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JOB> Faculty position (Open rank) SLIS@IUB
by Howard Rosenbaum 09 Sep '09

09 Sep '09

[Apologies for cross-posting] Faculty Positions (Open rank) School of Library and Information Science, Indiana University Bloomington Indiana University’s School of Library and Information Science (SLIS) at Bloomington invites applications for two full-time tenure-track faculty positions at the ranks of Assistant, Associate or Full Professor of Library and Information Science. The successful candidates will have earned doctorates in information science, library science or a closely related field and will demonstrate evidence of effective teaching and scholarship with experience/expertise in a core area of library and information science including, but not limited to: information retrieval, digital libraries, human-computer interaction, archives, reference, or academic and public libraries. SLIS has an interdisciplinary faculty whose backgrounds include information science, cognitive science, computer science, librarianship, linguistics, philosophy, and political science. Its faculty was recently ranked first in North America for its scholarly productivity and impact. In addition to the Master of Library Science (MLS) degree, the school offers the Master of Information Science (MIS), a Ph.D. in Information Science and an extensive roster of dual degrees, certificates and specializations. The School’s programs have been accredited continuously by the American Library Association for more than sixty years. Indiana University Bloomington is a major public research university with 1,700 faculty and 40,000 students. The beautiful campus, situated in one of the top ten “best college towns” in the U.S., hosts 110 research centers and institutes, as well as a wide array of distinguished academic departments and schools. Indiana University’s library collections are among the largest in the nation, and the university is consistently rated one of the best networked in the U.S. Indiana University is an equal opportunity/affirmative action employer, offering a full range of benefits, including TIAA/CREF. The University has a strong commitment to principles of diversity and in that spirit seeks a broad spectrum of candidates including women, minorities, and persons with disabilities. Salary is competitive, commensurate with qualifications and experience. Completion of the doctoral degree (or near-completion for appointment at lecturer rank) is required. Review of applications will begin October 1, 2009. The search will remain open until the position is filled. This position will likely begin in Spring 2009 or Fall 2010. To apply, submit a letter of application discussing how your research and teaching interests connect with those of the school along with names and addresses of three references (six for Associate and Full Professor ranks) and your curriculum vitae. Informal inquiries are encouraged, and can be made to Howard Rosenbaum, search committee chair; applications, nominations and curricula vitae should be sent to this address as well. Dr. Howard Rosenbaum, Associate Dean Chair, Search Committee School of Library and Information Science Main Library 011 1320 East 10th Street Bloomington, IN 47405-3907 phone: (812) 855-3261; (812) 855-3250; fax: (812) 855-6166 E-mail: hrosenba(a)indiana.edu

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CFP: Games and Game Culture
by Judd Ruggill 09 Sep '09

09 Sep '09

CFP: Games and Game Culture Computer Culture Area 31st Annual SW/TX PCA/ACA Conference February 10-13, 2010 The Computer Culture Area of the SW/TX PCA/ACA welcomes paper, panel, and other proposals on any aspect of games or game culture. Possible topics include (but are not limited to): Alternative reality games Archiving and artifactual preservation Economic and industrial histories Educational game design and development Foreign language games and culture Game advertising (both in-game and out) Haptics and interface studies Localization Luddology and other theories of play Machinima MOGs, MMOGs, and other forms of online/networked gaming Narratology Performance Pornographic games Religion and games Representations of race and gender Representations of space and place The rhetoric of games and game systems Serious games Table-top game design and theory Technological, aesthetic, economic, and ideological convergence Wireless and mobile gaming For paper proposals: Please submit a 250 word abstract embedded in the body of an email. Include contact information (e.g., postal and preferred email address, phone and fax numbers, etc.) and a biographical note about your connection to the topic. For panel and other proposals: Feel free to query first. Panel and other proposals should include all of the information requested for individual paper proposals, as well as a 100-word statement of the panel’s raison d’etre and any noteworthy organizational features. As always, proposals are welcome from any and all scholars, including graduate students, independent scholars, and tenured, tenure-track, and emeritus faculty. Also, unusual formats, technologies, and the like are encouraged. Please submit proposals to Judd Ruggill (jruggill(a)asu.edu) by 12/15/2009 (11/01/09 priority). Information on the SW/TX PCA/ACA and its conference can be found at: http://swtxpca.org.

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ASIS&T Annual Meeting Program Early deadline
by Richard Hill 08 Sep '09

08 Sep '09

The deadline for getting the early rates for the ASIST Annual meeting is September 25, 2009. The deadline for Hotel reservations at the preferential rate is October 17. Dick Hill ---------- The preliminary program for the ASIST Annual Meeting, Thriving on Diversity - Information Opportunities in a Pluralistic World, November 6-11, 2009, Hyatt Regency Vancouver, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada is now available and registration is open at http://www.asis.org/Conferences/AM09/ - 45 contributed papers - 44 reviewed panel sessions -105 posters. New feature: An Industry Session on Monday morning comprises two parts: the first, �Eyes on the Future: Trends in Information Technology�, presents a panel of leaders from industry; the second, �A Glimpse of the Cutting Edge in Information Applications,� will focus on product demonstrations. - Opening Plenary Session on Sunday afternoon is Tim Bray, currently Director of Web Technologies at Sun Microsystems. - Wednesday plenary will be a Pecha Kucha session, �Diversity in Digital Information Environments: Opportunity or Chaos?� with Grant Campbell, Andrew Dillon, Allison Druin, Gary Marchionini, Cathy Marshall, Candy Schwartz and Elaine Toms. Pre-conference seminars are Fri, Nov. 6, and Saturday, Nov. 7. http://www.asis.org/Conferences/AM09/seminars.html See you in Vancouver! Dick Hill Richard Hill Executive Director American Society for Information Science and Technology 1320 Fenwick Lane, Suite 510 Silver Spring, MD 20910 FAX: (301) 495-0810 (301) 495-0900

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A question for researchers interested in the basics of statistical inference
by Monica Barratt 08 Sep '09

08 Sep '09

Hi everyone I'm currently writing up my thesis which has the working title 'Researching the forums: Illicit drug use in a networked world'. I conducted an online survey using a purposive (nonprobability) sample of illicit drug users who used internet message boards (forums) to discuss or read about drugs. Originally I intended to conduct inferential statistics on this sample of 915, as this is the general practice in many other papers I had read. After some more thought though, I'm leaning away from that. Following is my thinking about this issue. I would really appreciate some feedback on this from anyone with an interest in this areas (non experts welcome too!) *My understanding of the sampling and statistical inference in my thesis work* There are two types of samples: probability and nonprobability. Probability samples occur when each individual from the population of interest has an equal (non-zero) chance of being included in the sample (random selection). In contrast, nonprobability samples contain self-selected individuals from a population of interest - not everyone has a chance of participating, so we can't calculate the relationship between the sample and the population of interest. Probability samples of illicit drug users are rare. This is because to conduct a probability sample, the researcher needs to have a defined population, such as a list of students or phone numbers of households. Illicit drug use is a rare behaviour on a population level (excluding perhaps, ever use of cannabis) and it is unlikely that list of drug users will exist given the illegality of the behaviour and reluctance to self-identify on such a list. Inferential statistics are not compatible with nonprobability samples. A core assumption of the use of inferential statistics is that individuals are randomly selected from the population of interest. Without this randomness, the logic of inferential statistics does not hold. Inferential statistics can be further categorised into parametric and non-parametric statistical methods. These types of inferential statistics are chosen depending upon the distribution of the variables to be analysed; eg. parametric statistics for continuous normal variables and nonparametric statistics for nonnormal or categorical/ordinal variables. Nonparametric or distribution free statistics are still inferential. So they too are incompatible with nonprobability samples. Descriptive statistics can still be applied to nonprobability samples to determine the relationships between variables in the dataset. What should not be done is 'significance testing' as the aim of this testing is to determine whether a relationship is strong enough or a difference is large enough, given the sample size, to be representative of a difference in the population. This assumes that the sample has a known relationship to the population. This is meaningless when applied to a nonprobability sample. There are still good reasons to conduct a nonprobability sample. There are simply situations when probability samples are impossible to obtain or just too expensive (arguable this applies to my population of interest). They are also useful in exploratory or preliminary studies (also relevant to me). The trick is not to apply inappropriate statistical tests to data collected in this way. Why is it then that we see probability statistics routinely conducted upon nonprobability samples, especially in the drug studies field? Is it something about making our research appear more scientific with the addition of a p < .05? Is it ignorance? Or do I have it wrong myself? Are there times when inferential statistics, eg. a t-test or a correlation co-efficient can be applied to nonprobability samples? Are there any exceptions to this rule? -- Monica Barratt BSc(Psych); PhD in progress... National Drug Research Institute Melbourne, Victoria, Australia http://preview.tinyurl.com/lwyyzq

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AoIR Conference - pre conference workshop on Web 2.0 and elearning
by Matthew Allen 08 Sep '09

08 Sep '09

Dear all Marj Kibby and I will be running a pre-conference workshop in Milwaukee on October 7, the day before the AoIR conference. The workshop is: Innovative education online: Ideas for the future of learning and the Internet Details: http://ir10.aoir.org/?page_id=180 Cost $20.00 We would very much like your participation since the workshop adds to a series I have been running in Australia and I am keen to get an international perspective. You can book for the workshop when you register for the conference. Feel free to email me for further information. Associate Professor Matthew Allen Head, Department of Internet Studies School of Media, Culture and Creative Arts Curtin University of Technology CRICOS provider code: 00301J (WA); 02637B (NSW) +61892663511 http://netstudies.curtin.edu.au and http://netcrit.net 2008 ALTC Teaching Fellow; Immediate Past President, AOIR

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Roommate for IR 10
by Michael Dick 08 Sep '09

08 Sep '09

Hi everyone, I'm a male grad student (non-smoker) looking for a potential roommate for IR 10. I'll be in Milwaukee from October 7-11 (4 nights). Please contact me off-list if interested (michael.dick(a)gmail.com) Best wishes, Michael Dick Ryerson and York Universities Toronto, Canada michael.dick(a)gmail.com

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emails and Congress
by Kris Unsworth 07 Sep '09

07 Sep '09

Hello Air-l, I was hoping one of you might have a statistic for me or a suggestion of where I might go to find it...I am wondering about the number of emails / physical mail Congress receives yearly. I realize this will be a fuzzy number since much of the email is in the form of mass mailings from special interest groups. But if any of you have an idea I'd appreciate it! Thanks so much, Kris

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CfP: Call for Chapter Abstracts for the Book "The Internet & Surveillance"
by Christian Fuchs 07 Sep '09

07 Sep '09

CfP: Call for Chapter Abstracts for the Book "The Internet & Surveillance" PDF version of CfP: http://fuchs.uti.at/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/CfP_Internet_Surveillance.pdf Editors: Christian Fuchs, Kees Boersma, Anders Albrechtslund, Marisol Sandoval Supported by COST: European Cooperation in Science and Technology (http://www.cost.esf.org, COST Action Living in Surveillance Societies (LiSS, IS0807), Working Group 2: Surveillance Technologies in Practice Abstract submissions until October 15, 2009 (deadline) to christian.fuchs(a)sbg.ac.at The overall aim of this collected volume is to bring together contributions that show how surveillance works on the Internet and which risks are connected to Internet surveillance in general and surveillance connected to "web 2.0" and "social software" in particular. The publication and publishing process is part of the COST Action "Living in Surveillance Societies" (LiSS) that is funded by the European Science Foundation (2009-2012, see http://w3.cost.esf.org/index.php?id=233&action_number=IS0807 for further information and details) and is a project by the LiSS working group "Surveillance Technologies in Practice". The editors are members of this working group. Routledge has expressed interest in publishing this volume. The collection of data for organizing bureaucratic and economic life is inherent in modern society. At the same time that privacy has been postulated as important value of modern society, privacy-threatening surveillance mechanisms have been structurally implemented and institutionalized in modern society. This collected volume explores perspectives on privacy, surveillance, and the privacy-surveillance-paradox in relation to the Internet. Background Many observers claim that the Internet has been transformed in the past years from a system that is primarily oriented on information provision into a system that is more oriented on communication and community building. The notions of "web 2.0", "social Software", and "social network(ing) sites" have emerged in this context. Web platforms such as Wikipedia, MySpace, Facebook, YouTube, Google, Blogger, Rapidshare, Wordpress, Hi5, Flickr, Photobucket, Orkut, Skyrock, Twitter, YouPorn, PornHub, Youku, Orkut, Redtube, Friendster, Adultfriendfinder, Megavideo, Tagged, Tube8, Mediafire, Megaupload, Mixi, Livejournal, LinkedIn, Netlog, ThePirateBay, Orkut, XVideos, Metacafe, Digg, StudiVZ, etc are said to be typical for this transformation of the Internet. No matter if we agree that important transformations of the Internet have taken place or not, it is clear that a principle that underlies such platforms is the massive provision and storage of personal data that are systematically evaluated, marketed, and used for targeting users with advertising. In a world of global economic competition, economic crisis, and fear of terrorism after 9/11, especially two kinds of actors are interested in accessing such personal data: corporations on the one hand and state institutions on the other hand. Will the Internet under the current societal conditions advance the intensification and extension of surveillance so that a coercive and totalitarian surveillance society that George Orwell would have only thought about in his worst dreams will emerge or not? Are there counter-tendencies? The contributions in this book deal with these topics by elaborating theoretical concepts and presenting the results of empirical case studies. We are especially interested in papers that do not primarily discuss single examples, but attempt to discuss Internet surveillance from a broad perspective that takes into account societal contexts or that embed examples or case studies into the discussion of societal contexts. Research Questions Chapters could for example relate to one or more of the following questions: * What is electronic surveillance? What are specific qualities of electronic surveillance on the Internet? How does Internet surveillance differ from other forms of surveillance? * Which theories do we need for thinking about Internet & surveillance? How important (or how outdated) are the thoughts by Michel Foucault and George Orwell for studying surveillance on the Internet? How suitable are the theories of thinkers like Max Weber, Karl Marx, Anthony Giddens, and others for the analysis and conceptualization of Internet surveillance? * What is the relationship of privacy and surveillance in respect to the Internet? * What is privacy, how should it be defined, and how does it change in the age of the Internet? * Is Internet surveillance a form of "new surveillance" (Gary Marx)? What are the differences and commonalities between Internet surveillance and concepts such as computer surveillance, dataveillance (Roger Clarke), the electronic panopticon (Mark Poster), electronic surveillance (David Lyon), the panoptic sort (Oscar H. Gandy), social Taylorism of surveillance (Frank Webster, Kevin Robins), or the synopticon (Thomas Mathiesen)? * What are the normative and ethical implications of Internet & surveillance? * What is a surveillance society and what is the role of the Internet in surveillance society? Should the notions of surveillance and surveillance society be used as general, neutral terms or as negative terms? What are the implications of certain definitions of surveillance and surveillance society for studying the Internet? * What does it mean to study Internet & surveillance critically? What is a critical theory of Internet surveillance, what are critical studies of Internet & surveillance? What are the ontological, epistemological, methodological, and axiological dimensions of such studies? * What are central aspects of the political economy of surveillance on the Internet? * What is the role of surveillance for "web 2.0" and "social software"? How is surveillance connected with mass self-communication and communication power/counter-power (Manuel Castells) in web 2.0? * What is the role of surveillance on social networking sites such as MySpace and Facebook? * How is surveillance used in the Internet economy? What problems are connected to surveillance in the Internet economy? What is the role of surveillance for Internet business models? * How does targeted advertising work as economic mechanism for generating profit? What are the problems that are connected to it? * Presentation and generalization of case studies about how specific Internet platforms (Google, Facebook, MySpace, YouTube, etc) or applications use surveillance and about the connected problems and threats. * How are terms of use and privacy terms designed by Internet corporations in order to enable surveillance? What are the problems and societal implications connected to such practices? * How has surveillance on the Internet changed after 9/11? * Which different legal frameworks for surveillance on the Internet are there (international comparison) and how have they changed after 9/11? * What are the major threats and problems of surveillance on the Internet? * What is to be done in order to solve the problems that are connected to surveillance on the Internet? What is the role of information policies, data protection, governments, governance, civil society, and social movements in this respect? * How do social movements and groups that struggle against the establishment of a "maximum surveillance society" (Clive Norris and Gary Armstrong) make use of the Internet for cyberprotest and cyberactivism? * How do Internet & society have to be designed in order to avoid the emergence of a total surveillance society? Which alternative design principles for Internet & society are needed in this context? What is the role of privacy-enhancing Internet technologies in this context? * Which Internet surveillance technologies are there and how can they be systematically classified? * What is the role of surveillance and surveillance technologies in Internet-based eGovernment and eGovernance? Submission of Structured Abstracts: Please submit structured abstracts for chapter proposals, short author biography/biographies, and your contact details (in a word document) until October 15th, 2009 to Christian Fuchs by email: christian.fuchs(a)sbg.ac.at. The editors are interested in abstracts for original, unpublished contributions that have not been submitted for consideration in journals or other publications. The abstracts should adhere to the following structured format and should have approximately 650-900 words. (1) Purpose What are the reasons for writing this chapter? Why is the topic important? What are the aims of research? What are the research questions? (2) Approach/Theoretical framework/Design/Methodology How are the objectives achieved? Include the main method(s) used for the research [theory construction is also considered as a method in this context]. What is the approach to the topic and what is the theoretical or subject scope of the paper? (3) Findings What was found in the course of the work? What are the main results presented in the chapter? This will refer to analysis, discussion, or results. (4) Research limitations/implications (if applicable) Suggestions for future research and any identified limitations in the research process. Implications for academic fields, disciplines, state of the art. (4) Practical and societal implications (if applicable) What outcomes and implications for practice, applications and consequences are identified? How will the research impact upon society? How will it influence public attitudes? How could it inform civil society or public or industry policy? What changes to human practices should be made as a result of this research? How might it affect quality of life? Not all chapters must necessarily have practical and societal implications. (5) Originality/value What is new in the paper? How does it differ from and go beyond the state of the art in respective research fields? State the value of the paper and for whom it is relevant. Author short biographies should be approximately 200-300 words and contain information on academic position, institutional affiliation, research interests and topics, major publications, projects, networks, affiliations, roles, etc. Time Schedule October 15, 2009: deadline for the submission of structured abstracts of chapter proposals End of October 2009: notification of authors on acceptance/decline of proposals; submission of the overall proposal, abstracts, author data to Routledge End of November 2009: decision on publication by the publisher End of September 2010: deadline for the submission of full chapters (further details will be announced) End of November 2010: feedback of review comments to the authors End of December 2010: submission of final versions of chapters January 2011: submission of final manuscript to the publisher About the Editors Christian Fuchs is associate professor for ICTs and society at the University of Salzburg, Austria. He is management committee member of the ESF COST Action "Living in Surveillance Society" (LiSS) and member of the LiSS working group "Surveillance Technologies in Practice". Kees Boersma is associate professor for science and technology studies at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, the Netherlands. He is leader of the working group "Surveillance Technologies in Practice" and management committee member of the ESF Cost Action "Living in Surveillance Societies". Anders Albrechtslund is assistant professor for surveillance and ethics at Aalborg University, Denmark. He is management committee member of the ESF Cost Action "Living in Surveillance Societies" and member of the LiSS working group "Surveillance Technologies in Practice". Marisol Sandoval is research associate at the University of Salzburg, Austria. She is member of the working group "Surveillance Technologies in Practice" of the ESF Cost Action "Living in Surveillance Societies". - - - Priv.-Doz. Dr. Christian Fuchs Associate Professor Unified Theory of Information Research Group ICT&S Center University of Salzburg Sigmund Haffner Gasse 18 5020 Salzburg Austria christian.fuchs(a)sbg.ac.at Phone +43 662 8044 4823 Personal Website: http://fuchs.uti.at Research Group: http;//www.uti.at Editor of tripleC - Cognition, Communication, Co-Operation | Open Access Journal for a Global Sustainable Information Society http://www.triple-c.at Fuchs, Christian. 2008. Internet and Society: Social Theory in the Information Age. New York: Routledge. http://fuchs.uti.at/?page_id=40

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Early bird registration deadline *today*
by Michael Zimmer 07 Sep '09

07 Sep '09

Dear colleagues: A reminder that the deadline for early bird registration for IR.10 Internet:Critical is *today*, September 7. Please register asap, and book your rooms at the conference hotel to ensure you get the preferred rates. All participants must register, including members of panel discussions, roundtables, etc. Registration: http://ir10.aoir.org/?page_id=6 Please feel free to contact me (zimmerm(a)uwm.edu) or Elizabeth Buchanan (eliz1679(a)uwm.edu) with any questions or concerns. Hope to see you in Milwaukee, Michael Zimmer On behalf of the conference organizing committee: - Susanna Paasonen, Helsinki Collegium for Advanced Studies - Elizabeth Buchanan, UW-Milwaukee School of Information Studies - Michael Zimmer, UW-Milwaukee School of Information Studies - Steve Jones, University of Illinois-Chicago -- Michael Zimmer, PhD Assistant Professor, School of Information Studies Associate, Center for Information Policy Research University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee e: zimmerm(a)uwm.edu w: www.michaelzimmer.org

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Streaming, Charles Ess' inaugeral lecture
by Niels Brügger 07 Sep '09

07 Sep '09

I have received a number of requests whether Charles Ess' inaugeral lecture at Aarhus University, Denmark on 18 September would be streamed or not. We have now arranged that the lecture will be recorded for video podcast (but not live streamed). I will inform the AoIR list when the video podcast can be found on our website. Very best, Niels Brügger ------------------------------------------------------------ LATEST PUBLICATIONS AND PAPERS March 2009 Website history and the website as an object of study, New Media & Society, 11/1-2, Sage, London 2009, 115-132 [ get an electronic copy at: http://nms.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/11/1-2/115?etoc ] February 2009 Forstå Facebook [in Danish]. www.kommunikationsforum.dk. Copenhagen: 5 pages, 2009 [ read the article: http://www.kommunikationsforum.dk/artikler/forstaa-facebook ] November 2008 The Archived Website and Website Philology. A new Type of Historical Document?, Nordicom Review, 29/2, Göteborg 2008: 155-175 [ get an electronic copy at: http://www.nordicom.gu.se/common/publ_pdf/269_brugger.pdf ] Strukturalismus (with O. Vigsø), Hans Fink Verlag, München: 104 pages, 2008 [ read about the publication: http://www.utb.de/katalog_suchen_detailseite.jsp?buchid=1942 ] INTERESTED IN WEB HISTORY? You may want to join the mailing list webhistory(a)imv.au.dk at http://mail.imv.au.dk/mailman/listinfo/webhistory INTERESTED IN THE HISTORY OF DR.DK? You may want to join the Facebook group "dr.dk's historie" [in Danish] at http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=61000607153 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/pub/1/50a/555 Profile at Kommunikationsforum [in Danish]: www.kommunikationsforum.dk/Niels-Brugger The Centre for Internet Research http://cfi.imv.au.dk The history of dr.dk, 1996-2006 http://drdk.dk

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