Cowboys and Computers: Communicating National Animal Identification in the Beef Industry

Editor(s)

Wright, David

Abstract

Technical communication must develop methods that take into account the various forms of communication that are now available while maintaining an ethnographic perspective and methodology that investigates industries at ground level. Holistic approaches are needed to understanding intricate problems. This chapter is one attempt to do so and also offers a set of tools for research that may give future technological deployments more success. While the beef industry seems perfectly willing to accept some types of innovations, computer technology and animal identification have been shunned. the author narrates his conversations with and observations of livestock market staff that revealed a great deal concerning both technology and the National Animal Identification System (NAIS) within the beef industry. the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), and others trying to explain the merits and everyday workings of the NAIS to market owners and producers, would have been better served by creating hypothetical situations.

Department(s)

English and Technical Communication

Keywords and Phrases

beef industry; National Animal Identification System; United States Department of Agriculture

International Standard Book Number (ISBN)

978-111827427-9

Electronic OCLC #

918561338

Print OCLC #

809616851

Document Type

Book - Chapter

Document Version

Citation

File Type

text

Language(s)

English

Rights

© 2015 Wiley-IEEE Press, All rights reserved.

Publication Date

01 Jan 2015

Link to Full Text

Share

 
COinS