The Invisible World of Intermediaries: A Cautionary Tale

Simple item page
dc.contributor.authorEhrlich*, Kate
dc.contributor.authorCash, Debra
dc.date.accessioned2020-06-06T06:52:55Z
dc.date.available2020-06-06T06:52:55Z
dc.date.issued36220
dc.description.abstractMany observers consider traditional intermediaries such as brokers, lenders and salespersons anachronisms in a world where consumers can communicate directly with providers of products and services over computer networks. Under the same rubric, information mediators such as journalists, editors, librarians and customer support representatives are being targeted for elimination. Drawing on our ethnographically-informed studies of customer support analysts and librarians, we demonstrate that the expertise and experience of intermediaries is often invisible – to the consumer, to the organization in which these intermediaries work, and even to the intermediaries' managers. The valuable services provided by intermediaries are not made unnecessary by end-user access. We argue for a richer understanding of intermediation, and a reallocation of functions and roles in which “new intermediaries” – people, software or a combination of the two – aggregate, personalize and assure the quality of information.de
dc.identifier.doi10.1023/A:1008696415354
dc.identifier.pissn1573-7551
dc.identifier.urihttp://dx.doi.org/10.1023/A:1008696415354
dc.identifier.urihttps://dl.eusset.eu/handle/20.500.12015/3555
dc.publisherSpringer
dc.relation.ispartofComputer Supported Cooperative Work (CSCW): Vol. 8, No. 1-2
dc.relation.ispartofseriesComputer Supported Cooperative Work (CSCW)
dc.subjectcostomer support
dc.subjectCSCW
dc.subjectdigital library
dc.subjectelectronic commerce
dc.subjectelectronic community
dc.subjectintermediary
dc.subjectlibrarians
dc.subjectnotes
dc.subjecttrust
dc.titleThe Invisible World of Intermediaries: A Cautionary Talede
dc.typeText/Journal Article
gi.citation.endPage167
gi.citation.startPage147

Files

Collections

JCSCW Vol. 08 (1999)