ABSTRACT
The introduction of information technology, it is widely argued, may well have significant consequences for those who work with it. But those consequences are not innate in the technology itself, which affords a range of choices of application, including alternative options for work organization. Management may impose the changes, or may willingly or unwillingly negotiate them with its employees or their representatives. The chapter is concerned with one area of social constraints – the influence of relations and perceptions on the question of gender. It seeks to ask how far the factor is determinate in its effects, and in what ways it influences the implementation and impact of Information Technology (IT) on women at work. The chapter examines the case of gender and computerization of librarianship to contribute to the inquiry. Most notable are the aspects of work experience with IT relating most closely to the theme of the collection: those related to control, and so to democracy at work.
