1)  In one of our first classes, we discussed how the ideas we communicate and interpret through metaphor are embedded in a larger conceptual framework that is socially and culturally constructed.  How has the concept of metaphor resonated in other readings, such as Understanding Comics, and how did such texts build upon our early discussions?  Has your awareness of such meanings freed you in your drafting of projects (such as the font and final cartography assignment) or caused you to stumble in the complexities of your craft?

2)  In Information Ecologies, Nardi and O'Day claim, "The social and technical aspects of an environment coevolve.  People's activities and tools adjust and are readjusted in relation to each other, always attempting and never quite achieving a perfect fit" (p. 53).  This indicates that it is through a certain disconnect that we achieve balance and, thereby, progress.  How may concepts within Sorting things out:  classification and its consequences, contradict such assertions?  How can we heighten our own awareness and act in such a way that we are coevolving rather than conforming or categorizing?

3)    Turchi claims, "The most profound question of our existence cannot be answered through a mere collection of concrete evidence; at some point...each of us reaches a border of the verifiable world, and every one of us leaps.  A great deal of what we know, we know only through our imagination--and that knowledge is crucial to our lives" (p. 92).  How do Tufte's ideas in Beautiful Evidence both reinforce and, perhaps, contradict (depending on perspective) this understanding?  How did this concept come to play in your creation of memory maps (whether for your Rowan map or other recent mappings)?

4)  Throughout ias09, we have learned to use tools that support the movement of information.  With consideration to the benefits of these applications as well as what may be compromised, how could you reconcile the concerns Brown and Dugruid discuss in The Social Life of Information? --To what extent is social interaction integral to the transference of information (keeping in mind that how we define and understand said interaction is also evolving) and how, in our use of these technologies, do we inevitably reinforce the metaphors that construct our understanding of reality?  What are we ultimately accomplishing?