October 2007 - Air-L - lists.aoir.org

Re: [Air-L] twittering while California burns
by Jankowski 24 Oct '07

24 Oct '07

Ben: Thanks for sharing these sites related to how Internet-based communication venues are being used by people (and by professional media) wanting / needing to know about the California fires. I am sure you are right that a wave of studies will emerge around news and communication flow, and around the fusion of professional media with Internet sites for personal communication. I can imagine theoretical inspiration for such studies coming, in part, from the half-century-old Katz and Lazarsfeld volume Personal Influence as well as from the examination of the flow of news immediately after the JFK assignation. If there are any studies being prepared, I'd like to hear.... Nick Jankowski ************************************************************************************************* Visiting Fellow Virtual Knowledge Studio for the Humanities and Social Sciences Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences 1019 AT Amsterdam, NL www.virtualknowledgestudio.nl ************************************************************************************************ At 04:45 AM 10/24/2007, you wrote: >I think in the next few months, we're going to see a whole lot of >interesting research on the use of technology during the Great >Californian Fire of 07. > >I've been seeing some very interesting ways of using the internet to >pass information between people who are there and people who want to >know what's going on. Fark.com has had a series of massive (1000+ >posts) threads about the fire (example: >http://forums.fark.com/cgi/fark/comments.pl?IDLink=3155801) where >people who are there pass on what ever info they have about >evacuations and other important details. > >Slashdot has a very interesting article with comments on how the >evacuation shelters in San Diago are wifi enabled, allowing evacuees >to set up blogs and use other internet tools to keep people appraised >of their situation. > >Another interesting article on the subject can be found at >http://www.webware.com/8301-1_109-9802911-2.html?part=rss&tag=feed&subj=Web… >. > >It's becoming apparent that these fires represent the largest civilian >movement since the Civil War. It's already outsized Katerina it terms >of people temporarily displaced from their houses. While the damage is >going to be much less, it is very interesting to see how people are >adapting technology very quickly for emergency use. > >Ben Spigel >Department of Geography >The Ohio State University >_______________________________________________ >The Air-L(a)listserv.aoir.org mailing list >is provided by the Association of Internet Researchers http://aoir.org >Subscribe, change options or unsubscribe at: >http://listserv.aoir.org/listinfo.cgi/air-l-aoir.org > >Join the Association of Internet Researchers: >http://www.aoir.org/

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twittering while California burns
by Ben Spigel 24 Oct '07

24 Oct '07

I think in the next few months, we're going to see a whole lot of interesting research on the use of technology during the Great Californian Fire of 07. I've been seeing some very interesting ways of using the internet to pass information between people who are there and people who want to know what's going on. Fark.com has had a series of massive (1000+ posts) threads about the fire (example: http://forums.fark.com/cgi/fark/comments.pl?IDLink=3155801) where people who are there pass on what ever info they have about evacuations and other important details. Slashdot has a very interesting article with comments on how the evacuation shelters in San Diago are wifi enabled, allowing evacuees to set up blogs and use other internet tools to keep people appraised of their situation. Another interesting article on the subject can be found at http://www.webware.com/8301-1_109-9802911-2.html?part=rss&tag=feed&subj=Web… . It's becoming apparent that these fires represent the largest civilian movement since the Civil War. It's already outsized Katerina it terms of people temporarily displaced from their houses. While the damage is going to be much less, it is very interesting to see how people are adapting technology very quickly for emergency use. Ben Spigel Department of Geography The Ohio State University

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FW: [WSIS CS-Plenary] 2008 IEEE International Symposium on Technology and Society -- Conference Announcement
by mgurst＠vcn.bc.ca 23 Oct '07

23 Oct '07

-----Original Message----- From: plenary-bounces(a)wsis-cs.org [mailto:plenary-bounces@wsis-cs.org] On Behalf Of Bill McIver Sent: October 23, 2007 10:13 AM To: plenary(a)wsis-cs.org Subject: [WSIS CS-Plenary] 2008 IEEE International Symposium on Technology and Society -- Conference Announcement (Please share with other colleagues and networks.) Dear WSIS Colleagues, The 2008 IEEE International Symposium on Technology and Society (ISTAS 08) will be held June 26-28 in Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada. ISTAS is the annual symposium of the IEEE Society on Social Implications of Technology ( http://www.ieeessit.org/ ). The theme for ISTAS 08 is: Citizens, Groups, Communities and Information and Communication Technologies. The scope of ISTAS 08 will include research on: * How citizens, groups and communities are or could be linked with information and communication technologies (ICT); and * Designing and developing ICT with and for citizens, groups and communities. ISTAS 08 will be a multi-disciplinary event for researchers in engineering, computer science, social sciences, arts and humanities; as well as community-based researchers, policy makers and technology user communities. Papers and discussions will address both the social and technical aspects of the specific topics. The National Research Council Canada Institute for Information Technology (NRC-IIT) is the conference host. Please find the call for papers attached. Additional information can be found at: http://istas08.ca. <http://istas08.ca> Important dates * Submission deadline: December 17, 2007 * Notification of acceptance: Feb 15, 2008 * Final camera-ready paper due: April 4th, 2008 * Author registration deadline (so that the author's paper will be included in proceedings): April 11, 2008 * Last day for early registration: April 11, 2008 * Conference: June 26-28, 2008 Sincerely, WJM -- William McIver, Jr, PhD (Bill) Research Officer, People-Centred Technologies National Research Council Canada -- Institute for Information Technology E-mail: Bill.McIver(a)nrc-cnrc.gc.ca

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Re: [Air-L] racist comments by James Watson?
by William Bain 23 Oct '07

23 Oct '07

"I've heard it said that race is a political delineation, not a scientific one." But don't we then come up against the quantum that everything is political? And what happens when the scientific solution leads to undesirable ends? Obviously, it all boils down to interpretation, which I think links up with what we were talking about a few months ago in regard to whether all action is commercial. You'll probably recall that there's an interesting point in Marx's *The German Ideology* where Marx seems to me to take a "wrong" fork. He says (essay 1, section (a), p. 19 of new world paperbacks) "... Language is as old as consciousness ... [and] language, like consciousness, only arises from the need, the necessity of intercourse with other men (sic). Where there exists a relationship, it exists for me: the animal has no 'relations' with anything, cannot have any...." But then, (the "wrong turn") Marx goes in a sense away from language. Somebody else, or many somebody elses, had to take the other fork away from the exceissive fascination with ontology and perhaps a fetishisation of "work". of course there are many Marxes and I'm no expert on this but I do try to work around it. or include the parts of his particular takes that are applicable or seem interesting. My point (obviously I hope, but possibly not) is that while race is not a satisfactory category for our analyses there are still racisms. So I agree with you but. Best regards again, Will William Bain PhD Student Comparative Literature Department of Spanish Philology Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com

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Re: [Air-L] racist comments by James Watson?
by William Bain 22 Oct '07

22 Oct '07

It's been suggested that more variation exists "within so-called racial groups than between them" and that race (which comes form the Italian razza and seems to have come into English in the 16th century) isn't that productive a scientific category. The website I'm quoting from also carries a link to the New York Times piece reporting on James Watson's "retraction" of his comment. Thats http://www.racismreview.com/blog/?p=73 and it also includes what I found to be an interesting link on whether race is a scientifically worthwhile category. In a text I read a long time ago (I seem to recall) was a comparison of race with class, or race discussed as *a* class in the sense of category. Sorry that the text's lost in the mists of time, as well as physically from my library, but maybe someone who works more closely than I do with biology and sociology will have info on thazt. ovibiously I have to be very careful to guard against or ciriticize arguments promoting eugenics/genocide. That was my original idea in posting what I did. for what it's worth, I got to the address I mentioned above by writing lewontin on racism into a major search engine and it also acquainted me with something I didn't know about called lewontin's fallacy, a statistical take. Personally I think Watson and hopefully many others, me included, have become more aware in part because of his mistake which, as I say, he's recognized. But I feel a graeat deal of anger at the situation in Jena, Louisiana not to mention that particular specific case of out-on-the-street life endangering racism. Too much anger, I emeant to write. To the suggestion that racist groups might use the comments of a very highly accomplished scientist to promote racism, well, that is only part of the danger, but yes, of course, that is the danger. Best regards, William William Bain PhD Student Comparative Literature Department of Spanish Philology Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com

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meeting up in Vancouver with people doing quantitative work on digital media use
by Eszter Hargittai 22 Oct '07

22 Oct '07

Hi, If you are doing quantitative work related to people's digital media uses (either using a data set you compiled or analyzing others' data), I would like to meet up with you and chat in Vancouver. I'm working on a project synthesizing related work and want to make sure that I don't miss any important studies. Please send me a note if you'd be willing to meet up. Thanks! Eszter http://www.eszter.com

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Re: [Air-L] Immigrant internet use refs request
by Kevin Leander 22 Oct '07

22 Oct '07

>Please note that there are 3 PhD positions available at Utrecht >University within the High Potential Program for the project Wired >up. Digital media as innovative socialization practices for migrant >youth. Deadline for applications is 5 November, 2007. Please pass >this information on to colleagues and to eligible master's students. PhD-researcher Identity, Migration, and Global Digital Media Faculty of Humanities (Project 1) (0,8 fte) >In this project we are researching the impact of new digital >applications on the construction of identity of young Dutch migrants >in a trans-national setting. We will investigate whether digital >media create an alternative interactive space between the culture of >origin and that of immigration, and how issues of identity, gender >and ethnicity are negotiated and articulated between online and >offline worlds. Deadline for application 5 November 2007. > ><http://applicaties.csc.uu.nl/uuvacature/detail.cfm?export=0&id=1905&taal=En…>http://applicaties.csc.uu.nl/uuvacature/detail.cfm?export=0&id=1905&taal=En… > PhD-researcher Learning & Socialization, new media and the migrant condition >Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences (Project 2) (0,9 fte) >The core interest of this project is to study the increasing impact >of new, digital media, or mediatization, on the learning and >socialization of both Dutch and immigrant youth. This raises >questions about the nature of the learning experiences youth engage >in, as both the nature of the social spaces and networks youth are >involved in as the role of traditional socializing agents seem to be >changing. Deadline for application 5 November 2007 > ><http://applicaties.csc.uu.nl/uuvacature/detail.cfm?export=0&id=1906&taal=En…>http://applicaties.csc.uu.nl/uuvacature/detail.cfm?export=0&id=1906&taal=En… > PhD researcher Social practices of identity by immigrant youth with new literacies and media >Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences(Project 3) (0,9 fte) >In this project we will study how Moroccan immigrant youth in the >Netherlands use Internet media and digital literacies in their >everyday lives to shape their identities and how immigrant youth >identities are shared and interpreted across social groups. Deadline >for application 5 November 2007 > ><http://applicaties.csc.uu.nl/uuvacature/detail.cfm?export=0&id=1907&taal=En…>http://applicaties.csc.uu.nl/uuvacature/detail.cfm?export=0&id=1907&taal=En… > >The vacancies are also advertised on Academic transfer ><http://www.academictransfer.nl/>http://www.academictransfer.nl/ >

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Social work blogs & networking
by Dan Prives 22 Oct '07

22 Oct '07

I'm planning a teaching unit for undergraduate students in social work about blogging and online networking related to their field. I'm fairly familiar with the general charity and nonprofit resources, but I'm not familiar with many resources relating specifically to social work. I would appreciate any leads or links to blogs or other online communities that are specifically focused on social work practice generally or on specific sub specialties like youth, families. And in a related question: have there been any articles or research on this subject in any social work journals? Regards, Dan Prives Where Most Needed The Charity Industry Blog http://www.wheremostneeded.org

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Professor of New Media and Digital Culture (University of Amsterdam)
by geert lovink 22 Oct '07

22 Oct '07

Professor of New Media and Digital Culture (1 fte) Mediastudies, New Media Program, Humanities Faculty, University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands. URL: http://www.medewerker.uva.nl/fgw/vacatures.cfm/B7A67CEB-1321-B0BE -6828538BBAA035AF For both internal and external candidates The duties associated with this chair comprise teaching and research in the field of the new media and digital culture. The chair will be part of an academic and cultural network within the city of Amsterdam. This includes the Waag Society for Old and New Media, De Balie (Centre for Culture and Politics), the Mediagilde and the Netherlands Institute for Media Arts (NIM), as well as the other parts of the UvA concerned with information studies, the Hogeschool van Amsterdam and the institutions of higher education in the arts, such as the Rietveld Academie, the Rijksacademie and the Hogeschool voor de Kunsten. The chair in New Media and Digital Culture will form part of the section Media and Culture section. This is one of the two chair groups in the Media Studies department, the other being Archives and Information Studies. The Media and Culture section encompasses existing chairs in Film, Television and Journalism, as well as the chair in New Media and Digital Culture that is now being established. The organisation of the Media Studies department is based on the available teaching and research expertise, with teams being responsible for different parts of the various BA and MA programmes. Teaching activities will focus principally on the BA degree course in Media and Culture, the MA degree course in New Media, and the research-based MA degree course in Media Studies. A number of minors and electives are also on offer. For the curriculum, see the faculty's digital (Dutch-language) prospectus at: http://www.hum.uva.nl/go/go.html and the student blog (in English) Masters of Media at http://mastersofmedia.hum.uva.nl/. Research activities will be directed at the study of New Media and Digital Culture. The new professor's own research will be part of the programme of the Amsterdam School for Cultural Analysis (ASCA), the Institute for Culture and History (ICG) or the interfaculty Institute for Logic, Language and Computation (ILLC). For further information about the faculty's research programme, see http://www.hum.uva.nl/research/ Requirements The person appointed to the Chair in New Media and Digital Culture will hold a doctorate on some topic within the field of the new media and digital culture or in a related discipline. His/her previous studies, publications and teaching career will give firm evidence of expertise in both the theory and the practice of the new media and of a thorough familiarity both with the scientific study of the internet and digital cultures and with current debates on multidisciplinarity and interdisciplinarity. The successful candidate will possess the ability to reflect on the basic tenets of the field of study and on the research methods currently in use within it. The new professor must see it as a challenge to create a distinctive profile, image and direction for teaching and research in this area and to knit together the relevant technological, philosophical, art historical, information science and historical approaches, most of which are already represented in the present team. In addition, s/he will have a demonstrable interest in issues arising at points where his/her particular field of study interfaces with the other specialisms within the Media Studies department, such as film, television, journalism, archival science and information studies, and with relevant disciplines outside the department. The successful candidate will have wide experience of university teaching and of supervising doctoral and other students. In addition, s/he must be able to demonstrate a familiarity and affinity with relevant ICT developments in the field of education and research. S/he will preferably have access to an existing national and international network in the relevant field. International experience will be seen as an advantage. Where teaching is concerned, the new professor will be responsible for developing and maintaining a high-quality contribution to the Media and Culture programme which is attractive to students. S/he will ensure that teaching programmes respond to society's demand for graduates capable of participating in the popularisation of academic knowledge. It is essential that s/he should be willing to cooperate in the area both of teaching and of research with other units within the faculty, at the Hogeschool van Amsterdam and at other institutions of higher education (including art colleges). In view of the faculty's policy that all academic staff should be capable of flexible deployment within its teaching programme, the new professor will be expected to be prepared to teach outside his/her direct field of academic interest. In addition, s/he will be expected to work together with UvA departments such as Informatics and Communication Studies on cross-faculty programmes directed at the development of joint projects in the fields of digital content, culture and technology. Candidates will be expected to have had experience at all levels of university education of all the forms of teaching employed at the UvA (seminars, lectures, and supervision of dissertations/theses and work experience placements) and also of the methods of assessment associated with each of these. They must possess teaching and educational skills of a high order and an approachable personality and manner. They will also be expected to have a fluent command of both Dutch and English; any appointee lacking this level of linguistic competence will be expected to acquire it within two years of taking up the post. Finally, the new professor must be well-informed about the future employment opportunities open to the section's students. The importance that the faculty attaches to this chair is reflected in the standards set for candidates in the research field. They must be able to demonstrate a thorough knowledge of the field by reference both to past publications, including articles in national and/or international academic journals and anthologies, and contributions to the wider public debate. In addition, it is assumed that the professor will undertake new research, including both individual projects and larger-scale projects involving partners outside the section, the Media Studies department and the faculty. S/he must be capable of recruiting the necessary indirect government or private sector funding for this. The supervision of doctoral students and postdocs will be among his/her duties; candidates will be expected to possess experience relevant to the exercise of these responsibilities. The professor will be expected to maintain close contacts with the field, or to be in a position to establish such contacts. The appointee will have administrative responsibility for his/her own field of study. First and foremost this will require inspiring and supportive team leadership. By encouraging staff and providing positive criticism, the new professor will help improve the quality and effectiveness of the university's teaching and research. Ways of achieving this will include holding regular team meetings with the staff of the section and conducting performance and job evaluation interviews. In addition, s/he must be prepared to undertake general administrative and organisational duties both within and outside the faculty. Demonstrable practical experience of administration and management is highly desirable. More information Further information can be obtained from the secretary of the selection committee, ms drs J.H.J. Kuiper, tel. 020-525 2006, e-mail j.h.j.kuiper(a)uva.nl, or from the chair, Professor F.P.I.M. van Vree, tel. 020-525 2980, e-mail f.p.i.m.vanvree(a)uva.nl. Appointment The initial appointment will be on a temporary basis for a period of no more than two years. Subject to satisfactory performance, this will be followed by a permanent appointment. The gross salary will normally be in accordance with professorial scale A (between € 4697 and € 6841 per month on a fulltime basis). In certain cases, however, different terms of employment may be offered. Job application Please submit your letter of application in Dutch or English, accompanied by a curriculum vitae and list of publications, by November 13th 2007. The application should be addressed to the secretary of the selection committee, ms drs J.H.J. Kuiper, Department of Media Studies, Turfdraagsterpad 9, 1012 XT Amsterdam, and should be sent in an envelop marked "strictly confidential". The selection will be in the hands of a committee headed by the Chair of the Media Studies department, Professor F.P.I.M. van Vree. Following an assessment procedure and a trial public lecture, the committee will make a recommendation to the Dean of the Faculty of Humanities.

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Re: [Air-L] AoIR photo group on Flickr
by NANCY MCDONALD-KNWRTHY 21 Oct '07

21 Oct '07

Totally irrelevant aside: after viewing the "slide show" of the photos... I cannot get over how many macbook pros I saw on laps of conference-goers... the re-revolution is in place!!! (I just bought a mac (again) last month, after years away from it... so I'm a re- convert. ) Looking forward to details of the conference! Nancy McDonald-Kenworthy, GA CSTW Writing Center Tutor www.cstw.org ----- Original Message ----- From: Matthew Allen <M.Allen(a)exchange.curtin.edu.au> Date: Saturday, October 20, 2007 8:01 pm Subject: [Air-L] AoIR photo group on Flickr > Hi all > > Wanting to see pix from AoIR? Have pix from AoIR events? - don't > forget there is a flickr group AoIR - set up in 2006 - I've added > mine. > Check my delicious tags at http://de.lic.io.us/netstudies_matt for > links to some ppl's photos, and blogging. Mine are at > http://www.flickr.com/photos/15467831@N02/sets/ 72157602565869637/ > matt > > PS - yes, I know I have to change my sig file > > Dr Matthew Allen > Associate Professor Internet Studies > Curtin University of Technology, CRICOS 00301J Australia > m.allen(a)curtin.edu.au > http://smi.curtin.edu.au/netstudies/allen.htm <" > target="l">https://email.curtin.edu.au/exchweb/bin/redir.asp? URL=http://smi.curtin.edu.au/netstudies/allen.htm> > +61 8 92663511 (v) +61 8 9266 3166 (f) > President, Association of Internet Researchers http:// www.aoir.org > <" target="l">https://email.curtin.edu.au/exchweb/bin/ redir.asp?URL=http://www.aoir.org/> > _______________________________________________ > The Air-L(a)listserv.aoir.org mailing list > is provided by the Association of Internet Researchers http:// aoir.org > Subscribe, change options or unsubscribe at: > http://listserv.aoir.org/listinfo.cgi/air-l-aoir.org > > Join the Association of Internet Researchers: > http://www.aoir.org/ >

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