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

IR 9.0 Deadline for Conference Papers
by bl506＠york.ac.uk 14 Apr '08

14 Apr '08

Some of you intrepid online explorers will have found that the deadline for the submission of papers to the conference is to be found on the CfP. For the rest of you please note that the deadline for full papers is 31 July. The papers, once submitted, will be indexed and available as part of the open archive, via OCS. Please submit papers in PDF with simple formatting, using sans serif font and in-text referencing. Brian -- Brian D. Loader, Co-Director, Social Informatics Research Unit, Department of Sociology, Wentworth College, University of York, Heslington, YORK YO1 5DD. United Kingdom. Tel: +44 (0) 1904 432639 Fax: +44 (0) 1904 433043 email: bl506(a)york.ac.uk

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CFP: 10th Persistent Conversation minitrack
by Tom Erickson 14 Apr '08

14 Apr '08

SECOND CALL FOR PARTICIPATION Persistent Conversation Minitrack Digital Media and Content Track at HICSS 42 January 5-8, 2009 Hilton Waikoloa Village, the Big Island, Hawai'i See http://www.visi.com/~snowfall/HICSS_PC.html for an online version and further information. IN ONE PARAGRAPH The Persistent Conversation minitrack is a yearly gathering of people who design and study systems that support computer-mediated communication. Persistent conversation is not limited to asynchronous textual communication: It includes instant messaging, voice chat, and other 'ephemeral' media. Nor do we limit our focus to systems explicitly designed to support conversation: We are interested in conversational exchanges as manifested in applications (for instance, blogs, annotation systems, distance education) and in sites oriented around the use of photos, video and other media. If you're interested in presenting a paper in the minitrack, the first step is to submit an abstract by March 15, 2008. A 10-page paper would be due June 15th. IMPORTANT DATES -04/21: Prospective authors submit 300-word abstracts -05/05: Feedback on abstracts sent -06/15: 10-page papers due (see http://www.hicss.hawaii.edu/hicss_42/authorinstruction.htm for details) -08/15: Accept/Conditional Accept/Reject notices sent -09/15: Final papers due; at least one author must register for conference ABOUT THE MINITRACK This interdisciplinary minitrack and workshop brings designers and researchers together to explore persistent conversation, the transposition of ordinarily ephemeral conversation into the potentially persistent digital medium. Persistent conversations occur via instant messaging, text and voice chat, email, blogs, web boards, MOOs, graphical and 3D virtual environments, gaming systems, video sharing sites, document annotation systems, mobile phone texting, etc. Such communication is persistent in that it leaves a digital trace, and the trace in turn affords new uses. It permits conversations to be saved, visualized, browsed, searched, replayed, and restructured. Persistence also means that conversations need not be synchronous: They can be asynchronous (stretching out over hours or days) or supersynchronous (with multiple parties 'talking' at the same time). Finally, the creation of persistent and potentially permanent records from what was once an ephemeral process raises a variety of social and ethical issues. ABOUT PAPER TOPICS We are seeking papers that address one or both of the following two general areas: * Understanding Practice. The burgeoning popularity of the internet (and intranets) provides an opportunity to study and characterize new forms of conversational practice. Questions of interest range from how various features of conversations (e.g., turn-taking, topic organization, expression of paralinguistic information) have adapted in response to the digital medium, to new roles played by persistent conversation in domains such as education, business, and entertainment. * Design. Digital systems do not currently support conversation well: It is difficult to converse with grace, clarity, depth and coherence over networks. But this need not remain the case. Toward this end, we welcome analyses of existing systems as well as designs for new systems which better support conversation. Also of interest are inquiries into how participants design their own conversations within the digital medium -- that is, how they make use of system features to create, structure, and regulate their discourse. Examples of appropriate topics include, but are not limited to: - Turn-taking, threading and other structural features of CMC - The dynamics of large scale conversation systems (e.g. blog networks) - Methods for summarizing or visualizing conversation archives - Studies of virtual communities or other sites of digital conversation - The roles of mediated conversation in knowledge management - Studies of the use of instant messaging in large organizations - Novel designs for computer-mediated conversation systems - Analyses of or designs for distance learning systems NEXT STEPS Submit a 250 to 300 word abstract of your proposed paper via email to the chairs: Tom Erickson (snowfall at acm dot org), Susan Herring (herring at indiana dot edu) by the deadline noted above. We will send you feedback on the suitability of your abstract by the deadline noted above. FOR MORE INFORMATION - About the minitrack, see http://www.visi.com/~snowfall/HICSS_PC.html or contact: Thomas Erickson (snowfall at acm.org) and Susan Herring (herring at indiana.edu) - About previous years' papers (including pdf's) and participants, see: http://www.visi.com/~snowfall/HICSS_PC_History.html - About the HICSS conference, see: http://www.hicss.hawaii.edu/ ----------------- Tom Erickson http://www.visi.com/~snowfall/

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Fwd: Call for DIAC/OD Poster Proposals
by Andrea Kavanaugh 13 Apr '08

13 Apr '08

*please distribute widely. apologies for cross posting* Begin forwarded message: > From: douglas(a)publicsphereproject.org > Date: April 12, 2008 12:48:44 PM EDT > Subject: Call for Poster Proposals > > > Please forward to interested colleagues and lists. Thanks! > Poster proposals are due Wednesday April 15th. > > > Call for Poster Proposals > > Tools for Participation: > Collaboration, Deliberation, and Decision Support > > DIAC-2008 / Online Deliberation 2008 > University of California, Berkeley > June 26 - 29, 2008 > http://www.publicsphereproject.org/events/diac08/ > > Thanks to everybody who submitted research papers or other submissions > to DIAC-2008 / Online Deliberation 2008! > > Poster Proposals (due April 15, 2008) > > There are two basic components: the proposal and the poster itself. > The final contribution to the result (that will be printed in the > proceedings will include text and graphics. The poster proposal > should not be more than two pages of text. A poster is a broad and > graphic depiction of the work. The proposal should contain! t! ! he > following title, research question(s), motivation, relevance to > conference, methodology, status, findings, implications, impact, > possible future work, description of poster, and citations to related > work. These fields can be omitted or abbreviated depending on the > nature of the work. The inclusion of graphics in the proposal is > encouraged and may cause the page length to go over two pages. The > proposal should not be longer in that case than four pages. > > Posters will be displayed at certain times during the conference > and the presenter is expected to be on-hand during specific times > to help explain and discuss the poster. > > Submissions must be made via the conference submission system on > the DIAC-08 web site. Submissions should be written in English and > authors whose first language is not English are encouraged to have > their submissions reviewed for language prior to submission. > Submissions should be formatted for "US Lette! r"! ! size using 11 > point > Times-Roman font. > > As a reminder, our areas of focus include but are not limited to: > deliberative and collaborative systems, e-democracy and e- > participation, > mobilization and organization, negotiation, consultation, > sustainability, > community support systems, open source models, human rights, > ecological awareness, conflict resolution, justice, transparency > systems, media and civic journalism, media literacy, power research, > citizen science, economic development and opportunity, peace and > reconciliation, infrastructure development, policy, education, > community networks, research and development for civil society, > social software, virtual communities and civic intelligence. > > We are especially interested in technology development that is > already being tested or fielded. We are also interested in > exploratory, > theoretical and other intellectual work that helps build understanding > and support for future efforts! . ! ! In addition to exploring social > technology, we must at the same time understand and advance the > social context of technology, including its design, access, use, > policy and evaluation, as well as intellectual frameworks and > perspectives that inform technological as well as social innovation > including requirements, case studies, critique and self-reflection, > and infrastructures for future work. > > DIAC-08 combines CPSR's 11th DIAC symposium with the third Conference > on Online Deliberation. The joint conference is intended to provide > a platform and a forum for highlighting socio-technological > opportunities, challenges, and pitfalls in the area of community > and civic action. Technology enhanced community action ranges from > informal communities of practice to democratic governance of formal > organizations to large social movements. > > The DIAC symposia have resulted in six book publications (in addition > to the proceedings). Alth! ou! ! gh we don't have specific plans at > this > time, we are hoping to publish our seventh book based on this event. > > Thanks! We hope you'll join us in Berkeley this June. > > Doug Schuler > douglas(a)publicsphereproject.org > http://www.publicsphereproject.org/events/diac08/

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CFP: ACM Conference on Multimedia Information Retrieval
by Steve Jones 13 Apr '08

13 Apr '08

Call for Papers - ACM MIR2008 http://www.mir2008.org ACM International Conference on Multimedia Information Retrieval October 30-31, 2008, Vancouver, Canada colocated with ACM Multimedia Send questions/requests by email to mir(a)liacs.nl DEADLINES - June 20, 2008: Submission of full paper - July 14, 2008: Notification of acceptance - July 20, 2008: Camera-ready full paper - October 30-31, 2008: Conference KEYNOTE - Prof. Thomas S. Huang, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign GOALS The ACM International Conference on Multimedia Information Retrieval is a premier scientific meeting for discussing the latest advances in the area of multimedia retrieval. All papers in the main track must be high quality original papers which address important issues in multimedia exploration, summarization and retrieval including, but not limited to: - Exploration of media archives - browsing, experiential computing - Interfaces for multimedia exploration, visualization, query and retrieval - Indexing and search of multimedia data: images, video, audio, multi-modal systems - Digital life experience analysis and retrieval - life logs, digital immortality, life bits - Video surveillance browsing and retrieval, object detection and recognition, archiving - Learning and relevance feedback in multimedia retrieval - Applications - WWW searching, trademarks, scientific and medical media, etc. Double-blind full papers should be submitted using the paper submission web system at http://www.mir2008.org (preferably 6-8 pages in the ACM Conference style in English). All papers will be peer-reviewed. ORGANIZING COMMITTEE General Chair: Michael Lew (Leiden University) Program Co-Chairs: Alberto del Bimbo (University of Florence), Erwin Bakker (Leiden University) Brave New Topics Chair: Mark Zhang (SUNY Binghamton) Publicity Chair: Mark Huiskes (Leiden University) Asian Liaison: Kiyo Aizawa (University of Tokyo) SPONSORS ACM ACM SIG Multimedia Getty Images LIACS Media Lab, Leiden University Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO) under FOCUS/BRICKS grant number 642.066.603

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Reminder, CFP
by Niels Brügger 12 Apr '08

12 Apr '08

*Please distribute widely. Apologies for cross-posting* REMINDER, Call for Papers Conference title: Web_site Histories: Theories, Methods, Analysis One-day conference, October 14th 2008. The main purpose of Web_site Histories is to place the new and emerging field of Web History on the research agenda and to map the field of historical website studies. Organizer: The Centre for Internet Research, University of Aarhus, Denmark. The conference is associated the AoIR 9.0 conference "Rethinking Communities, Rethinking Place" in Copenhagen (http://conferences.aoir.org ) Confirmed keynote speakers: Kirsten Foot, Associate Professor, University of Washington Steven Schneider, Professor, State University of New York Title: Object-Oriented Web Historiography. Abstract: Foot & Schneider will present a keynote address that focuses on their proposal of an “object-oriented” approach to researching and writing Web history. They will consider the various meanings of object entailed within the notion of object-oriented Web historiography in order to advance both the theoretical foundation and methodological rigor of developmental analyses of Web artifacts in their hyperlinked contexts. Developmental analyses of any aspect of the Web, whether engaged in contemporaneously or retrospectively, entail dynamics within and between the (co)producers of Web artifacts, production practices and techniques, and Web artifacts themselves. These dynamics make it difficult but very important for scholars to identify and situate their object(s) of analysis historically and theoretically. See extended description at http://www.cfi.au.dk/en/events/conferences/wsh08/keynote . Kirsten Foot and Steven Schneider are the authors of Web Campaigning (MIT Press 2006) as well as a number of articles about Web Sphere Analysis. A panel will round off the conference by discussing the future directions of studies of Web History. Besides Kirsten Foot and Steven Schneider panel participant will be Niels Brügger, Associate Professor, the Centre for Internet Research, University of Aarhus. The main purpose of Web_site Histories is to place the new and emerging field of Web History on the research agenda and to map the field of historical website studies. The focus on the Web can be seen as a specialization within the larger field of Internet History, but with another subset of questions and challenges. The underscore in the title reflects the uncertainty and variability of the object of study – are we talking about the Web in general, Web Spheres, individual websites, or web pages? The conference welcomes papers on any of these approaches or any other theme, topic or idea connected to the theories, methods or analysis of Web History. Theoretical approaches could be discussions of the object of study or reflections on doing historical research on this particular subject. Methodological approaches may include abstract or more specific considerations of the range of applicable methods, both old and new, to Web History. Finally, the analytical approach welcomes contributions exploring the practical hazards and possibilities of this special kind of empirical material, as well as papers on concrete empirical studies. Papers are also welcome on a wide array of historically-grounded themes. The topics below are examples of the kinds of issues paper presenters are invited to address — but are not intended to limit topics suitable for paper submissions: · General as well as more specific histories of the development of the Web, focusing on, for instance, technology, graphic design, culture etc. · The history of the Web as a subset of the history of the Internet, with emphasis on, for instance, the development of hardware, software and protocols · The organizational architecture of the Web in a global, national, transnational or local perspective · Defining moments and events on the Web, either in terms of how the Web was conceived and built, or in terms of how it is or was perceived and used · Demographical, social, cultural, or other factors influencing Web use and uptake · Political, economic, institutional or personal histories of the Web · The growing popularity of social networking sites in a historical perspective · Interactivity, genre and media discussions in relation to the Web · The histories of expectations in pre-web time meeting the reality of the Web · Source availability and validity – the archiving of the Web · The history of the Web in the larger framework of media history Please send abstracts of no more than 300 words by April 15th 2008 (further instructions at http://www.cfi.au.dk/en/wsh08) After a process of double-blind peer review, authors will be notified of accepted papers by May 15th. Full papers will be due by August 31st 2008. Please note that there is a maximum of 30 participants, and priority will be given to paper presenters. Paper presentations will consist of short presentations with opponents/discussants and roundtable-style discussions. Presenters are therefore also expected to act as opponents/discussants. Participation in the conference is free, and coffee and lunch is included (yes, there is such a thing as a free lunch). Following the conference, papers will be considered for inclusion in an edited volume on Web Histories. The conference takes place at the University of Aarhus, two days before the start of the AoIR 9.0 conference in Copenhagen (http://conferences.aoir.org ). Aarhus is situated west of Copenhagen and is the second largest city in Denmark with a population of approximately 300,000. It is accessible by train or by air via the Aarhus or Billund airports. Read more about Aarhus and the university:http://www.au.dk/en/why and http://www.au.dk/en/aarhus.htm . The Centre for Internet Research is located at the Institute of Information and Media Studies, and was established in September 2000 in order to promote research into the social and cultural implications and functions of the internet. Read more about the Centre:http://www.cfi.au.dk/en/about/profile Conference website: http://www.cfi.au.dk/en/wsh08. The conference is sponsored by: · 'The Knowledge Society', a joint research priority area at the Faculty of Humanities, University of Aarhus, · the Institute of Information and Media Studies, University of Aarhus · the Centre for Internet Research, University of Aarhus. About the organisers: Niels Brügger (PhD, MA) is Associate Professor at the Institute of Information and Media Studies, University of Aarhus, and co-founder of the Centre for Internet Research. His primary research interests are website history, web archiving, and the internet and media theory, and he recently started the research project "The history of www.dr.dk, 1996-2006" (read more at http://imv.au.dk/~nb) Vidar Falkenberg (MSc) is a PhD fellow at the Institute of Information and Media Studies, University of Aarhus, and a member of the Centre for Internet Research. His research is on the development of online newspapers in Denmark (read more at http://www.internetaviser.dk) ------------------------------------------------------------ RESEARCH BLOG On my blog http://drdk.dk/wordpress I write about the research project "The history of dr.dk, 1996-2006" as well as about issues of relevance to the internet and to dr.dk of today [ in Danish ] COMING CONFERENCE I am co-organizing the conference 'Web_site Histories: Theories, Methods, Analysis', 14 October 2008 Deadline for submissions: 15 April 2008 Visit the conference website: http://www.cfi.au.dk/en/wsh08 LATEST PUBLICATIONS AND PAPERS Website History: Theoretical and Methodological Problems in an Emerging Field, Internet Research 8.0: Let's Play, The 8th annual conference of the Association of Internet Researchers, Vancouver 2007, 25 pages Abstract: http://conferences.aoir.org/viewabstract.php?id=930&cf=6 A Critical Textual Philology of the Website: Why and How?, The pre- AoIR 8.0 Workshop 'Internet Histories', Vancouver 2007, 22 pages Abstract: http://wiki.aoir.org/index.php?title=IR8_Pre-conference_workshops The website as unit of analysis? Bolter and Manovich revisited, Digital Aesthetics and Communication (Northern Lights: Film and Media Studies Yearbook, vol. 5) (red. A. Fetveit, G.B. Stald), Intellect, Bristol 2007, 75-88 About the publication: http://www.intellectbooks.co.uk/journals.appx.php?issn=1601829X NIELS BRÜGGER, Associate Professor, PhD Institute of Information and Media Studies University of Aarhus Helsingforsgade 14 8200 Aarhus N Denmark Phone (switchboard) +45 8942 1111 Phone (direct) +45 8942 9226 Telefax + 45 8942 5950 E-mail nb(a)imv.au.dk Webpage http://imv.au.dk/~nb Profile at LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/nielsbrugger Profile at Kommunikationsforum [in Danish]: www.kommunikationsforum.dk/Niels-Brugger The research project "The history of dr.dk, 1996-2006" http://drdk.dk The Centre for Internet Research http://cfi.imv.au.dk Theories of Media and Communication http://www.medieteori.dk Internet Archive in Denmark http://www.netarkivet.dk

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Submissions Deadline: EURO mGOV 2008: Mobile Government Conference
by i k 11 Apr '08

11 Apr '08

----- Apologies for X postings .. Please distribute widely ----- **** About a Month to Submissions: 9 May 2008 Call for Papers, Panels, Special Sessions, Tutorials, Exhibitions and Demos EURO mGOV 2008 ------------------------- The 3rd European Conference on Mobile Government 15-16 September 2008, Sheraton Voyager, Antalya, Turkey http://www.mgovernment.org/events/ SPONSORS, ORGANIZERS and SUPPORTERS: --- TURKCELL (Diamond Sponsor), TurkSat (Gold Sponsor) --- Mobile Government Consortium International, UK; AykeyNet, UK --- Dept. of Computer Engineering, TOBB University of Economics and Technology, Turkey, --- Center for Information and Society, University of Washington, USA. Mobile Government involves revolutionary approaches to the modernization of public sector via the utilization of networked mobile technologies in local or central government organizations. It aims to enhance public sector business by creating new opportunities to provide services to society. mGovernment is now a recognized field of practice and research, and constitutes the next evolutionary step of progress in eGovernment. EURO mGOV 2008 aims to be a platform for presenting, exchanging and disseminating the latest developments, ideas, applications and services in the field of mGovernment among three essential constituents: public / private sector professionals and researchers. The EURO mGOV 2008 organization invites all professionals with an interest in the interfaces of Electronic Government and Mobile Business, both from social and technological perspectives. How to participate? ----------------------- Please visit the conference web site for submissions, review policy and further info at www.mgovernment.org/events/ --- Public or private sector professionals: send a page long proposal for a talk presenting, for example, an implementation, application or services deployed, cases studied and experiences gained. --- Researchers: send a maximum of 10 pages of a paper presenting your research and its results. Who will attend? ---------------------- --- Public Sector professionals such as developers or implementers of mobile technologies, policy and decision makers. --- Private Sector professionals from, for example, mobile telco`s, infrastructure, hardware, content, applications and service providers to the public sector. --- Researchers from academic institutions and other research organizations. Please get in touch for further info…. -- EURO mGOV 2008 – mgov2008(a)mgovernment.org www.mgovernment.org/events/ -- Mobile Government Consortium International - info(a)mgovernment.org -- Other mGCI events – www.mgovernment.org/events/

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Submissions to mSociety 2008: Mobile Society Conference
by i k 11 Apr '08

11 Apr '08

----- Apologies for X postings .. Please distribute widely ----- **** About a Month to Submissions: 9 May 2008 Call for Papers, Panels, Special Sessions, Tutorials, Exhibitions and Demos mSOCIETY 2008 ------------------------ The 1st International Conference on Mobile Society 18-19 September 2008, Sheraton Voyager, Antalya, Turkey http://www.mgovernment.org/events/ SPONSORS, ORGANIZERS and SUPPORTERS: --- TURKCELL (Diamond Sponsor), TurkSat (Gold Sponsor) --- Mobile Government Consortium International, UK, AykeyNet, UK --- Dept. of Computer Engineering, TOBB University of Economics and Technology, Turkey, --- Center for Information and Society, University of Washington, USA. Mobile Society refers to the emerging trends of the collective life on earth driven by the technology of networked mobile phones and other mobile devices. These technologies and their fast and wide adoption are influencing the way we live in society, the way we run businesses and the way we are as an individual. The First International Conference on Mobile Society (mSociety 2008) aims to be a platform for the presentation, exchange and dissemination of the latest developments, ideas, applications and services involving all aspects of practice and research in mSociety. The mSociety 2008 organization invites all professionals with an interest in how mobility influences society in both positive and negative ways. Possible perspectives may include, but are not limited to, the diffusion and adoption of technology; the dissemination of mobile content, applications and services for business and entertainment; the economical, sociological and psychological impact of mobility on society. How to participate? -------------------------- Please visit the conference web site for submissions, review policy and further info at www.mgovernment.org/events/ --- Researchers: send a maximum of 10 pages of a paper presenting your research and its results. --- Members of Civil Society Organizations and Private sector professionals: send a page long proposal for a talk presenting, for example, an implementation, application or services deployed, cases studied and experiences gained. Who will attend? --- Researchers economists, technologists, sociologists and psychologists from academic institutions and other research organizations. --- Private Sector professionals from, for example, mobile telco`s, infrastructure, hardware, content, applications and service providers to _ individuals and organizations. --- Members of Public Sector, Donors and Civil Society Organizations. Please get in touch for further information... mSociety 2008 – msociety2008(a)mgovernment.org www.mgovernment.org/events/ Mobile Government Consortium International - info(a)mgovernment.org Other mGCI events – www.mgovernment.org/events/

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Results from College Information Literacy Efforts Benchmarks
by primarydat＠aol.com 11 Apr '08

11 Apr '08

College libraries in a North American sample experienced a dramatic upsurge in the number of information literacy classes or presentations given in 2007, according to a new report from Primary Research Group. Primary Research Group’s new report – College Information Literacy Efforts Benchmarks (ISBN# 1-57440-099-1) is a North American survey presenting data on the information literacy efforts of colleges from the United States and Canada. Some of the key findings of the 175-page report were that: • The mean percentage change in the number of classes or presentations given between the fall semester of 2007 and 2006 was +20.26%, with a median of +5%. The minimum offered in the sample was -50% while the maximum was 576%. • A mean of 9.64 instructors gave formal classroom instruction or presentations in information literacy in the last year for which statistics are available, with a median of 4 and maximum of 325. U.S. respondents had almost 3 times as many instructors giving sessions than did Canadian colleges. • Business, psychology, sociology, nursing, education, and English were commonly listed as one of the top three academic departments that had requested the most library instructional presentations or classes in the past year. • Librarians in the survey estimated that 23.5% of their students that had not taken any formal information literacy training knew a few essentials of Boolean searching. In our prompt, we indicated that Boolean searching basics included the use of quotation marks, “or” and “and.” Private colleges reported that 32.5% of their students fell into this category; public colleges, 18.3%. • Data was more hopeful in assessing the student body’s skills in using the online library catalog. Nearly 45% said their student body was competent, while 42% said they had basic knowledge at best. Just 9% considered them very unskilled, and nearly 4% reported they were highly proficient. Canadian libraries were 3 times more likely than U.S. ones to consider their students highly proficient in the use of the online catalog. • Just over 13% of survey participants administered a test to assess student skills in Microsoft Excel or other spreadsheet software. • Almost 17% administered a test to incoming freshmen or transfer students on their understanding of plagiarism. Almost 27% of research universities gave such a test. Nearly 21% of colleges with over 10,000 FTE students also gave this test, nearly twice the rate of mid-sized schools. • Almost 70% of the sample used student evaluation forms to assess the performance of information literacy or other library science instructors. Student evaluation forms were more popular with public colleges than private, and most popular with research universities, 80% of whom reported using such forms. • 63% of survey participants offer presentations or brief classes to new students during new student orientation. Such classes were more commonly offered by Canadian libraries, research universities, and colleges with fewer than 1,000 FTE students. 71% of libraries at which librarians held faculty status conducted such orientation sessions, while less than 60% of participants whose librarians did not hold faculty status offered the sessions. • Barely 5.4% of the sample required a 1 or 2 credit information literacy course for graduation, and just 3.6% required a 3 or more credit course. However, over 23% of the sample required information literacy training integrated into basic writing or composition courses. • Just over a third of the sample believed that the English department, or equivalent department with similar responsibilities, seemed to try but could do better in terms of carrying out its information literacy responsibilities. Just 23% believed that the department was doing well enough, while 22% believed information literacy was a high priority for them and that the department made time for them. Just 8% believed the English department to be laggard, and 12% believed their collaboration to be an excellent one. • Nearly 48% of the colleges sampled offered interactive tutorials in information literacy topics to students. Just a third of bachelors-granting colleges offered such tutorials, while 6 out of 10 research universities did so. • The vast majority of the sample, nearly 84%, reported that the library was not really involved with computer technology training on campus. • Nearly 73% of the libraries in the sample had one or more instructional labs or learning centers designed for information literacy instruction in which much of their formal literacy instruction took place. • Half of the libraries in the sample reported making tutorial links and other resources available through course management systems such as Blackboard and WebCT. The report is based on detailed benchmarking data from more than 110 North American colleges; data is broken out by type and size of college for easier benchmarking. For a table of contents, sample pages, and other information, visit our website at www.primaryresearch.com.

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Workshop: MEDIA PRACTICES AND CULTURAL PRODUCERS
by Sigurjón B Hafsteinsson 11 Apr '08

11 Apr '08

***PLEASE CIRCULATE***** MEDIA PRACTICES AND CULTURAL PRODUCERS EASA Media Anthropology Network Second Workshop Barcelona, Spain, November 6-7, 2008 The workshop addresses media practices and the arenas of cultural production in the context of the "new media" landscape. In broad terms, the workshop will inquire into the leading theoretical and methodological perspectives for doing anthropological research on digital mediated practices and their implications for the understanding of people's interaction with media. The aim is to explore the circulatory flows of media practices and in particular, how digital technology use is changing media culture, cultures of media circulation and the very definition of cultural producer. Anthropological and ethnographic studies of media have been largely focused on analyzing reception of media products (television, radio, press and film) and media consumption related to domestic appropriation of technologies. There is also a wide body of research devoted to the study of the political dimension of alternative and indigenous media. However, there has been a separation between media and Internet studies, and between the analysis of media reception and practices of self production, such as family photography or home video. Current digital media practices urge scholars to examine self production contents and media flows from a broader perspective that cross-cuts divisions between public and private, media corporative products and people releases, home production and cultural industry, political activism and domestic affairs. The workshop aims to become a locus for discussing innovative theoretical and methodological approaches that deal with such interwoven practices of media production and consumption. The workshop will address questions like: how is self production entering circulatory matrices of media and power? How does cultural production itself become a practice of reception or consumption? What are the implications of understanding audiences as cultural producers? Do new media practices redefine the role of cultural producers? Are self production and content sharing new cultural forms of media production? What are the cultural implications of people's media productive practices? Rather than an uncritical celebration of people's empowerment, this workshop encourages exchange of research experiences about ways of doing ethnographic research by following social networks and the circuits of new media practices. Key note speakers Elizabeth Bird (University of South Florida) Don Slater (London School of Economics) Dorle Drackle (University of Bremen) Nick Couldry (Goldsmiths, University of London) Coordinators Elisenda Ardèvol Open University of Catalonia Sigurjon Baldur Hafsteinsson Coordinator of the European Association of Social Anthropologists Media Anthropology Network Organization Committee in Barcelona Begonya Enguix Edgar Gomez Cruz Adolfo Estalella Studies of Humanities Universitat Oberta de Catalunya Gemma San Cornelio Toni Roig Studies of Sciences of Information and Communication Universitat Oberta de Catalunya Call for "research in progress" presentations The workshop will include presentations and a poster session. Please if you are interested in presenting your research about such topics, send abstracts (500-800 words) to mabcnworkshop(at)gmail.com (please replace (at) with @). The deadline for submissions is 17 May 2008. Submissions will be reviewed by the organizing committee, and will be selected for a paper presentation or for the poster session. Notice of acceptance will be sent by 17 June. This event is funded by a conference grant from the MEC and the UOC. Funds are available to cover travel costs for researchers whose submissions are selected for presentation at the workshop. Registration Due to the limited number of places available, please register in order to take part in the event. Registration fee: Euro 80 (Euro 60 students) Coffee breaks and one cold lunch is included Registration until 17 of July For registration and further information please contact mabcnworkshop(at)gmail.com (please replace (at) with @). Venue Drassanes University of Catalonia (UOC) http://www.media-anthropology.net/events.htm

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HCI - Blogging meets literary analysis: why people read blogs
by Richard Forno 11 Apr '08

11 Apr '08

First picked up via MSM article: Blogging meets literary analysis: why people read blogs By John Timmer | Published: April 09, 2008 - 10:20PM CT The rise of blogging clearly represents a significant social phenomenon, but studying it poses a challenge in part because defining a blog is not a simple thing. There have been a number of attempts to do so at the technical level, where the presence of material organized by time stamp or the existence of RSS feeds have been suggested as defining features. A group at the University of California-Irvine, however, decided to approach the question from the perspective of human-computer interactions, where the humans involved were blog readers. Mixing in a dose of literary theory provided some interesting insights into how readers view and define blogs. < - > MSM article continues: http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20080409-blogging-meets-literary-theory -in-new-analysis.html The study's authors kindly provided Ars with a copy. It was presented at the Association for Computing Machinery's CHI Conference, and is available through their website. The ACM link (reg' reqd) http://portal.acm.org/citation.cfm?doid=1357054.1357228

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