Rob Kling In Search of One Good Theory The Origins of Computerization Movements

1Rob Kling In Search of One Good Theory: The Origins of Computerization Movements Alice Robbin School of Library and Information Science Indiana University Bloomington 812.855-5389 arobbin@indiana.edu Abstract Rob Kling’s intellectual contribution is a corpus of work that exemplifies the craft of inquiry and the social enterprise of science He applied core sociological ideas and grounded them in evidence His work connected theory, method, and evidence His observations of the empirical world over more than a quarter-century led to research questions that transcended disciplinary boundaries, invigorated disciplines, transformed our thinking, and helped us develop a working vocabulary about technology and social life He was decidedly unapologetic about his eclecticism — instead, reveling in the need to employ multiple theoretical frameworks, multiple methodologies, and multiple sources of evidence to make his arguments This paper examines Rob Kling’s craft of inquiry It traces the evolution of his theorizing, methodological choices, and gathering of evidence to understand computerization movements, an inquiry that situates his analysis in an unfailingly consistent critical stance towards computers and social life Keywords: I Introduction Rob Kling’s intellectual contribution is a corpus of work that exemplifies the craft of inquiry and the social enterprise of science He applied core sociological ideas and grounded them in evidence His observations of the empirical world over more than a quarter-century led to research questions that crossed disciplinary boundaries and invigorated disciplines, transformed our thinking, and helped us develop a working vocabulary about technology and social life He was decidedly unapologetic about his eclecticism Instead, unconstrained by disciplinary and speciality boundaries or dominant theoretical frameworks and methodologies, he reveled in employing multiple theoretical frameworks, multiple methodologies, and multiple sources of evidence to make his arguments He contributed to the conceptual scaffolding for a domain of 1 Alford (1998) writes that, “The craft of social inquiry lies somewhere between art and science It combines the creativity and the spontaneity of art (although art can be hard work) and the rigorous and systematic character of science (although science can be joyful)” (p 8) Nisbet (1976) explains that, “artist and scientist alike are primarily concerned with the illumination of reality, with, in sum, the exploration of the unknown and, far from least, the interpretation of physical and human worlds And just as the artist must be seen as concerned directly with the realm of knowledge, so must the scientist be seen in the light of what we call esthetics” (p 10) study he called “Social Informatics” through sustained inquiry and a very public record of his work.2 The goal of this paper is to examine Rob Kling’s craft of inquiry It analyzes his “action agenda,”3 the core theoretical frameworks he employed and methodological choices he made to understand the social life of computing The paper traces the evolution of his theorizing, use of method, and gathering of evidence to situate his analysis as an unfailingly consistent critical stance towards computers and social life This analysis relies on a close reading of his most highly cited works and those papers where he extended his focus on organizational practices and a lifelong meditation on value conflicts and social choices to the discourses of computerization and social transformation Specifically in the context of the Rob Kling Memorial Workshop, this paper examines the theoretical, methodological, and empirical origins and moral basis of Kling’s thinking about computerization movements that were published in several papers between 1988 and 2001 (Kling & Iacono, 1988, 1995/1994; Iacono & Kling, 1998/2001; Kling & Zmuidzinas, 1994) Following Alford’s (1998) guide to the analysis of the craft of inquiry and the intellectual legacy of modern social theorists, I examine various “canonical” texts that illustrate how Kling “connected theories, methods, and evidence by paradigmatic arguments” (p 3) Nisbet’s (1966, 1977) probing essays on the sociological research tradition also guide me as an analyst of Kling’s oeuvre, to illuminate what was distinct about his contribution and how his ideas enriched our understanding of the interdependency and interactions of the social and the technical Coser’s (1965) study of the origins of the intellectual class reminds us that those special individuals who produce stimulating ideas have a moral compass and are playful, committed, critical, and reflective And Merton (1988, 2000) reminds us of the importance of 2 3 My colleague Deborah Shaw (personal communication) also notes that Kling’s craft and his contribution to the scientific enterprise included “enthusiasm” and “charisma,” among the many attributes of the ambiance that Kling created in his relationships with colleagues and graduate students, qualities that assisted in the penetration of his ideas He was truly an exemplar of the ideals of the scientific enterprise that we try to communicate to our students: among these, openness to ideas and openness to criticism This paper does not, however, address this aspect of Kling’s contribution Alford (1998) writes that, “If you want to something, change something—to further the cause of peace, of equality, of freedom, of justice—or achieve any other goal by means of your research, then you have an action agenda An action agenda must be translated into both theoretical and empirical questions if research is to be potentially relevant to social action or social policy Action can be taken without research, of course, but it is more likely to have the desired consequences if the actors have knowledge of historically analogous situations and the potential consequences of action” (p 25) (Italics in the original.) Towards the end of his book, Alford writes that, “The relative importance of certain action commitments in a given field can be explained partly by how close a given set of research questions is to the cultural, economic, and political struggles taking pace in the wider society” (p 128) An action agenda implies that there a moral basis to and that political goals animated Kling’s thought favorable institutional conditions, not only a physical infrastructure but also the “cognitive microenvironment” (p 615) of Kling’s relationships with “trusted asssessors” (Mullins, 1973) Finally, from among the various essays and critiques of major contributors to various disciplines that I have read while preparing this paper, two essays stand out as particularly memorable and applicable to an analysis of Kling’s contribution York and Clark’s (2005) review essay on Stephen Jay Gould’s intellectual legacy instructs us in the ways that Kling also serves as an exemplar of how humanistic concerns and the sciences are “brought to bear on his investigations of the material world through scientific inquiry” (p 293) And Boudon’s (1993) essay on Paul Lazarsfeld (1993) provides me with the central argument of this paper: that a “striking feature of [his] work is its great unit[y] of inspiration The main intuitions that were to guide him throughout his intellectual life were clearly articulated in his first works” (p 1) My objective is to understand where Kling got his ideas, his intellectual debts, if you will, and how these core ideas were preoccupations that endured until the end of his life I want to “unpack” his project, that intellectual product “that results from complex processes” which not “ordinarily reveal [their] own historical origins and context” (Alford, 1998, p 8) What intellectual traditions are embedded and embodied by Kling’s corpus (origins of the theories he relied on; the leading/classic writers in what fields who influenced his thinking)? What research questions did Kling ask? What empirical evidence did he utilize in his analyses of organizational contexts, the ecology of social relations and the political order, and the metaphors and symbolic uses of computer technology in organizations —evidence that was later in his career imaginatively recast as investigations of the “user as social actor,” “computerization movements,” the “social web of computing,” and “socio-technical interaction networks” (STINs) in a framework of scholarly publishing and digital libraries (Kling, 1994; Elliott & Kling, 1997; Kling & Lamb, 1996, 2003; Kling & McKim, 1999, 2000, 2001; Kling, Spector, & McKim, 2002) Put another way, I want to construct Kling’s intellectual biography and understand the theoretical, methodological, and empirical intellectual territories that he mapped, to identify the 4 5 6 My analysis of Kling’s work understates the contribution that trusted assessors made to Kling’s intellectual development The current version of this paper includes very few of Kling’s cited works produced by his colleagues, particularly those at the University of California at Irvine These include, for example, Bendix’s (1960) sensitive biography of Max Weber and classic essays on the philosophy of the social sciences (e.g., Lazarsfeld & Rosenberg, 1955; Merton, 1955 Alford (1998) writes that “No work springs out of thin air; it is a historical product, grounded in the intellectual traditions you have absorbed, in the theories of society you have learned, in the audiences for which you write But it also reflects a series of choices, almost always made with uncertainty, because, by definition, you not know enough to make the right choices” (p 21) “nucleus or core of ideas,” that creates a coherent set of arguments and that makes Kling’s contribution “conceptually distinct” (Nisbet, 1966, p xvii) I want to understand the sources of Kling’s “sociological imagination,” that is, how his central ideas were arrived at, and how his work contributed to “debates around central issues [concerning computerization and society] that have gone on” (Alford, 1998, p 8) for more than a quarter century This approach is worth pursuing because the “ideas that we are concerned with are incomprehensible save in terms of the ideological contexts in which they first arose” (Nisbet, 1966, p 9), and it is consistent with Kling’s fundamental philosophy: to dispel the myths surrounding the introduction of computing into the social life of organizations Section two briefly describes the methodology employed for this paper Section three summarizes the key elements of theory, methodology, and evidence in Kling’s oeuvre that are the basis for his later work on computerization movements Section four discusses the role of social and political theory for Kling Section five offers a provisional assessment of Kling’s contribution to mapping the problem space of “Social Informatics.” Methodology for Constructing the Craft of Rob Kling This paper examines the origins of Kling’s thought on computerization movements, by tracing historically his use of canonical theorists and use of empirical evidence in the fields that helped define and refine his thinking Kling’s classic and contemporary texts from the early 1970s through 2004 (published posthumously) are relied on to demonstrate that he was self-conscious about the choices he made about theory, method, and evidence and that he connected them through paradigmatic arguments How we trace Kling’s thinking about computerization? He said of himself, “I started my research about computerization with a naive social realist orientation” (Kling, 1992b, p 352) Where did he end up? Merton (2000) has noted the socio-cognitive functions of citations, among them the author’s recognition of the contribution they make to the validity of his claims Here I rely on Kling’s use of work by others to provide insights into the theoretical origins of Kling’s conception of computerization in organizational and political life and how Kling constructed his arguments My assessment is based on a review of Kling’s oeuvre and works that he cited in journal articles, books, book chapters, and proceedings (This remains an incomplete review, however.) As an additional source of evidence, I also consulted works cited by Kling that appeared in publicly accessible working and conference papers when his formal publications make reference to them The Institute of Scientific Information Web of Knowledge database served as the primary source of information for constructing the initial sample of the 40 most highly cited Kling works that received at least five citations (see Appendix for this list) Based on selection criteria that focus on theory, method, and evidence in historical perspective, this sample was supplemented with additional early and recently published texts that were not identified in the ISI database but were, however, identified by Kling in his work on computerization movements Finally, a word about how I have structured this paper The validity of my argument rests on a close reading of Kling’s texts and his cited works It is these cited works, in particular, that provide us with insights into the origins of Kling’s own arguments I have embedded citations to Kling’s work in the body of the paper However, in the interests of readability, I have relegated to the extent possible the corpus of evidence of Kling’s voracious and eclectic appetite, that is, his cited works, to footnotes The authors and dates of their works are those that Kling himself cited, even when later versions of the author’s work exist Overview Beginning early in his career and continuing until his death in 2003, Kling conducted a detailed critique that challenged the paradigms that dominated thinking about the introduction of technology into organizations (Kling, 1973, 1974, 1977, 1978a, 1978b, 1978c, 1978d, 1980; Kling & Gerson, 1977, 1978; Kling & Scacchi, 1980, 1982) This critique originated first from thoughtful assessment of the observed differences in the mental models of information systems designers and users of their systems (Kling, 1973), which led him to ask: “How could computerized information systems be designed to promote a sense of personal competence and authority?” ─what Kling called “person centered standards” (p 6), The second source of his critique originated from a series of studies conducted during the 1970s into the early 1980s with his colleagues at the University of California at Irvine on the implementation of computer and electronic data processing in American government and business (Kraemer, Dutton, & Northrop, 1981; Danziger, Dutton, Kling, & Kraemer, 1982) This collaboration led Kling (1974) and his colleagues to ask: “What kinds of impacts computer based information 7 The ISI database does not provide a complete record of all of Kling’s work There are a variety of problems that include missing entries, incomplete records, incomplete or incorrect citations, and data entry errors, to name only a few Constructing a correct data set to complete this paper requires significant “hand work” and the restructuring of the original ISI data in order to reconstruct and trace the history of Kling’s intellectual debts and contributions to the foundations of Social Informatics—well before a complete analysis of Kling’s writings can take place systems have upon public agencies and the polity?” And as part of his meditation on computerization, Kling also asked: “What influences the adoption of new computer-based technologies?; “How are particular computer-based technologies ordinarily used?; and “What are the social consequences of using computer-based technologies?” (Kling, 1987a, pp 307308) There is also a stability in what he wanted to understand and the claims he made His critique and the questions he raised in the early 1970s continued well into the 1990s and early 21st century, not only in his own published work but also on the editorial pages and introductions to the issues of his journal The Information Society His “big ideas” (Horton, Davenport, & Harper, in press) and also his sensibilities about the problem space and his theoretical position, were acquired early on in his career and remained, very nearly unwaveringly, his intellectual agenda throughout his professional career Kling had his feet planted firmly in the political and the social orders What are the key elements of Kling’s oeuvre? First, his work is “theory-laden.” He always insisted on “theorizing”; it was a word dear to his heart and he employed it often, both informally with his colleagues and students and in formal settings He was an eclectic reader and critic of theory in several disciplines, although his affinity lay with varieties of modern social and political theory as conceptual tools that best addressed the problematics of information and computer technologies (ICTs) in organizations and the polity He came early in his career to the concepts of technology as a “package” of a “complex array of commitments” (Kling & Scacchi, 1979, 1980, 1982; Kling & Dutton, 1982) and “web models” as a way to examine the social context of computerization (Kling, 1980; Kling & Scacchi, 1982), and through the next decades until his death never altered his theoretical stance (Kling, 1987, 1988; Iacono & Kling, 1989; Kling & McKim, 2000) From the very beginning, Kling (1974) understood how political processes were intrinsic to decisions about computerization and its consequences, and he employed political theory to find explanations for the social order that he observed inside organizations Theory offered Kling “guidance in his research inquiry, ideas that could be rearranged to suit the problems” that engaged him, “old ideas that he translated into a new vocabulary, and the addition of new notions as a result of reflection on other theories” (Blumer, 1954, p 4) Second, Kling had the appetite of a gourmand for empirical evidence He was a voracious reader of research into investigations of organizational life, broadly defined, including, as would be expected, information systems design, development and implementation Throughout his career, he followed an inductive approach to studying computerization in organizations He drew heavily on his and other investigations of computerization in a very large number of organizations, which included, among them, government agencies, universities, and legal, publishing, accounting, marketing, software, and manufacturing firms This appetite is confirmed by the very large number of cited works to data and other types of evidence that are found at the end of nearly all his articles, the majority written by sociologists of organizational life and systems designers who analyzed the implementation of management information and other computerized systems What is particularly relevant for this paper, which focuses on the origins of Kling’s intellectual thought, is that his own empirical research studies coupled with his extensive reading of research conducted by other investigators sensitized him to the underlying premises of the theoretical approaches that he severely criticized His empirically based studies also permitted him to extend concepts developed by other analysts and to create a broad theoretical framework to explain his own evidence In addition, their studies provided Kling with ammunition for his argument: that the actual outcomes of implementing computerized information systems differed significantly from what their theories argued Empirical evidence to confirm or refute theory was Kling’s lifeline Third, trained as a computer scientist, he may not have studied philosophy with any rigor and thus did not think formally about epistemology Nor did Kling ever read deeply in the methodologies employed in the social sciences Yet his instincts about “how we know the world,” translated into questions of research design, were —how else to put it— right on! His critique addressed, for example, the strengths and weaknesses of quantitative and qualitative methods, specifically survey methods and ethnographic and naturalistic methods for studying organizational life; sampling frames and the pitfalls of assuming representativeness; difficulties in the selection of units of analysis; the meaning of statistical correlations; differences between evidence obtained in the laboratory under experimental conditions and in the natural world; and the role of causal arguments, among other topics (see Kling, 1991a, 1987, 1992d) His recommendations for improved methodological rigor in the study of computerization in organizations were sound (se Kling, 1987) It is clear from the critique that Kling levied against the dominant methods employed by investigators of computerization in organizations that he understood the relationship between theory, method, and evidence How to locate Kling in intellectual space? This question is important because it shaped the research questions he posed, it shaped his critique, it shaped what he labeled himself, and it 8 While I have not yet constructed a ratio of empirical research to theory references in his cited works, I estimate that it was easily on the order of more than ten to one in just about every article he wrote also shapes the remaining part of this paper which discusses how Kling’s attention came to be focused on computerization movements and, of course, it explains the choices he made in his social relations (his trusted assessors), the epistemic culture that he inhabited (see Cronin, 2005) Kling labeled himself a “web analyst,” which he identified as someone who “uses fundamentally social criteria for defining situations [Web analysts] ask: how participants conceptualize their actions, what resources they have available, what are their common practices and procedures, what coalitions they participate in, what options they have, what constraints they face etc?” (Kling, 1987, pp 317-318) Were we to “pigeonhole” him in a particular discipline based on his research questions and life long work, we could call this onetime, former computer scientist a sociologist, or even a political sociologist, a sociologist of work life, or a sociologist of complex organizations who wanted to work out problems of stability, change, and transformation in society and its institutions that were induced by ICT adoption His training as a computer scientist provided him with an intimate knowledge of the logic of computer systems and legitimacy in the eyes of the computer science and management information systems professions, and thus made it possible to inhabit more than one world Very importantly, his training as a computer scientist provided Kling the researcher with an intimate knowledge of their social world and a deep knowledge of the language systems that researchers and practitioners employed which revealed how they defined reality and structured their experience with computerization His training would later also contribute to Kling’s attention to the metaphors that researchers and practitioners of computerization in organizations employed which helped them defined their reality and to his focus at a macro-political level of the use of metaphors as constitutive of the language of public policy and social action To this must also be added a third component of the intellectual space he inhabited: his keen interest in political life, which he and I discussed nearly every day Whether or not Kling’s personal commitments regarding social equality, justice, fairness, democracy, liberty, and political rights led him very early on to “see” the political as part and parcel of organizational life, I cannot be certain But whatever its origins, this third element of his intellectual space was allocated to problems of the political order: to micro-level questions of authority and power inside organizations and to macro-level questions of public policy and governance as they concerned the normative implications of computerization, the roles and responsibilities of the public and private sectors and professions, and public policy design and its consequences for work life and for the citizen Were Kling to summarize the central premises of his life-long project on the consequences of computerization for social life and the research questions he asked, he might have said the following: The study of organizational practices, computer technology, politics and public policy has been dominated by the “presentism” of rational actor (public choice, economic rationality, systems rationalist) theory And the study of technology-inorganizations has been dominated by the control, efficiency, and productivity features of management, as well as a highly prescriptive or normative form of theorizing that exudes a certainty about the consequences, outcomes, and benefits of computerization but without adequate empirical or behavioral data to support the theoretical underpinnings Furthermore, these dominant theoretical approaches to modeling technology adoption suggest that technology shapes organizational practices in a deterministic and unidirectional causal direction However, the theoretical claims made by these approaches not adequately correspond to what I have observed inside public and private organizations that I have investigated I have thus extended my theorizing to incorporate multiple theoretical perspectives and, in particular, various forms of interpretive epistemology and associated methodologies to study organizational practices, which links theory and evidence through methodologies that depend on close observation to understand the social world of the organizational actor Moreover, technology is not neutral; it has consequences for the polity and for the individual My preference has been to conceptualize technology adoption as a problematic and complex, contingent process, one that is mediated by history, context, structure and agency, culture and meaning systems, symbolic and material interests and resources, and political and social processes—what may be more broadly construed as two analytical approaches: the “social shaping of technology” and the “social construction of technology,” which I have subsumed under a more general arena of study that I call “Social Informatics.” The Role of Theory Blumer (1954) has written that, Theory exercises a compelling influence on research—setting problems, staking out objects and leading inquiry into asserted relations In turn, findings of fact test theories, and in suggesting new problems invite the formulation of new proposals Theory, inquiry and empirical fact are interwoven in a texture of operation with theory guiding inquiry, inquiry seeking and isolating facts, and facts affecting theory The fruitfulness of their interplay is the means by which an empirical science develops (p 3) Throughout Kling’s career, organizational theorists, among them sociologists, political scientists, 10 economists, 11 and social and cognitive psychologists 12 whose work emanated principally from variants of structural-functionalist approaches, played an instrumental role in Kling’s framing of the relationship between computer technology and organizational culture 13 He was most influenced, in particular, by theories of structural contingency, resource dependency and the “new institutionalism” (the argument for these theories is summarized in Kling, Kraemer, Allen, Bakos, Gurbaxani, & Elliott, 1996) 14 9 10 11 12 13 14 For example, sociologists cited by Kling in his very early and later works included Pettigrew, 1973; Silverman, 1971; Long, 1958; Maines, 1977; Perrow, 1979; Pfeffer, 1973, 1981; Alford, 1975; Selznick, 1966; Zald, 1970; Scott, 1973, 1987; Markus & Robey, 1983; Trice & Beyer, 1993; and DiMaggio & Powell, 1991 Kling is also indebted to other scholars of organizational work life whose theoretical positions he only partially agreed with, those whose thinking resonated with his own, or who served instrumentally to provide useful ideas (e.g., Braverman, 1974; Mintzberg, 1979; Giddens, 1979, 1984, 1989; and Blau, 1955, 1970, 1976) See, for example, Kling, 1974, 1976, 1977; Kling & Gerson, 1977; Kling & McKim, 2000; Kling & Iacono, 1989; Lamb, King, & Kling, 2003; Elliott & Kling, 1997 Political scientists cited by Kling included Allison, 1969, 1971; Bachrach & Baratz, 1963; Olson, 1965; Rule, 1974, 1976; Simon, 1947, 1963, 1973, 1977 (both a cognitive psychologist and political scientist; Downs, 1967; Wilensky, 1967; Zald, 1970 (who could also be labeled a political sociologist of organizational life) See Kling, 1974, 1976, 1977) For example, Kling (1976, 1978c) drew on economic theory and economic historians to understand electronic funds transfer systems, including macro- and microeconomic approaches, and empirical studies published by the federal government and economic historians (e.g., Blair, 1972; Federal Reserve Board, 1972; Fogel, 1964; Mansfield, 1975) Kling also drew on Arrow’s (1963) framework for conceptualizing social choices Kling found Herbert Simon’s (1947, 1965, 1977) cognitive (information processing) and systems approaches to the study of public administration of great value to his thinking, although he was highly critical of cognitive psychology’s framing of social behavior inside organizations Simon’s collaboration with James March most likely led to Kling reading the classic study on organizational goal-seeking and strategic decision making by Cyert and March (1963); to March’s collaboration with the Norwegian sociologist Olsen (1979) on ambiguity and choice in organizations; and to March’s student Martha Feldman’s (Feldman & March, 1981) analysis of the use of information in organizations, a study that integrated symbolic and information processing approaches All were cited by Kling (1987) in his third most highly cited work The work of his colleagues and students at the University of California Irvine was instrumental in Kling’s introduction to and subsequent use and critique of these approaches This is confirmed by the significant number of references made by Kling to projects undertaken by these colleagues Their contribution to the education of Rob Kling cannot be underestimated See, for example, early work by Kling’s colleagues, e.g., Kraemer, Dutton, and Northrop (1981); and Danziger, Dutton, Kling, and Kraemer (1982) Along with Kraemer, Dutton, and Danziger, Kling’s Irvine colleagues Kenneth Laudon were regularly cited by Kling in publications between 1978 and 2003 His dear friend and colleague Mark Poster played an influential role in introducing Kling to Foucault and critical theory (personal communication, February 19, 2005) Many of the authors that Kling depended on, however, crossed disciplinary boundaries, addressing, for example, the sociological and the political, the cognitive and the sociological, the political or social and the computational, and the historical and the economic; their disciplinary origins were, however, always 10 Review, 63(6), 689-718 Allison, G (1971) The essence of decision: Explaining the Cuban missile crisis Boston: Little, Brown, and Co Agryis, C (1971) Management information systems: The challenge to rationality and emotionality Management Science, 7(6), 275-292 Arrow, K (1963) Social choice and individual values (2nd ed.) New Haven: Yale University Press Bachrach, P., & Baratz, M (1963) Decisions and nondecisions: An analytical framework American Political Science Review, 57, 632-642 Becker, H S (1960) Notes on the concept of commitment American Journal of Sociology, 66(1), 32-40 Becker, H S (1963) Outsiders: Studies in the sociology of deviance Glencoe: Free Press Becker, H S Whose side are we on? Social Problems, 14, 239-247 Becker, H S (1970) Sociological work Chicago; Aldine Becker, H S (1976) Art worlds and social types American Behavioral Scientist, 19, 703-718 Bendix, R (1998) Max Weber: An intellectual portrait, with an introduction by Bryan S Turner (Vol II) London and New York:: Routledge Berger, P.L., & Luckmann, T (1966) The social construction of reality: A treatise in the sociology of knowledge New York: Doubleday Beninger, J.R (1986) The control revolution: Technological and economic origins of the information society Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press Billig, M., Condor, S., Edwards, D G., Gane, M., Middleton, D., & Radley, A (1988) Ideological dilemmas: A social psychology of everyday thinking London: Sage Publications Blair, J M (1972) Economic concentration: Structure, behaviour, and public policy New York: Harcourt, Brace Javanovich Blau, P (1955) The dynamics of bureaucracy: A study of interpersonal relations in two government agencies Chicago: University of Chicago Press Blau, P (1970) A formal theory of differentiation in organizations American Sociological Review, 35(4), 201-218 Blau, P.M (1976) Technology and organization in manufacturing Quarterly, 21, 20-40 34 Administrative Science Blumer, H (1954) What is wrong with social theory? American Sociological Review, 19(1), 310 Blumer, H (1969a) Symbolic interactionism: Perspective and method Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, Inc Blumer, H (1969b) Social movements In B McLaughlin (Ed.), Studies in social movements in social psychological perspective (pp 8-29) New York: Free Press Boudon, R (1993) Introduction In P F Lazarsfeld, On social research and its language (pp 129) Chicago: University of Chicago Press Braverman, H (1974) Labor and monopoly capital: The degradation of work in the twentieth century New York: Monthly Review Press Cohen, M R., & Nagel, E (1934) An introduction to logic and scientific method New York: policy issues like personal privacy and electronic funds transfer His article on work in an information economy acknowledges a host of other trusted assessors (Kling, 1990) 27 28 29 30 31 32 Kling’s cited works also indicate that he reached back to the very early works of the various theorists he relied on, even when later editions were available at the time that Kling was writing For example, Kling continued to rely late in his career on the first, second, or third editions of Simon’s (1947) study of administrative behavior which integrated theories of bureaucracy and cognitive psychology; and Scott’s (1987) work on theoretical frameworks for the study of organizational practices Kling and Iacono (1984) observed that, “Researchers and practitioners rely on the metaphors of technological evolution, economic rationality, organizational drift, and organizational politics which lead to different expectations about the process of computing developments and likely outcomes” (p 1219) See the many Kling writings of the 1970s and early 1980s and Danziger, Dutton, Kling, and Kraemer (1982) for Kling’s early reliance on quantitative data Shortly afterwards, while he continued to cite evidence from the Irvine project, his methodologies of choice were more or less ethnographic (observation and unstructured interviewing) and textual (discourse, genre) analysis (French, 'doing odd jobs') A characteristic (according to C Levi-Strauss) of the early human mind, in contrast to modern scientific thinking But bricolage is entirely rational (i.e not pre-rational) in its own way He introduced the term in The Savage Mind A bricoleur is one who improvises and uses any means or materials which happen to be lying around in order to tackle a task: 'The bricoleur is adept at executing a great number of diverse tasks; but unlike the engineer, he does not subordinate each of them to the availability of raw materials and tools, conceptualized and procured specifically for this project; his instrumental universe is closed, and the rule of his game is to make with the means at hand.' In the making of myth, bricolage is the use of whatever happens to be 'lying around,' so that myth is both rational and improvisatory.” http://www.bloomington.in.us/~okolicko/definitions.html Stinchcombe (1968, p 68) describes how, in his first year of graduate school, he submitted a paper to Rheinhard Bendix, where, after some discussion, Bendix “made a comment that shaped my attitude toward ‘theory.’ [Bendix] said, ‘You know, a little bit of theory goes a long way.’” Weick (2001, pp 62-63) remarks that “the bricoleur’s materials are not project-specific, but, instead, they represent the contingent result of all of the previous uses to which these items have been put The materials, in other words, mean whatever they have been used for in the past The more diverse these uses, and the more fully the materials themselves are understood, the more innovative will the bricoleur be in improvising new designs from this stock of materials When the bricoleur begins to work on a project, his first practical step is retrospective He interrogates the existing set of materials to see what it contains What it contains is defined in large part by the uses to which it has been put up to that point It is these prior uses (what the object signifies) that are manipulated and recombined in an effort to advance the project Through the use of generalization, analogies, and comparisons, the bricoleur assembles new arrangements of elements.” 35 Harcourt, Brace & Co Converse, P E (1964) The nature of belief systems in mass publics In D Apter (Ed.), Ideology and discontent (pp 206-262) New York: Free Press Coser, L A (1965) Men of ideas: A sociologist’s view New York: The Free Press Covi, L., & Kling, R (1996) Organizational dimensions of effective digital library use: Closed rational and open natural systems models Journal of the American Society for Information Science, 47(9), 672-689 Cronin, B (2005) The hand of science: Academic writing and its rewards Latham, MD: The Scarecrow Press, Inc Cyert, R., & March, J (1963) A behavioral theory of the firm Englewood Cliffs, NJ: PrenticeHall Danziger, J N., Dutton, W H., Kling, R., & Kraemer, K L (1982) Computers and politics: High technology in American local governments New York: Columbia University Press DiMaggio, P.J (1988) Interest and agency in institutional theory In L.G Zucker (Ed.), Institutional patterns and organizations (pp 3–22) Cambridge, MA: Ballinger DiMaggio, P J., & Powell W P (1983) The iron cage revisited: Institutional isomorphism and collective rationality in organizational fields American Sociological Review, 48, 147– 60 DiMaggio, P J., & Powell, W W (1991) Introduction In W W Powell & P J DiMaggio (Eds.), The new institutionalism in organizational analysis (pp 1–38) Chicago: University of Chicago Press Downs, A (1967) A realistic look at the final payoffs from urban data systems Public Administration Review, 27, 204-209 Du Bois, M (2001) Ideology In International encyclopedia of the social & behavioral sciences (Vol 11, pp 7174-7182) New York: Elsevier Edelman, M (1977) Political language: Words that succeed and policies that fail New York: Academic Press Edelman, M (1988) Constructing the political spectacle Chicago: University of Chicago Press Elliott, M., & Kling, R (1997) Organizational usability of digital libraries: Case study of legal research in civil and criminal courts Journal of the American Society for Information Science, 48(11), 1023–1035 Federal Reserve Board (1972) Evolution of the payments mechanism Federal Reserve Bulletin, 58(3), 1009-1012 Feldman, M., & March, J (1981) Information in organizations as signal and symbol 36 Administrative Science Quarterly, 26(2), 171-186 Fogel, R W (1964) Railroads and American economic growth Baltimore: Johns Hopkins Press Geertz, C (1965) Ideology as cultural system In D Apter (Ed.), Ideology and discontent (pp 47-77) New York: The Free Press of Glencoe Giddens, A (1979) Central problems in social theory: Action, structure and contradiction in social analysis Berkeley, CA: University of California Press Giddens, A (1984) The constitution of society Berkeley, CA: University of California Press Giddens, A (1989) A reply to my critics in D Held & J.B Thompson (Eds.), Social theory and modern socieites: Anthony Giddens and his critics Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press Goffman, E (1959) The presentation of self in everyday life New York: Doubleday Goffman, E (1961) Asylums: Essays on the social situation of mental patients and other inmates New York: Doubleday Goffman, E (1963) Behavior in public places: Notes on the social organization of gatherings New York: The Free Press Goffman, E (1974/1986) Frame analysis, Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press; Boston: Northeastern University Press Gouldner, A W (1976) The dialectic of ideology and technology: The origins, grammar, and future of ideology New York: The Seabury Press Haigh, T (2003) Rob Kling Annals of the History of Computing, 25(3), 92-94 Horton, K., Davenport, E., & Harper, T.W (in press) Exploring sociotechnical interaction with Rob Kling: Five “big” ideas Information, Technology & People Iacono, S., & Kling, R (1987) Changing office technologies and transformation of clerical jobs In R Kraut (Ed.), technology and the transformation of white collar work (pp 53-75) Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Publishers Iacono, S., & Kling, R (2001) Computerization movements: The rise of the Internet and distant forms of work In J Yates & J Van Maanen (Eds.), Information technology and organizational transformation: History, rhetoric, and practice (pp 93-136) Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications Publication draft version dated 1998 retrieved December 6, 2004, from http://www.slis.indiana.edu/faculty/kling/pubs/Kling_comp.htm Johnson, H M (1968) Ideology and the social system In International encyclopedia of the social sciences (Vol 7, pp 76-85) New York: The Macmillan Company & The Free Press Kling, R (1973) Towards a person-centered computer technology Proceedings of the Annual 37 Conference of the ACM, 387-391 Kling, R (1974) Computers and social power Computers and Society, 5(3), 6-11 Kling, R (1976) EFTS: Social and technical issues What are EFTS? Computers & Society, 7(3), 3-10 Kling, R (1977) The organizational context of user-centered software design MIS Quarterly, 1(4), 41-52 Kling, R (1978a) Automated welfare client-tracking and service integration: The politicaleconomy of computing Communications of the ACM, 21(6), 484-493 Kling, R (1978b) Six models for the social accountability of computing Information Privacy, 1(2), 62-70 Source for this paper is: Computers and Society, 9(2), 8-18 Kling, R (1978c) Value conflicts and social choice in electronic funds transfer system developments Communications of the ACM, 21(8), 642-656 Kling, R (1978d) Information systems in policy making: Computer technology and organizational arrangements Telecommunications Policy 3-12 Kling, (1978e) Value conflicts and social choice in electronic funds transfer systems developments Communications of the ACM, 21(8), 642-657 Also published in: Computers and Society, 11(3), (Summer 1981), 23-39; and R Finnegan, G Salaman, & K Thompson (Eds.), Information technology: Social issues London: Hoddard and Stoughton, 1987 Kling, R (1980a) Social analyses of computing: Theoretical perspectives in recent empiricalresearch Computing Surveys, 12(1), 61-110 Kling, R (1980b) Models for the social accountability of computing Telecommunications Policy, 4(3), 166-182 Kling, R (1982) Social analyses of computing Information Age, 4(1), 25-55 Kling, R (1983) Value conflicts in the deployment of computing applications: Cases in developed and developing countries Telecommunications Policy, 7(1), 12-34 [Edited and revised for Computerization and Controversy (1991).] Kling, R (1987) Defining the boundaries of computing across complex organizations In R Boland & R Hirschheim (Eds.), Critical Issues in Information Systems (pp 307-362), New York: John Wiley Kling, R (1989) Adapting survey methods to study the social consequences of computerization: A response to Attewell and Rule based on five survey-based studies In J I Cash & J F Nunamaker (Series Ed.) & K Kraemer (Vol Ed.), The information systems research challenge: Vol Survey research methods (pp 337-350) Cambridge: Harvard Business School 38 Kling, R (1990) More information, better jobs?: Occupational stratification and labor market segmentation in the United States' information labor force The Information Society, 7(2), 77107 Kling, R (1991a) Adopting survey methods to study the social consequences of computerization: A response to Attewell and Rule based on five survey-based studies In K L Kraemer (Ed.), The information systems research challenge: Survey research methods (Vol 3, pp 337-350) Boston: Harvard Business School Kling, R (1991b) Computerization and social transformations Science, Technology and Human Values 16(3), 342-367 Kling, R (1992a) Behind the terminal: The critical role of computing infrastructure in effective information systems' development and use In W Cotterman & J Senn (Eds.), Challenges and strategies for research in systems development (pp 153-201) New York, John Wiley Kling, R (1992b) Audiences, narratives and human values in social studies of science Science, Technology and Human Values 17(3), 349-365 Kling, R (1992c) When gunfire shatters bone: Reducing sociotechnical systems to social relationships Science, Technology and Human Values, 17(3), 381-385 Kling, R (1992d) Audiences, narratives and human values in social studies of science Science, Technology and Human Values 17(3), 349-365 Kling, R (1994) Designing effective computing systems in a web of social and technical relations Human-Computer Interaction, 9(1), 86-90 Kling, R (1996) (Ed.) Computers and controversy: Value conflicts and social choices (2nd ed.) New York: Academic Press Kling, R (1997) Forsaking our children: Bureaucracy and reform in the child welfare system Hagedorn,J Contemporary Sociology, A Journal of Reviews, 26(4), 434-444 Kling, R (1998) A brief introduction to social informatics Canadian Journal of Information and Library Science-Revue Canadienne des Sciences de L Information et de Bibliotheconomie, 23(1-2), 50-85 Kling, R (2000a) Learning about information technologies and social change: The contribution of social informatics Information Society, 16(3), 217-232 Kling, R (2000b) Social informatics: A new perspective on social research about information and communication technologies Prometheus, 18(3), 245–264 Kling, R., & Courtright, C (2003) Group behavior and learning in electronic forums: A sociotechnical approach Information Society, 19(3), 221-235 Kling, R., & Dutton, W H (1982) The computer package: Dynamic complexity In J N Danziger, W H Dutton, R Kling, & K L Kraemer, Computers and politics: High technology in 39 American local governments (pp 22-50) New York: Columbia University Press Kling, R., & Gerson, E (1977) The social dynamics of technical innovation in the computing world Symbolic Interaction, 1(1), 132-146 Kling, R., & Gerson, E (1978) Patterns of segmentation and intersection in the computing world Symbolic Interaction, 1(2), 24-43 Kling, R., & Iacono, S (1984) The control of information systems development after implementation Communications of the ACM, 27(12), 1218-1226 Kling, R., & Iacono, S (1988) The mobilization of support for computerization: The role of computerization movements, Social Problems, 35(3), 226-243 Kling, R., & Iacono (1989) The institutional character of computerized information systems Office: Technology and People, 5(1), 7-28 Kling, R., & Iacono, S (1995/1994) Computerization movements and the mobilization of support for computerization In S.L Star (Ed.), Ecologies of knowledge (pp 119-153) New York: SUNY Press Retrieved December 6, 2005, from http://www.slis.indiana.edu/faculty/kling/pubs/Kling_comp.htm (See Kling & Iacono [1988] for an earlier version published in Social Problems.) Kling, R., & Jewett, T (1994) The social design of work life with computers and networks: An open natural systems perspective Advances in Computers, 39, 239-293 Kling, R., & Lamb, R (1996) Analyzing visions of electronic publishing and digital libraries In R.P Peek & G.B Newby (Eds.), Scholarly publishing: The electronic frontier Cambridge, MA: http://www.newgrounds.com/portal/view/206373MIT Press Available from: http://www.slis.indiana.edu/faculty/kling/pubs/EPUB6.htm Kling, R., & McKim, G (1999) Scholarly communication and the continuum of electronic publishing Journal of the American Society for Information Science, 50(10), 890-906 Kling, R., & McKim, G (2000) Not just a matter of time: Field differences and the shaping of electronic media in supporting scientific communication Journal of the American Society for Information Science, 51(14), 1306-1320 King, R., & Kraemer, K (1978) Electronic funds transfer as a subject of study in technology, society,m and public policy Telecommunications Policy, 2(1), 13-21 Kling, R., & Scacchi, W (1979) Recurrent dilemmas of routine computer use in complex organizations Proceedings of the National Computer Conference, 48, 107-115 Montvale, NJ: AFIPS Press Kling, R., & Scacchi, W (1980) Computing as social action: The social dynamics of computing in complex organizations Advances in Computers, 19, 249-327 Kling, R., & Scacchi, W (1982) The web of computing: Computer technology as social 40 organization Advances in Computers, 21, 1-90 Kling, R., & Star, S.L (1998) Human centered systems in the perspective of organizational and social informatics Computers and Society, 28(1), 22-29 Kling, R., & Zmuidzinas, M (1994) Technology, ideology and social transformation: The case of computerization and work organization Revue Internationale de Sociologie, 2(3), 28-56 Kling, R., McKim, G., & King, A (2003) A bit more to it: Scholarly communication forums as socio-technical interaction networks Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology, 54(1), 47-67 Kling, R., Spector, L., & McKim, G (2002) Locally controlled scholarly publishing via the Internet: The guild model In ASIST 2002: Proceedings of the 65th ASIST Annual Meeting, 39, 228-238 Medford, NJ: Information Today, Inc Also published as: Kling, R., Spector, L., & McKim, G (2002) Locally controlled scholarly publishing via the Internet: The guild model Journal of Electronic Publishing (JEP) Kling, R., Crawford, H., Rosenbaum, H., Sawyer, S., & Weisband, S (2000) Learning from social informatics: Information and communication technologies in human contexts Retrieved February 19, 2005, from http://www.slis.indiana.edu/CSI/ Kling, R., Kraemer, K L., Allen, J P., Bakos, Y., Gurbaxani, V., & Elliott, M (1996) Transforming coordination: The promise and problems of information technology in coordination (v4.2, February 25) Irvine, CA: Center for Research on Information technology and Organizations, University of California, Irvine Later published in: T Malone, T., G M Olson, G., & J B Smith (Eds.), Coordination theory and collaboration technology Mahway, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Publishers, 2001 Kraemer, K., Dutton, W.H., & Northrop, A (1981) The management of information systems New York: Columbia University Press Lakoff, G (2002) Moral politics: How liberals and conservatives think (2nd ed.) Chicago: University of Chicago Press Lakoff, G., and Johnson, M (1980) Metaphors we live by, Chicago: University of Chicago Press Lamb, R (2003) The social construction of Rob Kling The Information Society, 19, 195–196 Lamb, R., & Kling, R (2003) Reconceptualizing users as social actors in information systems research MIS Quarterly, 27(2), 197-235 Lamb, R., King, J L., & Kling, R (2003) Informational environments: Organizational contexts of online information use Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology, 54(2), 97-114 Lazarsfeld, P.F On social research and its language Chicago: University of Chicago Press 41 Lazarsfeld, P F., & Rosenberg, M (Eds.) (1955) The language of social research: A reader in the methodology of social research Glencoe, IL: The Free Press, Publishers Long, N (1958) The local community as an ecology of games American Journal of Sociology, 64, 251-261 Maines, D (1977) Social organization and social structure in symbolic interactionist thought Annual Review of Sociology, 3, 235-259 Mansfield, E (1975) Microeconomics (2nd ed.) New York: W W Norton March, J., & Olsen, J (1979) Ambiguity and choice in organizations (2nd ed.) Bergen, Norway: Universitetsforleget March, J G., & Olsen, J P (1989) Rediscovering institutions: The organizational basis of politics New York: The Free Press Markus, M L., & Robey, D (193) The organizational validity of management information systems Human Relations, 36(3), 203-226 McCracken, D et al (1974) A problem-list of issues concerning computers and public policy Communications of the ACM, 17(9), 495-503 Merton, R K (1955[1945]) A paradigm for the study of the sociology of knowledge In P.F Lazarsfeld & M Rosenberg (Eds.), The language of social research: A reader in the methodology of social research (pp 498-510) Glencoe, IL: The Free Press, Publishing Merton, R K (1988) The Matthew effect in science, II: Cumulative advantage and the symbolism of intellectual property ISIS, 79(299), 606-623 Merton, R K (2000) On the Garfield input to the sociology of sciece: A retrospective collage In B Cronin & H B Atkinson (Eds.), The web of knowledge: A festschrift in honor of Eugee Garfield (pp 435-448) Medford, NJ: Information Today Mintzberg, H (1979) The structuring of organizations Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall Mullins, N C (1973) Theories and theory groups in contemporary American sociology London: Harper & Row Nisbet, R (1966) The sociological tradition New York: Basic Books, Inc., Publishers Nisbet, R (1976) Sociology as an art form New York: Oxford University Press Noble, D F (1978) Social choice in machine-design: The case of automatically controlled machine-tools, and a challenge for labor Politics & Society, 8(3-4), 313-347 Olson, M (1965) The logic of collective action Cambridge: Harvard University Press Perrow, C (1979) Complex organizations: A critical essay (2nd ed.) Glenview, IL: Scott, 42 Foresman (This citation represents the edition cited by Kling.) Pettigrew, A (1973) The politics of organizational decision-making London: Tavistock Pfeffer, J (1973) Management as symbolic action: The creation and maintenance of organizational paradigms In I Cummings & B Staw (Eds.), Research in organizational behavior, Greenwood, CN: JAI Press Pfeffer, J (1981) Power in organizations Marshfield, MA: Pittman Publishers Potter, J (1996) Representing reality: Discourse, rhetoric and social construction London: Sage Publications Ltd Powell, W.W., & Brantley P (1992) Competitive cooperation in biotechnology: learning through networks? In N Nohria & R G Eccles (Eds.), Networks and organizations: Structure, form and action (pp 366–394) Boston, MA: Harvard Business School Press Powell, W W., & DiMaggio, P J (Eds.) (1991) The new institutionalism in organizational analysis Chicago: University of Chicago Press Powell, W W., Koput, K W., & Smith-Doerr L (1996) Interorganizational collaboration and the locus of innovation: Networks of learning in biotechnology Administrative Science Quarterly, 41, 116–145 Robbin, A., Courtright, C., & Davis, L (2004) ICTs and political life In B Cronin (Ed.), Annual review of information science and technology, 38, 411-462 Medford, NJ: Information Today, Inc Rule, J (1974) Private lives and public surveillance: Social control in the computer age New York: Schoecken Books Rule, J (1976) Value choices in electronic funds transfer policy Washington, DC: Office of Telecommunications Policy, Executive Office of the President Scott, W G (1973) Organization theory: An overview and appraisal In F Baker (Ed.), General systems approaches to complex organizations Homestead, IL: Richard D Irwin Publishers Scott, W G (1987/1992) Organizations: Rational, natural, and open systems Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall (There are several editions of this book This reference identifies both the second and third editions cited by Kling either as a solo or co-author.) Scott, W R (1995.) Institutions and organizations Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications Selznick, P M (1966) TVA and the grass roots: A study in the sociology of formal organization New York: Harper Row Shils, E (1968) Ideology: The concept and function of ideology In International encyclopedia of the social sciences (Vol 7, pp 66-76) New York: Crowell Collier and Macmillan, Inc 43 Silverman, D (1971) The theory of organizations New York: Basic Books Simon, H (1947) Administrative behavior New York: Macmillan (There are a number of later editions of this classic; however, Kling (1980) cites the original publication.) Simon, H (1965) The shape of automation for men and management New York: Harper & Row Simon, H (1973) Applying information technology to organizaitonal design Public Administrative Review 33, 268-278 Simon, H (1977) The new science of management decision-making Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall Snow, D A (2001) Extending and broadening Blumer’s conceptualization of symbolic interactionism Symbolic Interaction, 24(3), 367-377 Steinberg, M W (1998) Tilting the frame: Considerations on collective action framing from a discursive turn Theory and Society, 27(6), 845-872 Stinchcome, A L (1968) Constructing social theories Chicago: University of Chicago Press Strauss, A L (1964) Negotiated order and the coordination of work In L Schatzman, R Bucher, D Erlich, & M Sabshin (Eds.), Psychiatric ideologies and instittuions New York: Free Press Strauss, A L (1975) Professions, work and careers New Brunswick, NJ: Transaction Books Strauss, A L (1977) Social worlds In N Denzin (Ed.), Studies in symbolic interaction New York: JAI Press Strauss, A L (1978) Negotiations: Varieties, contexts, processes, and social order San Francisco: Jossey-Bass Publishers Strauss, A., & Corbin, J (1990) Basics of qualitative research: Grounded theory procedures and techniques Newbury Park, CA: Sage Publications Teich, A., Frankel, M.S., Kling, R., & Lee, Y-C (1999) Anonymous communication policies for the Internet: Results and recommendations of the AAAS conference The Information Society 15(2), 79-90 Trice, H H., & Beyer, J M (1993) The culture of work organizations Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall Weber, M (1946) From Max Weber: Essays on sociology New York: Oxford University Press Weber, M (1949) The methodology of the social sciences New York: The Free Press Weick, K E (2001) Making sense of the organization Oxford, England: Blackwell Publishers 44 Ltd Wellman, B., Salaff, J, Dimitrova, D, Garton, L, Gulia, M., & Haythornthwaite, C (1996) Computer networks as social networks: Collaborative work, telework, and virtual community Annual Review of Sociology, 22, 213-238 Wellman, B., & Hiltz, R (2004) Sociological Rob: How Rob Kling brought computing and sociology together The Information Society, 20, 91-95 Wilensky, H (1967) Organizational intelligence New York: Basic Books, Inc Williamson, O E (1975) Markets and hierarchies New York: Free Press York, R., & Clark, B (2005) The science and humanism of Stephen Jay Gould (Review essay) Critical Sociology, 31(1-2), 281-295) Zald, M (1970) Political economy: A framework for comparative analysis In M Zald (Ed.), Power in organizations Nashville, TN: Vanderbuilt University Press Zucker, L (1988) Institutional patterns and organizations: Culture and environment Cambridge, MA: Ballinger APPENDIX Rob Kling’s Most Highly Cited Work, January 2004 Source: ISI web of Science/Knowledge database; independent Dialog search Please note that books that Kling authored or co-authored have been excluded from this list, even though they are highly cited (e.g., Computers and Controversy (1st, 2nd ed.), Postsuburban California: The Transformation of Postwar Orange County, California)33 Kling, R (1980) Social analyses of computing: Theoretical perspectives in recent empirical research Computing Surveys, 12(1), 61-110 Also published in: Information Age, 4(1) (January 1982), 25-55 [189 citations] Kling, R., & Scacchi, W (1982) The web of computing: Computer technology as social organization Advances in Computers, 21, 1-90 [132 citations] Kling, R (1987) Defining the boundaries of computing across complex organizations In R Boland & R Hirschheim (Eds.), Critical Issues in Information Systems (pp 307-362), New York: John Wiley [65 citations] Kling, R., & Iacono, S (1984) The control of information systems development after implementation Communications of the ACM, 27(12), 12181226 [64 citations] 33 Kling’s citations to his own works and his books are excluded because the topics of concern, including theoretical perspectives and concepts that exemplify his work, were elaborated on more extensively in papers that appeared in published journals, proceedings, and publicly available working papers 45 Kling, R., & McKim, G (2000) Not just a matter of time: Field differences and the shaping of electronic media in supporting scientific communication Journal of the American Society for Information Science, 51(14), 1306-1320 [51 citations] Kling, R., & Gerson, E (1978) Patterns of segmentation and intersection in the computing world Symbolic Interaction, 1(2), 24-43 [34 citations] Kling, R., & Covi, L (1995) Electronic journals and legitimate media in the systems of scholarly communication The Information Society, 11(4), 261-271 [33 citations] Kling, R (1991) Computerization and social transformations Science, Technology and Human Values 16(3), 342-367 [30 citations] (See also Kling, R (1991) Reply to Woolgar and Grint: A preview Science, Technology and Human Values 16(3), 379-381.) Kling, R (1991) Cooperation, coordination and control in computer-supported work Communications of the ACM, 34(12), 83-88 [30 citations] 10 Kling, R., & Gerson, E (1977) The social dynamics of technical innovation in the computing world Symbolic Interaction, 1(1), 132-146 [30 citations] 11 Kling, R., & Crawford, H (1999) From retrieval to communication: The development, use and consequences of digital documentary systems Journal of the American Society for Information Science 50(12), 1121-1122 [29 citations] 12 Kling, (1978) Value conflicts and social choice in electronic funds transfer systems developments Communications of the ACM, 21(8), 642-657 Also published in: Computers and Society, 11(3), (Summer 1981), 23-39; and R Finnegan, G Salaman, & K Thompson (Eds.), Information technology: Social issues London: Hoddard and Stoughton, 1987 [26 citations] 13 Kling, R., & Iacono (1989) The institutional character of computerized information systems Office: Technology and People, 5(1), 7-28 [26 citations] 14 Kling, R., & Scacchi, W (1979) Recurrent dilemmas of routine computer use in complex organizations Proceedings of the National Computer Conference, 48, 107-115 Montvale, NJ: AFIPS Press [25 citations] 15 Covi, L., & Kling, R (1996) Organizational dimensions of effective digital library use: Closed rational and open natural systems models Journal of the American Society for Information Science, 47(9), 672-689 [24 citations] 16 Kling, R (1977) The organizational context of user-centered software design MIS Quarterly, 1(4), 41 - 52 Also published in: H Podell & M Weiss (Eds.), Introduction to business data processing Silver Spring, MD: Computer Society Press, 1980; A.I Wasserman (Ed.), Software development environments Silver Spring MD: Computer Society Press, 1981; and M.J Riley (Ed.), Management information systems (2nd ed.) San Francisco: Holden-Day, 1981 [24 citations] 17 Kling, R., & Iacono, S (1988) The mobilization of support for computerization: The role of computerization movements Social Problems, 35(3), 226-243 Also published in: D Ermann, 46 W Williams, & C Guitierrez (Eds.), Computers, Ethics and Society (pp 213-236) London: Oxford University Press, 1990 (Chapter 19: Computerization Movements) [22 citations] 18 Kling, R (1992) Behind the terminal: The critical role of computing infrastructure in effective information systems' development and use In W Cotterman & J Senn (Eds.), Challenges and strategies for research in systems development (pp 153-201) New York, John Wiley 1992 [22 citations] 19 Kling, R (2000) Learning about information technologies and social change: The contribution of social informatics The Information Society 16(3): 217-232 [21 citations] 20 Kling, R (1978) The impacts of computing on the work of managers, data analysts, and clerks PPRO WP-78-64 [21 citations] 21 Kling, R (1992) Audiences, narratives and human values in social studies of science Science, Technology and Human Values 17(3), 349-365 [19 citations] 22 Kling, R., & Jewett, T (1994) The social design of work life with computers and networks: An open natural systems perspective Advances in Computers, 39, 239-293 [18 citations] 23 Kling, R (1974) Computers and social power Computers and Society, 5(3), 6-11 [18 citations] 24 Kling, R (1994) Reading “all about” computerization: How genre conventions shape social analyses The Information Society 10(3), 147-172 [15 citations] 25 Kling, R (1996) Synergies and competition between life in cyberspace and face-to-face communities Social Science Computer Review, 14(1), 50-54 [13 citations] 26 Kling, R., & Iacono, S (1984) Computing as an occasion for social control Journal of Social Issues, 40(3), 77-96 [12 citations] 27 Kling, R (1994) Digital library design for organizational usability SIGOIS Bulletin, 15(2), 59 [11 citations] 28 Kling, R (1999) What is social informatics and why does it matter? 1999 D-Lib Magazine, 5(1) [11 citations] 29 Kling, R., & Star, S.L (1998) Human centered systems in the perspective of organizational and social informatics Computers and Society, 28(1), 22-29 [10 citations] 30 Kling, R., Rosenbaum, H., & Hert, C (1998) Social informatics in information science: An introduction Journal of the American Society for Information Science, 49(12), 1047-1052 [10 citations] 31 [Rob Kling as computer scientist] Kling, R Cybernetics, 4(2), 105-122.] 47 (1974) Fuzzy PLANNER Journal of [10 citations] 32 Kling, R (1983) Value conflicts in the deployment of computing applications: Cases in developed and developing countries Telecommunications Policy, 7(1), 12-34 Edited and revised for Computerization and Controversy (1991) [9 citations] 33 Kling, R (1999) Can the “next generation Internet” effectively support “ordinary citizens’? The Information Society, 15(1), 57-63 [9 citations] 34 Kling, R (1978) Information systems in public policy making: Computer technology and organizational arrangements Telecommunications Policy, 2(1), 22-32 [8 citations] 35 Kling, R., & Lamb, R (1996) Analyzing visions of electronic publishing and digital libraries In G.B Newby & R.M Peek (Eds.), Scholarly Publishing: The electronic frontier (pp XX) Cambridge MA: The MIT Press [8 citations] 36 Elliott, M., & Kling, R (1997) Organizational usability of digital libraries: Case study of legal research in civil and criminal courts Journal of the American Society for Information Science, 48(11), 1023-1035 [8 citations] 37 Kling, R (1990) More information, better jobs? Occupational stratification and labor market segmentation in the United States' information labor force The Information Society, 7(2), 77-107 [6 citations] 38 Kling, R (1992) When gunfire shatters bone: Reducing sociotechnical systems to social relationships Science, Technology and Human Values, 17(3), 381-385 [6 citations] 39 Teich, A., Frankel, M.S., Kling, R., & Lee, Y-C (1999) Anonymous communication policies for the Internet: Results and recommendations of the AAAS conference The Information Society 15(2), 79-90 [6 citations] 40 Kling, R (1993) Organizational analysis in computer science The Information Society, 9(2), 71-87 [5 citations] 48 ... assessment of Kling? ??s contribution to mapping the problem space of “Social Informatics.” Methodology for Constructing the Craft of Rob Kling This paper examines the origins of Kling? ??s thought on computerization. .. is these cited works, in particular, that provide us with insights into the origins of Kling? ??s own arguments I have embedded citations to Kling? ??s work in the body of the paper However, in the interests... compelling influence on research—setting problems, staking out objects and leading inquiry into asserted relations In turn, findings of fact test theories, and in suggesting new problems invite the