Also the acknowledgements
Francoise Herrmann (fherrmann who-is-at igc.apc.org)
Sun, 22 Oct 1995 10:11:49 -0700
In writing these acknowledgements, my heart goes out to many
people most of whom I have never met in person, yet whom I know so well
as familiar voices on my computer screen. With the members of this on-line
community, and form their selfless efforts, I have learned in countless
ways. I have been directed to bodies of knowledge whose existence was
previously unknown to me. I have been introduced to concepts, theories, and
ways of thinking that I could not have grasped without their lively
presentation, critique and discussion on-line. I have received support in
lonely times and warm encouragement when faced with relentless doubt. I
have felt understood and found kindred thinkers. Electronic hands have
been extended, smileys and hugs: members have jumped in, unpacking cryptic
thoughts and ideas, mirroring and modeling reflections; prompting and
providing me with the language that I was struggling to make mine. To
these scholars, each and everyone, in all parts of the world and all
members of teh x-lists, I want to say thank you; and immense thank-you.
In particular, I am deeply grateful to the following x-listers:
Michael Cole, the founder of the x-lists, for cultivating this beautiful
on-line garden -where all ideas can be expressed in their divergences and
convergences and no idea is too far out; for his amazing feats as the
Wizard of the Fifth Dimension; for being on-line, at times almost
synchronously and with such warmth, to receive all my thoughts and for
his encouragements that I post my reflections; Ethel Tobach for meeting
with me in New York and San Francisco and for her correspondence containing
valuable feedback on an early draft; Eugene Matusov for a shower of praise,
friendly advice and his greater, grounded, understanding of on-line
conversations; Arne Raiethel for his welcoming response when I first logged
on and for the impetus to update my communications software; Phil Agre, who,
at one time seemed to be the only person left in the world; Jay Lemke, for
clarifying just about every intellectual idea put forward on-line and his
insights on the differences between the social and physical sciences; Alfred
Lang, for insisting on the realtionship between subject and object as forces
operating in action; Bill Blanton and Joe Toth, as caring "goalee" partners
in an on-line collaborative writing effort; Edouard Lagache, for meeting
with me in San Francisco and our side-channeled conversations about
Heidegger, Sartre and coping with teh down-side of life; Gordon Wells for
giving integrity and meaning to the concept of teaching; Susan Leigh Star,
for critical feedback, corroboration of thoughts, and her work on boundary
objects; Margaret Syverson for sharing her work, also focussed on the x-lists;
Margaret Benson and Genevieve Patthey-Chavez, for always dissenting and for
sharing their experience outside of the virtual world of teh x-lists; Olga
Vasquez for her powerful feminist and Chicana voice in the world of computers
and education; Philip White, for tips about good motion pictures and his
terrfic support on a variety of topics; Bill Penuel and Jim Wertsch, for
writing and sharing their paper on identity formation-in-action; Michael
Glassman for his insightful perpective on many issues raised on-line;
Chuck Bazerman, for sometime seeing action on the x-lists in ways that
corroborated mine; Robert Serpell, for the familiar and friendly pitch
in his voice; Mary Bryson, for saying things that I would never dare and
in a style that noone can match; Ritva Engestrom for clarifying the
concept of goals; Yrjo Engestrom for kind comments on the collaborative
article; Russ Hunt, for sharing the secret of his message footer; Ilda
Carreiro King for some refreshing side-channeled exchanges; Eva Ekeblad,
for critical reading of my work, for sharing her experience with life
and tapestry making, and for her encouragements; Vanessa DiMauro, for
her frequent-flyer subscription and for corroborating findings; David Moore
for critical feedback and invaluable references to the library shelves;
Joe Ransdell, for a philosopher's perspective on the world; Hanu Virtanen,
for drawing my attention to the ethical issues of doing research on the
x-lists; Kari Kuutti, for explaining Marx's concept of the material in a
way that will always affect my understanding of phenomena; The CHATERS
(Cultural Historical Activity Theory Seminar Members at the University
of California in San Diego) and many additional UCSD students for summerizing
the work of classical activity theorists and for tracking the flow of
intellectual thought in all of the articles of the LCHC Quartery Newsletter;
the x-listers who kindly pledged monetary support for my participation in
the 1995 San Francisco AIDS walkathon; and all the successive x-family
administrators for their generous technical assitance.
As always, off-line, I am also grateful to my daughter Jessica
for her contagious laughter; her absolute sense of right and wrong; her
presence in my life as a sounding board for healthy and sane reactions;
the delightful joy of seeing the little girl becoming a goofy teenager;
and for proudly wearing a T-shirt that says: "Beware: Anything that you
say or do may be used in my writing".
Finally I would like to thank the Institute for Global Communication
in San Francisco which enabled my access to the x-lists at terrfic prices
coupled with kind technical support. And during hundreds of log and draft time,
including travels on the World Wide Web, I also wish to thank the
mysterious little Gremlin in my computer.