Susan Leigh Star
Susan Leigh Starís contributions to research in information science over a 15-year period are exemplified in two key monographs and a number of other highly-cited publications. The monographs include (1) Sorting Things Out: Classification and Its Consequences (1999) and (2) Standards and Their Stories: How Quantifying, Classifying, and Formalizing Practices Shape Everyday Life (2009). Her scholarly work and leadership in the Society for the Social Studies of Science (4S) led to an outstanding reputation both nationally and internationally. Her work coupled a profound understanding of technology with a humanistic perspective. Her research of most relevance to information science centers on the social and organizational aspects of large information systems, including digital libraries and medical classification. Her point of departure was the sociology of work, including emphases on invisible work in creating representations and infrastructure. She was a key figure in a socially grounded approach to investigating information systems, drawing on social studies of science, information science, workplace studies and technological design. She undertook empirical studies of knowledge creation and use with methods informed by her PhD studies in sociology, including social networks, grounded theory, and ethnography. In the area of Social Informatics & Infrastructure, Susan Leigh Starís significance lies in being among the first to bring an ethnographic approach to investigating emerging cyber infrastructure. In the area of Classification & Standards, the chief strength of her work is its capacity to bring an almost invisible aspect of social life to the forefront of analytic treatment. Through her original and path breaking work Susan Leigh Star brought new insights and methods to research on questions important to information science. For this significant body of published work she is richly deserving of (posthumous) recognition with this yearís ASIS&T Award for Research in Information Science.