Knowledge is central in today´s society and yet
the conditions for attaining it are undergoing fundamental changes regarding access to and use of digital information. Understanding this transition raises complex questions of trust, credibility and relevance that are naturally pursued in a multi-disciplinary environment.
The KDW project addresses issues that bear directly on how information is searched, used, communicated and assessed on the web. We focus on the role and effects of search engines, cognitive outsourcing, online monitoring and trust. Each issue is studied from the “internal” point of view of cultural studies and from a more “external” philosophical and cognitive perspective.
The research will add to our knowledge and understanding e.g. of the role of search engines in a democratic society and the cognitive and educational effects of relying on social media, paving the way for society to take a more active role in shaping our common digital future.
The KDW project, financed with a framework grant (ramprojekt) by the Swedish Research Council 2013-2016 – amount of funding: 18,3 MSEK, integrates two extant research groups at Lund University: