Carsten Osterlund

Carsten Østerlund (also spelt Osterlund or Oesterlund) is an Associate Professor at the School of Information Studies at Syracuse University since 2003. My research explores the organizational implications of information systems. More specifically, I study the organization, creation, and use of documents in distributed work environments where people’s daily practices are characterized by high mobility. My interests include distributed & virtual work, organizational learning and knowledge, communication practices, and medical informatics. Empirically I study these issues through in-depth qualitative and quantitative studies of everyday work practices in organizations. As modern organizations have become more global and distributed, organizational life is becoming increasingly dependent on the involvement of those who are distant in time and space. How to incorporate the concerns and contributions of absent others is an important consideration for organizational members. The organization, creation, and use of information systems serve as one strategy to “capture” and “stand for” the interests and work of others. My current research focuses on the practices that go into documenting work - which I refer to as “documenting practices” - and I include in this category the activity of capturing knowledge in any media whether paper based, electronic or wall mounted. Studies of tangible documenting practices allow me to articulate the temporal and spatial dimensions of distributed and mobile work in organizational settings. In short, my research explores the question: how do people use documents to manage their movements and interactions in time and space?