This book has been written by a group of renowned and experienced international researchers from nine countries, who share here how they have applied Techno-Anthropological methodologies to their research in a variety of different health informatics contexts. Bridges have been built in the process of editing and writing this book, and we are now actually building Techno-Anthropological research constructions in research environments in Denmark, Australia, Canada, Finland and Israel.

This is the third major work on Techno-Anthropology, following What is Techno-Anthropology? (2013) edited by Tom Børsen and Lars Botin and a special issue on Techno-Anthropology in Techné: Journal of the Society for Philosophy and Technology – edited by Galit Wellner, Lars Botin and Kathrin Otrel-Cass (2015).

In this current volume we specifically address methodology from ethnographic, anthropological, ethical, sociotechnical and participatory perspectives in a health informatics context, which is reflected in the structure of the anthology.

Techno-Anthropology is an emerging interdisciplinary research field that focuses on human/technology interactions and relations, and on how these can be understood and facilitated in context. This means that Techno-Anthropology has much to offer the health informatics and eHealth contexts when it comes to applying methods and techniques that can create an understanding of how citizens, patients, health care professionals, IT-professionals – and those who manage them – interact with technology. Techno-Anthropology, in its current configuration, also considers how technological innovation, development and implementation can be made in an appropriate and pragmatic way in relation to understanding work practices and in interpretations of technology in situated and contextual transfers of knowledge in constant negotiations. This means that there is a striving towards connecting science, engineering, social science and the humanities. The conglomeration of knowledge paradigms is what constitutes the interdisciplinary core of Techno-Anthropology, which paradoxically makes it both hard to defend and barrier-breaking in its essence.

The book's target audience is researchers and practitioners within the Health informatics field, as well as students and scholars within academia. It is our hope that this book will encourage people to apply Techno-Anthropology – quickly and correctly – in Health informatics, and inspire more researchers and practitioners to value and respect the competences of those using health informatics systems and applications, which are becoming an integral part of practicing health care to an increasing extent.

As editors, we have enjoyed our fruitful conversations, discussions, reflections and exchange of draft materials with the authors of this book. We hope that you will enjoy reading the book and will benefit from the insights it provides. We hope to inspire more researchers to join the emerging field of Techno-Anthropological research within Health informatics.

Lars Botin, Pernille Bertelsen and Christian Nøhr

June 2015