Fall 97
Winter 98

Reviewed by Scarlet Pollock

Working Together Online
by Maureen James and Liz Rykert
Web Networks
1997, paperback, 168 pp.
Can. $29.95; US $24.95

Are you thinking about working with a group electronically? In Working Together Online, Maureen James and Liz Rykert provide an excellent guide for making effective use of electronic workspaces. Written in plain language, it is very useful to everyone who participates, and especially to the people who will be facilitating the work of the group. Liz and Maureen take you gently through the critical steps: getting a group online, setting up your workspace, facilitating the group, developing strategies for working together and carrying out group activities.

Here is a well organized and presented set of guidelines offering tips, points to keep in mind, highlighting examples, answering frequently-asked-questions and including a glossary of terms. But more than this, it is thoughtful and sensitive to the issues which arise in online communications.

The experience and working styles of the authors shine through, taking those facilitation skills and applying them to online groupwork. They never let us forget that even in cyberspace, it’s just people out there, communicating and looking for comfortable and productive ways of working together.

Working by email requires that we develop new ways of addressing conversational tones, timing, participation, conflict and silences. Without the face-to-face opportunities to identify feelings and meanings, we are learning/relearning to communicate in text. The authors’ basic rules? Always check in with the writer of the message if you are unsure. Reflect before you post. And keep it respectful to support everyone who wants to join in. We are offered very helpful tips on reading between the lines, assisting with communications, interpreting the silence and online mediation.

This is a vital book for anyone planning to facilitate group discussions online, and a great guide to productive participation. While it is particularly directed towards users of the Web Networks system, the principles and most of the resources apply to any mailing list or newsgroup. It’s just the sort of demystification needed to support our learning to communicate online.

Reviewed by Denise Østed

Tech Girl’s Internet Adventures
by Girl Tech (Dr. Janese Swanson)
ISBN 0-7645-3046-1
1997, paperback, 178 pp.
$27.99 (Canada)
URL:www.girltech.com

"This book is dedicated to the adventurous spirit of girls around the world." (from the book)

The author of Tech Girls’ Internet Adventures wants to smash the stereotype that girls aren’t interested in technology. Although the book doesn’t describe itself as feminist, the whole philosophy behind the book is strongly so. Swanson wrote this book as a project for her company, Girl Tech, which creates girl-friendly technology. The book, however, is not an ad for Girl Tech, but a genuinely fun, helpful and informative guide for girls who want to use the Internet.

Swanson places a great deal of emphasis on human connections through the Internet. Using Tech Girl to guide readers through the book, Swanson includes many technology-related activities which girls can do online, offline, or in combination (by using the Internet to get relevant information). There is also a comprehensive glossary which will be useful to girls and their Internet mentors.

The book strongly encourages women-to-girl mentoring, and deals with safety and privacy issues on the Internet in a realistic way, without being alarmist. It emphasizes the need for adult supervision, but also has many suggestions for activities which readers can do in a group of girls.

Each chapter begins with a short bio of a woman and a girl who use technology. At the end of each chapter, there is an Internet Adventure through which girls learn to do such things as use email, create graphics, and download files. The first few chapters are filled with necessary and interesting information about how the Internet works and how to use it. Most of the book, however, consists of links, grouped by topic. While the links are entertaining and educational, I think it may have been more useful to include a longer section on how to use search engines, so that girls have the skills they need to find information on their own.

The book was written for girls ages 8 and up; Tech Girl is 11, and the girls featured in the book are all between 11 and 13 years.

The CD-ROM included with the book allows girls to create their own home pages, but the result is a large .gif file, rather than an HTML home page. It’s a fun program, and easy to use, but most girls will want to quickly move on to the real thing.

A screen from the CD-ROM describes the book perfectly: "[It] is all about girls building and using technology together in a community." While I found the book occasionally either too technical or too simple, this small inconsistency is overshadowed by the way in which Swanson encourages community involvement and activism, and the way she shows girls how they can use the Internet as a valuable tool in their every day lives. Swanson also encourages her readers to email her (she will reply), and posts some girl-made web pages at the Girl Tech site every week. This is exactly the type of human interactivity and feedback mentorship is made of. I have already recommended this book to a couple of girls!

fullmoon@euronet.nl

Net Activism: How Citizens Use the Internet
by Edward Schwartz O’Reilly,
ISBN 1-56592-160-7
1996, paperback, 212 pp.
US $24.95, Can. $35.95

This is a great book which I keep dipping into, then going away to think about the points Ed Schwartz is making. There’s something in here for everyone. His writing comes from ongoing grassroots work, much of it using the Internet from his office in Philadelphia. Before explaining the basics of using the Internet he asks and begins to answer the question "What can we do as activists online?" Except for the first chapter, explaining how to get connected to the Internet, the rest of the book continues to address this question. Much use is made of previous correspondence on activist mailing lists, some of which I find annoying. Then I repeatedly find something which I want to know more about, such as electronic voting on mailing lists, ideas on what we should expect from government online, or the experiences of neighbourhood development Web sites.

For Schwartz the definition of an activist is someone working on social policy. Much is about getting votes, mobilising voting and ensuring elected representatives know what we think. For the USA he gives addresses for getting connected to the legislative process. The rest of us get to think our way into applying the ideas to our own situation. He’s not great on women working online, which is surprising when you consider how much women’s material is out there. You may wish to hold your nose so that you can consider the excellent ideas.

I appreciated the analysis and description of the online organising by the Christian Coalition. They got online early and have put considerable resources into the Internet. In the words of the Right,"“A combination of legislative savvy, voter anger, and technologies like fax machines, micro computers and talk radio is making it possible for the average person to affect government as never before" (quoted on page 103.) Reading this book will help us ensure that it is not just the Right which can use the new technologies to affect our governments and our lives.

If it wasn’t for the price I would highly recommend this book to any progressive person or organisation wanting to use the Internet in their work. For some reason known only to themselves the publishers have padded the book with a CDRom to get you connected, almost all of which is now outdated and useless. Even the accompanying 1-800 number is a recording telling you to sign-up with America Online. Get your library to buy a copy, or find a way the book can be shared around, it’s worth reading.

diamond@womenspace.ca

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