February 2009 - Air-L - lists.aoir.org

Re: [Air-L] virtual ethnography and online fieldwork
by John Postill 10 Feb '09

10 Feb '09

There is so much to digest and reflect upon in Don Slater's detailed response to my post about suburban internet practices and ethnographic research that I'll just take up briefly his third point about the notion of 'practice', namely: > > 3. Does the idea that suburbs have some similar properties (and > therefore (?) comparable internet practices) in Kuala Lumpur and Toronto > necessitate recourse to concepts of macro structure and global > processes? Don't think so, in which case I'm not that bothered. I've > probably got a very complicated process to unravel, and vast range of > contingencies to track, so that I can see how these similar properties > might arise from similar architectural and spatial arrangements, > work/life relations, domestic arrangements (nuclear family?), class > cultures, the practices of transnational corporations, and so on. And > on, and on. Many of us have found the notion of 'practice' very useful > in many of these studies as it posits an elementary unit of analysis > that embraces so many features of a social setting without reducing them > to structures. > I wholly agree with Don's practice-theoretical stance, which is the one I've adopted in my own recent work (synthesised with field theory). There is no need to resort to 'concepts of macro structure and global processes' to account for the emergence of analogous internet-related practices in geographically remote localities, in this particular case practices related to residential activism in middle-class suburbs. Given roughly equivalent issues on the ground (traffic, schools, crime, etc) suburban people in different parts of the world will come up with similar (internet) practices to address them - these local processes and the resulting practices are analogous but independent from one another. Of course, from a comparative perspective the contrasts are as interesting as the similarities. I think of local residential politics as being an L-shaped Bourdieuan field of practice, with the vertical axis (= subfield) representing the three tiers of government (four in EU countries), and the horizontal axis representing the non-governmental subfield of residential activism, a subfield increasingly mediated by internet and mobile technologies. I hope this can be a way around the macro-micro problem mentioned by Don. Internet-related practices sustain this resilient L-shaped field: they may allow for more fluid and egalitarian interactions among leading residents, but they do not alter the vertical/hierarchical subfield of government. John Dr John Postill Senior Lecturer in Media Sheffield Hallam University Sheffield S11 8UZ United Kingdom j.postill(a)shu.ac.uk http://johnpostill.wordpress.com/

1 0

Re: [Air-L] Using ANT as ethos and method
by gus andrews 10 Feb '09

10 Feb '09

Tamara, I have also taken a stab at using ANT for describing digital culture and what is "cool" and not cool -- look for my article in Fibreculture: http://journal.fibreculture.org/issue8/issue8_andrews.html As Jeremy mentioned, I found ANT was a little unwieldy for describing zeitgeisty arguments, and it's definitely not so much a method; it's better suited for understanding change over time in more concrete scientific arguments. While Latour and others have critiqued the original model he set up, I saw him speak this past weekend at Columbia and it's interesting how much his ANT ideas still shape what he's working on now :) That said, I've also done some work on why MMO play "isn't cool," drawing on the yet-unpublished dissertation of a friend of mine, Austin Grossman. Both of us drew on The Dialectic of the Enlightenment to make the case. I covered this in my master's thesis -- let me know if you'd like a look at it. Gillian "Gus" Andrews Doctoral student, Communications in Education Teachers College, Columbia University

1 0

Re: [Air-L] Does Comm Sci notice the internet?
by Daren Carroll Brabham 10 Feb '09

10 Feb '09

@ Meryl Krieger - I hesitated to name names, which lead to much of my generalization....but you're right...Indiana's various iterations of communication have their act together with new media. They're a good model to follow for comm programs looking to take up issues of new media. db --- Daren C. Brabham Graduate Teaching Fellow Department of Communication University of Utah 255 S. Central Campus Dr., Rm. 2400 Salt Lake City, UT 84112 phone: (801) 633-4796 daren.brabham(a)utah.edu www.darenbrabham.com <http://www.darenbrabham.com/>

1 0

Blizzard data analyst job opening
by Dmitri Williams 10 Feb '09

10 Feb '09

A contact at Blizzard asked me to post this. It's not obvious from the posting, but the position is of flexible rank/seniority, i.e. from an advanced undergrad to a Ph.D. http://www.blizzard.com/us/jobopp/o-data-analyst.html -- Dmitri Williams Assistant Professor Annenberg School for Communication dmitri.williams -theatsign- usc -dot- edu

1 0

Respondents wanted for Second Life survey research - 250 L$
by Mark Bell 10 Feb '09

10 Feb '09

Greetings, The Synthetic Worlds Initiative (Edward Castronova's group) at Indiana University is rolling out an in-world survey tool. Our first survey is on demographics and the quality of life for virtual world residents. If you are in SL, please stop by the SLURL below and take our survey. Respondents will be paid L$ 250. We have been having some infrequent issues with payment, so if you are not paid, please contact Synthetic Shan in-world or email me off-list. All you need to do to take a survey is click on the kiosk located on our island: http://slurl.com/secondlife/Synthetic%20World/72/79/32 Then follow the instructions on the notecard. Thanks for your willingness to help out a fellow educator/researcher. Mark -- Mark Bell PhD student in Indiana University's Telecommunications program SL: Typewriter Tackleberry http://www.indiana.edu/~telecom/ <http://www.indiana.edu/%7Etelecom/> http://swi.indiana.edu/ http://blog.markwbell.com "Communications tools don't get socially interesting until they get technologically boring." - Clay Shirky

1 0

CALL FOR CASES for a CASEBOOK
by Hakikur Rahman 10 Feb '09

10 Feb '09

(My apologies, if you have received it more than once.) CALL FOR CASES Proposal Submission Deadline: March 15, 2009 Full Case Submission Deadline: June 15, 2009 Cases on Adoption, Diffusion and Evaluation of Global E-Governance Systems: Impact at the Grass Roots A book edited by Dr. Hakikur Rahman, ICMS, Bangladesh To be published by IGI Global: <http://www.igi-global.com/requests/details.asp?ID=598>http://www.igi-global.com/requests/details.asp?ID=598 This publication is part of the Advances in Electronic Government Research (AEGR) Book Series found at <http://www.igi-global.com/aegr>http://www.igi-global.com/aegr Introduction Generally, e-government refers to the use of new ICTs by governments applied to the full range of government functions. In a broad sense, e-government is the use of information technology to provide citizens and organizations with more convenient access to government information and services, and offer delivery of public services to citizens, business partners, and others who are working in the public sector. E-governance is a network of organizations to incorporate government, non-government, profit, nonprofit, not-for-profit and private sector entities. In e-governance there are no distinct boundaries. The model for e-governance could be a one-stop portal, where citizens have access to a variety of information and services. Overall Objective of the Book Most of the e-government systems at the early stages are being built to exactly mimic the age-old conventional systems, and virtually computerize the traditional methods and procedures. Electronic solutions are merely implanted into government offices without looking into the transformational aspects (mental, organizational, physical, logical, cultural, working style, etc.) and are not providing the entire eco-system for long-term sustenance. This book will accommodate cases related to theories, issues and methodologies for designing, implementing and operating successful e-government systems. This book will cover a variety of services and applications across the globe that have been improving the overall governance of nations and economies. This book will be concise in synthesizing the theoretical analysis, focus more to pragmatic implementations, and emphasize on effective e-government systems for better implementation at the grass roots. Target Audience Being a casebook on e-government, this book will try to cover other aspects of the e-society, such as e-learning, e-business, e-procurement, e-commerce, e-payment, e-health, e-democracy, e-voting, e-police, and other e-applications and e-services. Therefore, this book will be useful to development partners, policy makers, government and non-government staffs, knowledge managers, researchers, academics and individuals. Recommended topics for case studies include, but are not limited to, the following: - Laws, jurisdictions, policy matters related to e-government - Benchmarking of e-government system - Designing of e-government systems - Adoption of appropriate solutions and utilities - Assessment of e-government policies and systems - Comprehensive analysis of e-government implementations - Performance and effectiveness measurement of e-government systems - Incorporation of decision supports tools - Learning and Knowledge development - Economic empowerment, Social empowerment, and Sustainable development - Recommendations on Benchmarking and its algorithms Submission Procedure Researchers and practitioners are invited to submit on or before March 15, 2009, a 2-3 page case proposal clearly explaining the mission and concerns of his or her proposed case. Authors of accepted proposals will be notified by March 31, 2009 about the status of their proposals and sent case guidelines. Full cases are expected to be submitted by June 15, 2009. All submitted cases will be reviewed on a double-blind review basis. Contributors may also be requested to serve as reviewers for this project. Publisher This book is scheduled to be published by IGI Global (formerly Idea Group Inc.), publisher of the Information Science Reference (formerly Idea Group Reference), Medical Information Science Reference, and IGI Publishing imprints. For additional information regarding the publisher, please visit <http://www.igi-pub.com>www.igi-global.com. This publication is anticipated to be released in 2011. Important Dates: March 15, 2009: Proposal Submission Deadline March 31, 2009: Notification of Acceptance June 15, 2009: Full Case Submission July 15, 2009: Review Result Returned August 31, 2009: Final Case Submission Editorial Advisory Board Members: Derya Altunbas, Canakkale Onsekiz Mart University, Turkey Ángela-Jo Medina, Financial Literacy Coalition of Central Texas, USA D.C. Misra, eGov Researcher and Consultant, India Ken Stevens, Memorial University of Newfoundland, Canada Kam Hou Vat, University of Macau, Macau Inquiries and Submissions can be forwarded electronically (Word document) to: Dr. Hakikur Rahman Institute of Computer Management & Science Mirpur, Dhaka-1216, Bangladesh Tel.: +880 2 803 4130 FAX: +880 2 901 4764 GSM: +351 960193872 Email: <mailto:email@hakik.org>email(a)hakik.org Web: www.hakik.org

1 0

Re: [Air-L] Using ANT as ethos and method
by Andrew Herman 10 Feb '09

10 Feb '09

Tamara- This sounds like a great project and, if I were your advisor, I would give you an immediate green light. I would be happy to have a conversation about this with you as I am moving along similar paths with respect to what I call "Blackberry Capitalism". Lets do purse the topic off-line. Perhaps I could be an outside reader for you as well. Andrew Herman, Ph. D. Associate Professor Department of Communication Studies Wilfrid Laurier University Waterloo, Ontario N2L 3C5 CANADA 519 884-1970 x3693 >>> Tamara Paradis <tsparadis(a)gmail.com> 02/10/09 10:15 AM >>> Hi all I'm working on a graduate project that explores the controversies and understandings of MMO gaming as valid leisure. I'm curious what is it about MMO gaming that results in it being viewed as geeky, strange, "luser-ish", etc. I've been struck by the ways in which MMO gamers themselves, as well as everday non-gaming folks and mass media reportage (outside of financial reports!) seem to accept that MMO gaming is somehow a type of strange and suspect pursuit. I've long been intrigued with the work of Bruno Latour and others from SST and material culture studies who use an Actor-Network Theory (ANT) approach to studying the world and its phenomenon. I am drawn to the ethos of ANT which flattens the divide between researcher and the researched, and which advocates jettisoning old notions of society and "the social", and the old (artificial?) divides between micro/macro, structure/individual, power/domination etc. in the interests of letting the actions tell the story of the results. I'm equlally drawn but intimidated by the methods built into ANT -- the mapping of actors and connections and associations. I'm trying to convince a reluctant adviser that an ANT approach is a valid way of studying my research question. Given the digital focus and the desire to use ANT as ethos and method, as well as the ways in which ANT approaches study and fieldwork, I'm having a rough go of it. I'm wondering if any of you are using ANT or have used it in the past for qualitiative research purposes (e.g. virtual ethnography; findings reporting; etc.). If you have done so in the past, are in the midst of doing so now or are at least intrigued by the possibilities, I'd be interested in talking with you off-list. Thanks. Tamara Paradis tparadis(a)connect.carleton.ca tsparadis(a)gmail.com Carleton University - Sociology & Anthropology Ottawa, ON, Canada _______________________________________________ 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/

1 0

Re: [Air-L] Does Comm Sci notice the internet?
by Daren Carroll Brabham 10 Feb '09

10 Feb '09

I think communication broadly (both mass comm. and speech comm.) is a natural home for new media/Internet studies, a discipline (that ought to be) focused on process and human exchange through various means. However, I think technological dinosaurs roam the halls of many journalism & mass comm. departments, professors who are experts in the areas of radio, television, and print but who for whatever reason have not kept up with new media technologies and refuse to do so, citing that area of study as "something other people do." I think most journalism & mass comm. folks appreciate the importance of new media, if only because they recognize that print is giving way to pixels and that it's hard to imagine the mass media operating without regard to the Internet these days. But appreciation for new media technology is not a substitute for knowing it and doing it, and the journalism & mass comm. departments that fail to get up to speed or hire tech-savvy folks will both crumble AND produce graduates who will enter the workforce unable to compete in a digital media world. The bigger threat that new media pose to journalism & mass comm. programs, of course, is that some mass comm. programs are hiring so-called Internet scholars who can't build basic Web pages themselves. It's like the TV critic who never watches TV or the social movement scholar who's never been on a non-profit board or volunteered before. These programs will continue to teach print newswriting and "new media and society" courses separately, for instance, rather than to integrate them into coherent convergence journalism curricula. The speech comm. folks are worse off, I think. Some rhetoricians have taken to the Internet and video games, fascinated by these new "texts," but many have not. And the ongoing critique of rhetorical criticism is its tendency to stray from production, ownership, and audience reception in favor of a myopic view of the text itself, a myopia that does no service to the complex realities of the new media landscape. Organizational comm. folks generally have yet to embrace the fact that new media have fundamentally restructured the notion of the organization, the nature of labor, and other hallowed topics. Many org. comm. scholars are still stuck in the outmoded concept of The Organization, writing about new media (if at all) as some "thing out there" that organizations interact with. The innovation and the organizational behavior folks in business studies are way ahead of organizational comm. folks in terms of understanding new media. The interpersonal communication scholars are handling new media well, but they're still stuck in the rut of figuring out how face-to-face interpersonal theories are relevant to mediated interactions. Necessary work, but not thrilling to me personally :-) Communication *ought* to be a great place for new media to flourish, and indeed some comm. programs around the world are doing great work in new media...but not enough of them are. In my opinion, it's the library/info. science folks and the art and architecture folks who are generally doing the most important work in new media studies. Even the business scholars are ahead of the curve. Communication has fought hard to become a "serious," recognized discipline, and it has developed a rigid disciplinary posture to prop up its ego. As such, it is quickly abandoning its eclectic, flexible, innovative beginnings...abandoning technologies and technological issues that are themselves eclectic, flexible, and innovative. (And, by the way, I definitely wouldn't go looking to Journal of Communication for thoughts on interdisciplinarity and innovation...actually I'd say the journals of ICA, NCA, and AEJMC are all on a different plane than Convergence, New Media & Society, ICS, and other journals). This is only MY humble opinion of course, and I recognize I've painted the discipline in very broad strokes...but it's a topic I happened to have pondered myself lately as I navigate my research identity with the realities of my department. I'd love to hear others' thoughts. db --- Daren C. Brabham Graduate Teaching Fellow Department of Communication University of Utah 255 S. Central Campus Dr., Rm. 2400 Salt Lake City, UT 84112 phone: (801) 633-4796 daren.brabham(a)utah.edu www.darenbrabham.com <http://www.darenbrabham.com/>

2 1

Re: [Air-L] IR 10.0: call for reviewers
by Andrew Herman 10 Feb '09

10 Feb '09

I just created my account but where should I put my areas of expertise so proposals can be properly directed my way? Andrew Andrew Herman, Ph. D. Associate Professor Department of Communication Studies Wilfrid Laurier University Waterloo, Ontario N2L 3C5 CANADA 519 884-1970 x3693 >>> Susanna Paasonen <susanna.paasonen(a)helsinki.fi> 02/10/09 8:27 AM >>> Dear all, My warmest thanks to all of you who have enrolled as reviewers for the IR 10.0 conference. As the submission deadline is drawing closer (next Monday, to be exact), I would like to invite as many of you as possible to consider taking up the task (by registering at http://ocs.sfu.ca/aoir/index.php/ir/10/user/account) The broader pool of reviewers we have, the better chances we have of ensuring expert opinion on all papers. Given the fundamentally interdisciplinary nature of aoir as a scholarly community, this is by no means a minor issue. Your input is greatly appreciated. with all best, Susanna Susanna Paasonen Helsinki Collegium for Advanced Studies Program Chair / IR 10.0 _______________________________________________ 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/

1 0

call for paper II CKBG National congress
by Luca Tateo 10 Feb '09

10 Feb '09

II NATIONAL CONGRESS OF CKBG EDUCATION, INNOVATION AND TECHNOLOGY April 17-18 2009 Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Milan (Italy) Department of Psychology via Nirone 15 http://www.ckbg.org/ Invited speakers: Giuseppe Riva, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Milano Roger Säljö, University of Gothenburg, Sweden Michael Cole, University of San Diego, California, in collegamento video SCIENTIFIC PROGRAM The congress, which takes place every two years, is organized by the Collaborative Knowledge Building Group (CKBG), with the contribution of the "Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore" of Milano. The congress addresses researchers, educational experts and teachers interested virtual environments for education, with special respect to collaborative learning and the technology that supports it. The main goal of the congress is to provide a space for discussion, through which potential connections between research, school and business can emerge. The topic of the second congress is the application of innovative practice in different use contexts: education, youth culture, etc. "Education, Innovation and Technology" are becoming more and more relevant in modern societies. They foreground the dynamism of culture and its progress across the generations. This is true for both educational contexts, where culture is transmitted to new members of society, and in informal, workplace and academic contexts, where culture becomes practice and paves the way for innovative change to take place. The EU Lifelong Learning Programme cites the need for lifelong learning to contribute to the development of the EU as an advanced knowledge society by developing contents, services, pedagogical solutions and practices supported by ICTs. Education, innovation and technology are crucial elements in making this programme effective. On the other hand, they are also elements for reflection, which enable us to better understand lifelong learning processes. We invite theoretical and empirical contributions on the following topics: . Experiences of technological innovation . Technology-enhanced innovation in educational and professional contexts . Design and experimentation around innovative technological environments . Innovative models of community . Innovative aspects of e-learning, blended learning, m-learning Domotics, Smart Phone and psycho-social aspects of innovation in everyday life . Wikis and electronic publishing . Blogs and Social Networking . Virtual reality and educational robotics SCIENTIFIC AND ORGANISING COMMITTEE Alessandro Antonietti, Università Cattolica di Milano Stefano Cacciamani, Università della Valle d'Aosta Donatella Cesareni, Università La Sapienza di Roma Carlo Galimberti, Università Cattolica di Milano Beatrice Ligorio, Università di Bari Stefania Manca, ITD-CNR, Genova Elvis Mazzoni, Università di Bologna Paola Spadaro, Università di Bari ORGANISING TEAM Coordinamento Scientifico: Donatella Cesareni (Università La Sapienza di Roma), Stefania Manca (ITD-CNR, Genova) Local Contact: Eleonora Brivio (Università Cattolica di Milano) Programme and Organization: Paola Spadaro (Università di Bari) Teachers Contact: Michelle Pieri (Università di Milano, Bicocca) Business Contact: Antonio Massari (Consulente Aziendale); Francesco Valotto (Edexon S.r.l.) For further information please use this e-mail: ckbg.convegno(a)gmail.com GUIDELINES FOR AUTHORS One of the congress aims is to create synergies and links between research, school and business. Thus, there are three types of contributions accepted: 1) Theoretical or research: This type of contribution can be submitted in the following formats: - oral presentation with ppt, poster and symposium. Contributors are invited to submit an abstract, max 2500 characters (spaces included), with the following paragraph structure: theoretical framework, objectives, method, results (even partial). The type of contribution (oral presentation, poster and symposium) must be clearly stated. The maximum duration for a symposium is 120 minutes and the proposal must include: . Title . Proposer(s) . Discussant . Number of presentations (max 4), Title and author(s) 2) School experiences: For this type of contribution the following formats are accepted: oral presentation, oral presentation with ppt or video, materials produced by the students, materials used by the teacher, poster, other (proposer must specify the type of material). The abstracts, max 2500 characters (spaces included), must clearly describe the experience, providing objectives, participants, work plan, tools, results. The type of presentation must be clearly stated. 3) Business experiences: For this type of contribution the following formats are accepted: oral presentation, oral presentation with ppt or video, multimedia materials produced or used in the business, poster, other (proposer must specify the type of material). The abstracts, max 2500 characters (spaces included), must clearly describe the experience, providing objectives, participants, work plan, tools, results. The type of presentation must be clearly stated. The deadline for all types of contributions is: February, 15th, 2009. The abstracts can be submitted using the on-line form on the web site http://www.ckbg.org The abstracts will be evaluated by the Scientific Committee and the authors will be informed about the evaluation results by March, 10th, 2009. PARTICIPATON FEES CKBG training members: 30 euro CKBG full members: 70 euro CKBG non-members: 90 euro Cattolica University students: Free PhD students and students from other universities: 40 euro School participants' group: 40 euro Business participants' group: 40 euro CKBG members must subscribe to the annual fee by March, 15th, 2009. For further information about how to subscribe or renew to CKBG please visit http://www.ckbg.org IMPORTANT DEADLINES Activity Deadline Abstract submission 15 February Abstract acceptance/rejection 10 March Subscription to CKBG 15 March -- ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Luca Tateo Project LEAD - Department of Education Sciences, University of Salerno (Italy) via Rufoli, 23 Ogliara I-84135 Salerno mobile +39.392.5178418, +39.347.5423594 office +39.089.962106 ltateo(a)unisa.it, network.salerno(a)tiscali.it Skype ID: luca.tateo lucatateo.blog.tiscali.it ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

1 0