Carl J. Couch (1925--1994) was professor of sociology at the University of Iowa and president and co-founder of the Society for the Study of Symbolic Interaction. He created the New Iowa School of Symbolic Interaction. Mark D. Johns is a professor of communication studies at Luther College where he teaches courses in media studies, media production, and public relations. Shing- Ling Chen is assistant professor of mass communication at the University of Northern Iowa.

• Acknowledgments, Information and Action: An Introduction to Carl Couch’s Analysis of Information Technologies, 1. Introduction, 2. Orality, 3. Decorations and Depictions, 4. Extending Temporal Structures, 5. Numeric and Spatial Concepts, 6. Bureaucratic Structures, 7. Written Languages, 8. Printing Books, 9. Newspapers and State Structures, 10. Telecommunications: Overcoming Space, 11. Recorded Sounds and Sights, 12. Broadcasting Sounds and Sights, 13. Information-Processing Machines, 14. Knowledge Centers, 15. Oh, What Webs Those Phantoms Spin, References, About the Author, About the Editor, Index

“Information is so central to modern societies that the primary knowledge centers, i.e., universities, ‘compete with state and economic structures for hegemony in programming the future endeavors of humanity.’ Through his emphasis on the social context, Couch has brought an important balance to the study of information technologies.”—M. Oromaner, Choice