Information Voodoo? Aspects of Artifact Coordination

 The field of Computer Supported Cooperative Work (CSCW) has moved from focusing on small group behavior with technology, to small group behavior in context including artifacts. Only recently has focus shifted to the role of material artifacts (other than just technology) in the organization of work. Several theoretical stances have been adopted to analyze the role of artifacts including Actor-Network Theory , Activity Theory and Distributed Cognition.

Recently all three have been accused of dematerializng artifacts and reducing them to mere representations that move an invariable and immaterial being --"the information" -- from mind to artifact to mind. This is perceived as replacing mentalism with the "Telementational" movement of information between artifacts and people. Almost like a Loa of information inhabiting the artifact.

I disagree. I will present examples from Schmidt and Wagner (2002) that claim telementation and contrast them with some "classic" examples from Cognition in the Wild and from my own recent work observing consultants working from their home.