November 2002 - Air-L - lists.aoir.org

interesting links on this research project involving gender
by jeremy hunsinger 20 Nov '02

20 Nov '02

Begin forwarded message: > From: Dr Joan Mason <jm148(a)CAM.AC.UK> > Date: Wed Nov 20, 2002 6:23:07 AM US/Eastern > To: SATSUNET(a)JISCMAIL.AC.UK > Subject: SET education projects for girls > Reply-To: Dr Joan Mason <jm148(a)CAM.AC.UK> > > For a networking resource for those running > science/engineering/technology education projects for girls and > women, go to > > http://www.doinggender.com/ > > and select 'networking resource.' > > Please pass this website address on to others who may be interested > People running an educational project who would like to have it > listed on the site, please write to "Alison Phipps" > <alison(a)doinggender.com> > > -- > > Dr Joan Mason, 12 Hills Avenue, Cambridge CB1 7XA, UK > tel +44 1223 247827 fax +44 1223 740775 > jm148(a)cam.ac.uk http://www.awise.org > > jeremy hunsinger jhuns(a)vt.edu on the ibook www.cddc.vt.edu www.cddc.vt.edu/jeremy () ascii ribbon campaign - against html mail /\ - against microsoft attachments

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online group dynamics
by Stephanie Jo Kent 20 Nov '02

20 Nov '02

Hello all - I just joined the list a week or so ago; I'm a first year doctoral student at UMass Amherst. I'm working on a project on surveillance technology in which I'm exploring stages of group development in a group blog. It is not an anonymous group, but an extension of a graduate course, so we all know each other and see each other face-to-face as well. I've been seeking literature on small group dynamics online - can anyone point me to anything specific? Maybe in organization/management or some other applied context? At this point, anything that seems remotely close would be a big help! Thanks in advance, steph

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Re: Air-l digest, Vol 1 #537 - 1 msg
by Barry Wellman 20 Nov '02

20 Nov '02

Bram, Interesting idea, but how do we solve the free rider problem? Despite some assertions on this list to the contrary, it takes Work to put papers online or on a CD. And in a dozen ways, it is a PITA: different formats, authors want to do edits, etc. Even if everyone is well-behaved, it is still Work, and even if it is done by volunteers, it still costs money to do. Someone has to do it, and someone has to pay for it. I have been astonished at the contentions of some list posters that they have a Right to these papers even though they haven't paid their club membership -- joining AoIR. AoIR's dues are now extremely low compared to other professional societies, and even lower for students and those in non-OECD countries. As Steve Jones noted at the recent Maastricht general meeting, just to keep the existing level of activity going, they may have to be raised. To add on to the Work and the expense without contributing dues to the clube -- $25 for students -- seems to be unwarrented, and indeed a bit like asking to get something for nothing. That's my .02, Barry ___________________________________________________________________ Barry Wellman Professor of Sociology NetLab Director wellman(a)chass.utoronto.ca http://www.chass.utoronto.ca/~wellman Centre for Urban & Community Studies University of Toronto 455 Spadina Avenue Toronto Canada M5S 2G8 fax:+1-416-978-7162 ___________________________________________________________________ On Sun, 3 Nov 2002 air-l-request(a)aoir.org wrote: > Date: Sun, 3 Nov 2002 12:01:02 -0500 (EST) > From: air-l-request(a)aoir.org > Reply-To: air-l(a)aoir.org > To: air-l(a)aoir.org > Subject: Air-l digest, Vol 1 #537 - 1 msg > > Send Air-l mailing list submissions to > air-l(a)aoir.org > > To subscribe or unsubscribe via the World Wide Web, visit > http://www.aoir.org/mailman/listinfo/air-l > or, via email, send a message with subject or body 'help' to > air-l-request(a)aoir.org > > You can reach the person managing the list at > air-l-admin(a)aoir.org > > When replying, please edit your Subject line so it is more specific > than "Re: Contents of Air-l digest..." > > > > > Today's Topics: > > 1. Re: Conference papers online (Bram Dov Abramson) > > --__--__-- > > Message: 1 > Date: Sat, 2 Nov 2002 13:34:39 -0500 > To: air-l(a)aoir.org > From: Bram Dov Abramson <bda(a)bazu.org> > Subject: [Air-l] Re: Conference papers online > Reply-To: air-l(a)aoir.org > > zaphiri(a)soi.city.ac.uk: > >I understand that it might not be possible to put this years' > >proceedings online for free (for whatever copyright etc complications).. > >but i think it is an issue to consider and make mandotary in the future ? > > jhuns(a)vt.edu: > >but free and open > >distribution must be the decision of the individual not an obligation > >put on them because they participate in an organization or attend a > >conference. > > I don't think this is an overly difficult problem to solve. For the > AoIR Toronto conference, could the registration form include a > checkbox? It could look something like this: > > Following the conference, please make my paper available to: > > _ any visitor to the conference Web site > > _ any registered AoIR member visiting the conference Web site > > _ noone > > cheers > Bram > > > > --__--__-- > > _______________________________________________ > Air-l mailing list > Air-l(a)aoir.org > http://www.aoir.org/mailman/listinfo/air-l > > > End of Air-l Digest >

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Conference papers online
by Walker, Steve [IES] 20 Nov '02

20 Nov '02

I must admit to being a little baffled by some of the discussion about AoIR conference papers online. I'll try to separate out my grumble from the rest. <grumble>The grumble is that, when paying to attend a conference, it is normal practice to get access to copies of papers presented. I'm afraid I don't follow the coercion line of reasoning. In what sense is making papers available via the web to AoIR members not coercive, but making them available in whatever format to conference attenders coercive? (Rather, if there is any 'coercion' it appears to be to join AoIR as well as attend the conference). If people want to present, but not have their papers made available, presumably a tick-box on a submission sheet would handle a lot of the apparent difficulties. Finally, I understand that AoIR is not a well resourced organisation, relying heavily on volunteer effort. However, at a more material level, the cost of the conference was comparable with that of many conferences that do make papers available. Perhaps the planners for Toronto might think about factoring the costs of producing a CD-ROM into the cost of future events - it oughtn't cost a great deal, since I don't think anyone would expect particularly fancy production.</grumble> More interestingly, as others have pointed out, there is some evidence that use of (citations of) papers made available online is higher than otherwise. Jason's comments about on-line publishing also increasing the use of conventionally published articles by the same authors is some evidence of something I've suspected personally for a little while (thinking about how I use papers myself). Rather than leaving AoIR members (and/or conference presenters) to put their papers online individually, and scattered across cyberspace, a better service to members (and presenters) might well be to make papers freely available on the web (in a non-coercive manner, of course) in one place, under the banner of AoIR. On a slightly different tack, in response to Denise, I've just started to use the idea of genres (Crowston, Orlikowski etc) in explaining to students how they might use web resources. It is not a matter of whether a source was found on the Web or paper that matters, but the type of document that is being presented (peer reviewed, working paper, journalistic, etc). I'm still waiting for the students to submit tehir work, so I don't know if it's made any difference... Steve

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FW: The affects of chatting on-line
by Greg Wise 20 Nov '02

20 Nov '02

Forwarded to the list from a grad student of mine who is having trouble posting. Greg -----Original Message----- From: CRedden To: 'air-1(a)aoir.org ' Sent: 11/14/02 8:33 PM Subject: The affects of chatting on-line Hi all. I am a working on an applied project, and having a difficult time finding current research on my topic. I am reviewing literature regarding the use of email, specifically chatting on-line. I am interested in exploring whether or not the use of this medium to communicate with strangers will affect those who are also in existing face-to-face romantic relationships. Unfortunately, I have not been able to find much research in this area. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Carole

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archiving Google's cache
by Alexandra Samuel 20 Nov '02

20 Nov '02

I have a new take on the old problem of archiving a web site. The problem is that the site I need to archive has already been taken off line. (An object lesson in why it¹s important to archive web sites you¹re depending on in your research....) Fortunately, the site is still available through Google¹s cache, but this is a difficult way to access the content. (The site in question is an e-mail list archive, and so each message is a separate page, which means I need to download more than 2000 pages.) I¹ve tried various archiving programs, inputting the URL that Google generates for its search result page as the root page for the archive. But so far no luck I think because Google creates a separate URL for each page of the search results, and because it¹s difficult to figure out the right ³depth² of archive. (I need it to go 200 pages deep to get to the last page of search results, but I only want it to go 2 pages deep to get each message.) Does anyone have any experience trying to archive a Google cache? Or any suggestions? Thanks, Alex -- Alexandra Samuel samuel(a)fas.harvard.edu http://www.alexandrasamuel.com

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posting news on a listserv
by robert m. tynes 19 Nov '02

19 Nov '02

Hi all, Has anyone come across research concerning the social function(s) of posting news articles on a listserv? Such as identity formation, gratification, participation, commodity exchange, etc.... What role is the poster playing? Thanks, Robert Tynes

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ethics statement - voting open (aoir members only)
by Charles Ess 19 Nov '02

19 Nov '02

Colleagues: On behalf of the AoIR ethics working committee, we are pleased to present to you our statement on ethical guidelines, revised in light of both aoir-list comments and comments received during the panel presentation on the statement at AoIR 3.0: <http://www.aoir.org/reports/ethics.pdf>. (a) If you are a member of aoir (and if not, now might be a good time join - smile! - see <http://www.aoir.org/airjoin.html>) and (b) after you have had a chance to review the document (as well as the background information provided below), we would like to ask you to respond to the following question: "Should AoIR endorse the ethics working committee's statement on ethical decision-making (http://www.aoir.org/reports/ethics.pdf) as its statement of principles of Internet research ethics, with the understanding that this statement is open to future revisions in light of additional ethical insight and/or new technological developments?" To do so, you will need to login to a members-only section of the aoir web site: please go to <http://aoir.org/members/modules.php?op=modload&name=Vote&file=index&qid=10> There you will see simply Question 1 : Should AoIR endorse the Research Ethics Statement followed by [radio button] Yes [radio button] No Please indicate your vote by clicking on the appropriate radio button, and then click on the "Submit" button. Voting is now open, and will close on midnight, Wednesday, November 27, 2002. We hope you will first review the background information provided below as a way of introducing you to the statement, its intended audience and purpose, and its defining characteristics. And, as noted, we hope that the statement will indeed be approved by AoIR, and thus provide us with the kind of ethics code that other professional organizations have developed for the use of their members. As always, we are grateful to the members of the ethics working committee for their hard work, deliberation, and insight - and to Jeremy Hunsinger, not only for his contributions as a member of the committee, but also for his invaluable support and assistance as our webmaster. Charles Ess Chair, AoIR ethics working committee Steve Jones President, AoIR BACKGROUND The AoIR ethics working committee has developed a statement on "Ethical decision-making and Internet research" (please see <www.aoir.org/reports/ethics.pdf>). The statement provides a series of recommendations designed to support and inform those responsible for making decisions about the ethics of Internet research - researchers, ethicists, and related institutional bodies and academic organizations. The statement represents the collective debate and research of the ethics working committee, constituted in December, 2000, and made up of AoIR researchers and ethicists from eleven national cultures. (Committee members are listed in the statement.) It further incorporates criticisms and suggestions made by AoIR members over the past several months, as earlier drafts of the statement have been posted on the AoIR website for review and discussion by AoIR members on the AoIR mailing list. A (nearly final) draft was presented and discussed by a panel of ethics working committee members during AoIR 3.0, in a session attended by some 40+ conference participants. The statement is characterized by: * ethical pluralism - the view that more than one approach to and resolution of specific ethical problems can be legitimately defended; * cross-cultural awareness - the recognition that ethical decision-making approaches and defining values and priorities vary in important ways across diverse nations and cultures; * and the view that we can offer guidelines - but not "recipes" or algorithms that issue in a single, unequivocally "right" answer for every case and circumstance faced by Internet researchers. Rather, the statement attempts to help researchers, ethicists, and related organizational bodies recognize and work through specific ethical issues that commonly arise in Internet research - first of all, by providing a series of questions and suggestions. These questions and suggestions reflect not simply the collective insight and experience of the ethics committee and our AoIR contributors - but also our extensive discussion of what is (currently) the most comprehensive review of pertinent literature in Internet research ethics, the ethics and professional codes of the many disciplines at work in Internet research (from both social sciences and humanities), and philosophical ethics. (These and other helpful resources are collected in the form of appendices to the statement.) Unlike other professional organizations, Internet researchers - to this point - cannot turn to an ethics statement _for Internet researchers_ that is analogous to the ethics codes established by other professional organizations (e.g., the Association for Computing Machinery, the American Psychological Association, the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada, etc.) The statement by the ethics working committee, we hope, will fulfill that role for Internet researchers - but only, of course, if the AoIR membership approves it. We ask you to vote yes or no on this statement. The voting form on the AoIR website <http://www.aoir.org/members/index.php> provides a space for comments and suggestions, and the working committee welcomes these. But we are asking you to vote on the question of endorsing the current statement as it is now found at <www.aoir.org/reports/ethics.pdf>. If approved by a majority of AoIR members who cast votes during the voting period (closing Monday, November 25, 2002), the statement will then be posted on the AoIR website as endorsed by AoIR - until such time as it may be replaced by a revised statement, developed as described above and likewise endorsed by a majority of AoIR members who cast votes during the prescribed voting period.

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RE: Air-l digest, Vol 1 #553 - 6 msgs
by Sue Cranmer 19 Nov '02

19 Nov '02

research methodology - justification internet and lying (SocAdmin) I think all research, be it 'on' or 'offline' is influenced by how people wish to present themselves in whatever mode we may use to explore them. Therefore, issues raised by your critics are to the degree. During the observational part of my research, I've sat with many a 9-16 year old watching them present themselves online as the gender opposite to their own, amongst boys this is often cited as the only way other girls/boys will talk to them in chatrooms! I think the difference here is that adopting personas is part of the appeal and is widely sanctioned compared with doing similar offline. Sue Cranmer Research Officer Institute of Education University of London

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position at University of Wisconsin-Madison
by david silver 19 Nov '02

19 Nov '02

fyi. david ---------- Forwarded message ---------- >University of Wisconsin-Madison > >Interdisciplinary Position in Communication Technology and Information >Policy > > The University of Wisconsin-Madison has created a cluster of >three faculty positions in the interdisciplinary area of communication >technologies and information policy. One faculty position remains open. >Appointment to begin as early as August, 2003. The aim of the cluster is >to develop innovative, responsive, and competitive research programs that >will foster creative interactions among faculty and students from disparate >disciplines to address common issues within economic, political, cultural >and social dimensions of information technology. > > The University desires to fill the vacant position with a >scholar whose orientation is, broadly construed, social scientific. Area of >focus could include, but are not limited to: information policy; >information economy; science or health communication; electronic publishing; >alternative uses of technology; effects of technology on ethnic cultures; >technology and social networks; psychosocial aspects of the interaction >between technology and individuals. Successful candidates will use the >cluster structure as a catalyst for collaborative research; maintain their >own independent research programs; advise graduate students; teach at both >the undergraduate and graduate levels; develop new courses if appropriate; >and participate in faculty governance in their respective departments, >colleges and/or the University. Successful candidates will also be >comfortable with the use of technologies for teaching and learning. > > > > Applications will be accepted for a tenured appointment >(associate or full professor) with preference given to assistant professor >(tenure track). > > > > Applications should include a CV and a statement describing >research interests, accomplishments and direction, as related to the >description above. Names and contact information for three references >should also be included. > > > >Materials, referencing PVL #43173 should be sent to the Search Committee >chair: > > > > James P. Dillard > > Center for Communication Research > > University of Wisconsin-Madison > > 821 University Avenue > > Madison, WI 53706-1497 > > Deadline to ensure full consideration is December 15, 2002. > > Unless confidentiality is requested in writing, information >regarding the applicants must be released upon request. Finalists cannot be >guaranteed confidentiality. The University of Wisconsin-Madison is an Equal >Opportunity and Affirmative Action employer. Lewis A. Friedland Director, Center for Communication and Democracy Professor School of Journalism and Mass Communication Dept. of Sociology UW-Madison 821 University Ave. Madison, WI 53706 (608) 263-7853

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