American Libraries and the Internet: The Social Construction of Web Appropriation and Use
Powered By Xquantum

American Libraries and the Internet: The Social Construction of W ...

Read
image Next

Introduction

Technology is an important part of human society. It has existed as long as humankind has existed. It develops as human society evolves. There are few human creations that have as much influence on our lives as the technology we use. Its importance in society has been even greater in the last three centuries, during which great technological and social changes have taken place. With breakthroughs in information processing, storage, and transmission power, information and communication technologies (ICTs) have begun to be used in virtually all corners of society. Skills and attributes such as logic, memory, and communication that were once thought to be unique to human beings are now emulated, and in some ways surpassed, by computers. Computers’ decreasing costs, their increasing processing power, and their ability to “talk” among themselves have led to their application anywhere and everywhere (Feather, 1998).