Organizational Semiotics: Evolving a Science of Information Systems covers such issues as:
-Fundamental concepts such as 'information', 'data', 'message', 'communication', 'knowledge', 'organization', 'system' and so on;
-Properties of signs vital to organizational functioning, such as their meanings, the intentions they express and the valuable social consequences they produce;
-'Architecture' of organizations when they are viewed as information systems, based on their semiotics features;
-Understanding language in organizational contexts, for example, the limitations on the language used to conduct business affairs;
-The empirical study of communications for requirements elicitation;
-Applying semiotic categories (e.g. physical, empiric, syntactic, semantic, pragmatic, social) to various problems;
-Organizational knowledge representation;
-Business process re-engineering methods and the design of e-commerce systems.

Organisational semiotics is a discipline that is concerned with the interrelationships between individuals and groups, and between humans and technology, functioning in organisations and society. Organisational semiotics opens up the prospect of theory-building and the development of new methods and techniques to gain insights into organised behaviour and enacted social practices, in the presence and absence of various technologies. It shares common interests with many other approaches to information and organisations, such as computer science, computational semiotics, organisational engineering, and language action perspective. The common vision shared by these approaches is to treat organisations and related information systems and technologies within a unified semiotic framework, with particular reference to the huge range of issues that elude many traditional disciplines. The analysis and design of information systems develops methods for solving the practical problems but offers no rigorous, theoretical foundation for them or how information functions within and between organisations. The semiotic perspective accommodates the individual and the social, the human and the technical, intra- and inter-organisational interactions, at a level of detail that is required in the study, modelling, design, and engineering of new and alternative organisational and technical systems. This perspective is outlined in the chapter presentations of Information, Organisation and Technology.

Organisational Semiotics occupies an important niche in the research community of human communication and information systems. It opens up new ways of understanding the functioning of information and information resources in organised behavior.

Coordination And Communication Using Signs: Studies in Organisational Semiotics is a cutting-edge volume that bridges the gap between the technical and social aspects of information systems and information technology. The chapters in the book are divided into two major sections. The first section deals with Communication and Pragmatics, and Organisational Systems. In this section the following topics are examined:

• the semiotic framework and natural language;
• coordination and communication using natural language and other artifacts in a real-life setting;
• substantive-level issues of information systems and business processes from several theoretical perspectives;
• language as action;
• communication quality in the context of systems and business processes;
• organisational action and Greimas' semiotics.

Section Two concentrates on organisational systems, which may or may not include a computer system as a component and examines the following topics:

• semiotic strategies and semiotic models of organisational structures;
• the impact of information technology with instructive case studies;
• the impact of information technology with a particular focus on sense-making in the work floor context;
• the design of computer information systems;
• improving the design quality of agent-based information systems;
• the design ofinformation systems, in terms of capacity, and data scheme.

All the chapters in the volume have been submitted to a review process of discussants and peer reviews.

Semiotics is the science of signs: graphical, such as pictures; verbal (writing or sounds); or others such as body gestures and clothes. Computer semiotics studies the special nature of computer-based signs and how they function in use. This 1991 book is based on ten years of empirical research on computer usage in work situations and contains material from a course taught by the author. It introduces basic traditional semiotic concepts and adapts them so that they become useful for analysing and designing computer systems in their symbolic context of work. It presents a novel approach to the subject, rich in examples, in that it is both theoretically systematic and practical. The author refers to and reinterprets techniques already used so that readers can deepen their understanding. In addition, it offers new techniques and a consistent perspective on computer systems that is particularly appropriate for new hardware and software (e.g. hypermedia) whose main functions are presentation and communication. This is a highly important work whose influence will be wide and longlasting.

Semiotics is the science of signs: graphical, such as pictures; verbal, writing or sounds; or others such as body gestures and clothes. Computer semiotics studies the special nature of computer-based signs and how they function in use. As computers have become a feature of daily life, work and education, the design of the interface has become of prime importance, so that machines can be used quickly and easily. Systems are more easily learned if the designer takes his or her departure point in the established sign usage of the users, for example, their language, and conscious use of signs in designs improves the benefits and ease of using computers. Introduces basic traditional semiotic concepts and adapts them so that they become useful for analyzing and designing computer systems in their symbolic context of work. It presents a novel approach to the subject, rich in examples, in that it is both theoretically systematic but practical. The author refers to and reinterprets techniques already used so that readers can deepen their understanding. In addition, it offers new techniques and a consistent perspective on computer systems that is particularly appropriate for new hardware and software whose main functions are presentation and communication.