The Myth of the Paperless Office

Awards:   Winner of 2002 IEEE-USAB Award for Distinguished Literary Contributions Furthering Engineering Professionalism 2002 Winner of 2002 IEEE-USAB Award for Distinguished Literary Contributions Furthering Engineering Professionalism</PrizeName> 2002 Winner of <PrizeName>2002 IEEE-USAB Award for Distinguished Literary Contributions Furthering Engineering Professionalism</PrizeName> 2002
Author:   Abigail J. Sellen ,  Richard H. R. Harper (Microsoft Research, Ltd.)
Publisher:   MIT Press Ltd
Edition:   New edition
ISBN:  

9780262692830


Pages:   245
Publication Date:   28 February 2003
Recommended Age:   From 18
Format:   Paperback
Availability:   In Print   Availability explained
This item will be ordered in for you from one of our suppliers. Upon receipt, we will promptly dispatch it out to you. For in store availability, please contact us.

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The Myth of the Paperless Office


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Awards

  • Winner of 2002 IEEE-USAB Award for Distinguished Literary Contributions Furthering Engineering Professionalism 2002
  • Winner of 2002 IEEE-USAB Award for Distinguished Literary Contributions Furthering Engineering Professionalism</PrizeName> 2002
  • Winner of <PrizeName>2002 IEEE-USAB Award for Distinguished Literary Contributions Furthering Engineering Professionalism</PrizeName> 2002

Overview

"Over the past 30 years, many people have proclaimed the imminent arrival of the paperless office. Yet even the World Wide Web, which allows almost any computer to read and display another computer's documents, has increased the amount of printing done. The use of e-mail in an organization causes an average 40 percent increase in paper consumption. This text aims to explain why people continue to use paper in the digital age. In ""The Myth of the Paperless Office"", Abigail Sellen and Richard Harper use the study of paper as a way to understand the work that people do and the reasons they do it the way they do. Using the tools of ethnography and cognitive psychology and drawing on original case studies in a diverse set of organizations, they look at paper use from the level of the individual up to that of organizational culture. Sellen and Harper show that there are many important lessons to be learned from organizations that have tried to ""go paperless"". One is that putting new technologies in place doesn't necessarily reduce the amount of paper used. Rather, it may simply shift the point at which documents are printed out. Another is that organizations may pursue paperlessness for the wrong reasons. They may want to get rid of paper simply because it is a symbol of the old-fashioned past, rather than an ineffective technology. Looking closely at paper use also shows why many existing digital technologies are inferior to paper for certain key tasks. For example, current e-books show that designers have paid little attention to the need for people to navigate through, mark up and work across multiple documents as they read. Looking at paper use suggests innovative ways forward for digital reading as well as for other technologies. Until such time as digital technologies can provide equal or better support for many of the tasks that are central to ""knowledge work"", the future for paper continues to look bright. Rather than pursue the ideal of the paperless office, the authors conclude, we should work toward a future in which paper and electronic document tools work in concert and organizational processes make optimal use of both."

Full Product Details

Author:   Abigail J. Sellen ,  Richard H. R. Harper (Microsoft Research, Ltd.)
Publisher:   MIT Press Ltd
Imprint:   MIT Press
Edition:   New edition
Dimensions:   Width: 15.20cm , Height: 1.50cm , Length: 22.90cm
Weight:   0.340kg
ISBN:  

9780262692830


ISBN 10:   026269283
Pages:   245
Publication Date:   28 February 2003
Recommended Age:   From 18
Audience:   General/trade ,  College/higher education ,  Professional and scholarly ,  General ,  Undergraduate
Format:   Paperback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   In Print   Availability explained
This item will be ordered in for you from one of our suppliers. Upon receipt, we will promptly dispatch it out to you. For in store availability, please contact us.

Table of Contents

Reviews

The case for paper is made most eloquently in The Myth of the Paperless Office... by two social scientists, Abigail Sellen and Richard Harper. - Malcolm Gladwell, New Yorker The authors approach their subject with academic rigour, observing real organisations to find out how people like to work. - Financial Times


"""The case for paper is made most eloquently in The Myth of the Paperless Office... by two social scientists, Abigail Sellen and Richard Harper."" - Malcolm Gladwell, New Yorker ""The authors approach their subject with academic rigour, observing real organisations to find out how people like to work."" - Financial Times"


The authors approach their subject with academic rigour, observing real organisations to find out how people like to work. -- Financial Times If you wish to read anything at all on office management, read this book. -- Guardian UK The case for paper is made most eloquently in The Myth of the Paperless Office... -- Malcolm Gladwell, The New Yorker


Author Information

Abigail J. Sellen is a cognitive psychologist at Hewlett-Packard Laboratories in Bristol, UK. Richard H. R. Harper is Director of the Digital World Research Centre at the University of Surrey, UK.

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