Special Issue of Information Technology & People
on ?Digital Culture: New Forms of Living and Organising?
Steve Sawyer, Syracuse University - (ssawyer /at/ syr.edu)
Ben Light, University of Salford (B.Light /at/ salford.ac.uk)
Sian Lincoln, Liverpool John Moores University - (S.Lincoln /at/ ljmu.ac.uk)
Marie Griffiths, University of Salford - (M.Griffiths /at/ salford.ac.uk)
Focus:
The focus of this special issue is to showcase
work which increases our knowledge regarding the
potential reshaping of the boundaries and
structures of existing social organization, and
the altering of the ways in which people learn to experience life.
We pursue this special issue to provide a forum
for scholarship that explicitly engages the
increasingly permeable boundary of work and
non-work spheres of our lives. We know that
even as access to digital technologies continues
to vary based on age, gender, nationality,
residence, ethnicity, work, and other key
aspects of society, it is clear their presence
and uses are increasingly important features of
contemporary life. Where historically one might
argue that digital technologies have had more
influence in work organizations it appears that
in we are witnessing a shift in this order of
things. The uptake of digital technology into
our domestic lives is, increasingly, shaping our
experiences at work. Moreover, digital
technologies are becoming more pervasive and
varied across both work and non-work aspects of
our lives. These digital technologies are
merging into physical infrastructures ? at home,
in transport, at work and school, and even
walking ?alone? while texting. Therefore, beyond
the massive levels of interest in reshaping what
it means to be social ? as manifested in the
number of people using these digital
technologies ? lie questions of their roles in
supporting new forms of organizing and their
effects upon our everyday experiences.
The blurring of boundaries between work and
non-work further engenders discussion on the
blurring boundaries between what is the ?public?
and what is ?private.? Indeed, in the wake of
reality television shows, national identity card
schemes, increased social media usage and the
like, publicity appears to be the order of the
day. What does this mean for those living and
working in environments where there is seemingly
little room for privacy (privacy, of course, not
necessarily always being a good thing)?
Contributions:
We welcome the submission of papers of empirical
and conceptual nature, from a variety of
research paradigms, that employ diverse methods,
and that use a wide range of forms of
evidence. We are particularly interested in
those papers which focus on settings, phenomena
and conceptual issues which help to illuminate
the blurring boundaries of work and not-work,
and of the blurring boundaries between public
and private spaces/times. Submitted papers that
highlight how digital technologies are moving
into work from non-work settings, and research
that illuminates new forms of digitally-enhanced
forms of organizing are welcomed. As a means to
help spur interest and to provide examples, we
imagine some possible topics for papers might be:
Internet (and digitally-) enabled organisational forms
Media, sport and work interactions
Publicity and privacy considerations in a social network saturated world
The social consequences of wireless technology across boundaries
The ethics of digital-technology uses in everyday work/life
Social media uses at, for and about work
New forms of working and new types of digitally-supported work
Social media use and changing family lifestyles/arrangements
Privacy, digital media and health systems
Conflict and compromise in social networks
Physical vs. virtual interaction at Work
The commodification of community
Authors of papers originally presented at either
the 2008 and 2009 Digital Cultures workshops
(held at the University of Salford) are
encouraged to participate in this special issue.
However, we seek with this special issue to
reach out to other authors who are pursuing
research and writing in this intellectual space.
Instructions for authors:
·Initial manuscripts should be around 7000 words in length, inclusive.
·Submitted manuscripts must include a title page
that includes the title of the paper, full name
and complete addresses of all authors that
included affiliation(s), telephone number(s),
and e-mail address(es). Where appropriate,
please nominate an author for correspondence.
Acknowledgements and indications of previous
presentation or publication of parts of the
submitted manuscript should be clearly denoted.
·The first page of the manuscript should include
the title and a 300-word abstract that follows
the structured abstract format of the journal
(please see authors guidance at
<http://info.emeraldinsight.com/products/journals/author_guidelines.htm?id=itp>http://info.emeraldinsight.com/products/journals/author_guidelines.htm?id=itp
·Manuscripts should contain original material
and not be previously published, or currently
submitted for consideration, elsewhere.
·Manuscripts should be submitted to the
journal?s review system where you should be sure
to select special issue from submission-type
list (at www.itandpeople.org
<http://www.itandpeople.org><http://www.itandpeople.org> ).
·While not required, we encourage prospective
authors to contact one of the special issue?s
guest editors with their ideas in draft form for comment.
All submissions will be screened by the special
issue editors prior to review. Those seen as
fitting the scope and aim of the special issue
will then be subject to double blind review as is normal for the journal.
Timeline:
Deadline for papers - February 2010
Reviews returned - May 2010
Revised papers submitted - August 2010
Final papers due - October 2010
Special issue published - January 2011
