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Foreword
The possibilities of computer-mediated communications in shaping human lives and social relations are bounded only by our collective imaginations. We need to go no further than our everyday experiences to witness the transformative power of the internet, or more precisely, the convergence of the triple technological revolutions in computational power, broad bandwidth telecommunications, and digital storage capacity. At minimal or no direct cost to the user, we connect, through our computers, cell phones, and PDA’s, to a vast and rapidly growing cyberspace repository of written documents, visual imagery, and auditory expressions. Of equal importance is the profoundly interactive and democratic quality of the current version of the internet. We all have the capabilities to be both contributors to and consumers of this vast cyberspace data repository.
Those of us who work in information-based occupations are well aware of the fundamental ways the internet and its associated technologies have altered how we organize our work day, conduct business, produce and distribute our work-related products.