L'usage d'internet par les chercheurs toulousains

This text presents the results of exploratory research carried out on the concrete use of Internet by a population of researchers. Different investigational modes were put into operation: statistics on the flow of messages in transit at one of the server sites; follow-up on certain discussion-groups; a questionnaire distributed by electronic mail service. Two major lines of research were given particular consideration: the impact of Internet on professional or private social networks; and electronic mail as a specific form of communication. The data treated here bring out the importance of local communications in the exchanges of electronic mail, which links up to the generalization of long-distant exchanges, making Internet an important method for managing relational systems. In addition, the forms of the messages, and the discourse of the actors, tends to support the hypothesis of a specificity of this type of communication which is presented as a hybrid of earlier forms.