Our Virtual World

Since the dawn of civilization, new technologies-from the plow to the locomotive to the computer-have transformed human lives. These changes have often been for the better, but occasionally also for the worse. No matter what consequence, these changes have always been irrevocable and pervasive. Today's new technologies, from the well-connected computer to the digital communication infrastructure, are not exception. They are dramatically changing the way we work, play and live.The central theme of Our Virtual World: The Transformation of Work, Play and Life via Technology is the interplay of the ubiquity of the virtual environment and our evolving interactions in this changed context

Laku Chidambaram is an Associate Professor of Information Systems at the University of Oklahoma's Michael F. Price College of Business. Prior to this, he held faculty appointments at Indiana University and the University of Hawaii. Professor Chidambaram has a Ph.D. in information systems and international business from Indiana University and an MBA from the University of Georgia. He has taught a variety of information systems courses and has received several awards for teaching excellence. His primary area of research deals with the application of information technology to support distributed group work in organizations. His work has been published in such journals such as MIS Quarterly, Journal of MIS and the Journal of Organizational Computing and Electronic Commerce. He is the editor-in-chief of a multi-disciplinary journal-the e-Service Journal-which combines both private sector and public sector perspectives regarding electronic services and thus bridges e-Business and e-Government. Dr. Chidambaram has served as a business consultant and lectured in several countries including Germany, the Netherlands, Norway, Singapore and the United States.Ilze Zigurs is an Associate Professor of Information Systems at the University of Colorado, Boulder, where she teaches courses in systems analysis and design, as well as doctoral seminars in e-business and conceptual foundations of information systems. Her Ph.D. is from the University of Minnesota. Her research focuses on the intersection of information technology with collaborative work in an increasingly virtual world. She has published in such journals as the MIS Quarterly, Journal of Management Information Systems, Journal of Organizational Computing and Electronic Commerce, and Data Base for Advances in Information Systems. She currently serves as senior editor for MIS Quarterly, senior editor for e-Service Journal, and department editor for IEEE Transactions on Engineering Management. Ilze has also been active for many years in the executive committee of the Organizational Communication and Information Systems Division of the Academy of Management.