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

CSI Registration Deadline
by CSI 15 Mar '02

15 Mar '02

Today is the last day for advanced registration for the Computer-Supported Social Interaction Conference (CSI) 2002. Featured Speakers: ¨ Andrea Hollingshead (University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign) ¨ Sara Kiesler (Carnegie Mellon University) ¨ Joseph Walther (Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute) Conference Information http://www.users.muohio.edu/campbeqj/csi/csi.html Registration Information http://www.users.muohio.edu/campbeqj/csi/csireg.html

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Lachlan's CV
by Lachlan Brown 15 Mar '02

15 Mar '02

Susan [institutional affiliation? Lightspeed University perhaps?], I am returning to complete my Doctorate in Cultural Studies at Goldsmiths College after a period of research in the industry as well as a period of care for a dying parent. My research is undertaken part time within the constraints of work and family life, very much in the tradition of British Cultural Studies. I have a history of the emergence of Intenret in culture and a cultural anthropology of this emergence. I ran the first web site devoted to broader cultural issues. It doubled (doubles) as a way in to research the field as well host institutions, with remarkable outcomes. I am presently involved in a self-funding post internet research exercise to sharpen up my social science methodological skills. This involves an empirical examination of the question: 'tragedy of the commons or a tragedy of capital' and is carried out among common resources that fluctuate over time. I have found that no tragedy of the commons occurs. I like horseback riding (most weekends), impromtou skiing and winter fun, winter activities in general, log rolling, walks through the snowy woods, bracing winds, contemplating the many, many different patterns of snowflake, I like Russian women presently. I enjoy teaching, reading, writing, and revolution. A labour of love. I have a fantastic daughter aged 10. I live in Toronto, where I am implementing long term plans for commercial and public service online publishing with former colleagues and with new collaborators, and of course I spend time over in the UK. I am single and I am looking, but I am very picky. Any pics, 'susan'? hmmm... [I think this list needs a resource containing research interests and institutional locations of members and contributors, as well as a photo of each member. I mean, identity and bodies kind of matter don't you think?]. Lachlan Brown Name: George Lachlan Brown Email: lachlan(a)london.com Employment: Director Thirdnet Ltd - 1999-present Education PhD candidate (part time) in Media and Communications, 1994 - (Completing in the Centre for Cultural Studies.) Goldsmiths' College, University of London. The Emergence of Internet in Culture, locations of production, networks of distribution, contexts of reception. Cultural implications of new media technologies in relation to the histories and structures of print. A focus in the political economy and social geography of distribution of knowledge. New publishing technologies. Issues of Cultural Production, Community, Circulation and Reception in collaborative hypermedia. Supervisor: David Morley. MA English Literature 1986 - 88. University of New Brunswick, Canada. BA (Hons.) First Class, 1982 - 85. Alsager College of Higher Education. Human Geography, English Literature and Writing. Employment as Lecturer: Lecturer, 1997 - 1998 Department of Innovation Studies, University of East London Maryland House Manbey Park Road London E15 Visiting Lecturer, JMU, Liverpool, September 1996 - May 1997 School of Media, Critical and Creative Arts Courses: Digital Cultures, Local and Global Cultures, Cultural Studies, Audiences, Media Histories, Reporting and the Reported, Persuasion and Propaganda, Theories of Spectatorship,. Visiting Tutor, Media & Communications, Goldsmiths College, University of London. September 1994 - June 1996 Courses: Foundations of Communications, Music and Popular Culture, Media, History and Politics, Political Economy of Mass Media. Employment as Editor: Managing Editor, Between the Lines Press. Toronto, 1991 - 92. Supervision of publishing programme with press whose list includes History, Development and Third World issues, Media and Cultural Politics. Liaison with authors, editors, co-publishers. Managing Editor, Borderlines 1990 - 91. Canadian cultural studies journal. Responsible for all aspects of production and editing. Initiation of projects. Liaison between editorial committees, typesetter/ designer, printer. Training of staff. Assistant Editor and Production Manager, C Magazine 1990. . Copy Editor, Public 1989 - 91. Copy editing, scheduling production. Awards: British Council Young Academic Research Programme, Canada, Summer 1996 Ontario Arts Council Writers' Reserve Grant 1992. Commonwealth Scholarship (Canada) 1986 - 88. -- _______________________________________________ Sign-up for your own FREE Personalized E-mail at Mail.com http://www.mail.com/?sr=signup Travelocity.com is giving away two million travel miles. http://ad.doubleclick.net/clk;3969773;6991039;g?http://svc.travelocity.com/…

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>Anyone care to lessen my confusion?
by Lachlan Brown 15 Mar '02

15 Mar '02

>Anyone care to lessen my confusion? Yes, I will do that. I am Lachlan Brown and I do Cultural Studies. Some people appear to have a problem with that. I have an introduction to AoIR. Thanks for: "The Association of Internet Researchers is an academic association = dedicated to the advancement of the cross-disciplinary field of Internet = studies. It is a resource and support network promoting critical and = scholarly Internet research independent from traditional disciplines and = existing across academic borders. The association is international in = scope." This is a cultural studies mandate. cross-disciplinarity I'm making an intervention, a long intervention it seems, perhaps a series of interventions covering a number of years, if necessary, into the state of Internet scholarship to identify productive lines of inquiry that scholarship in this field has felt for one reason or another unable or not empowered to take on. They are meant to inflect the course of Internet industry from present trends (which I am sure Industry will welcome) towards ones more compatible with our culture(s) and to help inform our culture(s) at large about Internet. I have considerable experience in the field. It makes common sense to me to intervene here to highlight significant lapses, oversights, absenses, and indeed erasures in Internet scholarship. The intervention may seem confusing, thats partly the point, to de-familiarize or make what you think is normal (and what some people here think is normal is very odd indeed) seem strange, but given the subjects to be discussed confusion along with distress, followed by collective action toward a healing seem appropriate emotions and responses. I have an introduction in the AIR-L. It would help if there was some way of seeing other peoples names, research interests, links and a brief statement of interests, like they used to have (still have?) in MediaMOO. It is difficult to write to peoples queries or interests without knowing their work and affiliations. Dont feel bad about your confusion. Confusion is an appropriate way to feel given the nature of the field. I wonder what your area of expertise is. Lachlan Brown Cultural Studies Golsmiths College University of London Thirdnet, Toronto (416) 826 6937 (416) 822 1123 -- _______________________________________________ Sign-up for your own FREE Personalized E-mail at Mail.com http://www.mail.com/?sr=signup Travelocity.com is giving away two million travel miles. http://ad.doubleclick.net/clk;3969773;6991039;g?http://svc.travelocity.com/…

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>Anyone care to lessen my confusion?
by Lachlan Brown 15 Mar '02

15 Mar '02

>Anyone care to lessen my confusion? Yes, I will do that. I am Lachlan Brown and I do Cultural Studies. Some people appear to have a problem with that. I have an introduction to AoIR. Thanks for: "The Association of Internet Researchers is an academic association = dedicated to the advancement of the cross-disciplinary field of Internet = studies. It is a resource and support network promoting critical and = scholarly Internet research independent from traditional disciplines and = existing across academic borders. The association is international in = scope." This is a cultural studies mandate. cross-disciplinarity I'm making an intervention, a long intervention it seems, perhaps a series of interventions covering a number of years, if necessary, into the state of Internet scholarship to identify productive lines of inquiry that scholarship in this field has felt for one reason or another unable or not empowered to take on. They are meant to inflect the course of Internet industry from present trends (which I am sure Industry will welcome) towards ones more compatible with our culture(s) and to help inform our culture(s) at large about Internet. I have considerable experience in the field. It makes common sense to me to intervene here to highlight significant lapses, oversights, absenses, and indeed erasures in Internet scholarship. The intervention may seem confusing, thats partly the point, to de-familiarize or make what you think is normal (and what some people here think is normal is very odd indeed) seem strange, but given the subjects to be discussed confusion along with distress, followed by collective action toward a healing seem appropriate emotions and responses. I have an introduction in the AIR-L. It would help if there was some way of seeing other peoples names, research interests, links and a brief statement of interests, like they used to have (still have?) in MediaMOO. It is difficult to write to peoples queries or interests without knowing their work and affiliations. Dont feel bad about your confusion. Confusion is an appropriate way to feel given the nature of the field. I wonder what your area of expertise is. I will summarise my queries so far shortly. Best Lachlan Lachlan Brown Cultural Studies Golsmiths College University of London Thirdnet, Toronto (416) 826 6937 (416) 822 1123 -- _______________________________________________ Sign-up for your own FREE Personalized E-mail at Mail.com http://www.mail.com/?sr=signup Travelocity.com is giving away two million travel miles. http://ad.doubleclick.net/clk;3969773;6991039;g?http://svc.travelocity.com/…

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Major Online Communities Report from Pew Internet and American Life Project
by Steven Clift 14 Mar '02

14 Mar '02

This time with a subject line ... P.S. I would be interested in the results of similar studies in other countries. - SLC *** Democracies Online Newswire - http://www.e-democracy.org/do *** The Pew Internet and the American Life Project <http://www.pewinternet.org> has released one of the most important studies about the "two-way" Internet to date - "Online Communities: Networks that nurture long-distance relationships and local ties." Below is the press release. Access the full report from: http://www.pewinternet.org/reports/toc.asp?Report=47 For my full Democracies Online commentary visit: http://mail.tc.umn.edu/cgi-bin/wa?A2=ind0110&L=do-wire&D=1&H=1&O=D&F=&S=&P=3 265 The report states that most people find local online groups in the off-line world. I also see tremendous potential for online efforts which make it easier to find, evaluate, and join online communities based on geography and other key factors. This happens to tie extremely closely with the proposed Open Groups standards effort that I am promoting <http://www.publicus.net/opengroups/>. To receive notice of the pending release of a major technical draft, send an e-mail to <open-groups-announce-subscribe(a)yahoogroups.com>. With support, Open Groups could help increase online group interactivity many times over. Read on for the press release and pass this on to others. Steven Clift Democracies Online Newswire http://www.e-democracy.org/do Provided to DO-WIRE by: http://www.pewinternet.org FOR RELEASE AT 6 P.M., OCTOBER 31, 2001 CONTACT: Lee Rainie or John Horrigan at 202-296-0019 http://www.pewinternet.org/about/about.asp?page=5 90 million have participated in online groups Many use the Internet to connect with online communities that embrace their hobbies, their professions, their passions, and their beliefs 28 million go online with church groups, sports leagues, and social organizations in their home towns WASHINGTON- The Internet allows tens of millions of Americans to participate in a thriving social world where they enjoy serious and satisfying contact with online communities. Some 84% of Internet users have contacted an online group. That means that more Americans have used the Internet to contact a group than have gotten news online, or searched for health information, or bought a product. Many of these online groups are far flung and allow Internet users to connect easily with others around the world who share their passions, beliefs, hobbies, and lifestyles. At the same time, 26% of online Americans use the Internet to intensify their connection to their local community by planning church meetings, organizing neighborhood gatherings, arranging local sports league operations, coordinating charity activities, and petitioning local politicians. These findings represent some hopeful news that the Internet can be a tool for vigorous social engagement, rather than a technology that spurs isolation and alienation among users. · 50% of those who participate in online groups say the Internet has helped them get to know people they would not otherwise have met. · More than a third (37%) of those who participate in online groups say the Internet has helped them meet others from different generations than their own. · More than a quarter (27%) of those who participate in online groups say the Internet has helped them connect with people from different racial, ethnic, or economic backgrounds than their own. These results come in a survey of Internet users by the Pew Internet & American Life Project, a research organization that examines the social impact of the Internet. They are contained in a report entitled, "Online Communities: Networks that nurture long-distance relationships and local ties." "For vast numbers of Americans, use of the Internet simultaneously expands their social worlds and connects them more deeply to the place where they live," says Lee Rainie, Director of the Pew Internet & American Life Project. "Online groups are comfortable places for people to congregate and get to know organizations and people they might never have encountered." Many online Americans are using the Internet to connect to traditional groups that exist in the offline world such as professional and trade associations, hobby enthusiast organizations, religious groups, ethnic and racial fraternal organizations, and political groups. A surprisingly large number of those contacting online groups (56%) say they became active in a group -- even traditional, offline organizations -- after they began communicating with it over the Internet. At the same time, millions of online Americans now use the Internet to connect to groups to which they belonged before they began using the Internet - and they report that their use of the Internet has helped them become more involved with those groups. One other encouraging sign is that use of the Internet is drawing new kinds of people to groups. In particular, young adults and minorities are using the Internet to participate in all kinds of online clubs and organizations and this is leading to new forms of civic involvement. "The network of networks has become a collection of communities," said John Horrigan, senior researcher at the Pew Internet Project and principal author of the report. "Many actively engage in cyber groups through email and bulletin boards that are lively forums for sharing ideas, hashing out issues, and making new friends." The Pew Internet Project study identifies 9 different types of Internet users who are attracted to online groups. Many belong to several types: On average, a Cyber Groupie (or someone who has checked out an online group) has visited 4 different online groups at one time or another. The different types are: · The Getting Ahead group - 51% of Internet users who have checked out trade and professional associations or labor unions. They are more likely to be college-educated men. · The Getting By group - 43% of Internet users who use Internet groups to mange day-to-day responsibilities, such as parenting or medical conditions. Women, especially those in the 35-44 age bracket, gravitate to this group. · Belief groups - 56% of Internet users who go to religious online groups or those relating to spiritual beliefs. Those in Belief groups value making personal connections more than the average Cyber Groupie. · Lifestylers - 28% of Internet users who go to online groups to contact people with similar lifestyles. Lifestylers tend to be men under age 34 and are among the very active emailers of other online community members. · Ethnic and racial groups - 15% of Internet users who have contacted an ethnic group online. This is the most racially diverse set of Cyber Groupies; this group is also younger and more urban than other categories of online communitarians. · Civic Engagement group - 45% of Internet users who have contacted an online group such as a neighborhood association or local charitable group. This group is older than average, and active in emailing online groups close to home. · Political Groupies - 22% of Internet users who have contacted a political group online. This group is mostly educated white males, and they are among most active emailers of others in online groups, and report that online groups have deepened their involvement in groups to which they already belong. · Entertainment groupies - 60% of Internet users who go to online groups about TV shows or fan sites of particular performers. This Cyber Groupies are younger than average, and have been online longer than others who go to online groups. · Sports Junkies - 42% of Internet users go to online groups about their favorite sports teams or local teams in which they participate. These users fit a perhaps predictable profile: they tend to be suburban men between the ages of 35 and 44. Here are some other key findings from the survey: · Men tend to be drawn to online groups involving professional activities, politics, and sports. · Women tend to be drawn to online medical support groups, local community associations that are online, and cyber groups relating to entertainment. · Lurking is not prevalent among Cyber Groupies; fully 60% email their group, 43% several times a week. · 35% of all Internet users go online for news about their local community or community events. · 30% of all Internet users go online to get information about their local government. · 11% of Internet users know of a local issue in which the Internet played a role in organizing citizens to communicate with public officials. · 51% percent of all Americans know of a place in their community where the Internet is publicly available. Overwhelmingly, these places are public libraries. African-Americans are the most likely to say that their community lacks public access to the Internet; 42% of African-Americans say their community does not have publicly available Internet terminals somewhere, compared with 29% of whites and 33% of Hispanics. The Pew Internet & American Life Project is a nonpartisan, independent research organization funded by the Pew Charitable Trusts to study the impact of the Internet on families, communities, health care, education, civic and political life, and the work place. ^ ^ ^ ^ Steven L. Clift - W: http://www.publicus.net Minneapolis - - - E: clift(a)publicus.net Minnesota - - - - - T: +1.612.822.8667 USA - - - - - - - ICQ: 13789183 *** Please send submissions to: DO-WIRE(a)TC.UMN.EDU *** *** To subscribe, e-mail: listserv(a)tc.umn.edu *** *** Message body: SUB DO-WIRE *** *** To unsubscribe instead, write: UNSUB DO-WIRE *** *** Please forward this post to others and encourage *** *** them to subscribe to the free DO-WIRE service. ***

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Coordinator Report: Privacy, Surveillance, and Security
by Ellis Godard 14 Mar '02

14 Mar '02

There were only 10 submissions for Privacy, Surveillance, and Security. Nils and I recommend accepting 1 panel (which was proposed as such) and 2 paper sessions, and rejecting the one submission which did not have a title or author (though for other reasons, of course). This leaves 3 strong events: Privacy Perceptions: Attitudes Toward Internet Privacy - Matej Shifting Articulations of Internet Privacy - Gustafson Restricted Privacy...as culture-specific... - Ribak Privacy Perceptions and Online Practices - Ana, Clement, and Aspinal Monitoring Practices Big Brother in Australia - Whitty The Work of Being Watched... - Andrejevic Online Privacy and Consumer Protection - Ferbank & Zizi Panopticon.com - Carlson and Campbell Productive Surveillance (proposed as a panel) Using the Community to Sell - Fernback The Panoptic State - Elmer Space the Final Frontier - Andrejevic

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The Semantic Web
by Arthur Stutt 14 Mar '02

14 Mar '02

Hi Has anyone come across any material which takes a critical look at the social impact of the Semantic Web as envisaged by TIM BERNERS-LEE, et al.? http://www.sciam.com/2001/0501issue/0501berners-lee.html http://www.w3.org/2001/sw/ http://www.semanticweb.org/ Arthur

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call for chapters--virtual research ethics
by Mia Consalvo 14 Mar '02

14 Mar '02

FYI, I'm passing this along for a colleague-- so please email her for more information. Mia CALL FOR CHAPTERS Virtual Research Ethics: Issues and Controversies A book edited by Elizabeth A. Buchanan, Ph.D., University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, USA All types of formal research are now being conducted via the Internet. From strict quantitative data collection to virtual ethnography to survey research, researchers want to tap into the vast riches of online communities, those that oftentimes exist only in a virtual reality. However, these forms of research often seem in conflict with-or a challenge to-long-standing principles of research ethics. Chapters in this book will focus on the use of the Internet/WWW itself as a medium for conducting research. Online research or virtual research is quickly emerging as a unique research methodology, complete with its own methodological specificity, its own guidelines on how to conduct research online, as well as codes of researcher conduct. Nowhere is the challenge surrounding online research greater than in the offices of institutional review boards, which find themselves struggling with new protocol language, new means of data selection and collection, and new and increasingly difficult challenges to the ethical treatment and protection of human subjects. The goals of this book include: 1.. To introduce readers to online research protocols 2.. To introduce readers to online research ethics issues 3.. To provide guidelines for the conduct of online research 4.. To explore ethical considerations and problems in the conduct of virtual research Representative topics include but are not limited to the following: a.. Tradtional research ethics and IRB protocols b.. Philosophical dilemmas of online research ethics c.. Conducting online research d.. Ethical codes of conduct for online research · IRB Guidelines for human subject protection · Case studies of online research in action · Case studies in online research ethics violations a.. "Success stories" in IRB handlings of online research ethics b.. Legal issues in online research SUBMISSION PROCEDURE Researchers and practitioners are invited to submit on or before June 1, a 2-5 page manuscript proposal clearly explaining the mission and concerns of the proposed chapter. Authors of accepted proposals will be notified by June 30 about the status of their proposals and sent chapter organizational guidelines. Full chapters are expected to be submitted by October 15, 2002. All submitted chapters will be reviewed on a blind review basis. I am pleased to announce that the book will be published by Idea Group Inc., publisher of the Idea Group Publishing, Information Science Publishing and IRM Press imprints. Inquiries and Submissions can be forwarded electronically (Word or RTF format) to: Elizabeth Buchanan, Ph.D. University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Milwaukee, WI 53211 Tel: 414.229.4707 Fax: 414.229.4848 Email: eliz1679(a)uwm.edu --

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Confused re this list !!
by Denise Carter 14 Mar '02

14 Mar '02

Am I the only person who is confused about this list? I have subscribed to this list for two years and have been a member of the aoir for the last year. I have always found this list to be useful and informative ... sometimes in the area of my own research...but often instructive in the directions other peoples research is taking. Occasionally I have asked for clarification of particular concepts with which I was struggling. Sometimes I have eagerly read other message strings, and followed the links and readings that they have suggested. In my own research I have used the aoir research committee's paper on the ethics of internet research as my guide. Inthe past if I haven't had the time to read the air-list messages I have saved them in a file to read later in case I missed something important. But now.... Well I am finding that at least 50% (and rising) messages are not worth the effort of reading ... and I am not complaining about the odd personal messages or friendly banter because that helps me to see you as people ... its just that I have this odd feeling that we (the list members) are being provoked. I don't know why and I'm not going to name names. But I want to know why I feel as if I'm being provoked ... and I don't want the reasons wrapped up in pseudo-academic speech ! It would be nice for the aoir list to return to it's reason for existing, and the reason that I and many others subscribed in the first place ... I have cut and pasted that raison-d'etre here from the aoir web site:- "The Association of Internet Researchers is an academic association dedicated to the advancement of the cross-disciplinary field of Internet studies. It is a resource and support network promoting critical and scholarly Internet research independent from traditional disciplines and existing across academic borders. The association is international in scope." Anyone care to lessen my confusion? Denise Carter DOCTORAL STUDENT CASS UNIVERSITY OF HULL EMAIL: d.m.carter(a)cas.hull.ac.uk OR: denisecarter(a)denisecarter.net

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CGDC 2002 programme and registration opens
by Frans Mäyrä 14 Mar '02

14 Mar '02

(Apologies for cross-posting) ** Welcome to CGDC & the World of Games Research ** Computer Games and Digital Cultures conference is a three-day event bringing together leading game professionals and academic research community. The conference dates are June 6-8, 2002 and conference will take place in Tampere, Finland. Conference keynotes are given by Warren Spector (Ion Storm, USA), Greg Costikyan (Unplugged Games, USA) and Eric Zimmerman (gameLab, USA). For more information, visit http://www.gamesconference.org/ The organising committee was pleasantly surprised by the amount and overall quality of submissions. The accepted proposals have been organised into eight sessions, including "Convergence and Games in New Platforms", "Meaning and Rhetoric in Games", "Games as an Audiovisual Media", "Research of Multi-User Games", "Play and Narrative in Games and Research", "Gaming Cultures", "Directions of Games Design" and "Case: EverQuest". For the full programme, see http://www.gamesconference.org/programme.html The participants will receive printed Conference Proceedings, which includes the full conference papers. A poster exhibition at the conference will introduce more works of games research and development. In addition, the first conference day will include workshops into the design, research and educational issues of games. For information on the workshop programme, see http://www.gamesconference.org/pf_workshop.html Registration The conference registration has now opened in the Computer Games and Digital Cultures conference website; see http://www.gamesconference.org/registration.html It is important to register early for the conference, as the amount of participants is limited. Also, there will be other major events in Tampere at the same time and it will most probably be hard to get accommodation after April 30. Computer Games and Digital Cultures conference is organised by the Hypermedia Laboratory of University of Tampere, in co-operation with the leading Nordic universities of the field and partners in the digital content industry. The conference continues the series of international game studies conferences opened by Computer Games and Digital Textualities in Copenhagen in 2001. Welcome to Tampere, and the world of games research! Best regards, -- Frans | Frans Mäyrä / Professor / Hypermedia Laboratory | | University of Tampere / http://www.uta.fi/hyper | | frans(a)iki.fi / tel 03 215 7933 / gsm 050 336 7650 |

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