerland demonstrate the potential of socio-technical networks to promote a deeper understanding of complex socio-technical relations in networked infrastructure systems. We contend that such a deeper understanding could improve management practices of infrastructure systems and is becoming even more important for enabling future data-driven, decentralized, and more integrated infrastructure management.

Data as assemblage

Purpose

A definition of data called data as assemblage is presented. The definition accommodates different forms and meanings of data; emphasizes data subjects and data workers; and reflects the sociotechnical aspects of data throughout its lifecycle of creation and use. A scalable assemblage model describing the anatomy and behavior of data, datasets and data infrastructures is also introduced.

Design/methodology/approach

Data as assemblage is compared to common meanings of data. The assemblage model's elements and relationships also are defined, mapped to the anatomy of a US Census dataset and used to describe the structure of research data repositories.

Findings

Replacing common data definitions with data as assemblage enriches information science and research data management (RDM) frameworks. Also, the assemblage model is shown to describe datasets and data infrastructures despite their differences in scale, composition and outward appearance.

Originality/value

Data as assemblage contributes a definition of data as mutable, portable, sociotechnical arrangements of material and symbolic components that serve as evidence. The definition is useful in information science and research data management contexts. The assemblage model contributes a scale-independent way to describe the structure and behavior of data, datasets and data infrastructures and supports analyses and comparisons involving them.

The social informatics of knowledge

In the Introduction to this special issue on the Social Informatics of Knowledge, the editors of the issue reflect on the history of the term "social informatics" and how the articles in this issue both reflect and depart from the original concept. We examine how social informatics researchers have studied knowledge, computerization, and the workplace, and how all of those have evolved over time. We describe the process by which articles were included, how they help us understand the field of social informatics scholarship today, and reflect briefly on what the future of the field holds.

Can social news websites pay for content and curation? The SteemIt cryptocurrency model

SteemIt is a Reddit-like social news site that pays members for posting and curating content. It uses micropayments backed by a tradeable currency, exploiting the Bitcoin cryptocurrency generation model to finance content provision in conjunction with advertising. If successful, this paradigm might change the way in which volunteer-based sites operate. This article investigates 925,092 new members’ first posts for insights into what drives financial success in the site. Initial blog posts on average received US$0.01, although the maximum accrued was US$20,680.83. Longer, more sentiment-rich or more positive comments with personal information received the greatest financial reward in contrast to more informational or topical content. Thus, there is a clear financial value in starting with a friendly introduction rather than immediately attempting to provide useful content, despite the latter being the ultimate site goal. Follow-up posts also tended to be more successful when more personal, suggesting that interpersonal communication rather than quality content provision has driven the site so far. It remains to be seen whether the model of small typical rewards and the possibility that a post might generate substantially more are enough to incentivise long-term participation or a greater focus on informational posts in the long term.

The case of #arseniclife: Blogs and Twitter in informal peer review

Using the "#arseniclife" controversy as a case study, we examine the roles of blogs and Twitter in post-publication review. The controversy was initiated by a scientific article about bacteria able to substitute arsenic for phosphorus in its genetic material. We present the debate chronologically, using prominent online media to reconstruct the events. Using tweets that discussed the controversy, we conducted quantitative sentiment analysis to examine skeptical and non-skeptical tones on Twitter. Critiques of and studies refuting the arsenic life hypothesis were publicized on blogs before formal publication in traditional academic spaces and were shared on Twitter, influencing issue salience among a range of audiences. This case exemplifies the role of new media in informal post-publication peer review, which can complement traditional peer review processes. The implications drawn from this case study for future conduct and transparency of both formal and informal peer review are discussed.

An Evaluation of Understandability of Patient Journey Models in Mental Health

BACKGROUND

There is a significant trend toward implementing health information technology to reduce administrative costs and improve patient care. Unfortunately, little awareness exists of the challenges of integrating information systems with existing clinical practice. The systematic integration of clinical processes with information system and health information technology can benefit the patients, staff, and the delivery of care.

OBJECTIVES

This paper presents a comparison of the degree of understandability of patient journey models. In particular, the authors demonstrate the value of a relatively new patient journey modeling technique called the Patient Journey Modeling Architecture (PaJMa) when compared with traditional manufacturing based process modeling tools. The paper also presents results from a small pilot case study that compared the usability of 5 modeling approaches in a mental health care environment.

METHOD

Five business process modeling techniques were used to represent a selected patient journey. A mix of both qualitative and quantitative methods was used to evaluate these models. Techniques included a focus group and survey to measure usability of the various models.

RESULTS

The preliminary evaluation of the usability of the 5 modeling techniques has shown increased staff understanding of the representation of their processes and activities when presented with the models. Improved individual role identification throughout the models was also observed. The extended version of the PaJMa methodology provided the most clarity of information flows for clinicians.

CONCLUSIONS

The extended version of PaJMa provided a significant improvement in the ease of interpretation for clinicians and increased the engagement with the modeling process. The use of color and its effectiveness in distinguishing the representation of roles was a key feature of the framework not present in other modeling approaches. Future research should focus on extending the pilot case study to a more diversified group of clinicians and health care support workers.

Social informatics as a concept: Widening the discourse

This contribution examines the different concepts known as social informatics that have historically been separate. The paradigm that is preferred worldwide (based on Kling) is well described and often promoted, with a strong base both in the USA and Europe. This article, however, introduces lesser-known paradigms (based on Sokolov and later Ursul) that originated in the era of the USSR and have so far been employed chiefly in post-Soviet countries, including Russia. These paradigms have been neglected in English-written scientific literature, mainly because of the limited number of articles available in English. Other approaches are also introduced and related, which were historically named or classified as social informatics (American, British, Norwegian, Slovenian, German and Japanese). The present article introduces and further discusses the origin, historical development and basic methodological grounding of these approaches. All the approaches are then discussed and their differences as well as their similarities are pointed out. The aim is to create connections across the current generation of researchers, which includes the formation and conceptualization of different approaches and an exploration of possible areas for future cooperation.

Using computer decision support systems in NHS emergency and urgent care: ethnographic study using normalisation process theory

Background

Information and communication technologies (ICTs) are often proposed as ‘technological fixes’ for problems facing healthcare. They promise to deliver services more quickly and cheaply. Yet research on the implementation of ICTs reveals a litany of delays, compromises and failures. Case studies have established that these technologies are difficult to embed in everyday healthcare.

Methods

We undertook an ethnographic comparative analysis of a single computer decision support system in three different settings to understand the implementation and everyday use of this technology which is designed to deal with calls to emergency and urgent care services. We examined the deployment of this technology in an established 999 ambulance call-handling service, a new single point of access for urgent care and an established general practice out-of-hours service. We used Normalization Process Theory as a framework to enable systematic cross-case analysis.

Results

Our data comprise nearly 500 hours of observation, interviews with 64 call-handlers, and stakeholders and documents about the technology and settings. The technology has been implemented and is used distinctively in each setting reflecting important differences between work and contexts. Using Normalisation Process Theory we show how the work (collective action) of implementing the system and maintaining its routine use was enabled by a range of actors who established coherence for the technology, secured buy-in (cognitive participation) and engaged in on-going appraisal and adjustment (reflexive monitoring).

Conclusions

Huge effort was expended and continues to be required to implement and keep this technology in use. This innovation must be understood both as a computer technology and as a set of practices related to that technology, kept in place by a network of actors in particular contexts. While technologies can be ‘made to work’ in different settings, successful implementation has been achieved, and will only be maintained, through the efforts of those involved in the specific settings and if the wider context continues to support the coherence, cognitive participation, and reflective monitoring processes that surround this collective action. Implementation is more than simply putting technologies in place – it requires new resources and considerable effort, perhaps on an on-going basis.

Home uterine monitoring: a case of telemedicine failure?

The aim of the article is to explore and explain some of the controversies around home uterine monitoring, using a socio-technical interaction networks (STIN) approach. A Cochrane systematic review identified 15 included studies. A critique of these studies, using the eight components of the STIN framework, illustrated very clearly the different assumptions made about the purpose of home uterine monitoring, and helped to explain the different outcomes. The final mapping stage suggested that systems architecture choices included that of the role of monitoring support, to complement patient education or to enhance education for provider and patient. A similar choice concerned the type and extent of patient-care-provider contacts to be used. Using the STIN framework provided a useful perspective on the telemedicine aspects of home uterine monitoring, providing value beyond the systematic review conclusions alone.

Exploring the Impact of Soclo-Technlcal Core-Periphery Structures in Open Source Software Development

In this paper we apply the social network concept of core-periphery structure to the socio-technical structure of a software development team. We propose a socio-technical pattern that can be used to locate emerging coordination problems in Open Source projects. With the help of our tool and method called TESNA, we demonstrate a method to monitor the socio-technical core-periphery movement in Open Source projects. We then study the impact of different core-periphery movements on Open Source projects. We conclude that a steady core-periphery shift towards the core is beneficial to the project, whereas shifts away from the core are clearly not good. Furthermore, oscillatory shifts towards and away from the core can be considered as an Indication of the instability of the project. Such an analysis can provide developers with a good Insight into the health of an Open Source project. Researchers can gain from the pattern theory, and from the method we use to study the core-periphery movements.

Unintended consequences of information technologies in health care--an interactive sociotechnical analysis

Many unintended and undesired consequences of Healthcare Information Technologies (HIT) flow from interactions between the HIT and the healthcare organization's sociotechnical system-its workflows, culture, social interactions, and technologies. This paper develops and illustrates a conceptual model of these processes that we call Interactive Sociotechnical Analysis (ISTA). ISTA captures common types of interaction with special emphasis on recursive processes, i.e., feedback loops that alter the newly introduced HIT and promote second-level changes in the social system. ISTA draws on prior studies of unintended consequences, along with research in sociotechnical systems, ergonomics, social informatics, technology-in-practice, and social construction of technology. We present five types of sociotechnical interaction and illustrate each with cases from published research. The ISTA model should further research on emergent and recursive processes in HIT implementation and their unintended consequences. Familiarity with the model can also foster practitioners' awareness of unanticipated consequences that only become evident during HIT implementation.

The intellectual and social organization of academic fields and the shaping of digital resources

This paper looks at disciplinary differences in the production, relevance, and use of three predominant genres of informal scholarly communication on the internet: academic mailing lists; scholarly homepages, and scholar-produced decentralized digital resources. The aim is to contribute to the development of a theoretical framework for understanding and explaining disciplinary differences in the shaping of networked resources. We apply Whitley’s theory of the intellectual and social organization of academic fields to explain variation in forms and types of digital resources across fields. The paper extends Whitley’s theory by applying his key domain analytic concepts ‘task uncertainty’ and ‘mutual dependence’ to explain scholarly communication practices in the digital realm. The empirical data spans seven intellectual fields across the natural sciences, health sciences, humanities, and social sciences. The analysis shows that, while there are similarities in the scholarly production of information genres on the internet, Whitley’s theory helps in identifying and understanding the diversity and heterogeneity of electronic communication fora across fields.