- Air-L - lists.aoir.org

Social networks study
by Peter Timusk 30 Jun '09

30 Jun '09

Here is an interesting study of social networks in Canada http://www.statcan.gc.ca/daily-quotidien/090626/dq090626a-eng.htm available in pdf or html French or English http://www.statcan.gc.ca/pub/11-008-x/11-008-x2009002-eng.htm Peter Timusk statistical computer programmer ptimusk(a)sympatico.ca address 701-151 Parkdale Avenue Ottawa, Ontario Canada K1Y 4V8 Phone 613-729-8328 May all your numbers be quality numbers... even if they are only average numbers.

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Re: [Air-L] Internet User Research
by Catherine Middleton 30 Jun '09

30 Jun '09

Hello John (and Air-L), Thanks for sharing your research. Like some others on the list, I'm not surprised by your results at all. I've done a lot of work with colleagues looking at Statistics Canada Internet Use Survey data, trying to understand how people who say yes, they use the internet, actually spend their time online. The most recent data are from 2007, and one of the key findings is that combining the frequency of online access (e.g. daily, weekly etc.) with hours online reveals that about 45% of the (online) population are online daily AND for more than 5 hours a week (high intensity users). Given that about 70% of the total adult (>17) population were online at the time of this survey, just over 30% of adult Canadians were using the internet daily and for more than 5 hours a week as of late 2007. So arguably, intensity of use is low. Along the same lines, the only things that 50% or more of the total Canadian adult population (not just internet users) were doing online in 2007 were general web browsing and email. As has been noted here, some people in the tech sector and some internet researchers tend to discount these data, maybe not being able to imagine that many people really do spend less than 5 hours online per week. It's important to distinguish between internet adoption and use, and much more work is needed to understand what use really means. Hours online isn't a particularly good measure of use (especially as people adopt mobile phones with ubiquitous access), but it's been a starting point for many studies. The qualitative work John is doing provides good insights into real usage behaviours, and work to find good measures of engagement based on quantitative data continues. If you're interested in this topic, my work in this area is available at http://www.broadbandresearch.ca/ourresearch/papers.html (scroll down for conference papers based on Statistics Canada data). Also look for the papers from the "Beyond Broadband Access: Data-Based Information Policy For a New Administration Workshop" to be held in Washington, DC, this September. For some recent industry data, see 2008/2009 Accenture US Consumer Technology Research Findings http://www.accenture.com/NR/rdonlyres/040BE0BE-1FE5-45DD-9791-AC1D40A45A2C/… Then of course there is another entire discussion about the disconnect between discourses about the need for, and use of next generation broadband networks, and the data about what the average user actually does online. Cheers, Catherine Middleton Ted Rogers School of Management Ryerson University, Toronto, Canada catherine.middleton(a)ryerson.ca

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Re: [Air-L] Internet User Research
by Denise N. Rall 29 Jun '09

29 Jun '09

There's been a bit of research on naive computer users in advanced technological environments, if I have understood the question correctly. Robinson, L. H. and K. J. Thoms (2001). "A longitudinal study of college student computer knowledge." Journal of Computer Information Systems Fall 2001: 9-12. There was something recently in the Chronicle of Higher Education on this but I can't locate it at the moment. Cheers, Denise Denise N. Rall, PhD. Special Projects, Faculty of Arts & Science, Southern Cross University, Lismore NSW 2480 AUSTRALIA Mobile +(61) (0)438 233 344 http://www.scu.edu.au/schools/esm/staff/pages/drall/ Join the Association of Internet Researchers http://aoir.org Internet Research 10.0, October 7-11, Milwaukee, WI, USA > Access Yahoo!7 Mail on your mobile. Anytime. Anywhere. Show me how: http://au.mobile.yahoo.com/mail

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Re: [Air-L] Death to lists?
by Denise N. Rall 29 Jun '09

29 Jun '09

Alex - I couldn't agree more. Most hard scientists engaged in cutting edge research are not blogging or using social networks. First they don't have time, second they are not engaged in seeking opinions from non-specialists, and third, this is not a venue for collaboration on research projects that are under development and therefore, cannot be casually disclosed before publication. Lastly, as has been mentioned here before, blogging is not going to count (except possibly in new media??) for promotion and tenure. It is well known that mathematicians and physicists use their own networks, mostly managed by email. As I'm married to a scientist, I know that all of his collaboration happens over email, not Facebook. All of my collaboration from colleagues for AoIR conferences happens via email. I am an iconoclast in that I read this list, before this list I read Phil Agre, then I read some online Africa list, an online publishing list, and before that, I read news. I am definitely looking for content and colleagues' thoughts rather than 'friends' or images. But I can see that for some the aspect of friends is more important than facts (roughly speaking). I would be quite depressed to lose this list but I would hope to find another text-based interchange and not have to enter SL to talk to others. P.S. Alex how do I get rid of the 1140 character post and return to 80 column. I tried ASCII encoding which I thought would work but no luck so far. Cheers, Denise Denise N. Rall, PhD. Special Projects, Faculty of Arts & Science, Southern Cross University, Lismore NSW 2480 AUSTRALIA Mobile +(61) (0)438 233 344 http://www.scu.edu.au/schools/esm/staff/pages/drall/ Join the Association of Internet Researchers http://aoir.org Internet Research 10.0, October 7-11, Milwaukee, WI, USA --- On Mon, 29/6/09, Alex Halavais <alex(a)halavais.net> wrote: > From: Alex Halavais <alex(a)halavais.net> > Subject: [Air-L] Death to lists? Access Yahoo!7 Mail on your mobile. Anytime. Anywhere. Show me how: http://au.mobile.yahoo.com/mail

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Remove My Mail On google Search Machine
by atah pine 29 Jun '09

29 Jun '09

Please I want a mail of mine in respect of Three Monthjs Internet Reserch on the Google search engine removed. This mail has caused me and my employees alot of inconviniences. My regards. Atah Pine, PhD Director, Planning, Research and Statistics, Office of the Executive Governor, Benue State, Nigeria

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Lecturer in Media Theory: Birkbeck, University of London
by Tim Markham 29 Jun '09

29 Jun '09

**Apologies for cross-posting** LECTURER IN MEDIA THEORY DEPARTMENT OF MEDIA AND CULTURAL STUDIES, FACULTY OF ARTS, BIRKBECK, UNIVERSITY OF LONDON 3 YEAR FIXED TERM CONTRACT SALARY GBP 33,501 - 38,376 Purpose and Main Duties Based in the new Department for Media and Cultural Studies in the School of Arts, you will contribute to a diverse and vibrant programme of Film, Media and Cultural Studies at various levels (Certificates, FD, BA, and Postgraduate) through teaching, curriculum development and administration. You will join a strongly interdisciplinary research culture, embodied by the newly established Centre for Media, Culture and Creative Practice. Candidate Requirements Applicants should have a PhD or equivalent in Media or a related area (e.g. Sociology; Film and Television studies; Cultural studies; Geography / Urban studies; Media history; ICT studies; Journalism studies; Media activism; Research methods) and a proven research record. Excellent team working skills, flexibility and a commitment to adult education ethos are essential for the role. Further Information This job is full time and fixed term for three years. The salary quoted above is inclusive of London allowance. Birkbeck also provides a generous final salary pension scheme, 31 days paid leave, flexible working arrangements and other great benefits. Informal enquiries can be made to Dr Tim Markham, Lecturer in Journalism and Media, School of Arts/Department of Media and Cultural Studies, Birkbeck, University of London, email: t.markham(a)bbk.ac.uk Closing date: Sunday 19 July 2009 Interview dates: week commencing Monday 14 September Birkbeck is an equal opportunities employer and encourages applications from all candidates irrespective of gender, ethnicity, age, disability, religious belief and sexual preference. Application forms and further information can be found here: http://jobs.bbk.ac.uk/fe/tpl_birkbeckcollege01.asp?newms=se Reference number: 10272

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Death to lists?
by Alex Halavais 29 Jun '09

29 Jun '09

Chronicle has an article suggesting that the e-mail list is dead as a form of scholarly communication. It quotes (twoutes?) an ex-AIR-Ler, David Silver, : http://beta.chronicle.com/article/Change-or-Die-Scholarly/46962/ I find the discussion a bit surprising. I'm a great promoter of the scholarly potential for new forms of social media--blogs, microblogs, awareness applications, etc. I think some of that potential has been realized, but that there are significant ways in which these venues and tools can be further leveraged. That said, I don't see them as substantially displacing a good list. Am I wrong on this? The question isn't just about AIR-L. It's true, the number of lists I've been a subscriber to peaked in the late 1990s. It's also true that time I might have spent reading a list may now be channeled to reading other kinds of accumulations. But I think lists still have a lot of life in them. That is true of large lists like this one, but also much smaller efforts. Collaborations among distributed scholars still occur *mainly* over email and small email lists, no? Alex PS Please excuse my 1140 character post. -- // // This email is // [ ] assumed public and may be blogged / forwarded. // [X] assumed to be private, please ask before redistributing. // // Alexander C. Halavais, ciberflâneur // http://alex.halavais.net //

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Society of the Query: INC Conference on Culture & Politics of Search (Amsterdam, Nov 13-14)
by geert lovink 29 Jun '09

29 Jun '09

Society of the Query conference: 13 - 14 November 2009 Location: Trouw Amsterdam Organized by the Institute of Network Cultures More info and material on: http://networkcultures.org/wpmu/query/ In the information society the current reality is an increasing dependence on technological resources to create order and to find meaning in a gigantic quantity of online data. Searching has surpassed browsing and surfing as main activity on the web. This development turned the search engine into our most significant point of reference. Its focus on efficiency and expansion of services tends to veil the nature of the technology as well as underlying (corporate) ideologies. In this query driven society, The Society of the Query conference seeks to analyze what impact our reliance on resources to manage knowledge on the Internet has on our culture. The theory of a semantic web lurking around the corner revives the ‘human vs. artificial intelligence’-debate. The centralizing web demands to critically question the distribution of power, the diversity and accessibility of web content, while promising alternatives for the dominant paradigm surface in peer-to-peer and open source initiatives. Finally, the question arises what role politics and education, after having invested substantially in media intelligence, can play in the creation of an informed users’ group. For two days, the Society of the Query conference aims to zoom in on some of the essential themes surrounding web search by critical analysis and the contextualization of developments in interface design and the organization of knowledge. The Institute of Network Cultures seeks to achieve this specifically by uniting researchers, theorists, activists, artists and professionals working in this area and by creating a platform for not only realized projects and recent research, but also for open questions and predictions. Conference Themes Society of the Query Digital Civil Rights and Media Literacy Alternative Search (1) Art and the Engine Googlization of Everyday Life Alternative Search (2) Society of the Query Because the web lacks editorial monitoring, we have become more dependent on technological resources when trying to find meaningful content within the vast amount of data on the web. Traditional methods to decide what information is valuable and useful are absent. In recent years, people have become increasingly dissatisfied by Google’s PageRank-algorithm, which is based of the popularity of a web page. Also, new semantic layers have been added to the principal architecture of the web. This conference session will focus on ‘searching’ on the level of the software and will discuss the notion of the organization of knowledge within the theoretical framework of the humanities and computer science. Questions to be discussed in this session include: What is the history of the organization of knowledge? Which ideologies make up the foundations for the concept of ‘ontology’? And, what role will human expertise play in the era of ‘machine understanding’? Moderator: Geert Lovink Speakers: * Yann Moulier Boutang (F), editor of Multitude’s special issue on Google (May 2009). * Matteo Pasquinelli (NL), Author of Animal Spirits (2008) and Google’s PageRank: Diagram of the Cognitive Capitalism and Rentier of the Common Intellect” (2009). * Teresa Numerico (IT), (PhD in History of Science) is a researcher in Philosophy of Science at the University of Salerno, where she teaches New Media. * David Gugerli (CH), author of “Suchmaschinen – Die Welt als Datenbank” (2009). Digital Civil Rights and Media Literacy In 2005, John Batelle characterized Google as a ‘database of intents’: a valuable archive of individual and collective wishes. As the number of services offered by search engines is expanding, large amounts of personal information are gathered, stored and used for commercial purposes. The current technological climate seems to be one in which the user is virtually unaware of who or what is behind the web applications they use on a daily basis. Questions to be discussed in this session include: How does the intermediary function of search engines threaten digital civil rights such as the right to privacy and freedom of expression? What role can politics play in protecting these rights? How can the way search engines are designed aid to protecting our autonomy? How will the legal framework concerning search engines be shaped? And, after substantial investments in media intelligence, how are these matters raised on a national and European level? Moderator: Caroline Nevejan Speakers: * Nart Villeneuve (CA), Open Net Initiative. * Joris van Hoboken (NL), doctoral candidate at the Institute for Information Law at the University of Amsterdam. His research focuses on digital civil rights and the legal framework concerning search engines. * Ippolita Collective (IT), Italian collective that recently published “Luci e Ombre di Google” (2007), available in English as “The Dark Side of Google”. Alternative Search (1) In response to a growing interest in alternative methods to search the web, this session will focus on three ‘genres’ of alternatives on the level of the user, the software and the network – represented and compared by researchers. The first genre that is attended to will include the upcoming ‘general purpose’-search engine, a search engine designed specifically with large audiences and competition with Google in mind. The second genre will focus on search methods that disregard the ‘engine’ as dominant paradigm. How promising are, for example, peer- to-peer and open source technologies with regards to the current search conditions and which alternatives for commercial and centralizing methods have already emerged? The third and final genre consists of specialized search engines, mostly targeting specific content. What can we learn, for instance, from search methods within certain web spheres, such as the blogosphere, or the flourishing area of mobile search? And, how is the field of visual search developing, looking beyond the tag as systematizing principle? Moderator: Eric Sieverts Speakers: * Matthew Fuller (UK), Goldsmiths College, will discuss alternative search engines and interventions within the field of artists. * Cees Snoek/Marcel Worring (NL), University of Amsterdam, focuses on visual search engines, competitions between universities in the US and Amsterdam, assignment for the search engine: find the red hat in the movie as fast as possible. * Ingmar Weber (NL/FR), post doctorate researcher in information retrieval at the Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne in Switzerland. His doctoral research focused on efficient data structures and applications for an interactive search engine called ‘CompleteSearch’. Art and the Engine Even during the web’s early stages, artists used this platform to produce and distribute a extensive diversity of media such as animation, programming, video, audio and games. While in the last decennium we have witnessed a shift from the ‘directory’ towards the algorithm, it is the art database that has been refining the directory model for years. What influence does Google’s omnipresence have over the production and distribution of web based art? How does art criticism manifest itself in the era of Google? And, how the can online artistic experience be preserved and made easily findable? While examining these issues, the Institute of Network Cultures will invite representatives of some of the largest art databases, such as the Rhizome ArtBase and the Whitney ArtPort, to discuss the latest developments in the classification, annotation and visualization of web based art. Concentrating on the latest developments within the field of graphic design, art and the architecture of information, additionally this session will address potential outcomes of search result design. Questions to be discussed in this session include: How can we achieve more advanced forms of interface design and search result design? What role do graphic and visual representations play in the conveyance of digital information? Do alternatives exist that can challenge the ‘ranked list’ as dominant type of search result presentation? And, how would the interface be able to stimulate new and progressive ways for the user to search, find and analyze data? Moderator: Sabine Niederer Speakers: * Lev Manovich (USA), UCSD professor, media theorist and initiator of Software Studies. * Daniel van der Velden (NL), Metahaven Design Research is a design and research agency in Amsterdam, that researches the potential power of ‘bridging nodes’, the peripheral nodes in a network, and is implementing this theory into a prototype for a new kind of search engine. * Christopher Bruno (FR), artist. Produces polymorphic art inspired by network phenomena and globalization regarding image and language. * Allessandro Ludovico (IT), thoughts on the aftermath of the Google Will Eat Itself project. Googlization of Everyday Life Questions to be discussed in this session include: In what way does the hegemony of some of the bigger search engines influence the flow of information and the diversity and accessibility of web content? How does the current division of power influence the administration of informational sources. And, what are the results of the Google BookSearch agreement? Introduction and moderation by Andrew Keen Speakers: * Siva Vaidhyanathan (US), culture historian and Associate Professor in Media Studies and Law at the University of Virginia. Authored publications include “The Anarchist in the Library” (2004) and the forthcoming “The Googlization of Everything” (early 2010). * Stefan Weber (Vienna) on the dangers of plagiarism and Google’s role in the decline of education. * Benjamin Edelman (US), How Google and Its Partners Inflate Measured Conversion Rates and Increase Advertisers’ Costs. Flarf Performance Alternative Search (2) In response to a growing interest in alternative methods to search the web, this session will focus on three ‘genres’ of alternatives on the level of the user, the software and the network – represented and compared by researchers. The first genre that is attended to will include the upcoming ‘general purpose’-search engine, a search engine designed specifically with large audiences and competition with Google in mind. The second genre will focus on search methods that disregard the ‘engine’ as dominant paradigm. How promising are, for example, peer- to-peer and open source technologies with regards to the current search conditions and which alternatives for commercial and centralizing methods have already emerged? The third and final genre consists of specialized search engines, mostly targeting specific content. What can we learn, for instance, from search methods within certain web spheres, such as the blogosphere, or the flourishing area of mobile search? And, how is the field of visual search developing, looking beyond the tag as systematizing principle? Moderator: Richard Rogers Speakers: * Florian Cramer (Rotterdam), head of the Master of Arts in Media Design program at the Piet Zwart Institute/ Willem de Kooning Academy in Rotterdam. Authored publications include the essay “Animals that Belong to the Emperor: Failing Universal Classification Schemes from Aristotle to the Semantic Web” (2007). * Europeana Thought Lab (The Hague), Semantic Search Engine for Europeana * Stephen Pemberton (Amsterdam), chairman of the XHTML2 Working Group at W3C and researcher at the Center for Mathematics and Computer Science in Amsterdam. Project Showcase This segment of the conference will consist of the exhibition of specific projects addressing the theme of the search engine, and will be divided into two parts. During the conference, a display of computers and screens will be available on which the latest generation of search engines is installed. The Institute of Network Cultures seeks to give visitors the opportunity to discover search engines such as Wolfram Alpha, Quaero, Theseus and Autonomy. This will provide them with hands-on experience of the range of search methods discussed in the conference sessions. Furthermore, the Institute of Network Cultures plans to organize a concluding evening program to do justice to the diversity of artistic and activist projects that examine the role of the search engine in contemporary society. The works presented in the evening program will vary from browser extensions, alternative search engines and net art projects to videos and VJ performances. It is aspired that artists and developers will be present during this showcase to discuss and elaborate on their work with the audience.

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Internet User Research
by John Stephen Veitch 29 Jun '09

29 Jun '09

Hello Everyone It's a long time since I've contributed here. Six years ago I visited the homes of 14 randomly selected people and took notes as they used the Internet. (I don't recommend that you try that.) Several important things seemed to come out of that. The most startling for me was the poor level of knowledge and the LACK of use. Also that Internet use was private, and that people felt uncomfortable using the Internet while being watched, and I felt uncomfortable being there. That report is here. http://www.ate.co.nz/internet/bryndwr.html At the time members of this forum disbelieved my results. The sample is too small! Well yes it was, nobody can argue against that. However, as I think I now show, six years ago I was on the correct track. I should have followed that more vigorously. The summary says: "My research suggests that it will be many years before people understand how the internet can make a real difference in their lives. They use it in a manner that ensures that little difference is made. Most people would struggle to use it for more than 2 hours a week, including email. Most people have just enough knowledge to send an email and to search for and find a web site. People are not joining listservs, and for the most part, they do not buy things on the Internet. An internet connected computer is much more complex than a VCR machine. We know that most people can't programme their VCR's, so in a nutshell that's the problem." Six weeks ago I asked several local people to do something online that I thought was simple and that most people would do easily. No response, nothing. That got me thinking about the 2003 work, again. I prepared a list of about 30 Internet behaviours, and asked people to check their machines when the need to do so, and to count the number of times these behaviours occurred. People had time to prepare their replies. I only collected NUMBERS from them, relevant numbers that they had chosen. I found most people were very keen to help, and worked hard to give me sensible numbers. The results were reported back by telephone. That conversation often revealed more information about why this person used the Internet in the way they did. It's important to note that the homes in which this work was done were selected randomly. However, the people who did the survey in each house were really volunteers. My request to them was that the "person who was most active on the Internet" should be the respondent.So the results should be heavily biased towards active use and towards the behaviour of the most knowledgeable users. It's therefore, very disappointing for me to see how little use is made of the technology. In particular, the feedback process, the self publishing possibilities of Web 2.0 technologies, seem to be used hardly at all. The failure of people to embrace social networks and social media surprises me. http://www.ate.co.nz/survey2009.html -- John Stephen Veitch http://www.ate.co.nz/internet/ http://www.openfuture.co.nz/ http://openfuture-network.ryze.com/

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blogs on death and dying for agnostics and atheists
by Stephanie J. Coopman 28 Jun '09

28 Jun '09

Hi AoIRers! My father was diagnosed 6 months ago with Stage III esophageal cancer. After one round of radiation and chemotherapy, he recently decided to enter hospice. He's a retired psychology professor and as a social scientist he's trying to gather as much information as possible about the process of dying from the personal perspective of an agnostic or atheist. He's most interested in finding agnostics and atheists facing death who are blogging (or have blogged) about their experiences. I haven't had much luck identifying blogs that fit this somewhat narrow parameter. He has set up a blog http://agnosticsfacingdeath.blogspot.com/ in the hopes he can start a conversation with others in similar circumstances. If you have any suggestions for specific websites, blogs, search terms, etc., please email me off list at sjcoopman(a)yahoo.com -Stephanie Stephanie J. Coopman, Ph.D. Professor Communication Studies Advising Liaison, College of Social Sciences http://www.sjsu.edu/advising/ Faculty in Residence, Accessible Technology Initiative http://www.sjsu.edu/cfd/resources/instructional/accessibility.shtml San Jose State U San Jose, CA 95192-0112 http://www.sjsu.edu/people/stephanie.coopman/

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