ITNR - Information and Telecommunications Needs Research

Background

In mid-1998, Information and Telecommunications Needs Research (ITNR) moved from Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT) to the School of Information Management and Systems (SIMS) at Monash University. At present the core members of ITNR at Monash University are: Professor Don Schauder, Chair, Dr Kirsty Williamson, Director, Dr Graeme Johanson, Senior Research Fellow, Dr Steve Wright, Research Fellow, and Jen Sullivan, Research Associate. Dr Joy McGregor, Professor John Weckert and Dr Yeslam Al-Saggaf are all members of the group from Charles Sturt University. Marion Bannister, who recently retired from CSU, continues to work with ITNR.  Mrs. Alyson Archibald is working as Research Associate on the two-year ARC Linkage project 'Generating Knowledge and Avoiding Plagiarism: Smart Information Use in Secondary Schools'.  At both Monash and CSU, there is also a number of academics, casual research assistants and students who undertake research for the group. See 'People' page for details of past and present ITNR staff and associates.

ITNR Origins

Given that its origins extend back to 1991, ITNR already has a substantial history. It started life as the Telecommunications Policy Research Group (TPRG) in 1991 in the Faculty of Social Sciences and Communication Studies at RMIT. Dr Kirsty Williamson, who is now the Director, was a member of the Group in this embryonic stage. In 1993 Associate Professor Patricia Gillard became Director and changed the name to Telecommunications Needs Research Group (TNRG). This reflected the emphasis on user-focused research, which became the hallmark of the Group.   TNRG was mainly supported by the Telstra Fund for Social and Policy Research between 1992 and 1996. In this time, the Group received almost $500,000 from the Fund. The research undertaken with this funding focused on the human aspects of telecommunications. 

Since TNRG moved to Monash University becoming ITNR, and Charles Sturt University became involved, the emphasis of the group has been on the Internet. Projects have focussed on Internet use by a wide range of groups (e.g. older people, people with disabilities, women with breast cancer and tertiary students) for a diverse range of purposes (e.g. seeking information, improving traditional and online literacy, online banking and online investment).  Beyond this, projects have also looked at broader issues of information seeking and use (e.g. creative information use to avoid plagiarism and the impact of the retirement of the baby boomers on the public library).

Approach to Work

The Group's discipline base spans the information and communications fields, specifically, and the social sciences, in general. We are particularly interested in how people construct meanings with regard to the role of technology and telecommunications in their everyday lives. Our empirical work has aimed to develop an understanding of 'what is happening now' (and what might happen in the near future), based on what people do and say. It is also concerned with improving access and accessibility, e.g., for older people and people with disabilities. Our research is broadly 'ethnographic' but has also included large-scale sample surveys.

See Current Projects for a description of our current and past projects.