Roberta Lamb
Rational economic arguments focused on achieving efficient and productive information technology (IT) use often guide discussions about technological expansion. Those compelling rational arguments are characterized as informational imperatives, and it is shown that they generate unrealistic expectations based on assumptions about information resource use that do not reflect practice. Informational contexts acknowledge that people value information and information resources based, in part, on the way they relate to the social world in which they live and work. The social and organizational processes that direct IT use are examined, and it is concluded that economic potential will remain high even if the information infrastructure policies are altered to acknowledge and accommodate those processes that enhance expertise and foster socially mediated relationships.