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

Limited/Designated Public Forums and E-Government Sites
by Steven Clift 17 Apr '08

17 Apr '08

Has anyone out there dug into the topic of government designation (or web policy denials) in the U.S. or elsewhere if the legal concept existing that interactive spaces hosted on government website are a "public forum" of any form? By interactive I mean online space where the public can post comments and react to the comments of others. Steven Clift E-Democracy.Org

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CFP: Learning and Research in Second Life® Oct. 15 Copenhagen @ IR 9.0
by Jeremy Hunsinger 17 Apr '08

17 Apr '08

Call for Papers/Participation Please join us in a workshop on learning and research in Second Life(R) on October 16, 2008 in Copenhagen at Internet Research 9.0 (http://wiki.aoir.org/index.php?title=About_IR9.0 ) Paper Deadline June 15th. Second Life is a 3d virtual environment created by Linden Lab (R) which has captured the attention of researchers and teachers from around the world from a variety of disciplines. This workshop aims to improve the understanding of Second Life as a Learning and Research environment. It will bring 35 researchers together to collaborate, discuss and workshop diverse topics related to research and learning in Second Life. We will pursue a full-day schedule in which participants will discuss their work and interests on four different topics: learning in Second Life, integrated learning, the contributions of research to the community and ethical research methods. How can we better enable learning in this sphere? How can we better enable research? Our honored keynote will be Pathfinder Linden Researchers are requested to submit papers and short biography to slworkshop08(a)gmail.com , which will be selected and distributed amongst participants before the workshop. First invitations will be offered to those who provide full papers for consideration. These papers have two purposes: first is to provide a common platform for understanding our research and teaching and second submitted papers may be considered for publication in an edited volume being produced in relation to the workshop, or possibly in peer reviewed publication derived from the workshop (these are currently under discussion). Subsequent invitations will be made based upon research/teaching statement and biography with priority given to people submitting full papers. If you are interested in participating, please send an email containing your information to slworkshop08(a)gmail.com. Decisions will be made by August 1st, barring incident. There is a limit of 35 participants at the physical meeting; the event will be simulcast into Second Life which will be organized by Jason Nolan. We welcome professionals, faculty and graduate students to participate. This workshop is sponsored by Linden Lab, creators of Second Life, and is organized by Jeremy Hunsinger, Rochelle Mazar, Aleks Krotoski and Jason Nolan. Lunch, coffee breaks and the room is included in participation. (And you'll probably get a t-shirt!) *We are also seeking additional sponsors, please contact jhuns(a)vt.edu if you would like to sponsor this workshop.

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Muse: The National Internet2 K20 Initiative Online Social Network
by Gerry Mckiernan 16 Apr '08

16 Apr '08

Friends/ A Most Pleasant Wednesday PM Discovery [Thanks Jacob S.] Muse: The National Internet2 K20 Initiative Online Social Network ANN ARBOR, Mich. - April 15, 2008 The Internet2 K20 Initiative today announced that it has launched a brand new social networking site called Muse which seeks to significantly enhance collaboration, information-sharing and technology opportunities for the over 50,000 K-12 schools, community colleges, libraries and museums in 38 U.S.states that are now connected to the Internet2 backbone network. The site is also expected to provide a better bridge between the U.S. K20 community and its international counterparts worldwide. Within the short time since launching, the new site has already experienced significant uptake within the community. [snip] While the site continues to rapidly expand in use, Muse plans to introduce the ability for users to create topically-based communities, chat in real time about projects and interests, receive email "Museletters" tailored to those specific interests and provide RSS feeds to broadcast information on new users, projects and organizations as the site grows. In doing so, the site intends to provide the community the ability to develop stronger, more comprehensive collaboration groups and to promote the more rapid adoption of advanced networking applications among this unique set of Internet2 users. For additional details and links, please visit [ http://scitechnet.blogspot.com/2008/04/muse-national-internet2-k20-initiati… ] Regards, /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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CFP: In the Game: AoIR pre-conference workshop
by T.L. Taylor 16 Apr '08

16 Apr '08

In The Game: AoIR pre-conference workshop http://www.virtualknowledgestudio.nl/projects/in-the-game.php This event will be a pre-conference workshop at Internet Research 9.0: Rethinking Communities, Rethinking Place, to be held on 15 October 2008 in Copenhagen, Denmark. For information about the conference, please see the AoIR website (http://conferences.aoir.org/) It is co-organized by Anne Beaulieu (Virtual Knowledge Studio), Marinka Copier (Utrecht University), and T.L. Taylor (IT University of Copenhagen). Thematic background A core issue for ethnography is the ethnographer's relationship to her object of knowledge. Although the web as a context of research, and net-mediated sites in general, have been heralded as an opportunity for the ethnographer to become the invisible 'fly on the wall', our experience leads us to emphasise the contrary. The participant pole of the participant -observer continuum remains crucial, even in mediated settings. Indeed in some online contexts there is no research stance outside of that of engaged participant. The existence of relationships between the ethnographer and other participants is essential to ethnographies that want to maintain a focus on meaning and culture. The opportunities and challenges posed by pursuing ethnographies in mediated settings may be other than claims to having achieved objectivity, and may consist in a re-examination and re-valuation of particular attachments to the ethnographic tradition. This event seeks to explore the particular textures and implications of ethnographic relationships in mediated settings. The ethnographic relationship is understood inclusive here, as a complex and evolving relationship that changes over the course of fieldwork and through the various aspects of knowledge production and dissemination. To structure the discussion of such a complex issue, four themes have been identified and will frame the various sessions. These themes are detailed below. :: Contiguity :: What happens when the field and our scholarly activities are very close in time, space and media? What are the ways of leaving the field, if any? Is this still a useful, important, necessary move? What does such a loop of mutual observation and feedback between researcher and object imply? How does it differ from other forms of interaction or multiple roles of more traditional ethnographies? :: Accountability :: Does mediation increase the accountability of the researcher? How do the settings, with their porous/networked boundaries, differ or resemble other settings? How does accountability change over time, or in relation to different relationships? And when the researcher is a contributing member to the group, how is the notion of accountability enlarged beyond a research ethics definition to a participatory one. Because of the traces left by the researcher, is the accountability not actually greater than in face to face settings? What are the (necessary) boundaries of the researcher's responsibilities? When do we go too far? And how does time (often such a fast moving artifact online) intervene in the issues we have? How do ethnographic relationships change over time, time of the object studied vs. research and publication time. :: Affectivity and embodiment :: Despite the rhetoric that sometimes surrounds mediated environments, how as researchers are we still always engaged with affective embodied practice, both that of ourselves but those in the communities we study? How can these be important resources for our work, and what special challenges might they pose. In the context of games and virtual environments for example, the avatar issue is always at work, but there remains the way as researchers we still find our corporeal bodies enrolled in our work - our anxiety at a raid, the neck problems from all the computer use, the way our understanding of our sites is itself mediated through our embodied experience. Closely tied to this are the ways affectivity works within the domain of ethnography - the unguardedness of play, the frustration, the pleasure or frustration within the fieldsite. :: Scholarly practices :: How do relationships to the object shape what counts as research? For example, what is the role of the cultural status of the 'object' in making something legitimate scholarly enquiry? What is at stake when doing ethnographies of activities that are sometimes considered to be antithetical to 'research' - for example, gaming or playing, researching intimate activities, youth culture (where the accusation that one is just "hanging out" rather doing serious work may always loom). How do we articulate the relation between expertise and practice? Is ethnography being brought too close to home? Which new skills are needed? How is our practice of research interwoven, often in complex and unanticipated ways, with the socio-technical objects and agents in the field. Participants and structure The workshop is aimed at researchers who have already pursued fieldwork in mediated environments. They are invited to submit a paper proposal (1500 words) before 9 May 2008 to Marinka Copier (marinka.copier(a)let.uu.nl) The proposal should present elements of prior ethnographic material and a reflection on that work from the perspective of one of the proposed workshop themes: continuity, accountability, affectivity & embodiment, and scholarly practices. The goal of this process is to bring together practicing ethnographers for an in-depth discussion of some key issues within the domain, simultaneously grounded in concrete projects. The workshop will have a maximum of 15 participants to enable in-depth discussion, and respondents will be assigned for each paper. Submissions will be selected on the basis of peer-review, which will be coordinated by the organisers of the workshop. Final papers (5000-6000 words) will be due at the beginning of September and will be distributed in advance to all workshop participants. Important dates Deadline for submissions: 9 May (mail to marinka.copier(a)let.uu.nl) Announcement of paper acceptance: 30 May Deadline for full papers (5000-6000 words): 1 September Pre-conference workshop: 15 October -- __________________________________________________ Please use tltaylor(a)itu.dk (not my GMail account) for correspondence. T.L. Taylor, Associate Professor and Head of Media Technology and Games Study Line Center for Computer Games Research IT University of Copenhagen Rued Langgaards Vej 7, 2300 Copenhagen, Denmark +45 7218 5035 (tele) / +45 7218 5001 (fax) tltaylor(a)itu.dk / http://www.itu.dk/~tltaylor/

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'Christian Mission to a Virtual World' Paper
by Mark Brown 16 Apr '08

16 Apr '08

The Anglican Church is actively exploring how to offer church within the virtual environment. There is a major meeting happening in the UK in May to discuss the church within the virtual space. I have written a background paper for the meeting that may be of interest; it is entitled, 'Christian Mission to a Virtual World' To download it go to: http://brownblog.info/?p=381 Regards, Revd Mark Brown _________________________________________________________________ It's simple! Sell your car for just $30 at CarPoint.com.au http://a.ninemsn.com.au/b.aspx?URL=http%3A%2F%2Fsecure%2Dau%2Eimrworldwide%…

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Question
by Yosem Companys 16 Apr '08

16 Apr '08

Dear friends, Does anyone know of a program that will map network connections off of Lexis-Nexis data (or a similar newspaper/magazine database) along the lines of Muckety.com? I know I can code the data and input these into one of the existing programs. Just wondering if there is any app out there that someone has already designed that could do it automatically, so as not to reinvent the wheel or waste unnecessary time and labor. Thanks, Yosem

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What's Cooking at SSRC?
by Jeremy Hunsinger 15 Apr '08

15 Apr '08

> > > > Hi all, > > (With apologies to those of you who have received a variant of this > email) > > > > We want to signal a couple of things SSRC is doing these days and > invite > your participation. Some of you will be familiar with the SSRC Media > Research Hub (http://mediaresearchhub.ssrc.org ). The Hub is intended > as a resource and brokering service for researchers, activists, and > practitioners working on (and in) the convergent media environment. > > > (1) Some of you already have profiles in the Resource Database > (http://mediaresearchhub.ssrc.org/resource-database ). The Resource > Database is a tool for mapping this complex intersection of fields > and-increasingly-for analyzing it. It combines elements of a social > networking tool and a wiki: anyone can create or edit profiles of > people, institutions, research resources, networks, and projects; > anyone > can connect these profiles to provide richer descriptions of > institutions, social networks and collaborations. > > The Resource Database is readable for all visitors, but you must log > in > to add, edit, or make use of advanced features (such as claiming your > profile to gain sole control over your personal and contact > information-and, if you choose, hide that information). So please > come, > create an account, claim your profile, and help us expand and enrich > this collective resource. For those of you who miss Netzwissenschaft, > this is a good place to come and play. See, e.g., this charming URL: > > > > (http://mediaresearchhub.ssrc.org/resource-database/@@rdb-search.html?fo > rm > .search_text=&form.portal_types=Person&form.person_role=researcher&for > m.gender=&form.institutional_role-empty-marker=1&form.resource_type- > empt > y-marker=1&form.person_role-empty-marker=1&form.country=&form.gender- > emp > ty- > marker=1&form.institutional_location=&form.topics:list=f0265830ebf104 > 25cf66d75d705d1631&type_of_search=Internet > %20Researchers&form.actions.se > arch=1 ) > > > > > (2) The Hub also hosts grant projects designed to foster public > scholarship and research-activist collaboration > (http://mediaresearchhub.ssrc.org/grants ). > > > > Have a look especially at five recently-announced Research Bounties > (and > at the other Open Projects. These are calls from advocates for > collaboration with the research community. Researchers are invited to > comment on and/or propose to take up the listed projects. Several of > these come with prize money (bounties). Several are Internet related. > > (3) The Media Hub hosts a low-volume email list for notification of > grant opportunities and other program activities. To subscribe, visit: > http://programs.ssrc.org/media/emaillist/ . > > > (4) We welcome suggestions for how to use (and improve) the Media > Research Hub in support of work in this area. As the dataset > expands, it > will become an increasingly rich tool for understanding and analyzing > the field. If you have a design, data visualization, or network > analysis itch that might be scratched via the Hub, do drop us a line. > The backend skillset for the Hub, fyi, is Python/Zope/Plone, but the > site is web service friendly. > > > > So like other collectively-produced goods, the Research Hub depends on > community support. We will be happy to repost submissions of relevant > news, job opportunities, and internship offers. We will be happier > still > if you document your area(s) of work and interest on the hub. And we > will be borderline ecstatic if you have an interest in making major > additions (such as online bibliographies, class projects, other > organized contributions). On this or other subjects, drop us a note at > mediahub(a)ssrc.org . > > Best, > > Joe Karaganis > > Karaganis(a)ssrc.org > > > > Minna Aslama > > aslama(a)ssrc.org > > > > > > -----Original Message----- > From: Joe Karaganis > Sent: Tuesday, April 15, 2008 2:49 PM > To: 'Jeremy Hunsinger' > Subject: RE: postdocs > > Hi Jeremy, > > We did hire one -- http://www.ssrc.org/staff/Guilhot/ ; > > I've been out of the loop on this discussion this year. If you're > interested I'll inquire. > > I hope Chicago has been good to you this year. I haven't been back at > all, unfortunately. > > Best, > > Joe > > > > -----Original Message----- > From: Jeremy Hunsinger [mailto:jhuns@vt.edu] > Sent: Friday, April 11, 2008 8:58 AM > To: Joe Karaganis > Subject: postdocs > > Hi Joe, > > I hope all I well with and I'm sorry I've missed you when you've been > to Chicago. I'm just wondering did SSRC hire any PostDocs last > year? I'm curious because I've just received another announcement of > them from Becky. > > > jeremy hunsinger > Information Ethics Fellow, Center for Information Policy Research, > School of Information Studies, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee > (www.cipr.uwm.edu > ) > > () ascii ribbon campaign - against html mail > /\ - against microsoft attachments > > http://www.aoir.org The Association of Internet Researchers > http://www.stswiki.org/ stswiki > http://cfp.learning-inquiry.info/ LI-the journal > http://transdisciplinarystudies.tmttlt.com/ Transdisciplinary > Studies:the book series > >

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SCRIPT-ed April 2008
by Andres Guadamuz 15 Apr '08

15 Apr '08

[Apologies for cross-posting] The April 2008 issue of SCRIPT-ed – A Journal of Law, Technology & Society, is available online: http://www.law.ed.ac.uk/ahrc/script-ed/issue5-1.asp Editorial: - Lex Personalitatis & Technology-driven Law; Joseph A. Cannataci Reviewed Articles: - Trade Mark Coexistence Agreements: What is all the (lack of) fuss about?; Matthew J Elsmore, - Criminal Friends of Entertainment: Analysing Results from Recent Peer-to-Peer Surveys; Herkko Hietanen, Anniina Huttunen, Heikki Kokkinen - Entry into the Market for Online Distribution of Digital Content: Economic and Legal Ramifications; John B. Meisel - The Black Label: Trade Mark Dillution, Culture Jamming and the No Logo Movement; Matthew Rimmer - Oscar Pistorius and the Future Nature of Olympic, Paralympic and Other Sports; Gregor Wolbring Analysis: - Genetic Models of Disease Resistance in Livestock: “What Does Our Conscience Want?”; Kenneth M Boyd - Corporate Counsel's New Dance Partner: "Criminal Lawyers Teach the Limbo Dance"; Maureen Duffy-Lewis and Daniel B. Garrie - A Modest Proposal for Annotating the Dialectical State of a Dispute; Ronald P. Loui Reports: - TILT – Tilburg Institute for Law, Technology, and Society; Paul de Hert Book Reviews: - The Global Technology Revolution 2020: In Depth Analysis - Bio/nano/materials/information Trends, Drivers, Barriers, and Social Implications; Richard Silberglitt et al. - The Ethics and Governance of Human Genetic Databases: European Perspectives; Matti Hayry, Ruth Chadwick, Vilhjalmur Arnason and Gardar Arnason (eds.) - Bioethics and Armed Conflict: Moral Dilemmas of Medicine and War; Michael L. Gross - How Universities Promote Economic Growth; Shahid Yusuf and Kaoru Nabeshima (eds) - Crossing Borders: Cultural, Religious, and Political Differences concerning Stem Cell Research. A Global Approach; Wolfgang Bender, Christine Hauskeller, Alexandra Manzei (eds) - Broadcasting Pluralism and Diversity: A Comparative Study of Policy and Regulation; Lesley Hitchens -- Andres Guadamuz SCRIPT Law and Technology Centre University of Edinburgh Old College, South Bridge Edinburgh, EH8 9YL Tel: 44 (0)131 6509699 Fax: 44 (0)131 6506317 a.guadamuz(a)ed.ac.uk http://www.law.ed.ac.uk/ahrc/ SCRIPT-ed Journal of Law, Technology and Society http://www.law.ed.ac.uk/ahrc/script-ed IP/IT/Medical Law LLM by Distance Learning http://www.law.ed.ac.uk/distancelearning/

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First AoIR ICS special issue
by Caroline Haythornthwaite 14 Apr '08

14 Apr '08

AoIR-ICS special issue Information, Communication & Society, Volume 11 Issue 2 2008 Editors Barry Wellman and Caroline Haythornthwaite are pleased to announce the publication of the first AoIR-ICS collaboration issue of papers selected from the 2007 AoIR conference. As noted in our introduction: The contents of this issue may well surprise those who think that the Association of Internet Researchers looks only at the Internet. Two articles (DeNel Rehberg Sedo; Ralph Schroeder & Matthijs den Basten) focus on readers’ responses to “old” media (radio, television and books) and discussion of books on websites and wikis. Another article looks at mobile phones (Hijazi-Omari & Rivka Ribak) describing how Palestinian Israeli young women carry on clandestine conversations with their boyfriends on mobile phone. New forms of creative production online are addressed in three papers: Eszter Hargittai & Gina Walejko describe how male and female young adults create video, music, writing and artistic photography; Smiljana Antonijevic does an ethnography of non-verbal communication on Second Life; and Lori Kendall takes us to the wonderful, imaginative world of animutations. Some mentoring rounds out the issue. Michelle Kazmer & Bo Xi evaluate using four different ways of collective semi-structured interview data: face-to-face, phone, email, and IM; Dan Li & Gina Walejko show how to sample the vast, disorganized world of blogs; and Antonijevic’s article provides a useful guide to the microethnography of nonverbal communication, such as gaze and arm movement. No one journal issue can do everything, and we note that some hot topics did not make it into this year’s collection. We look to this year’s conference submissions for more on the new and old world of media and the Internet as Caroline Haythornthwaite and Lori Kendall take on the task of editing the second annual collaboration of AoIR and ICS. /Barry Wellman & Caroline Haythornthwaite TABLE OF CONTENTS EDITORIAL COMMENT 143 – 148 Authors: Barry Wellman; Caroline Haythornthwaite ORIGINAL ARTICLES PLAYING WITH FIRE: On the domestication of the mobile phone among Palestinian teenage girls in Israel 149 – 166 Authors: Hiyam Hijazi-Omari; Rivka Ribak LITERARY SLEUTHS ONLINE: e-Research collaboration on the Pynchon Wiki 167 – 187 Authors: Ralph Schroeder; Matthijs Den Besten RICHARD & JUDY'S BOOK CLUB AND 'CANADA READS': Readers, books and cultural programming in a digital era 188 – 206 Author: Denel Rehberg Sedo BEYOND MEDIA PRODUCERS AND CONSUMERS: Online multimedia productions as interpersonal communication 207 – 220 Author: Lori Kendall FROM TEXT TO GESTURE ONLINE: A microethnographic analysis of nonverbal communication in the Second Life virtual environment 221 – 238 Author: Smiljana Antonijevic THE PARTICIPATION DIVIDE: Content creation and sharing in the digital age 239 – 256 Authors: Eszter Hargittai; Gina Walejko QUALITATIVE INTERVIEWING IN INTERNET STUDIES: Playing with the media, playing with the method 257 – 278 Authors: Michelle M. Kazmer; Bo Xie SPLOGS AND ABANDONED BLOGS: The perils of sampling bloggers and their blogs 279 – 296 Authors: Dan Li; Gina Walejko ---------------------------------------- Caroline Haythornthwaite Associate Professor Graduate School of Library and Information Science, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign 501 East Daniel St., Champaign IL 61820

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Lessons in Second Life
by jeremy hunsinger 14 Apr '08

14 Apr '08

distribute as appropriate -jh Every Week on Monday (1:00-2:30pm SLT) join us for Lessons in Second Life, an open table forum centering on what can be learned in sl in both formal and informal settings. The forum is open to faculty, students, and interested parties of all kinds. We meet at the _blacklibrary hyperborea 91, 30, 26 im buridan simon for more information. Come share your ideas for learning in Second Life http://slurl.com/secondlife/hyperborea/92/30/26/ this week's Lessons in Second Life is brought to you by: Griefer's are Necessary for Learning next week's Lessons in Second Life is brought to you by: The Group for the Rememberance of the History of Education in Second Life or Something Related that I Forgot jeremy hunsinger Information Ethics Fellow, Center for Information Policy Research, School of Information Studies, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee (www.cipr.uwm.edu ) wiki.tmttlt.com www.tmttlt.com () ascii ribbon campaign - against html mail /\ - against microsoft attachments http://www.stswiki.org/ sts wiki http://cfp.learning-inquiry.info/ Learning Inquiry-the journal http://transdisciplinarystudies.tmttlt.com/ Transdisciplinary Studies:the book series _______________________________________________ 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/ ********** Participation and subscription information for this EDUCAUSE Constituent Group discussion list can be found at http://www.educause.edu/groups/ .

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