Relying on a range of global case studies--from unpaid social media prosumers or Chinese hardware assemblers at Foxconn to miners in the Democratic Republic of Congo--Fuchs sheds light on the labour costs of digital media, examining the way ICT corporations exploit human labour and the impact of this exploitation on the lives, bodies, and minds of workers.

    As individuals, teams, and organizations become increasingly reliant on information technology and automation, it is more important than ever for system and workplace design to be maximally informed by state-of-the-art cognitive engineering research.This volume is the first authoritative handbook to cover this recent and rapidly growing field. The handbook collects and organizes contemporary cognitive engineering research, drawing on the original research of more than 60 contributing experts. Coverage of human factors, human-computer interaction, and the conceptual foundations of cognitive engineering is extensive, addressing not only cognitive engineering in broader organizations and communities, but also focusing on individual cognition, addressing topics of attention, decision making, and multi-tasking. This thorough approach speaks to the broad scope of cognitive engineering, spanning the individual operator to teams and organizations, with a focus on how systems of people and technology, often in the form of automation, influences performance.By collecting the best of cognitive engineering research in one volume, this book serves as both a convenient reference guide and as a useful entry point to the large and diverse research literature. As such, this handbook will be a valuable resource for researchers, students, and practitioners in cognitive engineering and a variety of related fields in need of guidance for how to put their products, systems, and services into the hands of human users, performers, and customers.

    Regardless of your current level of experience and expertise, The Librarian’s Skillbook, which reveals the 51 hottest, most sought after library/information skills in today’s workplace, is your personal ticket to a new or enhanced career. Once you have selected the most important skills you need to advance your career, The Librarian’s Skillbook unveils six surefire strategies for acquiring new skills or leveraging your existing skillset to obtain a promotion, find and procure your dream job or embark upon a whole new career. The Librarian’s Skillbook also helps librarians, information professionals and other knowledge workers devise a customized plan to acquire the skills they need to move their careers to the next level and beyond. The skills presented in The Librarian’s Skillbook are divided into six broad categories: 1) Computer/Technical Skills 2) Beyond Reference Skills 3) Business and Management Skills 4) Interpersonal Skills 5) Attitude Skills 6) Intangible Skills Many seasoned professionals may already be familiar with some of the skills presented in this book, such as indexing or taxonomy development, but the authors go well beyond more traditional library/information skills to include records management, competitive intelligence, active listening, networking and much more. Throughout their extensive careers, The Librarian’s Skillbook authors have worked in virtually every type of library as well as a wide variety of non-traditional settings. The authors also teach classes and workshops on career development and provide private career coaching. The Librarian’s Skillbook is based on the authors’ award winning “Expand Your Career Potential” workshop series, which has inspired and energized thousands of librarians, information professionals, knowledge workers and students worldwide through webinars hosted by local, regional and global library and information professional associations. While the teachings in the book and companion workshops often provide immediate results for those who are currently unemployed or under- employed, the material is also relevant for those who feel stuck in a rut or caught in a stagnant position. Seasoned professionals also stand to benefit from the lessons within to bring them ever closer to the pinnacle of what may already be a long and storied career. The six sure fire methods to acquire new skills presented in The Librarian’s Skillbook demonstrate that new skills may be acquired in many other ways beyond the classroom or the workplace. Beyond those six sure fire universal methods to acquire new skills, the authors frequently include “Tips to Acquire This Skill”, containing additional strategies and tactics pertaining to a specific skill. Additionally, the book reminds readers they don’t have to learn every new skill at the expert level to achieve success and that many of the skills librarians and information professionals already possess are eminently transferrable into other career paths. To help the reader follow through the process of developing new skills, The Librarian’s Skillbook also includes a “Further Reading” section and a “Bibliography” which list additional resources where readers can learn more about each skill. The text also includes “This Skill in Action”, presenting readers with a mini case study for most skills to help them visualize how that skill may be typically applied in the workplace. The Librarian’s Skillbook is a road map for acquiring skills that make librarians and information professionals essential to their organizations. Readers may elect to pick and choose among the list of 51 skills to pursue those skills they deem most useful to advance their own careers.

    In this book, John E. Mayfield elegantly synthesizes core concepts from multiple disciplines to offer a new approach to understanding how evolution works and how complex organisms, structures, organizations, and social orders can and do arise based on information theory and computational science.Intended for the intellectually adventuresome, this book challenges and rewards readers with a nuanced understanding of evolution and complexity that offers consistent, durable, and coherent explanations for major aspects of our life experiences. Numerous examples throughout the book illustrate evolution and complexity formation in action and highlight the core function of computation lying at the work's heart.

    While historical truth remains hidden from the public, Eva Horn finds in political fiction, which serves as both an indicator and a tool, a means to analyze political secrets. Starting with a general theory of treason and military intelligence as a specific type of political knowledge, the book charts the history of intelligence gathering from 1900 to 9/11. The Secret War analyzes literary and cinematic depictions of espionage from Rudyard Kipling and T. E. Lawrence to John Le Carré and Steven Spielberg. Horn considers these fictional accounts against the historical development of Western secret services from their inception in World War I to their struggle against current terrorist networks. The Secret War shows the crucial part fictions play in shaping conflicts, constructing “the enemy,” and deciding political strategies.