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At its 9th annual symposium, ASIS&T Special Interest Group/Social Informatics (SIG/SI) explored information boundaries from a social informatics perspective. William Jones' keynote address focused on dissolving boundaries around personal information and practical approaches to managing appropriate access. Contributed papers examined boundaries of big data, the diverse forces shaping information boundaries and technology use in human service and barriers preventing equal information access for native Spanish speakers. Presenters discussed location-based services' ability to overcome boundaries as convenient or creepy and museums' use of indigenous groups' artifacts as an insensitive boundary violation. Since social informatics spans many interest groups, SIG/SI looks forward to further stimulating cross-topical research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

At the 2014 ASIS&T Annual Meeting, the Special Interest Group/Social Informatics (SIG/SI) celebrated 10 years spearheading research on the intersection of people, information and communications technology. The SIG's pre-conference symposium attracted an international group of scholars and students demonstrating ways their work applies to the Annual Meeting's theme of Connecting Collections, Cultures, and Communities. Presented papers examined the influence of IT consultants' work by organizational and technical contexts, social and cultural barriers impeding the use of information and communication technologies (ICTs) by resource-poor individuals, genre analysis of technologically mediated workplace practices and links between social networks and ICTs. A panel discussion explored ties between epistemic cultures and intellectual communities and ways to promote social informatics research on the topic. The SIG presented awards for Best Paper and Best Student Paper, both touching on collaboration to enhance content. The importance of the annual research symposium was reinforced by SIG/SI earning the 2014 SIG Publication-of-the-Year Award for a book that emerged from its 2012 symposium. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

EDITOR'S SUMMARY At the 2015 ASIS&T Annual Meeting, Special Interest Group/Social Informatics (SIG/SI) celebrated its 11th research symposium and the more than 100 panels, papers and posters presented over the years. The theme, 'The Impacts of Social Informatics Research,' was evident in studies illustrating social informatics in a variety of contexts. Speakers explored the use of communications technology in marginalized communities and language use in informal chat about illegal behavior in online communities. Presenters also examined human rights in Indonesia, taking a value-oriented approach in social informatics research, efforts to create a safer internet and ways big data marginalize individuals through algorithms used in quantitative analyses. A panel considered where social informatics fits in the IT curriculum of iSchools. An examination of social connectedness through digital channels and devices won the Best Paper Award. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]