Social Issues in Computing: Putting Computing in its Place

Does computing isolate people? Does the computerization of a job necessarily involve deskilling? Do patent and copyright law encorage innovation? Where do national databases get their data from, and how accurate is it? Does automation put people out of work?

This combination text and edited reader will serve as a comprehensive reference source for students, managers and policy makers seeking to understand the social aspects of computing and organization and policy issues related to computing. Topics covered include: risks in critical systems, expert systems, organizational computing, national databases and privacy, copyright and patent law, the new ACM ethics code, repetitive strain injury, computer crime, technology and employment, equity in technology access, computer monitoring of work, and computers in education.

Contents

Preface
Introductory essay: Putting Technology in its Place (Chuck Huff, Thomas Finholt)

FUNDAMENTAL ISSUES
2. The social context of Computing
3. Professional ethics and Computer Science

THE RISKS OF TECHNOLOGY
4. The social context of workplace health
5. Critical systems
6. Computerized crime
7. Experts and expert systems

COMPUTERS AND WORK
8. Technology and employment
9. Work in online communities

COMPUTERS, POWER AND HUMAN RIGHTS
10. Equitable access to computing
11. National databases and privacy
12. Privacy in the workplace
13. Software ownership: Who owns what and why?

COMPUTERS AND EDUCATION
14. Computing and educational reform
15. The social consequences of educational computing
16. Social isolation and computers

Concluding essay: Toward a Design Ethic for Computer Professionals (Chuck Huff, Bruce Jawer)

Glossay