- Air-L - lists.aoir.org

Track at Italian STS conference - INTERNET AND NEW PRODUCTIVE PARADIGMS
by Stefano De Paoli 20 Feb '12

20 Feb '12

Hello list, with 2 colleagues I am running a track at forthcoming Italian STS conference "EMERGING TECHNOLOGIES, SOCIAL WORLDS" this June 21-23, 2012, in Rovigo. The CfP of our track might be of interest for some people in this list. Feel free to submit an abstract. :-) Abstracts (in Italian or English) should be sent as email attachment (as MS word or Rich Text Format) to the track’s coordinators (and carbon copied to 4convegnosts(a)gmail.com) by March 1, 2012. Abstracts with a maximum length of 500 words should contain the title, author's name, affiliation and contact details including e-mail. Further information on the conference on: www.stsitalia.org TRACK: INTERNET AND NEW PRODUCTIVE PARADIGMS: THE STS CONTRIBUTION Convernors: Stefano De Paoli (Fondazione <ahref, Trento, stefano(a)ahref.eu) Cristiano Storni (University of Limerick, cristiano.storni(a)ul.ie) Maurizio Teli (Fondazione <ahref, Trento, maurizio(a)ahref.eu) The exponential diffusion of the Internet on a global scale shows the emergence of new and socio-technical arrangements that seem to call into question our traditional separation between production and consumption. For many, we are witnessing the emergence and consolidation of a completely new production paradigm where production processes are decentralised, distributed among an undisclosed mass of actors often proactive, sometimes without a predictable path. The examples of this grow daily: Wikipedia, free and open source software and hardware, folksonomies, crowdsourcing platforms, online hacktivism, Do-it-Yourself communities, and so on. New concepts have been developed in an attempt to capture these new practices and these new socio-technical arrangements: in the late 1970s, Toffler (1980) theorized the emergence of the prosumer, both producer and consumer of goods. This phenomenon of convergence between the producer and consumer has stimulated research to generate new concepts such as "wikinomics (Tapscott and Williams, 2006)," commons-based peer production "(Benkler, 2006)," produsage "(Bruns, 2008), and ideas like the Hack-tivism (Auty, 2004) or Mash-ups technology (Hartmann et al. 2006). At the same time, however, we are witnessing the emergence of criticisms that highlight that these innovative aspects are the perpetuation, more or less obvious, of the traditional capitalist logic. This seems to fuel disputes around the themese of control, surveillance, exploitation of intellectual property management, deskilling, etc. (Lash, 2002, Terranova, 2000, De Paoli and Storni, 2011) Instead of taking the emergence of the new production paradigm as a matter of fact, the goal of this track is to describe and understand the practices and dynamics that characterize the sociotechnical collectives behind the phenomena mentioned above, and discuss how they help us to rethink not only the traditional division of labour between production and consumption, but mostly what we mean with the terms work, production, consumption, and property (commons) in our information society. In this sense to invite contributions and case studies in different areas to discuss, but are not limited to: - the role of STS in the study of new emerging practices in the information society; - how to rethink and/or deconstruct empirically the concepts of production, consumption, property, work and good: debates, controversies and new definitions; - doing and undoing the boundaries between production and consumption (or design and use); - new conceptions of labor and its distribution; - Do-it-Yourself and Do-it-with-Others: new practices? References Auty, C., 2004, “Political Hacktivism: tool of the underdog or scourge of cyberspace?” in Aslib proc: new information perspectives, Vol. 56, No. 4, pp. 212-22 Benkler, Y, 2006, The wealth of Networks: how social production transform markets and freedom. New Haven and London: Yale University Press. Bruns, A., 2008, Blogs, Wikipedia, Second Life and Beyond: From production to produsage. New York: Peter Lang. De Paoli S. and Storni C, 2011, “Produsage in hybrid networks: sociotechnical skills in the case of Arduino”. New Review of Hypermedia and Multimedia, 17(1), 31-52. Hartmann, B. et al., 2006, Hacking, Mashing, Gluing: A Study of Opportunistic Design and Development, Technical Report, Stanford University Computer Science Department. Lash, Scott. 2002. Critique of Information. London: Sage Tapscott, D. and Williams, A. 2006, Wikinomics: how mass collaboration changes everything. New York: Portfolio. Toffler, A., 1980, The Third Wave. New York: Morrow. -- ---- Crimes and punishments in Virtual Worlds http://www.springerlink.com/content/n4m858m182677h44/ Produsage, ANT & Skills http://www.informaworld.com/smpp/content~db=all~content=a935694592~frm=titl…

1 1

A rewrite of our history
by Murray Turoff 19 Feb '12

19 Feb '12

Some of you who are interested in the history of our field might find this as disturbing as i did. * The inventor of e-mail on innovation and his path to the Smithsonian<http://link.email.washingtonpost.com/r/MEPMRJ/NSC4SB/ZCNCKZ/FVLP7K/7278IF/5…> * V.A. Shiva Ayyadurai spoke about the discovery he made at the age of 14, and his path from a New Jersey high school to the Smithsonian. ( by Emi Kolawole , The Washington Post) he discovered e-mail in 1978!!!! It seems MIT and the Smithsonian have agreed on this.. *Distinguished Professor Emeritus Information Systems, NJIT homepage: http://is.njit.edu/turoff *

1 0

Early bird registration until February 20th: DGI-Conference 2012 ?Social Media & Web Science?. European Afternoon on March 22nd, Düsseldorf Germany.
by Isabella.Peters＠uni-duesseldorf.de 18 Feb '12

18 Feb '12

Early bird registration until February 20th: DGI-Conference 2012 ?Social Media & Web Science?. European Afternoon on March 22nd, Düsseldorf Germany. CALL FOR PARTICIPATION Early bird registration ends February 20th, 2012! ---------------------------------------------------------------- DGI-CONFERENCE 2012 - EUROPEAN AFTERNOON 22 March 2012 SOCIAL MEDIA AND WEB SCIENCE The Web as a Living Space Co-located with the 2nd DGI-Conference and 64. Annual Meeting March 22 and 23, 2012 and with DIATA12 - Düsseldorf Workshop on Interdisciplinary Approaches to Twitter Analysis, March 21, 2012 Düsseldorf/Germany --------------------------------------------------------------------- View the complete conference programme at: http://dgi-info.informationsassistent.de/index.php?option=com_content&view=… Register here: http://dgi-info.informationsassistent.de/index.php?option=com_content&view=… Twitter hashtag: #dgi2012 We are happy to announce following keynotes: * Dame Wendy Hall (University of Southampton & Web Science Trust): presentation title to be announced * Imogen Levy (Westminster Abbey): How Westminster Abbey created world-wide audience engagement around the royal wedding with online and social media. Topical foci of the European Afternoon are: * Social Media Platforms & Models * E-Learning & Knowledge Distribution * Politics 2.0 The upcoming DGI-Conference, hosted by the German Society of Information Science and Information Practice, will take place on March 22nd and 23rd in Düsseldorf, Germany. DGI-Conference continues the long tradition of annual meetings by the DGI, being held regularly since its foundation in 1948. This time, the conference topic is ?Social Media & Web Science?. While the presentations of the main conference will be held in German, there is also a special research track in English language. This ?European Afternoon? will take place on March 22nd. We would like to welcome researchers and practitioners interested in the social dimensions of Web developments and information technologies, e.g. from the fields of information science, library and documentation science, computer science, digital humanities, linguistics, psychology, political science, law and economics. Previous to the main conference, the #DIATA12 workshop (Düsseldorf Workshop on Interdisciplinary Approaches to Twitter Analysis) will be held on March 21st, 2012. There a no registration fees for #DIATA12, but a registration via email is required. Details can be found at http://nfgwin.uni-duesseldorf.de/en/diata12. PROGRAMME CHAIRS Katrin Weller & Isabella Peters (Heinrich-Heine-University Düsseldorf) ORGANISER Deutsche Gesellschaft für Informationswissenschaft und Informationspraxis e.V. (DGI) / German Society of Information Science and Information Practice Windmühlstraße 3 60329 Frankfurt am Main, Germany Fon +49 (0)69 430313 Fax +49 (0)69 4909096 e-mail: mail(a)dgi-info.de www.dgi-info.de CONTACT Nadja Strein ---------------------------------------------------------------- This message was sent using IMP, the Internet Messaging Program.

1 0

Book Announcement - Dungeons, Dragons and Digital Denizens: The Digital Role-playing Game
by Gerald Voorhees 17 Feb '12

17 Feb '12

I'm pleased to announce the publication of a book I helped edit! Apologies for cross-posting. - Gerald The first title in Continuum's Approaches to Game Studies series, *Dungeons, Dragons and Digital Denizens* is a collection of scholarly essays that seeks to represent the far-reaching scope and implications of digital role-playing games as both cultural and academic artifacts. As a genre, digital role playing games have undergone constant and radical revision, pushing not only multiple boundaries of game development, but also the playing strategies and experiences of players. Divided into three distinct sections, this premiere volume captures the distinctiveness of different game types, the forms of play they engender and their social and cultural implications. Contributors examine a range of games, from classics like *Final Fantasy* to blockbusters like *World of Warcraft* to obscure genre bending titles like *Lux Pain*. Working from a broad range of disciplines such as ecocritism, rhetoric, performance, gender, and communication, these essays yield insights that enrich the field of game studies and further illuminate the cultural, psychological and philosophical implications of a society that increasingly produces, plays and discourses about role playing games. http://www.continuumbooks.com/books/detail.aspx?BookId=159141&SearchType=Ba… *"Dungeons, Dragons and Digital Denizens* is as captivating as it sounds, a state of the art collection with provocative essays interrogating video games through close readings of game narrative, landscape, and digital structure. Space, time power, knowledge, language, and identity furnish rich interpretive accounts of an especially interesting array of games. --Bonnie Nardi, Professor in the Department of Informatics, University of California, Irvine "The digital role-playing game is a strange hybrid: the conventions of pen and paper games translated to the computer; stories and games mixed in new ways. This anthology is an excellent guide, presenting a range of inspiring new approaches for anyone interested in role-playing games.” --Jesper Juul, Visiting Assistant Arts Professor, New York University Game Center, author of *Half-Real: Video Games between Real Rules and Fictional Worlds* "*Dungeons, Dragons, and Digital Denizens* is an exceptionally coherent and well-integrated collection. This collection is theoretically rich and engaging while remaining focused on the nuance and detail of a wide variety of games. The volume is essential reading for advanced scholars and students in game studies seeking to develop literary and cultural theoretical models of digital gaming as a mode of authorship, expression and critique. The papers in this collection push the envelope on the analysis of digital role playing games and provide fertile ground for further debate and new case studies as the landscape of digital gaming continues to change. This is a volume of papers by serious game scholars who can both attend to the detail and nuances of specific games as well as offer theoretical engaged and suggestive analysis." -- Bart Simon, Associate Professor, Director, Centre of Technoculture, Art and Games, Concordia University, Montreal

1 0

Registration Open: Sexual Cultures Conference
by Attwood, Feona 17 Feb '12

17 Feb '12

SEXUAL CULTURES: THEORY, PRACTICE, RESEARCH An International Conference co-hosted by the Onscenity Research Network and Brunel University Brunel University, London, April 20-22 2012. __________________________ REGISTRATION OPEN Keynote speakers Martin Barker, Professor of Film and Television Studies, Aberystwyth University Violet Blue, blogger, columnist, sex educator, and author Jack Halberstam, Professor of English, American Studies and Ethnicity and Gender Studies, University of Southern California Katrien Jacobs, Associate Professor at Chinese University of Hong Kong Fiona Patten, Australian Sex Party Conference Themes Sex and technology The regulation of sex Working sex Researching everyday sex Conference Fees £255 Regular Rate £200 Student/Unwaged Day Rate £100 Regular Rate £80 Student/Unwaged Please note conference fees include refreshments, dinner on Friday (20th), lunch and dinner on Saturday (21st), and lunch on Sunday (22nd). Day registration fee for Friday includes dinner, for Saturday includes lunch and dinner and for Sunday includes lunch. Deadline for conference registration: Feb 29 2012 Further details and registration forms available at: http://www.onscenity.org/conf1/

1 0

Reminder: Call for participation, due Feb 28
by Potter, Abigail 16 Feb '12

16 Feb '12

The deadline for submitting a presentation is one week from today, February 28, 2012. See the call below and let me know if you have any questions. -Abbey The Broad Value of Web Archives: Demonstrated Use Libraries, archives, and other organizations have been systematically collecting web archives for over 10 years, namely in the service of cultural heritage. Content archived from the web has a multitude of uses. Commercial web archiving services are emerging to meet legal and business requirements. Data is scraped from the web and analyzed for media or academic research. Any topic can be studied on the internet and content published on the web in any given day is a unique reflection of the world. Experts from around the world will gather in Washington, DC on April 30, 2012 to hold an open conference to explore the broad value of web archives. The conference is sponsored by the International Internet Preservation Consortium, which is holding its General Assembly at the Library of Congress. The IIPC is seeking presentations from a wide variety of organizations from sectors that are saving and using archival content from the web. The goal is to expose the audience to how rich and valuable the web is as a resource and reveal some unexpected uses for web archives. Possible topics include: * web archives used in legal discovery or for legal compliance * web archives in personal collections, i.e. personal archiving * web archives used in data mining * web archives for legal deposit * web archives used in corporate or organizational archives * web archives used for game or community preservation * citizen archivists and crowdsourcing for web archives * projects that use old web content that was not harvested through Heritrix If you are interested in participating in this conference, please send a short paragraph or two describing the project you would like to present to Abigail Potter, IIPC Communications Officer, abpo(a)loc.gov<mailto:abpo@loc.gov> by February 28, 2012. The agenda for the conference will be announced by March 15, 2012. If you have any questions about the event, please contact Abigail at the above email address. The conference schedule overview is available<http://netpreserve.org/events/2012ga.php>. Abigail Potter Communications Officer, IIPC Program Officer, NDIIPP Library of Congress abpo(a)loc.gov ph. +202-707-7371 101 Independence Ave. S.E. Washington, DC 20540-1310

1 0

[Fwd: Job Advertisement: Professor or Associate Professor, Global Communication and Media at Central European University]
by Dan L. Burk 16 Feb '12

16 Feb '12

Of possible interest. DLB ========================================================================= *Employment opportunity* ** *Professor or Associate Professor, Global Communication and Media* *School of Public Policy and International Affairs* *Central European University* *Budapest, Hungary* *Application deadline:* Review of applications will begin on March 15, 2012 and continue until the position is filled. The recently-launched School of Public Policy and International Affairs (SPPIA) at Central European University invites applications for a Professor or an Associate Professor to build and lead a specialization in Global Communication and Media within its two-year flagship Master program, to be launched in Fall 2013. The position requires international recognition in scholarship; evidence of work that bridges theory and practice; and a Ph.D. in communication, media studies, political science, sociology, policy studies, law, or a related field. The dramatic shifts in geopolitical power, facilitated by changing technologies, have engendered new interdependences of electronic media, transitions in the information society, and continuing convergence across information, communication and technology sectors. Preparing future leaders from civil society, government, and business requires a new pedagogical approach, instilling in SPPIA graduates the ability to navigate multiple disciplinary, technological and geographical terrains. With this position, SPPIA is looking for a remarkable individual who can bring together global perspectives on the impact of new technologies, media institutions and governance questions, as well as the changing nature of transnational communication and information flows in open societies. The ideal candidate will: * exhibit excellence and passion for teaching at the graduate level; * show evidence of an active research portfolio that has earned international recognition; * be a dynamic leader who can strengthen the intellectual and professional development of media and communication studies at CEU and develop a specialization in the field within SPPIAâs flagship Master program, to be launched in Fall 2013; * demonstrate a commitment to research and scholarship contributing to the development and sustainability of open societies; * be able to contribute with distinction to one or more of the following curricular areas: Technology and Society; Transnational Communication and Global Media; Social and Digital Media; Fundamental Communication Rights; Information and Knowledge Economies; Internet Governance; Civic Media; Media, Information and Communication Policy; Comparative Media Institutions; or Media Development, among others; and * have a significant track record of fundraising. *Duties and responsibilities* Develop and lead a new specialization in Global Communication and Media within SPPIAâs two-year flagship Master program; teach graduate courses; supervise master and doctoral students; develop innovative educational programs that emphasize bridging theory and practice; engage with scholars and practitioners; and serve as Academic Director of the Center for Media and Communication Studies. The successful candidate will be expected to maintain an active research agenda and regularly publish in both academic and other venues. *Compensation* An internationally competitive salary is offered commensurate with experience. *How to Apply* Submit applications electronically to advert(a)ceu.hu <mailto:advert@ceu.hu> including job code 2012/008 in the subject line. Please include: (1) cover letter with qualifications and brief statement of purpose about the future development of a specialization in the field of media and communication within SPPIAâs flagship Master program, (2) curriculum vitae, (3) sample scholarship, and (4) names and contact information for at least three references. Review of applications will begin on March 15, 2012 and continue until the position is filled. The position is available starting August 1, 2012. For informal inquiries, contact SPPIA Dean Wolfgang Reinicke at sppia(a)ceu.hu <mailto:sppia@ceu.hu>. CEU is an equal opportunity employer. *About the School for Public Policy and International Affairs* The School of Public Policy and International Affairs at CEU is the first of its kind in Central Europe â and one of the very few in Europe. Launched in the midst of multi-level policy crises, we seek to uncover opportunities for policy innovation for the greater good, working with students, faculty, researchers and practitioners unafraid to challenge prevalent assumptions in the world of public policy and brave enough to propose new solutions. While maintaining a necessary dose of humility in a climate of unparalleled complexity, we aim to equip such individuals with the tools to construct a community of âpurpose beyond power.â To fulfill this promise and to educate the kind of leaders our world needs, SPPIA will break out of disciplinary silos and create an educational experience that involves not only the acquisition of skills and knowledge but also the cultivation of a mindset that emphasizes entrepreneurship, innovation, cultural awareness and a commitment to the public good. Commencing in September 2013, SPPIAâs two-year professional Master degree program will attract exceptional students from across the globe who seek a transformational experience to prepare them for a career as leaders and change-makers in the public, civil society, and private sectors. Building on Central European Universityâs rich traditions of promoting diversity and open societies, the SPPIA will cultivate a rigorous interdisciplinary environment, a dynamic laboratory of ideas whose product will be continually tested and adjusted against available evidence from the world of practice. *About the Center for Media and Communication Studies (CMCS)* The CMCS is the research center of CEU dedicated to advancing media and communication scholarship and policy and the democratic potential of the media. The Center produces scholarly and practice-oriented research addressing academic, policy and civil society needs. CMCS research and activities include media and communication policy, social media and free expression, civil society and participatory media, fundamental communication and informational rights, and the complexities of media and communication in transition. The Center was initiated in 2004 through the joint efforts of the CEU and the Annenberg School for Communication at the University of Pennsylvania. The Center serves as a focal point for an international network of acclaimed scholars and academic institutions; offers innovative courses across several CEU departments; provides trainings and consultancies; and organizes scholarly exchanges through workshops, lectures and conferences on current developments in the field. *About Central European University* Central European University (CEU) is a research-intensive university specializing in graduate education in the social sciences, humanities, law and business. It is located in Budapest, and accredited in the United States and Hungary. The language of instruction is English. CEUâs mission is to promote academic excellence, state-of-the-art research, and civic engagement, in order to contribute to the development of open societies in Central and Eastern Europe, the former Soviet Union, and other countries throughout the world. CEU offers both master and doctoral programs, and enrolls more than 1500 students from over 100 nations. The teaching staff consists of more than 140 resident faculty members from over 40 countries, and a large number of prominent visiting scholars from around the world. *Central European University **www.ceu.hu* <http://www.ceu.hu/> Dr. Kristina Irion Assistant Professor Department of Public Policy Central European University H-1051 Budapest, Nador u. 9. Hungary Email to irionk(a)ceu.hu Dial +36 (1) 3273000, ext. 2283

1 0

Carl J. Couch Internet Research Award 2012
by Mark D. Johns 16 Feb '12

16 Feb '12

CALL FOR AWARD APPLICATIONS Carl J. Couch Internet Research Award 2012 Sponsored by the Carl Couch Center for Social and Internet Research http://www.cccsir.com/ The Carl Couch Center issues an annual call for student-authored papers to be considered for Carl J. Couch Internet Research Award. The Couch Center welcomes both theoretical and empirical papers that (1) apply symbolic interactionist approaches to internet studies, (2) demonstrate interactive relationships between social interaction and communication technologies, and/or (3) develop symbolic interactionist concepts in new directions. Papers will be evaluated based on the quality of (1) mastery of symbolic interactionist approaches and concepts, (2) originality, (3) organization, (4) presentation, and (5) advancement of knowledge. Those contemplating entering should note that an interactionist approach demands thoughtful analysis, and not mere description, of human interactions. Evaluation will be administered by a Review Committee of four: Mark D. Johns, Luther College, Decorah, Iowa Lori Kendall, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign Annette Markham, University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee Lois Ann Scheidt, Indiana University, Bloomington Competition is open to graduate or undergraduate students of all disciplines. Works that are published or accepted for publication are not eligible for award consideration. Entries should not exceed 30 pages (approximately 7500 words) in length, including references and appendices. Limit of one entry per student per year. The top paper will receive the Couch Award to be presented at the 2012 meeting of the Association of Internet Researchers (aoir.org) at the University of Salford, (near Manchester) UK. The top paper will be awarded a certificate and a cash prize of $300 US and the author will be invited to present their work at a session of the AoIR conference, October 18-21, 2012 in Salford. Those interested should send a copy of their paper, with a 100-word abstract, electronically to Mark D. Johns: mjohns(a)luther.edu Application deadline is April 30, 2012. Notification of award will be sent by June 15. Those with questions or comments about Couch Award application, please contact: Mark D. Johns Luther College Study Centre Nottingham, UK UK phone: (44) 115-929-2721 US phone: (563) 387-1347 E-mail: mjohns(a)luther.edu

1 0

IR 13 Panel on the Contexts of Privacy
by Quinn, Kelly 15 Feb '12

15 Feb '12

We are looking for one or two additional participants for a panel on the contextual dimensions of privacy online. If you are interested, please email me offlist and I can provide additional details. Cheers, Kelly Kelly Quinn Ph.D. Candidate and Instructor, Department of Communication University of Illinois at Chicago 1160D Behavioral Sciences Building 1007 W. Harrison St., MC 132 Chicago, IL 60607-7137

1 0

Contacting bloggers - ethics and practicalities
by Donnelly, Karen 15 Feb '12

15 Feb '12

I am carrying out a study on blogging about what could potential be described as a sensitive subject. Many of the bloggers I wish to contact do not have email addresses on their profiles and I have been careful not to follow/post/lurk prior to gaining their consent (as per my ethics protocol). Does anyone have any suggestions for the best method of making initial contact without alienating these bloggers or creeping them out? All suggestions welcome, thanks in advance. Karen Donnelly ESRC PhD Student Department of Linguistics and English Language Lancaster University

1 0