- Air-L - lists.aoir.org

Re: [Air-L] credentials, pen names, and etc.
by Murray Turoff 20 Aug '09

20 Aug '09

i always thought what we did on the original EIES system form the mid 70's through the mid 90's was the right way to go. default signature was your real name and there was a directory for finding out material on the person they could fill in. however, anyone at any time could use a pen name or anonymity in signing a comment. or the organizer of a conference could set up one where all comments were forced to be signed by pen names or to be anonymous so one could do Delphi Discussions. in one test of the use of pen names and real names in a risky shift expeirment in a major company using 5 person (middle managers) using pen names or using in matching group real names the significant finding was in the pen name group it was the only time they were willing to discuss past decisions of the company as being possible mistakes in setting policies. When they were debriefed the biggest fear was that they might end up working for someone whose prior decision they were critical of which could not happen if they publicly stated their view. This report is on the njit library web site devoted to the old cccc studies but also was published in a journal as well. One of my students did a thesis on using anonymity for rating professional papers. And it has always been a disappointment that no single journal ever tried doing anonymous discussions of reviews of articles to journals among the reviewers of a given paper so they would reach a resolution of disagreements and then bring in the author to also enter the discussion. This would be a big improvement of the whole publications process if done they way it should be. It is what people have to say that should be the first criteria for judging something and not who they are. when people are in a group and have similar expertise then it is even more important to expose the disagreements as a guide to what to say to understand whey those disagreements are occurring. I have a phd student building a system for exactly that purpose in emergency preparedness problem solving and planning. In such situations experience and academic viewpoints are often in conflict. there are papers in the last iscram meeting proceedings (iscram.org) by connie white and on her website. i am on vacation and my files are not handy. I did not mention Delphi in the above and of course that does bias my viewpoint considerably. What connie is doing is a Dynamic delphi where everything happens at once and people can be voting, proposing new options, changing their vote, discussing options, and viewing a changing vote process at any time. -- Distinguished Professor Emeritus Information Systems, NJIT homepage: http://is.njit.edu/turoff

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Mobile Devices Within Instruction Webinar Audio/Slides NOW Available
by McKiernan, Gerard [LIB] 20 Aug '09

20 Aug '09

Colleagues/ !!! A Most Excellent / Must Hear; Read Webinar !!! /Gerry Mobile Devices Within Instruction Free Webinar / August 19 2009 Date: August 19, 2009 at 12:00 PM PDT (3:00 PM EDT) / Duration: One hour / Sponsored by: T.H.E Journal and Speak Up Discover ideas for instruction that innovative districts have developed to better leverage the increasing number of laptops, cell phones, MP3 players and smart phones that students carry. This webinar explores the latest findings from Speak Up surveys given to K-12 students, teachers and administrators regarding their views on mobile devices within instruction. Julie Evans, CEO of Project Tomorrow, the nation's leading education nonprofit organization that facilitates the annual Speak Up surveys, will present the data findings and moderate a panel discussion with students, teachers and administrators from various school districts. Panel Jeff Billings, Director of Technology, Paradise Valley Unified School District; Thea Jones, Supervisor, Office of Instructional Technology, Baltimore County Public Schools; Suzette Kliwer, National Board Certified Teacher, Mathematics, Southwest High School, Onslow County School District; Geoff Fletcher, Editorial Director, 1105 Media Education Group Links To Audio / PDF Presentation / Twitter Hash Available At [ http://tinyurl.com/l59fk7 ] >>> A Most / Most / Most Impressive Session <<< !!! The Future IS Already Here !!! /Gerry Gerry McKiernan Associate Professor Science and Technology Librarian Iowa State University Library Ames IA 50011 gerrymck(a)iastate.edu There Are No Answers, Only Solutions / Olde Irish Saying The Future Is Already Here, It's Just Not Evenly Distributed / Attributed To William Gibson, SciFi Author / Coined 'Cyberspace

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Where blogging is no longer allowed
by Yosem Companys 20 Aug '09

20 Aug '09

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/20/sports/ncaafootball/20rights.html?_r=1&th… Camera phones, hand-held video cameras and social networking sites like Twitter<http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/business/companies/twitter/index.html?in…> have turned sports fans with Web sites into instant reporters and broadcasters. But one of the nation’s leading college leagues is drawing a line in the turf.* *The Southeastern Conference, home to some of the nation’s most prominent and lucrative university athletic programs, has issued rules in the past week prohibiting fans from distributing photographs or video of its games in real time for commercial use. Like a growing number of pro and college teams nationwide, the conference sees money to be made online from the exploits of its athletes.

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Position announcement - Univ. of Illinois at Chicago
by Steve Jones 20 Aug '09

20 Aug '09

[Please forward to appropriate lists and individuals. Thank you.] The Department of Communication at the University of Illinois at Chicago invites applications for the following position: Assistant Professor of Communication/Health and Policy A successful candidate must have interests in the study of health communication and policy in combination with the study of new media, the internet, and/or communication technology. The candidate will also have an earned doctorate in Communication or a related field, strong promise of scholarly achievement and teaching success (at the undergraduate and graduate levels) appropriate for appointment as Assistant Professor, good prospects for external research funding, and demonstrated commitment to multidisciplinary scholarship. Exceptionally strong applicants at the associate professor level may also be considered. Located in the heart of Chicago, UIC is a Research I University with 16,000 undergraduates, 6,500 graduate and 3,000 professional students. The Department of Communication has 11 full-time faculty, approximately 100+ undergraduate majors, 40 M.A. students, and 20 Ph.D. students in a doctoral program focused on the relationship between technology and communication. The desired appointment date for the position is August 16, 2010. Interested parties should address a letter of interest and submit full curriculum vitae, samples of relevant scholarly publications, evidence of teaching effectiveness, and names of and contact information for three references to: Zizi Papacharissi, PhD, Professor and Head, Department of Communication University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL Applications will be accepted electronically, at commsrch(a)uic.edu, in pdf or Word format, by October 15, 2009, to receive full consideration. The search will proceed until the position is filled. Preliminary interviews may be conducted during the National Communication Association (NCA) convention in Chicago, November 12-15, 2009. Women and traditionally under-represented minorities are strongly encouraged to apply. The University of Illinois is an Affirmative Action, Equal Opportunity Employer.

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Study Finds That Online Education Beats the Classroom
by McKiernan, Gerard [LIB] 20 Aug '09

20 Aug '09

Colleagues/ A Wednesday PM (CT) Discovery !! /Gerry New York Times / August 19, 2009, 1:08 pm / Updated: 1:29 pm / Steve Lohr A recent 93-page report on online education, conducted by SRI International for the Department of Education, has a starchy academic title, but a most intriguing conclusion: "On average, students in online learning conditions performed better than those receiving face-to-face instruction." [snip] Over the 12-year span, the report found 99 studies in which there were quantitative comparisons of online and classroom performance for the same courses. The analysis for the Department of Education found that, on average, students doing some or all of the course online would rank in the 59th percentile in tested performance, compared with the average classroom student scoring in the 50th percentile. >>>That is a modest but statistically meaningful difference.<<< [snip] Until fairly recently, online education amounted to little more than electronic versions of the old-line correspondence courses. That has really changed with arrival of Web-based video, instant messaging and collaboration tools. The real promise of online education, experts say, is providing learning experiences that are more tailored to individual students than is possible in classrooms. That enables more "learning by doing," which many students find more engaging and useful. [more] Links to the original NYTimes article and the full DOEd report available from [ http://tinyurl.com/nk97w8 ] Enjoy ! /Gerry Gerry McKiernan Associate Professor Science and Technology Librarian Iowa State University Library Ames IA 50011 gerrymck(a)iastate.edu There Are No Answers, Only Solutions / Olde Irish Saying The Future Is Already Here, It's Just Not Evenly Distributed / Attributed To William Gibson, SciFi Author / Coined 'Cyberspace

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APSA Short Course: "Coding the Blogosphere" Wednesday September 2, 1-5 pm
by Stuart Shulman 20 Aug '09

20 Aug '09

Final call...a few seats left. Graduate students are strongly encouraged and faculty are welcome. APSA 2009 Short Course "Coding the Blogosphere: Introducing the Coding and Blog Analysis Toolkits" Time: Wednesday September 2, 1-5 pm, Venue: American Political Science Association (APSA) 2009 Annual Meeting, Toronto, Canada Location at APSA: Convention Centre 201B Dr. Stuart Shulman is the founder of the Qualitative Data Analysis Program (QDAP), which is a fee-for-service coding lab co-located at the University of Pittsburgh and the University of Massachusetts Amherst. QDAP and QDAP-UMass staff and coders work on coding projects funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF), the National Institutes of Health (NIH), and other U.S. funding agencies. He has been the Principal Investigator and Project Director on related National Science Foundation-funded research projects focusing on electronic rulemaking, human language technologies, manual annotation, digital citizenship, and service-learning efforts in the United States. At the APSA 2009 Short Course, Dr. Shulman will lead a hands-on (your lap top) training introducing to the Coding Analysis Toolkit (CAT), a free, web-based service designed to facilitate the measurement and reporting the reliability and validity of work completed by multiple coders. He will also introduce the Blog Analysis Toolkit (BAT), which is also a free system designed to capture blog posts and archive them for analysis in CAT. For more information, see: http://www.qdap.pitt.edu/ (QDAP) http://www.umass.edu/qdap/ (QDAP-UMass) http://www.qdap.pitt.edu/cat.htm (Coding Analysis Toolkit) https://surveyweb2.ucsur.pitt.edu/qblog/page_login.php (Blog Analysis Toolkit) http://people.umass.edu/stu/ (Dr. Shulman’s Home Page) To register: Faculty - $25; Grad Students - $10 (Payment on site is acceptable) Checks should be made out to University of Massachusetts Amherst and sent to: Michelle Sagan Goncalves (mgoncalves(a)pubpol.umass.edu) 200 Hicks Way Thompson Tower Amherst, MA 01003

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Job opportunity: Senior Researcher - eDemocracy Programme, Hansard Society
by Andy Williamson 20 Aug '09

20 Aug '09

Are you passionate about the potential for digital media to transform politics and democracy and can you underpin that passion with a proven track record in digital democracy and high-quality research? The eDemocracy Programme is looking to appoint a Senior Researcher. The successful candidate will have a relevant research-based qualification and an established track-record of work in one or more of the programme's key discipline areas, most notably digital engagement and/or online political communication. You will have developed an intuitive grasp of emerging digital technologies and trends and be able to demonstrate experience in developing research proposals, research design, data collection methods (including interviews, focus groups and surveys) and data analysis (qualitative and quantitative). Alongside your ability to convey complex ideas and information succinctly to a range of audiences, in writing and in person, you will have developed relevant networks including senior people in the political, governmental, academic and non-governmental spheres. Based in London, the Hansard Society's eDemocracy Programme has led the way in understanding how digital media affect and transform the way democracy works. From the internet's impact on parliament, to better government engagement with citizens and the potential for civil society to harness digital media, our thought-leading research has been a formative part of an emergent digital Britain. Today, we undertake research and produce publications and commentaries that deliver value and push the boundaries of digital democracy. Our work is about democratic innovation. Focusing on online political communication and citizen engagement, our work explores the many faces of digital inclusion, citizen engagement, political campaigning and parliamentary process. For more information and an application pack: http://www.hansardsociety.org.uk/blogs/about_us/archive/2007/01/22/vacancie… Andy -- Dr Andy Williamson email andy(a)andywilliamson.com website www.andywilliamson.com uk/europe +44 20 8133 7412 us/canada +1 415 578 4504 asia/pacific +61 3 9018 7165 shaping our digital future: research & consultancy | policy & practice

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Re: [Air-L] Curtin Research fellowships - Internet Studies
by Adolfo Rudy Cardona 20 Aug '09

20 Aug '09

I am about to start working on my dissertation. I have a special interest in Social Media research and mostly on Social Networks, (Facebook, Twitter). I am looking for any work that have been conducted on this subject. I would appreciate a link and or information that can assist me in my final stage of my PhD. Thank You.

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for credentials, in part
by Barry Wellman 19 Aug '09

19 Aug '09

I will (yet again) go against the Expressed opinion of most (altho like Spiro Agnew, I wonder about the Silent Majority)* [*This is the first time I have ever quoted Spiro approvingly and I doubt I will ever do it again.] I take credentials seriously. They give somewhat of an indication that the person has earned the right to give an opinion on an area of her/his expertise. In my own case, my .sig is automatically added, altho I can always delete, but I rarely do because I have earned every inch of it (in blood and sleepless nights) and it gives some indication of what I do -- and don't know -- with a link to my websites for those who want to know more. Of course, credentials aren't everything. I've taken Jeremy Hunsinger Very Seriously since the first time we e-met, because of the cogency and brilliance of his comments. And I've met a number of people interpersonally and through their papers whose comments I always take seriously. And of course, having a PhD, tenure, etc. doesn't mean you ain't a jerk. We all have had some experience of that. 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] Credentials
by John Postill 19 Aug '09

19 Aug '09

Funnily enough, I too was about to stress *relevance* before reading Rasha's latest posting below. As a subscriber to the Association of Internet Researchers list I am interested in keeping up with what other Internet researchers are doing, and this includes being able to place them and their Internet research geographically, professionally, etc. So I look at signatures pragmatically: it makes life easier when people remind others of their geographical location and academic (or non-academic, as the case may be) background. A signature often helps to jog the memory as well (e.g. oh yes, that phd student at Bristol university working on Twitter). Whether a list contributor practices snowboarding or is a fan of Ricky Gervais is not relevant to this Internet research list. So I would encourage posters to include a relevant signature, preferably with a link to a homepage or blog where we can learn more about their Internet research, but I wouldn't make this mandatory. Thank you all for a great thread John Dr John Postill C3 Research Institute (C3RI) Sheffield Hallam University Sheffield S1 2NU United Kingdom http://johnpostill.wordpress.com/ ------ Original Message ------ Received: Wed, 19 Aug 2009 01:39:06 PM BST From: "Dr. Rasha Abdulla" <rasha(a)aucegypt.edu> To: jeremy hunsinger <jhuns(a)vt.edu>Cc: air-l(a)aoir.org Subject: Re: [Air-L] Credentials > Ok, I can't resist:) One (hopefully final) reply on my part. This is > actually a message that I've written privately to a list member in reply to > their private message, but I think it might add some value. I want to stress > on two things though: 1) I never said I wanted titles to be a requirement, > it was simply a request for people to identify themselves more; and 2) I > never claimed academics (or those with Ph.D.s or whoever) are necessarily > better, or more credible, or more knowledgeable than others. As I'm sure you > know, people will be more credible depending on their relevance to the > matter in question. It was simply that relevance that I requested them to > make clear. And I do not think that getting text book recommendations or > advice on how to code content analysis is the same as talking to a stranger > on a bus, although of course all information should be judged critically. > Here's the message. And again thank you all for your responses, public and > private. And special thanks to those who did include some kind of > affiliation. To me, it adds more value and context to the message, and I > still don't think it hurts anyone (unless people are bent on taking it in a > negative sense). > --------

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