KNOWLEDGE UTILIZATION - THE ROLE OF NEW COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGIES

From the mid-1960s until the end of the 1970s, knowledge utilization w as a framing concept for policy research on dissemination and social c hange in the U.S. The 1980s were a hiatus in the development of dissem ination and social change strategies, but the present domestic refocus ing of national policy brings knowledge utilization once again to the forefront. The communication technologies used in knowledge utilizatio n programs of the 1960s and 1970s consisted of analog media such as pr inted materials and video. The technologies used in knowledge utilizat ion programs of the 1990s will include several digital media such as I SDN, online search services, e-mail, facsimile, and CD-ROM. The sweepi ng claims made for digital media today are similar to those made for a nalog media 20 years ago, when in fact the analog media played only a secondary role to the prime movers of social networks and personal inf luence. Some properties of digital media such as asynchronicity and tr ansformability will meet previously unmet needs in knowledge utilizati on. The challenge of matching specific communication technologies to p hases and functions of knowledge utilization is renewed by the present mix of analog and digital media. Reasons why communication technologi es succeed range from ''meets an important need'' to ''avoids the tech nophobic pitfalls of deskilling, destatusing, undue technological lite racy, and inhibition of human contact.''