This books examines social aspects of information-oriented society in the United States. Each contributor focuses on a specific and significant social aspect of the information-oriented society. Areas covered include: understanding the extent of information work in the United States; analyzing information work in the health care industry; defining information in an information-oriented society; the evolution of the concept of information in the courts; the coporatization and privatization of information in the economy; information and the restructuring of the family environment; information in the rural sector; the emergence of Silicon Valley; and social attitudes and values toward information technology.