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New Dimensions in Computers and Composition Studies

Image of Datacloud book cover Image of Datacloud book cover

Johndan Johnson-Eilola

This book examines information work from a broad range of viewpoints to construct a better understanding of how and why we use computer technologies as we do. Constructing a post-disciplinary theoretical framework from disciplines including rhetoric, technical communication, cultural studies, architecture, and more, Datacloud interrogates how people work in a variety of contexts, both computer-supported and analog. Using examples drawn from classrooms, recording studios, offices and parking lots, Datacloud constructs a theoretical and practical apparatus for re-thinking communication and work in the age of saturated information spaces.

"We live in an era in which, suddenly, texts are as plentiful as the leaves on the trees. We don't just read texts, we navigtate our way through textual spaces and written environments, glancing here and noting there, rarely able to invest the time for sustained attention or read anything in depth. In Datacloud , Johndan Johnson-Eilola theorizes how we inhavit an information packed world, moving through thickly packed pieces of data as we work, learn, and amuse ourselves. Drawing on symbolic-analytic work and articulation theory, Johnson-Eilola puts together a theory that helps us think of dense information spaces in different way; address the increasing tendency to stay on the surface and edges of texts; and understand new ways of working, learning, and living effectively in the datacoud. This book is a must read for anyone interesting in computers and writing.

Clay Spinuzzi
University of Texas-Austin

Johndan Johnson-Eilola works at Clarkson University, where he teaches courses in information architecture, rhetoric, mass media, web design, and new media. He is also the author of Nostalgic Angels (1997), and co-author of Writing New Media (with Anne Wysocki, Cynthia L. Selfe, and Geoff Sirc, 2003), co-editor of Central Works (with Stuart Selber, 2003) and several textbooks on communication and design.