----------------------------Original message---------------------------- For any of you who happen to be in the Berkeley area on Friday. ... Debbie Lords ****** START OF FORWARDED MESSAGE ****** Date: Wed, 6 Apr 1994 01:18:02 -0700 From: Rob Kling <[log in to unmask]> Subject: NII talk at UCBerkeley in Library School Friday noon lecture series To: Multiple recipients of list ASIS-L <[log in to unmask]> Public Lecture -- Series Sponsored by Grad School of Library Sci -- UCB Organized by Howard Besser Friday April 8 145 Dwinelle Hall -- UC Berkeley + also to be given as a live mbone conference on April 19 at 5:30PM ============================================= Who's Gonna Get It?: The Meanings and Conditions of Universal Access to Computer Networks Within the National Information Infrastructures. Rob Kling Department of Information & Computer Science University of California -- Irvine Irvine, CA 92717, USA [log in to unmask] || 714-856-5955 "The NII" is an exciting buzzword for a complex amalgam of telecommunications networks which provide telephone, cable TV, and computerized-data networks. The Clinton/Gore conception of NII assumes the convergence of media since their "Agendas for Action" seamlessly blend services which are now distinct because of their technological characteristics, their regulatory environments, key stakeholders, market structures, and their social properties (including usage by the public). Computer nets add the sizzle to telecommunications infrastructures that would otherwise be composed of telephone and cable TV. Vice President Al Gore has argued that "the Internet," with its diverse service mix and bilateral communications, will serve as a model for a new integrated NII. In addition, the Clinton/Gore administration and numerous public interest groups have argued that "universal service" will be a key feature of the NII. Unfortunately, the meanings of "universal service," and the social and economic conditions for supporting universal service have not received effective attention in the public NII policy discussions. Universal access has been a longstanding policy value for telephone access and use in the U.S. In practice, the cost of stringing phone lines to a city or town, and from there to homes and workplaces were a substantial fraction of telephone infrastructure costs. The cost of telephone equipment, and the skills to use it, have been relatively affordable when a phone line was brought to a building's wall. In contrast, computer- based networks require substantially more expensive "complementary equipment resources," skills, and service fees for people to use them effectively. The effective use of digital libraries can depend upon ready access to large local computer memories and fast high-quality printers, as well as to good software for searching and organizing documents. There has been a significant shift from expert-mediated service to self-service to some aspects of computer use. But the effective use of the interesting digital libraries and two ways communications rests on high levels of literacy, moderate technical skills, and ready help for resolving problems. An important body of empirical research shows that organizations gain value from computing investments through a social infrastructure which is often "hidden behind the terminal." Those organizations which have failed to develop good social infrastructures for continuous skill building (training, consulting), system repairs and an inevitable stream of continuous upgrades have often had significant problems in effectively using computerized systems. Assuring "universal access" to the computer nets within the NII requires that many people and groups are able to afford relatively expensive equipment and to possess complex skills. Without effective social and technical support, visions of wiring up classrooms, libraries, and homes to an NII can be an expensive policy sham. This talk will examine the social and technological preconditions for effective access to computer-based networks within the NII. ---------------------- Rob Kling is Professor of Information and Computer Science at the University of California, Irvine (UCI). Dr. Kling also holds professorial appointments in the Center for Research on Information Technology and Organizations and the Graduate School of Management at UCI. Since the early 1970s he has studied the social opportunities and dilemmas of computerization for managers, professionals, workers, and the public. Dr. Kling's research focuses on the social and organizational dimensions of computer technologies. He has conducted studies in numerous kinds of organizations, including local governments, insurance companies, pharmaceutical firms, and hi-tech manufacturing firms. He has written about the value conflicts implicit in and social consequences of computerization which directly effects the public. Dr. Kling is co-author of Computers and Politics: High Technology in American Local Governments published by the Columbia University Press which examined how computerization reinforces the power of already powerful groups. He is co-editor of two recent books. PostSuburban California: The Transformation of Postwar Orange County (University of California Press, 1990) examines the way that Orange County California is organized in a new social form beyond the traditional city and suburb, one that is spatially decentralized, functionally specialized, and mixes a rich array of residences, commerce, industry, services, government and the arts. Computerization and Controversy: Value Conflict & Social Choices (Academic Press, 1991) examines the social controversies about computerization in organizations and social life, regarding productivity, worklife, personal privacy, risks of computer systems, and computer ethics. In addition, he has published over 75 theoretical and empirical articles about the social aspects of computerization. ****** END OF FORWARDED MESSAGE ******