ABSTRACT
This long overdue publication of Harold Garfinkel’s Toward a Sociological Theory of Information makes available for the fi rst time a manuscript completed by Garfi nkel in April of 1952-as Memo #3-for a seminar he was teaching at Princeton University on information and formal social organization-in conjunction with the Organizational Behavior Project.2 In the manuscript, Garfi nkel outlines an inherently social theory of informationmaintaining that information is not only put to social uses-but becomes information in the fi rst place through situated social processes, in details. Thus, he argues, it is impossible to understand information, either intrinsically, or
in application, without addressing its social-and by social Garfi nkel means primarily its organized-character. In several accompanying manuscripts Garfi nkel outlines theories of communication, self, and social order that support his theory of information (Memos #1 and #2 and two research proposals written in 1951-52, included as appendices to this volume). Far from being outdated, in the 55 years since it was written, the argument has become increasingly relevant as technical worksites and computer mediated interaction have become more prevalent, traditional approaches more problematic, and ethnomethodologically (EM) informed studies of those issues-inspired by Garfi nkel-have made a signifi cant contribution.
