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

Re: [Air-L] assigning students their college/university
by Sal Humphreys 12 Nov '08

12 Nov '08

Axel Bruns and I have published a couple of papers on teaching with wikis. While not specifically on wikipedia they look at pedagogical practices involved in using wikis. They each have a small lit review of other works in the area reporting on teaching with wikis. The reference lists might give you some of the info you want even if our papers don't! They are possibly available at the uni ePrints archive - I'm not sure on their copyright status right now. (links provided - give it a shot!) Bruns, A. and S. Humphreys (2005). Wikis in Teaching and Assessment: The M/Cyclopedia Project. Proceedings International Wiki Symposium, San Diego. ACM http://eprints.qut.edu.au/archive/00002289/ Bruns, Axel and Humphreys, Sal (2007) Building Collaborative Capacities in Learners: The M/Cyclopedia Project, Revisited. In Proceedings International Symposium on Wikis, Montréal. ACM http://eprints.qut.edu.au/archive/00010518/ Sal Dr Sal Humphreys Post Doctoral Fellow Creative Industries Faculty Z6 501 The Hub Queensland University of Technology Musk Ave Kelvin Grove 4059 Brisbane, Australia s.humphreys(a)qut.edu.au Ph. 61 7 3138 8175 Mob. 0414 456 078 http://eprints.qut.edu.au/view/person/Humphreys,_Sal.html http://www.salhumphreys.org

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job opening at Cornell
by lmh13 11 Nov '08

11 Nov '08

Just wanted to pass along a note that our Information Science program is hiring. (http://www.infosci.cornell.edu/about/Jobopenings/index_ISF%232.html) ~Lee Cornell's Information Science Program (http://www.infosci.cornell.edu) is seeking to fill one or more tenure-track faculty positions. Information Science at Cornell is an interdisciplinary program within the Faculty of Computing and Information Science (http://www.cis.cornell.edu) It brings together those interested in studying information systems in their social, cultural, economic, historical, legal, and political contexts. Candidates in all information-related fields are invited to apply. The ideal applicant will have a strong mix of both technical and social science research skills and accomplishments. We are especially interested in the areas of policy, economy, network science, cognition, e-science, cyber infrastructure and human-centered information retrieval, but will also consider candidates in other areas of Information Science. To ensure full consideration, applications should be received by January 15, 2009, but will be accepted until all positions are filled. Applicants should submit a curriculum vita, brief statements of research and teaching interests, and at least three references through the web at URL: http://www.infosci.cornell.edu/apply/ . Cornell University is an equal opportunity employer and welcomes applications from women and ethnic minorities. Lee Humphreys, Ph.D. Assistant Professor Dept. of Communication Cornell University 305 Kennedy Hall Ithaca, NY 14853 lmh13(a)cornell.edu

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students on wikipedia
by Barry Wellman 11 Nov '08

11 Nov '08

I've had similar experiences as others on the list. Given my now-notorius WikiWarrior piece, which we discussed in class (and which I am editing in the next few days following Phoebe's* and others' suggestions), I asked 3rd year students whether they wanted lessions in Wikipedia editing. Only 2/80 bit, altho one was especially motivated, as her family is in WP. My feeling is that a better approach is not to suggest the creation of an article, but to find your favorite subjects (dare I say rock bands, movies) and put them on your "watchlist" so you can see and respond to changes. To get a watchlist, I think you must register. But registration (you come up with an alias, such as "AOIRian", is just about the only way that other WP editors will take you seriously. To learn this and more, get hold of Phoebe's new book. (NOte: COI: I have a blurb on the back): How Wikipedia Works: And How You Can Be a Part of It Phoebe Ayers, Charles Matthews, and Ben Yates. http://www.amazon.com/How-Wikipedia-Works-You-Part/dp/159327176X/ref=pd_bbs… Barry Wellman _______________________________________________________________________ S.D. Clark Professor of Sociology, FRSC NetLab Director Department of Sociology University of Toronto 725 Spadina Avenue, Room 388 Toronto Canada M5S 2J4 http://www.chass.utoronto.ca/~wellman fax:+1-416-978-3963 Updating history: http://chass.utoronto.ca/oldnew/cybertimes.php _______________________________________________________________________

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Re: [Air-L] assigning students their college/university wikipedia page
by Darren Purcell 11 Nov '08

11 Nov '08

Gordon, Thanks for the reply. I never thought much of a difference between a 15-20 page paper and a Wikipedia entry if it was tightly defined. Still, I have used these as a way to show how they can possibly contribute to knowledge. I also offer this as group work as well so the work is spread out. We really need to remove the grand facade from Wikipedia ala the exposure of the the Wizard of Oz as a real human with frailties and weaknesses. Darren On Mon, Nov 10, 2008 at 5:45 PM, Gordon Carlson <gordycarlson(a)gmail.com>wrote: > Hi Dan, > I saw your email and wanted to quickly respond to you. I know those looks > you are talking about (and I have displayed them myself). I think the > reason that students don't like to take on Wikipedia entry tasks is less > their self perceived role as knowledge creator and more than it seems hard. > It sounds like a lot of work to many people. Wikipedia is still seen as an > encyclopedia by many and those are magical books that strange geniuses work > hard to make (as most are commercial). Creating an entry in what seems, to > many students, to be a polished and published work seems hard. > > Whether true or not, I think it would be the same as asking your students > to write a book or a journal article. They see it as above and beyond > writing a paper. > > For good or bad, Wikipedia still seems hard to do. > > My two cents. Thanks for reading, > > Gordon > University of Illinois, Chicago > > > > > On Mon, Nov 10, 2008 at 5:17 PM, Darren Purcell <dpurcell(a)ou.edu> wrote: > >> Hello all, >> >> I have offered the assignment to students in my Political Geography course >> over the last 2 years. To date I have had only one person out of 130 >> students do it. He took on a controversial topic and found himself >> defending >> his work as it was being changed and edited a great deal. >> >> My theory as to why more students did not take it on is that they don't >> see >> themselves as producers of knowledge yet. I can not confirm this, nor >> have >> I asked why they do not. I just see looks of horror on their faces at the >> suggestion . >> >> Darren Purcell >> >> On Mon, Nov 10, 2008 at 3:39 PM, Jankowski <nickjan(a)xs4all.nl> wrote: >> >> > David: >> > >> > On the Vanderbilt Univ site is an audio interview with history professor >> > Michael Bess who used the WP Discussion Page of a Wikipedia article >> ("Atomic >> > Bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki") as some of the source material for >> a >> > course on historical methods. See: >> > http://blogs.vanderbilt.edu/cftpodcast/?paged=2 >> > http://www.vanderbilt.edu/historydept/michaelbess/Hist%20200 >> > >> > Nick Jankowski >> > >> > >> > At 22:19 10-11-2008, you wrote: >> > >> > I would also like to hear about people's experiences with assigning >> >> projects that involve creating/editing WP content. >> >> >> >> To that end, there is a WP page dedicated to its use in school >> projects: >> >> <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:School_and_university_projects >> > >> >> >> >> -mz >> >> >> >> -- >> >> Michael Zimmer, PhD >> >> Assistant Professor, School of Information Studies >> >> Associate, Center for Information Policy Research >> >> University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee >> >> e: zimmerm(a)uwm.edu >> >> w: www.michaelzimmer.org >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> On Nov 10, 2008, at 2:44 PM, David M Silver wrote: >> >> >> >> aoir people, >> >>> >> >>> has anyone had any experience with assigning students the task of >> >>> altering, improving, and tweaking their university page on >> >>> wikipedia? in >> >>> other words, has anyone assigned their college/university wikipedia >> >>> page >> >>> as a site of construction for a class? if so, i'm curious to hear any >> >>> anecdotes, experiences, best-practices, relevant readings, and >> >>> anything >> >>> else you wish to share. >> >>> >> >>> david silver >> >>> http://silverinsf.blogspot.com >> >>> _______________________________________________ >> >>> 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/ >> >>> >> >> >> >> _______________________________________________ >> >> 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/ >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> -- >> >> No virus found in this incoming message. >> >> Checked by AVG. Version: 7.5.549 / Virus Database: 270.9.0/1778 - >> Release >> >> Date: 9-11-2008 14:14 >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> -- >> >> No virus found in this incoming message. >> >> Checked by AVG. Version: 7.5.549 / Virus Database: 270.9.0/1778 - >> Release >> >> Date: 9-11-2008 14:14 >> >> >> > >> > >> > >> > No virus found in this outgoing message. >> > Checked by AVG. >> > Version: 7.5.549 / Virus Database: 270.9.0/1778 - Release Date: >> 9-11-2008 >> > 14:14 >> > >> > _______________________________________________ >> > 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/ >> > >> >> >> >> -- >> Darren Purcell >> SWAAG Treasurer >> Assistant Professor and Undergraduate Advisor >> Dept. of Geography >> University of Oklahoma >> >> Email: dpurcell(a)ou.edu >> (405) 325-9193 >> http://faculty-staff.ou.edu/P/Darren.E.Purcell-1/ >> _______________________________________________ >> 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/ >> > > > > -- > Gordon Carlson > C: 541-990-1155 > -- Darren Purcell SWAAG Treasurer Assistant Professor and Undergraduate Advisor Dept. of Geography University of Oklahoma Email: dpurcell(a)ou.edu (405) 325-9193 http://faculty-staff.ou.edu/P/Darren.E.Purcell-1/

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James W. Carey Media Research Award
by Mark D. Johns 11 Nov '08

11 Nov '08

CALL FOR AWARD APPLICATIONS James W. Carey Media Research Award 2009 Sponsored by the Carl Couch Center for Social and Internet Research http://www.cccsir.org/ The Carl Couch Center invites self-nominations for works to be considered for its annual James W. Carey Media Research Award. The Couch Center welcomes works on topics that have been central to Carey's scholarship. Among others, submissions might focus on technology, time, space and communications, the nature of public life, the relation between journalism and popular culture. Applications will be evaluated based on the quality of (1) mastery of Carey's approaches and concepts, (2) originality, (3) organization, (4) presentation, and (5) advancement of knowledge. Evaluation will be administered by a Review Committee of six: Prof. Stuart Adam, Poynter Institute for Media Studies Prof. Theodore L. Glasser, Stanford University Prof. John Pauly, Marquette University Prof. Jeff Pooley, Muhlenberg College Prof. Linda Steiner, University of Maryland Prof. Lance Strate, Fordham University Both single and multiple authored works will be accepted. All submissions must be works that have been published or have been accepted for publication in a book or journal. To be considered for the 2009 award, works should have been published or accepted in 2007 or 2008. Those interested please submit a copy of their works electronically to Mark D. Johns, executive director of CCCSIR, at mjohns(a)luther.edu in plain text, Microsoft Word, or Corel WordPerfect format. If the work submitted is a paper, a 100-word abstract needs to be included. Paper length is limited to 30 pages plus references. If a book is submitted, a copy of the table of contents and one chapter are sufficient. The application deadline is April 1, 2009. Notification of award application will be sent out by June 15. The Award winner will receive the Carey Award plaque to be presented at the winner's choice of the 2009 annual convention of the International Communication Association (ICA), Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication (AEJMC), or National Communication Association (NCA). Questions and comments about the Carey Award, please contact: Mark D. Johns Dept. of Communication Studies Luther College Decorah, IA 52101 Tel: (563) 387-1347 E-mail: mjohns(a)luther.edu OR Shing-Ling S. Chen Dept. of Communication Studies Univ. of Northern Iowa Cedar Falls, IA 50614 Tel: 319-273-6021 E-mail: sarina.chen(a)uni.edu

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2010 Visiting Fellowships: Research School of Humanities, ANU
by Melinda Hinkson 11 Nov '08

11 Nov '08

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * RSH 2010 Visiting Fellowship Program Research School of Humanities, College of Arts and Social Sciences, The Australian National University The Research School of Humanities <http://rsh.anu.edu.au/> has been established by the Australian National University in 2007 by amalgamating four key Centres of the University the renowned Humanities Research Centre, the Centre for Cross Cultural Research, the National Europe Centre and the Australian National Dictionary Centre. The RSH builds on research fostered by these Centres and seeks to promote innovative research in the Humanities. Its Visiting Fellowship program is an enhancement of the program offered by the HRC since the 1970s and provides funds to support scholars to work in the Research School. Applications are particularly welcome from scholars with interests in one or more of the RSH¹s research programs and especially from those whose current projects relate to the RSH 2010 Annual Theme of Imaging Identity¹. Applications for fellowships to the Freilich Foundation and the National Europe Centre are also welcomed. The key research programs of the RSH include: * Visual Culture * History and Memory * Biography and Life Writing * Culture, Heritage and the Environment * Public Cultures and Museums * World Literature * Postcolonial Studies * Digital Humanities Application are now open and guidelines, application and referees comment forms can be downloaded the RSH website (follow the links): http://rsh.anu.edu.au/ ____________________________________ Melinda Hinkson School of Archaeology & Anthropology/Research School of Humanities A.D. Hope Building The Australian National University Canberra ACT 0200 T: +61 2 6125 8246 F: +61 2 6125 2711 W: http://arts.anu.edu.au/AandA/ Information about the Master of Visual Culture Research is available at: http://rsh.anu.edu.au/vcr.php ____________________________________ Melinda Hinkson School of Archaeology & Anthropology A.D. Hope Building The Australian National University Canberra ACT 0200 T: +61 2 6125 8246 F: +61 2 6125 2711 W: http://arts.anu.edu.au/AandA/ Information about the Master of Visual Culture Research is available at: http://rsh.anu.edu.au/vcr.php

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I Was a WikiWarrior for Barack Obama
by Barry Wellman 10 Nov '08

10 Nov '08

Dear Friends, Colleagues and Students, Instead of doing real work today, I woke up seized with the desire to writ this piece. I hope you like it. And I hope you can tell me where -- and how -- to send it. Huffington Post?, Slate? NY Times Op Ed? No contacts at any of these. Barry Wellman _______________________________________________________________________ S.D. Clark Professor of Sociology, FRSC NetLab Director Department of Sociology University of Toronto 725 Spadina Avenue, Room 388 Toronto Canada M5S 2J4 http://www.chass.utoronto.ca/~wellman fax:+1-416-978-3963 Updating history: http://chass.utoronto.ca/oldnew/cybertimes.php _______________________________________________________________________ I Was a WikiWarrior for Barack Obama, Barry Wellman, November 8, 2008, ver. 1a "Were it not for the Internet, Barack Obama would not be president," Arianna Huffington asserts ("How Obama's Internet Campaign Changed Politics" New York Times, November 7, 2008). She mentions blogs, YouTube videos (Will.I.Am, Obama Girl, et. al), citizen journalists catching gaffes, online community organizing, and direct email fundraising. But she doesn't talk about Wikipedia, my field of action. As a dual US/Canadian citizen living in Canada, I wondered what I could do to help Barack Obama. Of course, I sent money; of course I sent in an absentee ballot. But more was needed - for me and for Barack - more than slogging through the streets of Buffalo (which was in pro-Obama New York State anyway). I'm a computer guy, so I decided to become a WikiWarrior. I had become enthralled with Wikipedia a year earlier, and had done over 1,000 edits to new and existing articles. I decided to keep my eye on stuff about the Obamas. I felt that if I blocked non-sense from these articles, and added a bit of sense, I might help bring some light to curious and often-ignorant voters. I shied away from the main Barack Obama article (or the John McCain): too many people were fighting there about large and small issues. Instead, I focused on Obama's mother - Ann Dunham - and step-daddy, Lolo Soetoro. I wanted to edit them honestly in a fair and balanced way and to keep pernicious propaganda out. I put them on my Wikipedia "watchlist" along with about 50 others articles, such as "social network", "The Bronx" and "Barry Wellman". I also "watched" articles about other members of the Obama family, but they rarely had major issues. It was easy to deal with one recurring problem with the Ann Dunham article. Vandals kept inserting gross insults, such as: "She started sucking his cock. She had never seen colored cock before and became addicted immediately." (October 8, 2008) These juvenile gross-outs were always made by unregistered Wikipedia users, identifiable only by their IP addresses. They were easy to fix by deletion (what Wikipedia calls "reversion"): I used a Wikipedia tool called Twinkle to do this in one key click. Often, I - or other editors - didn't have to bother. Automated program scripts. "Bots" (such as Huggle's VoABot II in this case), quickly found many gross-outs within minutes and revert them. A more subtle problem was that some editors wanted to emphasize that the presidential candidate was born only six months after his parents' marriage. After much editing and re-editing, the weary compromise was that the dates of marriage and birth were left in, but the article leaves it to readers to do the math. Similar situations happened when some editors tried to point out the age gap between 2008 Republican presidential aspirant Fred Thompson (born in 1942) and his second wife, (born in 1966), and when I tried to insert a sentence into the Sarah Palin article pointing out that she had transferred among five universities and colleges in the five years of her undergraduate education. Some editors also kept wanting to show what they thought was her sexually-liberated and atheistic persona. These were editors registered at Wikipedia, usually with an alias name, rather than the hit-and-run gross-outers. Dealing with these recurrent edits was more difficult, as those who emphasized atheism were able to find a documented quotation from her early years suggesting this. (The criterion for including a fact in Wikipedia is that it be backed by a verifiable document.) However, a number of editors, including myself, were able to show that Ann Dunham was generally more broadly supportive of the humanist quality of religion. The clinching documentation came from her son's book, Dreams of My Father. There is an entire difference in tone between calling someone a "secular humanist" and an "atheist". I kept wondering why some editors worked so hard at inserting such sexual and religious "facts". Instead of "Assume Good Faith", a key Wikipedia tenet, I came to "Assume Republican Faith" as the motivation of such efforts to demonize Obama ("socialist", "traitor") and his family. This editing process goes on. Right now (November 8, 2008: 1213 EST), the section that gathers a variety of Ms. Dunham's spiritual beliefs is located near the end of the article. I just changed the section's heading from "Religious beliefs" to "Spiritual beliefs". I wonder if my edit will stick. The issue with Lolo Soetoro's article was somewhat different. Recurrent demonizations of Obama by the dark side have asserted that he is really a Muslim (not that there's anything wrong with that). While the many warring editors fought this one out on Obama's own Wikipedia article, I faced a subtle challenge with his stepfather's article. Several editors wanted to emphasize Lolo Soetoro's Muslim-ness, which might well affect how people thought about Barack Obama. While there were documentary sources showing that Lolo was nominally a Muslim, they also showed that he wasn't actively practicing. That didn't stop several editors from attempting to make his Muslim religion a main focus of the article. One recurring attempt, still present, states that Lolo Soetoro is a member of the "Indonesian Muslim" category. I kept trying to reason with this editor, noting that few Wikipedia articles about Americans say that they are members of the "American Christian" category. I don't know if the editor was trying for anti-Obama propaganda or was just bull-headed. I finally gave up this skirmish, because the text of the article currently does not emphasize Soetoro's Muslim-ness, and the category that does mention it is buried at the end of the article. In none of these debates (sometimes called "edit wars") did I - or anyone else - ever say they were acting to help Obama or McCain. All phrased disagreements in terms of Wikipedian norms: "the article would be tighter without that," "you're providing undue emphasis," "we need to make the article more complete," "please document your facts," and "removed unencyclopedic writing about Sarah Palin" (i.e., too hagiographic). Without such civil discourse, cooperative editing couldn't take place. Once a Wikipedia administrator threatened to block me for a day, when I violated the "three revert rule" by repeatedly re-inserted my topic sentence about Palin's multiple collegiate hegira. (The sentence is still not in the article: maybe I'll try again.) This is not to say that all editorial debates about these articles were clear-cut. My WikiComrade, Tina Vozick (who edits under the name "Tvoz") and I disagreed about whether Lolo Soetoro should have his own article in Wikipedia or be included in the portmanteau article, "Family of Barack Obama". I argued that a lot of people would go to Wikipedia for information about Lolo, and that it was important that there be a visible and accurate article about him. Tvoz argued that Lolo was not notable in his own right - "Notability" is a key Wikipedia criterion - and therefore should only be in the Family article. So far, Lolo retains his own article as well as a cross-link from the Family article, but I am curious as to what the future will bring now that the election is over. I predict a lot more detail will arise, more calmly, about Ann and Lolo, but I will only notice this intermittently. I have taken Ann, Lolo and the Family off of my watchlist to get some rest. There were 84 edits of the Family article on a single day (November 7 2008): an overwhelming volume to track. So, I am taking something of a WikiBreak. After doing more than 500 edits on Ann Dunham, Lolo Soetoro, and the Family of Barack Obama in the past few months, I have removed all Obama-related articles from my watchlist. I need to bask in Obama's victory and get back to life. However, the dark side is always with us, so perhaps you could put some key articles on your own watchlist.

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Disability and the Internet: Access, Mediation, Representation
by Adi Kuntsman 10 Nov '08

10 Nov '08

Disability and the Internet: Access, Mediation, Representation Friday 5th December 2008 Liverpool John Moores University The Cultural Disability Studies Research Network in association with Liverpool John Moores University's MA in Communication and Internet Studies 'Critical Internet Studies' Seminar Series presents a free event hosted and funded by Liverpool John Moores University. Launching the CDSRN's Theorising Disability in the Media Study Day Series this event is the first of a series of study days providing a forum for focused critical analysis and debate around disability, representation and the mass media. Providing an overview of research at the intersection of disability studies and internet studies this event will assess the challenges and advantages of the convergence of scholarly and activist perspectives in internet production, practice and theory. Confirmed Speakers Include: Dr. Helen Kennedy - Institute of Communication Studies, University of Leeds Prof. Ben Light - IS, Organisations and Society Research Centre and School of Media, Music and Performance, University of Salford Dr. Peter Wheeler - Business School, Edge Hill University Panel presentations include: Disability and Social Networking * Teaching Disability and the Internet * Autism and On-Line Advocacy * Embodied Health Movements and On-Line Campaigning Programme details available at http://www.ljmu.ac.uk/MCA/91707.htm To register for this event please contact info(a)cdsrn.org.uk. Due to limited places early registration is recommended. Cultural Disability Studies Research Network www.cdsrn.org.uk MA in Internet and Communication Studies http://www.ljmu.ac.uk/MCA/91514.htm -- Dr. Adi Kuntsman Lecturer in Internet and Communication School of Media, Critical and Creative Arts Liverpool John Moores University Dean Walters, 1 St. James Road Liverpool, L1 7BR http://www.ljmu.ac.uk/MCA/91728.htm

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C&RL News: Creative Commons For Librarians / Faculty / Students
by McKiernan, Gerard [LIB] 10 Nov '08

10 Nov '08

Colleagues/ Hot Off The Press ... / How Timely ... Thanks, Molly !! /Gerry "The beauty of "Some Rights Reserved": Introducing Creative Commons to librarians, faculty, and students" C&RL News / November 2008 / Vol. 69, No. 10 / Molly Kleinman [ http://www.acrl.org/ala/mgrps/divs/acrl/publications/crlnews/2008/nov/be autyofsrr.cfm <http://www.acrl.org/ala/mgrps/divs/acrl/publications/crlnews/2008/nov/b eautyofsrr.cfm> ] Must Listen --- Author Podcast <http://www.acrl.ala.org/acrlinsider/2008/11/06/acrl-podcast-the-beauty- of-some-rights-reserved/> (13:45) [ http://www.acrl.ala.org/acrlinsider/2008/11/06/acrl-podcast-the-beauty-o f-some-rights-reserved/ ] These are difficult times when it comes to copyright on campus. Big music companies are suing fans, publishers are suing librarians, and the principle of "fair use" is under siege everywhere. Litigation-happy content holders have fostered a climate of fear in which every student is a music pirate and every professor a book thief. While I don't doubt that there is some copyright infringement happening on university campuses, the bigger problem by far is the chilling effect of all these lawsuits and "copyright awareness campaigns." Scholars and students are afraid to do the one thing that copyright law has intended from the beginning: "Promote the Progress of Science and the Useful Arts"1 by creating new works and building on the works of those who came before. Every academic librarian knows at least one sad story about a professor who couldn't include necessary illustrations in her book because her publisher was worried about a copyright lawsuit, or a digitization project that couldn't get approved because the copyright status of the materials was uncertain. Additional problems result from major changes to copyright law over the last 40 years. Until recently, creators had to register their copyrights to receive protection and mark their works with a properly formatted copyright notice or the work entered automatically into the public domain, where anybody was free to reuse it however they wished. That all changed in 1978, when the United States dropped the registration requirement; since then, copyright automatically occurs the moment a work is "fixed in a tangible medium of expression." Now, every new work is copyrighted-lecture notes, e-mails, snapshots, doodles, presentation slides. And where once copyright lasted for 14 years, with the option to renew for another 14, now copyright lasts for the lifetime of the author, plus an additional 70 years after the author's death, for an average duration of more than a century. That's a very long time, and it leaves thousands of works orphaned: under copyright but without a locatable copyright holder. Between the fear and the orphans, life is hard for an ordinary academic who just wants some pictures to liven up her classroom presentations, or the student who would like to add a soundtrack to his final project. Enter Creative Commons Creative Commons is a nonprofit organization that created a set of simple, easy-to-understand copyright licenses. These licenses do two things: They allow creators to share their work easily, and they allow everyone to find work that is free to use without permission. The value of those two things is enormous. Before Creative Commons licenses, there was no easy way a creator could say, "Hey world! Go ahead and use my photographs, as long as you give me attribution." Similarly, there was no place for members of the public to go to find new works that they were free to reuse and remix without paying fees. Creative Commons changed all that. As it says on its Web site, "Creative Commons defines the spectrum of possibilities between full copyright-all rights reserved- and the public domain-no rights reserved. Our licenses help you keep your copyright while inviting certain uses of your work-a 'some rights reserved' copyright."2 [MORE] Happy Monday! /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/ ]

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China Defines Internet Addiction
by Mark D. Johns 10 Nov '08

10 Nov '08

It's official, internet researchers. We are all over the edge. I'll look forward to seeing you all at boot camp. See news story below. -- Mark D. Johns, Ph.D. Associate Professor and Head of the Department of Communication Studies Luther College, Decorah, Iowa USA http://academic.luther.edu/~johnsmar/ ----------------------------------------------- "Get the facts first. You can distort them later." ---Mark Twain China Defines Internet Addiction Internet addiction is on the rise in the world's largest Net market, and now Chinese doctors have officially defined it as an... Steven Schwankert, IDG News Service Monday, November 10, 2008 12:10 AM PST Internet addiction is on the rise in the world's largest Net market, and now Chinese doctors have officially defined it as an ailment. Users who spend six hours or more per day online, and exhibit at least one symptom including difficulty sleeping or concentrating, yearning to be online, irritation, and mental or physical distress are classified as meeting the definition of addiction. Being hooked on the Internet has been considered a problem in Chinese society as early as 2005, when the first clinic dedicated to Internet addiction opened in Beijing. It began accepting patients who exhibited dependency symptoms for those of substance abuse. China also has "boot camps" designed to help addicts kick the habit by helping to change their routine. About 10 percent of China's 253 million Internet users exhibit some form of addiction to the medium, and 70 percent of those people are young men, an official Xinhua News Agency report said.

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