January 2008 - Air-L - lists.aoir.org

anthropology is not a science?
by Andrew Calabrese 16 Jan '08

16 Jan '08

Apologies for the two previous blank messages. For some reason, when I converted text from HTML to plain, it disappeared after I hit "send." At least that's how it appeared on my screen after sending (and seeing the blank postings). Anyway, here's what I sent: ************** It seems like this topic has been made relevant to this list, or least I'm enjoying reading about it. Although I'm not an anthropologist, it's clear that a growing number of anthropologists are contributing to the body of research knowledge about the Internet. Moreover, scholars from a variety of fields (anthropology, sociology, psychology, communication) have been pushing the boundaries of ethnographic methods by studying Internet use. I'm guessing that anthropologists and ethnographers from other fields would have a lot of interest in this topic, given its implications for research about such things as the impact of the Internet on immigration patterns, the Internet's role in the maintenance of disaporic communities, how religious and ethnic identities are sustained through the uses of the Internet, and much more. As for the disagreement at hand, about whether anthropology is a "science," I'm skeptical that there is a compelling argument for why it is not, but it's an interesting topic for respectful disagreement in any case. The assertion that anthropology is "not a science" (whatever that means) probably doesn't sit well with many anthropologists who study Internet use, or with other Internet researchers who employ methods that originated in anthropology, as well as with others on the list who'd simply like to be enlightened as to what the standards are that are used to judge whether their research is scientific. Many philosophers of science characterize scientific theories as highly formalized arguments, and the purpose of scientific inquiry as efforts not to prove that such arguments are right, but rather to systematically demonstrate weaknesses and limitations in claims to the contrary. Based on that presumption of the purpose of science, I think it would be easy enough to show that such contributions are made by anthropologists all the time. As to the fact that the objects and conditions of analysis that anthropologists choose to study are often not replicable and may not lend themselves easily to the statistical measurement of regularities and explained variance, this does not disqualify anthropology as "science," unless we are prepared to say the same about the work of many astronomers, geologists and other natural scientists. Andrew Calabrese School of Journalism and Mass Communication University of Colorado http://spot.colorado.edu/~calabres/ -----Original Message----- From: air-l-bounces(a)listserv.aoir.org [mailto:air-l-bounces@listserv.aoir.org] On Behalf Of Barry Saunders Sent: Tuesday, January 08, 2008 7:10 AM To: air-l(a)listserv.aoir.org Subject: Re: [Air-L] Religious Dimension of Sustainable Development indeed. i'm not quite sure how the original post relates to this list, for that matter. /nipped -- Barry Saunders ---- http://investigativeblog.net http://gatewatching.org http://youdecide2007.org ---- PhD Candidate // researcher http://creativeindustries.qut.edu.au http://eprints.qut.edu.au/view/person/Saunders,_Barry.html ph: 07 3138 0155 skype: barry_saunders CRICOS No. 00213J ________________________________________ From: air-l-bounces(a)listserv.aoir.org [air-l-bounces(a)listserv.aoir.org] On Behalf Of Alexis Turner [subbies(a)redheadedstepchild.org] Sent: Wednesday, January 09, 2008 12:05 AM To: AIR-L Subject: Re: [Air-L] Religious Dimension of Sustainable Development While no doubt a fascinating topic of conversation, I am not able to see that this directly relates to Internet research and would like to politely suggest we nip this conversation in the bud immediately. There are more appropriate forums. -Alexis

6 7

Re: [Air-L] What is web culture?
by Julian Hopkins 16 Jan '08

16 Jan '08

Actually, I don't think there really is such a thing as 'web culture'; anything done online is intricately connected to the actor's offline cultural context, and therefore to postulate a separate 'internet culture' is mistaken, IMO. However, viewing online behaviour as subcultural has its merits, and there are perhaps clusters of behavioural patterns that make sense to analytically separate. I'm still thinking through this issue a lot, so I don't have any firm ideas I'm afraid, but I can suggest a couple of resources. Castells, Manuel. The Internet Galaxy: Reflections on the Internet, Business, and Society. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2001. * Chapter 2 is called "The Culture of the Internet", and he does a good job tracing various practices, and says the following: - Definition of culture: "a set of values and beliefs informing behavior... collective construction that transcends individual preferences" (36-7) - "Internet culture... four-layer structure: the techno-meritocratic culture, the hacker culture, the virtual communitarian culture, and the entrepreneurial culture" (37) Postill, John. "Localising the Internet: Beyond Communities and Networks." Sheffield: Sheffield Hallam University, UK, 2007. 20/9/2007 <http://jpostill.nomadit.co.uk/articles/postill_localising_net.pdf>. * He argues for the use of the concept of field to understand internet specific behaviour, which is useful I find. The Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication (http://jcmc.indiana.edu/) is also a good place to go to, if you haven't already. Hope that's some help. Julian ++++++++++ Blog: www.julianhopkins.net Skype: julhop IM: jfprhopkins(a)hotmail.com ------------------------------ Message: 5 Date: Tue, 15 Jan 2008 12:13:43 -0600 From: "Hall, Richard H." <rhall(a)mst.edu> Subject: [Air-L] What is web culture? To: <air-l(a)listserv.aoir.org> Message-ID: <C3B253F7.18810%rhall(a)mst.edu> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" 1) How would you define web culture? 2) How is it unique, in comparison to other cultures? 3) What are some good/classic resources on the web describing and defining web culture? ... Thanks ... Richard -- Richard H. Hall Professor and Program Director, Information Science and Technology Missouri S&T http://mst.edu/~rhall

2 1

Facebook for Library Outreach : Don't Be Left In The Dust ...
by Gerry Mckiernan 16 Jan '08

16 Jan '08

***APOLOGIES FOR RECEIPT OF DUPLICATE POSTINGS*** Colleagues/ I have discovered A Most Interesting Post That Has Sent Thrills Up My Spine [:-) [University of Michigan Survey] / Posted December 15, 2007 / userslib.com QUESTION: If you could contact a librarian via Facebook or MySpace for help with your research, would you? If not, why? Data/Analysis A total of 23% of respondents stated that *yes* or *maybe* they would be interested in contacting a librarian via these two social networking sites. Undergrads had a slightly higher than average percentage of 34%. Nearly half of the total respondents stated they would not be interested, but for various reasons - the biggest reason being that they feel the current methods (in-person, email, IM) are more than sufficient. 14% said no because they felt it was inappropriate or that Facebook/MySpace is a social tool, not a research tool. Links / Graphics / And More at [ http://onlinesocialnetworks.blogspot.com/2008/01/data-students-facebook-lib… ] Thanks to Suzanne Chapman, interface and user testing specialist for the University of Michigan Library*s Digital Library Production Service, and Team !!! /Gerry Gerry McKiernan Associate Professor Science and Technology Librarian Iowa State University Library Ames IA 50011 gerrymck(a)iastate.edu There is Nothing More Powerful Than An Idea Whose Time Has Come Victor Hugo [ http://www.blogger.com/profile/09093368136660604490 ] Iowa: Where the Tall Corn Flows and the (North)West Wind Blows [ http://alternativeenergyblogs.blogspot.com/ ]

1 0

Deadline Extended until 31 January - Sociotechnical Insights in Interaction Design (Sociotech-ID'08)
by Jose Abdelnour-Nocera 16 Jan '08

16 Jan '08

1 0

Re: [Air-L] What is web culture?
by Julian Hopkins 16 Jan '08

16 Jan '08

Apologies, the link I sent before for John Postill's paper does not work, please use this one instead: http://johnpostill.co.uk/articles/postill_localising_net.pdf Regards, Julian ++++++++++ Blog: www.julianhopkins.net Skype: julhop IM: jfprhopkins(a)hotmail.com ------------------------------ Message: 5 Date: Tue, 15 Jan 2008 12:13:43 -0600 From: "Hall, Richard H." <rhall(a)mst.edu> Subject: [Air-L] What is web culture? To: <air-l(a)listserv.aoir.org> Message-ID: <C3B253F7.18810%rhall(a)mst.edu> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" 1) How would you define web culture? 2) How is it unique, in comparison to other cultures? 3) What are some good/classic resources on the web describing and defining web culture? ... Thanks ... Richard -- Richard H. Hall Professor and Program Director, Information Science and Technology Missouri S&T http://mst.edu/~rhall

1 0

Postgraduate conference
by cathy.fowley＠dcu.ie 16 Jan '08

16 Jan '08

Apologies for multiple postings Please forward to interested students! _____________________________________________________________________ CALL FOR PARTICIPATION *4th International Postgraduate Conference in Translation and Textual Studies* 5 - 7 June 2008 Dublin City University Dublin, Ireland The conference focuses on new interdisciplinary ways of looking at text and is aimed exclusively at first-time presenters. It intends to provide a forum for the exchange of ideas as well as an environment for examining the research process under the guidance of experienced researchers. To this end we invite abstracts for paper presentations and/or workshop participation in the broad range of Translation and Interpreting Studies & Textual Studies. Abstracts for paper presentations: 300-500 words. Presenters will receive feedback on their work and presentation skills. Proposals for workshop participation: Approx 1,500 words on your research to date, problems encountered and expectations from the workshop. Participation in workshops is strongly encouraged and welcomed, as they will provide an opportunity for up-and-coming young researchers to share and explore their ideas and findings with panels of their peers and also with senior experts in the various subject fields. Important dates 15 February 2008: Deadline for submission of abstracts for papers and/or workshops 31 March 2008: Presenters will be notified of acceptance 5-7 June 2008: Conference For more information: http://webpages.dcu.ie/~conferet/index.html

1 0

Re: [Air-L] anthropology is not a science?
by William Bain 16 Jan '08

16 Jan '08

it seems I forgot to add the link on applying quantum statistics to psychological studies of decision processes - i doubt it's new to this list but fwiw it's at : http://www.vub.ac.be/CLEA/aerts/publications/1994QuantumStatistics.pdf apologies for the lapse anyhow! wb --------------------------------- Be a better friend, newshound, and know-it-all with Yahoo! Mobile. Try it now.

1 0

4th International Conference on e-Social Science
by Yuwei Lin 16 Jan '08

16 Jan '08

*** Apologies for cross-posting *** 4th International Conference on e-Social Science Manchester, June 18th-20th, 2008 Initial Announcement and Call for Submissions The aim of the conference on e-Social Science is to bring together leading international representatives of the social science, e-Infrastructure/ cyberinfrastructure and e-Research communities in order to improve mutual awareness, harmonize understanding and instigate coordinated activities to accelerate research, development and deployment of powerful, new research methods and tools for the social sciences and beyond. We invite contributions from members of the social science, e-Infrastructure/cyberinfrastructure and e-Research communities with experience of, or interests in: 1) exploring, developing, and applying new methods, practices, and tools afforded by new infrastructure technologies - such as the Grid and Web 2.0 - in order to further social science research; and 2) studying issues impacting on the wider take-up of e-Research. Submission categories include: full and short papers, posters, demos, workshops, tutorials and panels. Topics of interest include, but are not restricted to, the following: * Case studies of the application of e-Social Science research methods to substantive social science problems * Advances in tools and techniques for quantitative and qualitative e-Social Science, including statistical analysis, simulation, data mining, text mining, social network analysis and collaborative environments * Enabling new sources and forms of sociological data through e-Social Science, including ethical issues and challenges in the collection, integration, sharing and analysis of sociological and other personal data *The e-Research technical roadmap, including grids, web 2.0 and their future (co-evolution) ------------------- Important Deadlines ------------------- Paper abstracts: January 25th, 2008. Workshop, tutorial and panel outlines: February 22nd, 2008. Poster and demo abstracts: March 21st, 2008. Submission instructions will appear on the conference web site in December. Authors will be informed of the programme committees decision in early March, 2008. For full details of this call, including a full list of topics of interest and submission instructions, please visit http://www.ncess.ac.uk/events/conference/call/

3 2

info
by arvind jha 15 Jan '08

15 Jan '08

Is there any kind of website available, on which i can check the numbers of student in each SES centers in USA???

1 0

TheGreatDebate: Social Networking Technologies Will Bring Large [Positive] Changes to Education
by Gerry Mckiernan 15 Jan '08

15 Jan '08

***APOLOGIES FOR RECEIPT OF DUPLICATE POSTINGS*** Colleagues/ "Since its inception The Economist has challenged readers to engage with the world's business, political, scientific, technological and cultural affairs and uncover the connections between them. We now challenge you to bring your knowledge to the floor of our online Oxford-style debates. Your participation shapes the contest and your votes decide the winner. " [ http://www.economist.com/debate/ ] The Third Debate In The Series Started January 15th 2008 [Today] Social Networking: Does It Bring Positive Change To Education?" Schedule of Events Jan 15th / Debate begins. Jan 18th / Rebuttals posted. Jan 23rd / Closing arguments. Jan 25th /Final winner announced. Moderator Robert Cottrell, Deputy Editor of Economist.com Robert Cottrell has been deputy editor of Economist.com for the past two years, and online editor of Intelligent Life magazine since its re-launch this year. He is based in New York. Speaker PRO Ewan McIntosh, National Adviser on Learning and Technology Futures for Learning and Teaching Scotland Writes for the Guardian newspaper and the BBC on social media and learning issues, speaks internationally and consults for organisations on how social media can be harnessed for to improve learning in the organisation. Speaker CON Michael Bugeja, Director of Greenlee School of Journalism and Communication, ***Iowa State University*** Author of 21 books, with research often being cited by New York Times and International Herald Tribune to name a few, Dr. Bugeja was among the first to analyse the use of Facebook before many professors realised that most of their students were already registered and of Second Life before many students had ever heard of it. For Links and Etc. Visit : [http://onlinesocialnetworks.blogspot.com/2008/01/proposition-social-network…] Do Register and Do Vote !!! [As Often as Possible] [:-) Cheers ! /Gerry Gerry McKiernan Associate Professor Science and Technology Librarian Iowa State University Library Ames IA 50011 gerrymck(a)iastate.edu There is Nothing More Powerful Than An Idea Whose Time Has Come Victor Hugo [ http://www.blogger.com/profile/09093368136660604490 ] Iowa: Where the Tall Corn Flows and the (North)West Wind Blows ... [ http://alternativeenergyblogs.blogspot.com/ ]

1 0