There has been notably little convergence between information organization and information use studies. A framework for explicating the contextual interplay of information interactions and infrastructures of information, and more specifically the interface of information work and knowledge organization systems, is proposed. The theoretical foundations of the framework are based on systems theory and ecological approach. It is suggested that the interplay of information use and information infrastructures may be conceptualized as a systemic interaction, which is driven by the simultaneous influence of human activity related warrants and infrastructural affordances and constraints. The model provides an instrument that explicates the interplay of human information use and information infrastructures.

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Ecological framework of information interactions and information infrastructures

– Both task‐based and work‐oriented research approaches have proved their value in information science research. A task is a workable analytical unit of human activity, which brings the level of explication close enough to cater for individual actions and their consequences. Similarly, work and work roles have been effective concepts at explicating the broad patterns of professional information activity. Major issues of the existing approaches are the difficulty of conceptualising the contexts of tasks and the relatively high level of abstraction of a work level scrutiny. The purpose of this paper is to discuss how the concepts of “work”, “work role” and “task” might be integrated into a common research agenda. It is suggested that the explication of work and work roles might serve in providing additional understanding on the formation of the purposes, meanings and values, which guide the shaping of the activities conceptualised as tasks., – The issue is discussed in general with a reference to an empirical study of information work of archaeology professionals informed by the notion of work role., – It is suggested that the broader notions of work and work roles are useful concepts for explicating the context of more specific tasks., – The suggested approach brings together task and work–work role‐based research and provides a basis for exploring human information activity from a broader perspective than before and thus improving the general understanding of why and how information is used as it is used., – The study provides an approach to conceptualise the ways how people work with information and lays the ground for improving information management and organisation practices., – There has been little prior discussion about integrating the task and work‐based approaches. The paper suggests that the explication of work and work roles might serve in providing additional understanding on the formation of the purposes, meanings and values, which guide the shaping of the activities conceptualised as tasks.

Work and work roles: a context of tasks

In complex sociotechnical systems, cognitive and social humans use technology to make sense of situations when making decisions. These elements make sociotechnical systems difficult to develop. A modelling and assessment methodology for systems engineering is required to understand the sociotechnical system’s behaviour and underlying structure. Modelling captures the dynamic interaction, as well as the effect of humans in a complex environment. Cognitive Work Analysis and System Dynamics are two complementary approaches applied in mutual support within this context. The objective of this paper is to demonstrate a modelling methodology for complex sociotechnical systems, in order to support the systems engineering process.

/pdf/assessing-the-impact-of-new-technology-on-complex-3xgyk9d2if.pdf

Assessing the impact of new technology on complex sociotechnical systems

Defining what constitute archaeological practices is a prerequisite for understanding where and how archaeological and archaeologically relevant information and knowledge are made, what counts as archaeological information, and where the limits are situated. The aim of this position paper, developed as a part of the COST action Archaeological practices and knowledge work in the digital environment (www.arkwork.eu), is to highlight the need for at least a relative consensus on the extents of archaeological practices in order to be able to understand and develop archaeological practices and knowledge work in the contemporary digital context. The text discusses approaches to study archaeological practices and knowledge work including Nicolini’s notions of zooming in and zooming out, and proposes that a distinction between archaeological and archaeology-related practices could provide a way to negotiate the ‘archaeologicality’ of diverse practices.

/pdf/archaeological-practices-knowledge-work-and-digitalisation-dlmme8q5i6.pdf

Archaeological Practices, Knowledge Work and Digitalisation

Cognitive Work Analysis (CWA) is an appropriate approach in design for high-stakes domains, such as air traffic management (ATM) since it focuses on human expert performance in regular and continge...

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/0144929X.2018.1505951

Cognitive work analysis in the conceptual design of first-of-a-kind systems - designing urban air traffic management

It is a complicated problem when the purpose of cognitive work analysis is to develop design of a new collaborative work task that does not yet exist, and which can only be established through the use of a collaboratory. The challenge for the analyst is to determine the constraints and possibilities for collaboration among actors in different organisations. Field studies have been undertaken using cognitive work analysis together with several different empirical techniques. The paper shows how this approach can help in the analysis of a new collaborative work task

S. Rasmussen

Papers

Cognitive work analysis of new collaborative work