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social scientists in corp. world
by Barry Wellman 17 Sep '09

17 Sep '09

Marc Smith no longer at Microsoft. RIght now, he's Chief Social Scientist at Telligent, in Silicon Valley dana boyd heads a research group at Microsoft Research's Cambridge MA shop. Intel's People and Practices research unit is populated with social scientists. a vague etc here Barry Wellman _______________________________________________________________________ S.D. Clark Professor of Sociology, FRSC NetLab Director Department of Sociology 725 Spadina Avenue, Room 388 University of Toronto Toronto Canada M5S 2J4 twitter:barrywellman http://www.chass.utoronto.ca/~wellman fax:+1-416-978-3963 Updating history: http://chass.utoronto.ca/oldnew/cybertimes.php _______________________________________________________________________

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Re: [Air-L] Family in the 21st century on TV (Holly Kruse)
by Catherine Middleton 17 Sep '09

17 Sep '09

Re the comment that shows are available for viewing online. Yes, if you live in the US. But sites like Hulu.com aren't available outside the US, and what's available on iTunes varies by country. This doesn't mean that there aren't ways around this (using a US IP address, or downloading/streaming the shows through a file sharing site), but I think it's worth noting that for a non-sophisticated internet user (yes, this might kick off a debate of its own, but I mean someone who isn't comfortable with P2P, for instance), the options for watching US shows outside the US are limited. This is also true of shows from some other countries, e.g. you can't watch (the other) ABC's shows outside Australia, or the BBC outside Britain (here's the explanation why: http://iplayerhelp.external.bbc.co.uk/help/download_programmes/outsideuk) . And then there are issues of download caps also, limiting the practicality/affordability of downloading video. None of these comments are meant to detract from Holly's post, but to shed a bit more light on what's possible re online TV viewing. catherine -------------- Catherine Middleton Ryerson University Toronto, Canada http://www.ryerson.ca/itm/fcty/Middleton/Middleton.html catherine.middleton(a)ryerson.ca > Message: 3 > Date: Wed, 16 Sep 2009 22:19:59 -0500 > From: Holly Kruse <holly-kruse(a)utulsa.edu> > To: "air-l(a)aoir.org" <air-l(a)aoir.org> > Subject: Re: [Air-L] Family in the 21st century on TV > Message-ID: <C6D7150F.637E%holly-kruse(a)ad.utulsa.edu> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" > > > On 9/16/09 8:02 PM, "Jason Mittell" <jmittell(a)middlebury.edu> wrote: > >> At the level of programming, there's no doubt that the full-family >> hit is a >> rare exception today (*American Idol* is often pointed to as a hold- >> out, but >> even that's fading), and advertisers are less interested in mass >> appeal >> across broad audiences than dense homogeneous segments that can be >> more >> easily sold specific goods. > > > FWIW, I understand that ABC Family is trying to expand its audience, > with > some success, into adult demographics. A few months ago NPR's "All > Things > Considered" did a story about how ABC Family and Nickelodeon have been > positioning themselves as the homes for family sitcoms that would > have once > been on the networks; and that, in fact, many writers who used to > write for > network sitcoms are now writing for shows like "iCarly" and "The > Secret Life > of the American Teenager." Although I've only watched bits and > pieces of > the latter, I gather that it tackles some fairly serious material. > I know > that several of these shows, like "The Suite Life of Zack and Cody," > do not > feature traditional "intact" families, however; but as I recall they > feature > use of cell phones, etc. And, on a meta level, they are available for > viewing online. > > > Holly > > > ----- > Holly Kruse > Faculty of Communication > The University of Tulsa > 800 S. Tucker Drive > Tulsa, OK 74104 > 918-631-3845 > holly-kruse(a)utulsa.edu or holly.kruse(a)gmail.com > http://personal.utulsa.edu/~holly-kruse

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Reminder- IR10 Workshop on Engaging Multidisciplinarity in Sociotechnical Internet Research
by David Gurzick 17 Sep '09

17 Sep '09

Organizers: Ingbert Floyd, David Gurzick, Caroline Haythornthwaite, Andre Brock This workshop explores multidisciplinary aspects of sociotechnical research on the Internet, providing a forum for the pooling and sharing of disciplinary perspectives and for finding complementarity and synergy across disciplinary knowledge, methods, and approaches. Activities planned for the workshop will engage participants with theoretical and methodological approaches drawn from multiple disciplinary perspectives. This workshop will appeal to students and faculty grappling with the task of bringing together different methodologies and traditions to study the Internet. For more information and updates on the workshop, please visit our wiki page at: http://sociotech.net/wiki/index.php?title=IR_10.0_Workshop Or contact David Gurzick at gurzick1(a)umbc.edu

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New Book > _Library Mashups: Exploring New Ways to Deliver Library Data_
by McKiernan, Gerard [LIB] 17 Sep '09

17 Sep '09

Colleagues/ A Must Buy / Read / Use Unique New Book / Now Available ! /Gerry _Library Mashups: Exploring New Ways to Deliver Library Data_ / Edited by Nicole C. Engard / Foreword by Jenny Levine 2009 / 352 pp. / Softbound / ISBN 978-1-57387-372-7 / Regular Price $39.50 As web users become more savvy and demanding, libraries are looking for new ways to allow patron participation and keep their websites dynamically and collaboratively up-to-date. Mashups-web applications that combine freely available data from various sources to create something new-can be one very powerful way to meet patrons' expectations and provide exemplary web-based service. In Library Mashups, Nicole C. Engard and 25 contributors from all over the world walk readers through definitions, summaries, and practical uses of mashups in libraries. Examples range from ways to allow those without programming skills to make simple website updates, to modifying the library OPAC, to using popular sites like Flickr, Yahoo!, LibraryThing, Google Maps, and Delicious to share and combine digital content. This essential guide is required reading for all libraries and librarians seeking a dynamic, interactive web presence. Access to the Full Table Of Contents, Associated Chapter Links (Examples), Glossary, and Associated Past And Future Presentations Related To Book Contents Available At [ http://tinyurl.com/ldf7la ] Regards, /Gerry Gerry McKiernan Associate Professor Science and Technology Librarian Iowa State University Library Ames IA 50011

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Article-Level Metrics At PLoS > Addition Of Usage Data
by McKiernan, Gerard [LIB] 17 Sep '09

17 Sep '09

Colleagues/ Major Development by Public Library Of Science (PLoS) and Article-Level Metrics ! /Gerry Submitted by Mark Patterson on Wed, 2009-09-16 11:10. As part of our ongoing article-level metrics program, we're delighted to announce that all seven PLoS journals will now provide online usage data for published articles. With this addition, the suite of metrics on PLoS articles now includes measures of: online usage; citations from the scholarly literature; social bookmarks; blog coverage; and the Comments, Notes and 'Star' ratings that have been made on the article. [snip] PLoS has therefore embarked on a program to aggregate a range of available data about an article and place that data on the article itself. The data are found on the new tab called 'Metrics', available on all articles. A reader can now scan the various metrics to determine the extent to which the article has been viewed, cited, covered in the media and so forth. With the addition of usage data to the article-level metrics we have taken another step towards providing the community with valuable data that can be used and analyzed. [snip] In order to make article-level metrics as open and useful as possible, we are providing our entire dataset as a downloadable spreadsheet and we encourage interested researchers to download the data and perform their own analyses. [snip] It's also important to emphasize that online usage should not be seen as an absolute indicator of quality for any given article, and such data must be interpreted with caution. To provide additional context and to aid interpretation, we have provided a series of summary tables indicating the average usage of categories of article (grouped by age, journal and topic area). Links to A Zipped Downloadable Spreadsheet Of The Entire Dataset, Summary of Tables Indicating The Average Usage Of Categories Of Article (Grouped By Age, Journal And Topic Area),FAQ, And A Background Posting, Etc. Are Available At [ http://tinyurl.com/ph85db ] /Gerry Gerry McKiernan Associate Professor Science and Technology Librarian Iowa State University Library Ames IA 50011 gerrymck(a)iastate.edu "Is There Knowledge We Are Not Meant To Know?"

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Webology: Volume 6, Number 2, 2009
by Alireza Noruzi 17 Sep '09

17 Sep '09

Dear All, apologies for cross-posting. We are pleased to inform you that Vol. 6, No. 2 of Webology, an OPEN ACCESS journal, is published and available ONLINE now. ----------------------------------------- Webology: Volume 6, Number 2, 2009 TOC: http://www.webology.ir/2009/v6n2/toc.html This issue contains: ----------------------------------------- Editorial - Wikipedia popularity from a citation analysis point of view -- Alireza Noruzi -- Keywords: Wikipedia; Popularity; Citation Analysis; Encyclopedia -- http://www.webology.ir/2009/v6n2/editorial20.html ----------------------------------------- Articles - Ensuring the discoverability of digital images for social work education: an online "tagging" survey to test controlled vocabularies -- Ellen Daly & Neil Ballantyne -- Keywords: Indexing; Digital images; Controlled vocabularies; Folksonomies; Tagging; Taxonomies -- http://www.webology.ir/2009/v6n2/a69.html - Web search behavior of university students: a case study at University of the Punjab -- Amara Malik & Khalid Mahmood -- Keywords: Web searching; Web information retrieval; Web search behavior; Search engines; Universities; Pakistan -- http://www.webology.ir/2009/v6n2/a70.html - Correlation between references and citations -- Dariush Alimohammadi & Mahshid Sajjadi -- Keywords: References; Citations; Correlation -- http://www.webology.ir/2009/v6n2/a71.html - Evidence-based medical librarianship in Iran: an introduction -- Vahideh Zarea Gavgani -- Keywords: Subject specialist librarians; Subject librarians; Evidence-Based Medical Practice (EBMP); Informationist; Iran -- http://www.webology.ir/2009/v6n2/a72.html ----------------------------------------- Call for Papers -- http://www.webology.ir/callforpapers.html ========================================= Best regards, Alireza -------------------- Alireza Noruzi, Ph.D. Editor-in-Chief of Webology Website: www.webology.ir ~ The great aim of Open Access journals is knowledge sharing. ~ ~ Scientific knowledge is the result of the knowledge sharing and exchange of experiences. ~

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Fwd: Re: Family in the 21st century on TV
by Carlota Larrea 17 Sep '09

17 Sep '09

Hi all A very interesting thread. See the link sent by a colleague from a Spanish university. It is about a new series commissioned by Antena 3, one of the private tv channels in Spain. It seems that in Spain, things have not changed SO much, and we have the 2 + 2 happy, hugging family! If you don't understand Spanish, you'll still get the flavour of the series through the picture. http://www.europapress.es/chance/tv/noticia-comienza-rodaje-padres-nueva-se… Carlota

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Re: [Air-L] Family in the 21st century on TV
by Jason Mittell 17 Sep '09

17 Sep '09

Barry wrote: > I wonder -- and would love evidence -- if TV watching has become more > personal TV watching instead of family TV watching -- so shows are > narrowcasting their demographics much more. This would be true if each > sentient HHold member had their own TV, and if many folks were getting > their TV fix thru downloads, podcasts, iPhones, etc. (I know I'm being > quasi-redundant here). > This is a fairly well-documented and not-so-recent phenomenon - a good overview (now 12 years old!) is Joseph Turow's *Breaking Up America*, on the rise of narrowcasting and market segmentation across media. I'm pretty sure that more up-to-date statistical evidence is included in a number of the Pew technology use surveys. At the level of programming, there's no doubt that the full-family hit is a rare exception today (*American Idol* is often pointed to as a hold-out, but even that's fading), and advertisers are less interested in mass appeal across broad audiences than dense homogeneous segments that can be more easily sold specific goods. Virtually no scripted program aims for the full "four quadrants" anymore (young & old across both genders), so the image of the core family as the anchor for television's domestic representations has waned. Interestingly, whenever I teach this topic, my students agree with Turow's diagnosis of market segmentation, but disagree with his judgment that this is a bad thing - they see very little cultural utility to be watching the same programs in the same rooms at the same time as their parents, as they have rarely known that experience. -Jason --- Jason Mittell, Associate Professor of American Studies and Film & Media Culture Chair of Film & Media Culture Department Middlebury College 208 Axinn Center at Starr Library Middlebury, Vermont 05753 (802) 443-3435 / fax: (802) 443-2805 Homepage: http://go.middlebury.edu/mittell Blog: http://justtv.wordpress.com

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GPS/location tracking and families
by Asimina Vasalou 17 Sep '09

17 Sep '09

Hi all, I am beginning a new research project on location tracking within families. There are many news reports that warn against the possible privacy threats for children. However, in searching for usage statistics I am unable to find the actual uptake of this technology. Would anyone be aware of a source I might be missing? Thank you, Mina ------------------------------------ Mina Vasalou Research Officer, School of Management, University of Bath

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JOB: Lecturer/Senior Lecturer* for Games at The University of Technology, Sydney
by Yusuf Pisan 17 Sep '09

17 Sep '09

JOB: Lecturer/Senior Lecturer* for Games at The University of Technology, Sydney http://www.jobs.uts.edu.au/job/job_details.cfm?id=398945&from=direct Closing Date: 9 October 2009 [ Below information has a lot of my personal comments and observations, please make sure you read the key selection criteria from the above web page carefully when putting together your application ] This is a permanent position at the School of Software in the University of Technology, Sydney** UTS is based close to Central train station in Sydney and Sydney is the world's best city***. The School of Software undertakes pioneering teaching and research essential for Australia’s futures ranging from developing prototype games for education, training and social issues, to examining and understanding virtual worlds and how they can be used. The School is seeking to appoint a Lecturer/Senior Lecturer. You will join an active, vibrant and friendly School with a track record in cutting-edge research and teaching at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels. The School has developed valuable research, built consulting and commercial links with leading organisations and industries in Australia and is connected to two major University Research Centres. The successful candidate will hold a PhD or equivalent in a relevant field as well as a strong background in computer games, interactive entertainment or 3D animation. The successful applicant/s will also be supervising higher degree research students as well as making a contribution to the teaching activities of the Faculty. Essential qualification: PhD in a related field. Since this position is in the Faculty of Engineering and IT (FEIT), people from technical fields would be preferred. Essential Knowledge: - Demonstrated knowledge in one or more of the school’s disciplines including computer games, interactive entertainment, animation and related industries. - Demonstrated knowledge of recent advances in one or more of the school’s disciplines - An appreciation of computing and software practice - Demonstrated depth of knowledge in innovation and in new modes of practice Relevant Research Groups: - Games Studio: http://games.it.uts.edu.au/ -- Yes, the web page needs updating, email me if you have questions - Human Centred Technology Design: http://www.research.uts.edu.au/strengths/hctd/overview.html - Interaction Design and Work Practice Laboratory: http://research.it.uts.edu.au/idwop/about.html - Creativity and Cognition Studios: http://research.it.uts.edu.au/creative Relevant Courses (Undergraduate and Postgraduate Degrees) - Bachelor of Science in Games Development: http://www.handbook.uts.edu.au/it/ug/index.html -- Small number of students (intentionally!), but the subjects that make up the course would be most relevant for people who are applying for this position - Graphics & Animation Submajor: http://www.handbook.uts.edu.au/directory/smj02066.html -- This is one of the specializations for students studying Bachelor of Science in Information Technology - Master of Animation: http://www.handbook.uts.edu.au/courses/c04212.html and http://www.dab.uts.edu.au/design/graduate-show/masters.html -- This is a cross-faculty course (Faculty of Design and Architecture and Built Environment, Faculty of Engineering and IT, and Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences) UTS has over 32,000 students and 2525 staff members (831 academic, 1163 support and 530 designated as research/support/academic staff). Additional facts can be found at http://www.uts.edu.au/about/vcw.html Some facts about Faculty of Engineering and IT (based on march 2008 figures) Total Faculty Budget: $40M Full time and fractional academic staff: 157.5 FTE (Full Time Equivalent) Part time casual academic staff: 40 FTE Support Staff: 107 FTE 2007 Undergraduate Students: 4146 2007 Postgraduate Students: 2258 Research Income: 6.6M The official job announcement is located at http://www.jobs.uts.edu.au/job/job_details.cfm?id=398945&from=direct Please contact Richard Raban Richard.Raban(a)uts.edu.au for official enquiries and me (yusuf.pisan(a)uts.edu.au) for unofficial enquiries about this position. (*)How does Lecturer/Senior Lecturer translate to the titles in USA? In USA, the usual titles are Assistant Professor is used for people that are pre-tenure, Associate Professor for people who have tenure and Professor for people who have been around, and contributed, for a long time. In Australia (and UK and some other countries), the titles are slightly different. The titles are not related to tenure since there is no tenure. The number of full-professors is much smaller than USA and there is often a quota on how many full-professors there can be at the university or faculty level. People who join university post-Phd are usually appointed as a lecturer. There are 6 steps in lecturer and you usually go up a step each year although occasionally it is possible to skip steps. Once you reach step-5 or step-6, you are expected to apply for the next position. Senior lecturer similarly has 6 steps which is followed by associate professor position. From associate professor to professor is only 4 steps, but is expected to take a longer time and is dependent on university levels quotas and such. The salary scales for UTS is available at http://www.hru.uts.edu.au/manual/2ea/academic/schedule1.html Faculties will occasionally have "salary loading" schemes to attract and keep exceptionally qualified academics. In most cases, all academics who are at Lecturer B step-2 across the university will get the same salary. Faculty of Engineering and IT (the faculty where this job is located) currently does not have a salary loading scheme. Going back to how titles translate. Lecturer is usually equivalent to Assistant Professor. Early years of Senior Lecturer correspond better to Assistant Professor while later stages correspond better to Associate Professor in USA. (**)What does "permanent position" mean? In USA, after 7 years, you get tenure which confirms that the university wants to keep you forever and provides a high degree of job security. In Australia (and UK and some other countries), there is no tenure. Instead, you are hired into a permanent position. You are on probation for the first 2-3 years and in 99% of the cases, you become "permanent staff" at the end of that period. While it is not called tenure, being permanent staff does provide the similar high degree of job security. Once you are permanent staff, you remain permanent staff and do not have any further probationary periods as you get promoted from lecturer to senior lecturer to associate professor to professor. (***) Sydney is the world's best city. This is more than my personal opinion, see http://www.cnn.com/2005/TRAVEL/07/12/australia.bestcity/index.html http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,,23306132-2702,00.html http://www.reuters.com/article/lifestyleMolt/idUSTRE55G0RM20090617 http://www.theage.com.au/travel/travel-news/best-city-sydney-loses-out-to-m… http://www.askdeb.com/personal-finance/world/ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World%27s_Most_Livable_Cities Cheers, Yusuf -- A/Professor Yusuf Pisan Games Studio Faculty of Engineering and Information Technology University of Technology, Sydney http://staff.it.uts.edu.au/~ypisan/ http://games.it.uts.edu.au/ Skype: ypisan

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