- Air-L - lists.aoir.org

new reviews in cyberculture studies (march 2008)
by David M Silver 29 Feb '08

29 Feb '08

each month, the resource center for cyberculture studies (RCCS) publishes a set of book reviews and author responses < http://rccs.usfca.edu/booklist.asp >. books of the month for march 2008 include: Cybersounds: Essays on Virtual Music Culture Editor: Michael D. Ayers Publisher: Peter Lang, 2006 Review 1: Lori Landay Review 2: Shintaro Miyazaki Review 3: Marc W.D. Tyrrell Editor Response: Michael D. Ayers Cyberspace Romance: The Psychology of Online Relationships Authors: Monica Whitty, Adrian Carr Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan, 2006 Review 1: Rhiannon Bury Review 2: Michele Hammers Fan Fiction and Fan Communities in the Age of the Internet: New Essays Editors: Karen Hellekson, Kristina Busse Publisher: McFarland & Co., 2006 Review 1: Lan Xuan Le Author Response: Karen Hellekson & Kristina Busse The Virtual Window: From Alberti to Microsoft Author: Anne Friedberg Publisher: MIT Press, 2006 Review 1: Christy Dena Author Response: Anne Friedberg enjoy. there's more where that came from. david silver http://silverinsf.blogspot.com

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SPSS tool for calculating Krippendorff's Alpha; another book on content analysis
by Bill Herman 29 Feb '08

29 Feb '08

Thanks all for the input on content analysis. I also find Krippendorff's book and ideas quite helpful. Most thankfully, Andrew Hayes at Ohio State has created a handy SPSS macro for calculating Krippendorff's Alpha, complete with a bootstrapping algorithm for estimating the confidence intervals. See: http://www.comm.ohio-state.edu/ahayes/SPSS%20programs/kalpha.htm If you have SPSS, my understanding is that this is the only Krippendorff's Alpha solution you'll need. Be warned, though: run it once without the bootstrapping calculation just to get the calculation first, because WHOAH does it take a lot of processing power. Basically, if you're doing the full 10,000 bootstrap, run it right before a trip to the coffee shop, and even then, it may still be running when you come back. (You can still email or whatever while it runs in the background.) On a somewhat less intimidating note, I don't think anybody's mentioned the book ANALYZING MEDIA MESSAGES, by Riffe, Lacy, and Fico, which is pretty accessible and still a good on-ramp toward more advanced work. I like KK's book better; if you want to understand the theory behind calculating reliability estimates, for instance, there's no comparison. Pick Krippendorff. Yet I'd be much more comfortable assigning the Riffe book for an undergrad methods course, for instance. Cheers, Bill Bill D. Herman Ph.D. Candidate Annenberg School for Communication University of Pennsylvania bherman(a)asc.upenn.edu

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Fwd: [cpsr-global] funding for ICT research in Africa
by Jeremy Hunsinger 29 Feb '08

29 Feb '08

Begin forwarded message: > From: Marsha Woodbury <marsha(a)uiuc.edu> > Date: February 29, 2008 9:00:14 AM CST > To: cpsr-global(a)lists.cpsr.org > Subject: [cpsr-global] funding for ICT research in Africa > Reply-To: cpsr-global(a)lists.cpsr.org > > * IT for Change Call for Proposals * > > IT for Change (www.ITforChange.net) is undertaking a collaborative > research study with support from UNDP on 'ICTs for Participatory Local > Development', the outcomes of which will be published as a toolkit to > develop a more systemic application of ICTs in future initiatives. > > We are seeking researchers or organisations from the global South to > collaborate on this project. (Please visit > <http://www.itforchange.net/images/call_for_proposals.pdf> for the > Call > for Research Proposals, and > <http://www.itforchange.net/images/itfc_proposal_undp_local_development.pdf > > > for the full project proposal). Four partners will be selected to work > alongside ITfC for the duration of the project, each of whom will > undertake two to three in-depth case studies on ICT systems in their > local regions. > > Apart from covering expenses relating to data collection (including > fieldwork), analysis and writing up, the project also provides for the > holding of a workshop in June 2008 where the findings will be > discussed. > > At this stage we urgently seek short descriptions of potential > candidate > initiatives from prospective partners. The most relevant among the > initiatives will be selected for in-depth study. Please send a maximum > one page description at the earliest to ITfC(a)ITforChange.net > > -- > Mridula Swamy > IT for Change - Bridging Development Realities and Technological > Possibilities > www.ITforChange.net > > Cell: +91 99800 67438 > Off: +91 80 26654134, 26536890 > Fax: +91 80 4146 1055 > ____________________________________________________________ > You received this message as a subscriber on the list: > cpsr-global(a)lists.cpsr.org > To be removed from the list, send any message to: > cpsr-global-unsubscribe(a)lists.cpsr.org > > For all list information and functions, see: > http://lists.cpsr.org/lists/info/cpsr-global jeremy hunsinger Information Ethics Fellow, Center for Information Policy Research, School of Information Studies, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee (www.cipr.uwm.edu ) () ascii ribbon campaign - against html mail /\ - against microsoft attachments http://www.aoir.org The Association of Internet Researchers http://www.stswiki.org/ stswiki http://cfp.learning-inquiry.info/ LI-the journal http://transdisciplinarystudies.tmttlt.com/ Transdisciplinary Studies:the book series

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Fwd: [Softwareandculture] Students Protest Copyright Bill in Nashville
by Jeremy Hunsinger 28 Feb '08

28 Feb '08

Begin forwarded message: > From: Chris Molinski <chris.molinski(a)gmail.com> > Date: February 28, 2008 1:00:20 PM CST > To: softwareandculture(a)lists.tmttlt.com > Subject: [Softwareandculture] Students Protest Copyright Bill in > Nashville > Reply-To: software and culture <softwareandculture(a)lists.tmttlt.com> > > The Tennessee Legislature is attempting to pass a Bill that would > criminalize thousands of students at public universities. > > Senate Bill 3974, sponsored by Sen. Tim Burchett, forces any > institution of "higher learning" to monitor all public university > students and expel any who access copyrighted content online. The > Bill does not distinguish between types of content - but broadly makes > viewing copyrighted content an offense suitable for expulsion. > > Students at the University of Tennessee are outraged. Protests have > been building across the state - and have caused the Legislature to > delay a hearing on the Bill. > > The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), the lobby for > the recording industry, has largely forced this Bill to move forward > in the face of opposition from the University, it's professors and > students. The Recording industry claims that as a result of "file > sharing" CD sales have declined, despite academic evidence to the > contrary. > > A study released last year by Felix Oberholzer-Gee, associate > professor at the Harvard Business School, and Koleman Strumpf, > professor at the University of North Carolina, showed that increased > amounts of file sharing largely has an effect on sales that was > "statistically indistinguishable from zero" - but in some cases may > have even increased CD sales. [1] > > The University of Tennessee currently has in place a conservative > policy for punishing students who share copyrighted content online: > they ask the individual to stop, address the matter personally, and > disconnect the individuals Internet connection if the act continues. > > Bill 3974 would instantly criminalize all offending individuals - and > force the University to expel thousands of students. > > Tennessee readers on the popular blog "Boing Boing" have already > responded by expressing their shame and embarrassment that this Bill > would move forward. > > Next week at the Legislative hearing in Nashville, Wednesday March > 5th, there is scheduled to be a protest beginning at 8:00 AM on the > corner of 6th and Union St. Representatives from Knoxville will gather > students at 5:00 AM and transport them to the Nashville hearing in > order to make their voice heard. > > To jump on a bus in Knoxville and join the protest go to COPYSHOP (317 > N Gay St. Knoxville, TN 37917), ready to leave by 5:00 AM Wednesday > March 5th. > > Visit COPYSHOP (http://copy-shop.org/knoxville) for information and > updates about the fight against copyright in Tennessee. > > -- > http://copy-shop.org/knoxville/archives/74 > -- > > [1] "File sharing may boost CD sales" Harvard Gazette: > http://www.hno.harvard.edu/gazette/2004/04.15/09-filesharing.html > _______________________________________________ > softwareandculture mailing list > softwareandculture(a)lists.tmttlt.com > http://lists.tmttlt.com/listinfo.cgi/softwareandculture-tmttlt.com Jeremy Hunsinger Information Ethics Fellow, Center for Information Policy Research, School of Information Studies, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee (www.cipr.uwm.edu ) Words are things; and a small drop of ink, falling like dew upon a thought, produces that which makes thousands, perhaps millions, think. --Byron

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Content Analysis Information
by Laura B Nielsen 28 Feb '08

28 Feb '08

2/25/08 TO: Political Science Methodolgy-POLMETH Association of Internet Researchers-Air-L Please find attached the consolidated submissions from my inquiry: “I am looking for reference material for use in my work at EPA. We are planning to launch a discussion board with a limited number of comment fields. But we also want to analyze discussion content in order to better understand the needs and interests of our customers--in particular those who come to EPA seeking environmental information. 1) Have any of you been teaching about content analysis methods lately? If so, what's your favorite reference? 2) Has anyone been working on content analysis of discussion boards as a research method?” Thanks to everyone for all the helpful responses! Content Analysis Reference 3) Sent by: Harald Klein <intext(a)GMX.DE> , Alexander Semenov <semenoffalex(a)googlemail.com if you are looking for an overview on content analysis research methodes, Klaus Krippendorff's book is excellent: Krippendorff, Klaus (2004): Content Analysis. An Introduction ot Its Methodology. Thousand Oaks. Sage. 411 pages 2) Sent by: "Callahan, Ewa S. Prof." <Ewa.Callahan(a)quinnipiac.edu> Following Alexander's note, I am a big fan of Krippendorff, especially his method of intercoder reliability testing. For his, and other methods you can check: http://www.temple.edu/sct/mmc/reliability/ followed up by: http://www.asc.upenn.edu/usr/krippendorff/dogs.html Content Analysis Research 0) Sent by: Muhammad Abdul-Mageed <mumageed(a)yahoo.com> Herring, S. C. (2007). Web(log) content analysis: Expanding the paradigm. Submitted to J. Hunsinger, M. Allen, & L. Klastrup (Eds.), The International Handbook of Internet Research. Springer Verlag. 1) Sent by: James Honaker <tercer(a)UCLA.EDU> There is a project that is quite close to what you want at the ISI at USC. Their page, with a number of project papers and abstracts, is: http://www.isi.edu/division3/discourse/ Their nlp goals are analysis of classroom discussion boards to create some degree of automated answering of student questions, direction to previous threads, and links between students with similar interests or research problems. The project is specifically about discussion boards commonly used for class teaching, but other than the classroom focus it is very close to the subject you are seeking. (Full disclosure, my wife worked on this project.) 2) Sent by : Henry Kim <h27kim(a)EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU> There is a group called "Dark Web" here at Univ of AZ where computer scientists are doing content analysis on web sites connected to terrorism and more. Some of the techniques they are using may be of use for your purposes. Content Analysis Teaching 1) Sent by: Kevin Guidry <krguidry(a)gmail.com> , Muhammad Abdul-Mageed <mumageed(a)yahoo.com> , Alexander Semenov <semenoffalex(a)googlemail.com> You may like to have a look at the course description, and syllabus, of Prof. Susan Herring in Indiana University, for her course titled "Content Analysis for the World Wide Web". Herring has been teaching it for a long time and she has been trying to develop methodologies for analyzing the WWW. Web site at http://www.slis.indiana.edu/faculty/herring/. Specifically: http://ella.slis.indiana.edu/~herring/web.syll.06.html The following article is her last written paper on the issue, as far as I know: Herring, S. C. (2007). Web(log) content analysis: Expanding the paradigm. Submitted to J. Hunsinger, M. Allen, & L. Klastrup (Eds.), The International Handbook of Internet Research. Springer Verlag. Content Analysis Software 0) Sent by: Harald Klein <intext(a)GMX.DE> An overview on text analysis software gives http://www.textanalysis.info 1) Sent by: Paul Kellstedt <kellstedt(a)politics.tamu.edu> I'm the co-editor of The Political Methodologist. Tyler Johnson wrote a review for us of the software package WordStat, which he liked. You could find the back issue of TPM as a .pdf at the polmeth web site. http://polmeth.wustl.edu/thepolmeth.php 2) Sent by: Michael Evans <evans.michael(a)gmail.com Over the past few years I have experimented with various methods of computer-assisted textual data analysis, including traditional and new approaches to content analysis. In the process, I have developed an expertise in two particularly useful software packages produced by Provalis Research: QDA Miner and WordStat. Provalis' approach is to closely integrate several methods of textual data analysis that have traditionally (and misleadingly) been thought of as solely "qualitative" or "quantitative." The result is a mixed-methods approach that does not merely provide the convenience of having several quantitative and qualitative functions in one package, but also allows for creative synthesizing of the functions in order to accomplish entirely new analytical tasks. You can learn more about QDA Miner here (http://www.provalisresearch.com/QDAMiner/QDAMinerDesc.html) and WordStat here (http://www.provalisresearch.com/wordstat/Wordstat.html) Related Topic – Analysis of Public Comments on Regulations 1) Sent by: schrodt <schrodt(a)ku.edu> Contact Stuart Shulman at the University of Pittsburgh -- he has some quite sophisticated software that does this sort of thing with public input on proposed regulations, and I assume it would work for your project as well. In fact I think he has already done contract work for EPA -- or at least I know he has analyzed environmental regulations 2) Sent by: John D Wilkerson <jwilker(a)u.washington.edu> There are a lot of people working on public commenting in agencies in the field of information sciences. you should contact Stu Shulman (shulman(a)pitt.edu) who works with Jamie Callan. But as far as I know this is a pretty rich area of research in the e-government field. 3) Sent by: Russell Winn <ruwinn(a)nmsu.edu> Last summer I worked with public comments about designating Wilderness Areas in southern New Mexico. The approach we took was to treat each comment (e-mail, letter, etc.) as a separate document and then used NVIVO to code and organize the responses(NVIVO is a nice program for analyzing qualitative data but there are other programs as well). Most of the ‘hand coding’ was done by a group of graduate students who were enrolled in an Environmental Policy class I was teaching at the time. As a class we reviewed some of the documents, met with staff from the agency that had collected the comments, and drew up a list of potential codes (NVIVO calls them nodes) along with a brief description of when that node would be appropriate. I had every document separately coded by 2 students. If there was a disagreement about the coding the students met and agreed on a coding. Even with this reliability check there was some confusion about the coding. I ended up recoding many of the documents myself. If I were doing this again I would probably do all the coding myself, or go through a more lengthy training with the students that involved group coding of a number of the documents. In the end we had too many nodes and the comments were a bit difficult to analyze although we did find some interesting patterns. Your project sounds more limited looking for needs and interests. 4) Sent by: Stephen Purpura <stevepurpura(a)gmail.com> I'm a PhD student at Cornell (and graduate of the Kennedy School of Government) and I pretty much just work on automating content analysis of government data. I have two papers set for publication at dgo.2008 (digital government research) on automating finding issues in regulatory rule comments (I can send the drafts) and another in press with JITP (see http://www.stephenpurpura.com/20080116_HillardPurpuraWilkerson-revised.pdf) My other publications are listed at http://www.purpuras.net/publications.html. Laura B. Nielsen, Ph.D. Adjunct Professor of Public Policy Georgetown Public Policy Institute 3520 Prospect Street, Suite 308F Washington, DC 20007 WEB http://www.georgetown.edu/faculty/lbn4/ Program Analyst Environmental Analysis Division, MC 2842T Office of Information Analysis and Access Office of Environmental Information U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (202) 566-0621

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Re: [Air-L] Content Analysis Information
by NANCY MCDONALD-KNWRTHY 28 Feb '08

28 Feb '08

Hi, Laura... I am in the midst of "content analysis" right this moment while preparing for my general exams in Cultural Studies/virtual ethnography. I also have a folklore "bent" to my work as well (one of my committee members is Amy Shuman, folklorist and anthropologist in the English Dept) so you can tell that these references might be of the linguistic/narrative perspective. 1. Michael Toolan's book: Narrative: a Critical Linguistic Introduction 2. Elinor Ochs and Lisa Capps' book" Living Narrative: Creating Lives in Everyday Storytelling 3. Wm. Labov whom Toolan devotes a major chapter (ch 5) in his book: Labov's references date back to the 60s... his work is "classic" and proves a model in a couple of seminal essays. These are a start.. Nancy McDonald-Kenworthy, GA CSTW Writing Center Tutor www.cstw.org ----- Original Message ----- From: Laura B Nielsen <lbn4(a)georgetown.edu> Date: Thursday, February 28, 2008 9:38 am Subject: [Air-L] Content Analysis Information > 2/25/08 > TO: Political Science Methodolgy-POLMETH > Association of Internet Researchers-Air-L > Please find attached the consolidated submissions from my inquiry: > > “I am looking for reference material for use in my work at EPA. We > are planning to launch a discussion board with a limited number of > comment fields. But we also want to analyze discussion content in > order to better understand the needs and interests of our customers- > -in particular those who come to EPA seeking environmental > information.1) Have any of you been teaching about content analysis > methods lately? If so, what's your favorite reference? > 2) Has anyone been working on content analysis of discussion boards > as a research method?” > > Thanks to everyone for all the helpful responses! > > Content Analysis Reference > 3) Sent by: Harald Klein <intext(a)GMX.DE> , Alexander Semenov > <semenoffalex(a)googlemail.com if you are looking for an overview on > content analysis research methodes, Klaus Krippendorff's book is > excellent:Krippendorff, Klaus (2004): Content Analysis. An > Introduction ot Its Methodology. Thousand Oaks. Sage. 411 pages > 2) Sent by: "Callahan, Ewa S. Prof." <Ewa.Callahan(a)quinnipiac.edu> > Following Alexander's note, I am a big fan of Krippendorff, especially > his method of intercoder reliability testing. For his, and other > methodsyou can check: > http://www.temple.edu/sct/mmc/reliability/ > > followed up by: > http://www.asc.upenn.edu/usr/krippendorff/dogs.html > > Content Analysis Research > 0) Sent by: Muhammad Abdul-Mageed <mumageed(a)yahoo.com> > Herring, S. C. (2007). Web(log) content analysis: Expanding the > paradigm. Submitted to J. Hunsinger, M. Allen, & L. Klastrup > (Eds.), The International Handbook of Internet Research. Springer > Verlag. > 1) Sent by: James Honaker <tercer(a)UCLA.EDU> > There is a project that is quite close to what you want at the ISI > at USC. > Their page, with a number of project papers and abstracts, is: > > http://www.isi.edu/division3/discourse/ > > Their nlp goals are analysis of classroom discussion boards to > create some degree of automated answering of student questions, > direction > to previous threads, and links between students with similar > interests or > research problems. The project is specifically about discussion > boards > commonly used for class teaching, but other than the classroom > focus it is > very close to the subject you are seeking. > (Full disclosure, my wife worked on this project.) > 2) Sent by : Henry Kim <h27kim(a)EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU> > There is a group called "Dark Web" here at Univ of AZ where computer > scientists are doing content analysis on web sites connected to > terrorismand more. Some of the techniques they are using may be of > use for your > purposes. > > Content Analysis Teaching > 1) Sent by: Kevin Guidry <krguidry(a)gmail.com> , Muhammad Abdul- > Mageed <mumageed(a)yahoo.com> , Alexander Semenov > <semenoffalex(a)googlemail.com> > You may like to have a look at the course description, and > syllabus, of Prof. Susan Herring in Indiana University, for her > course titled "Content Analysis for the World Wide Web". Herring > has been teaching it for a long time and she has been trying to > develop methodologies for analyzing the WWW. > > Web site at http://www.slis.indiana.edu/faculty/herring/. > Specifically: http://ella.slis.indiana.edu/~herring/web.syll.06.html > > The following article is her last written paper on the issue, as > far as I know: > > Herring, S. C. (2007). Web(log) content analysis: Expanding the > paradigm. Submitted to J. Hunsinger, M. Allen, & L. Klastrup > (Eds.), The International Handbook of Internet Research. Springer > Verlag. > Content Analysis Software > 0) Sent by: Harald Klein <intext(a)GMX.DE> > An overview on text analysis software gives > http://www.textanalysis.info > 1) Sent by: Paul Kellstedt <kellstedt(a)politics.tamu.edu> > I'm the co-editor of The Political Methodologist. Tyler Johnson > wrote a > review for us of the software package WordStat, which he liked. You > couldfind the back issue of TPM as a .pdf at the polmeth web site. > http://polmeth.wustl.edu/thepolmeth.php > 2) Sent by: Michael Evans <evans.michael(a)gmail.com > Over the past few years I have experimented with various methods of > computer-assisted textual data analysis, including traditional and new > approaches to content analysis. In the process, I have developed an > expertise in two particularly useful software packages produced by > Provalis Research: QDA Miner and WordStat. > Provalis' approach is to closely integrate several methods of textual > data analysis that have traditionally (and misleadingly) been thought > of as solely "qualitative" or "quantitative." The result is a > mixed-methods approach that does not merely provide the convenience of > having several quantitative and qualitative functions in one package, > but also allows for creative synthesizing of the functions in order to > accomplish entirely new analytical tasks. You can learn more about > QDA Miner here > (http://www.provalisresearch.com/QDAMiner/QDAMinerDesc.html) and > WordStat here > (http://www.provalisresearch.com/wordstat/Wordstat.html) > > Related Topic – Analysis of Public Comments on Regulations > 1) Sent by: schrodt <schrodt(a)ku.edu> > Contact Stuart Shulman at the University of Pittsburgh -- he has > some > quite sophisticated software that does this sort of thing with > public > input on proposed regulations, and I assume it would work for your > project > as well. In fact I think he has already done contract work for EPA - > - or > at least I know he has analyzed environmental regulations > 2) Sent by: John D Wilkerson <jwilker(a)u.washington.edu> > There are a lot of people working on public commenting in agencies > in the field of information sciences. you should contact Stu > Shulman (shulman(a)pitt.edu) who works with Jamie Callan. But as far > as I know this is a pretty rich area of research in the e- > government field. > 3) Sent by: Russell Winn <ruwinn(a)nmsu.edu> > Last summer I worked with public comments about designating > Wilderness Areas in southern New Mexico. The approach we took was > to treat each comment (e-mail, letter, etc.) as a separate document > and then used NVIVO to code and organize the responses(NVIVO is a > nice program for analyzing qualitative data but there are other > programs as well). > Most of the ‘hand coding’ was done by a group of graduate students > who were enrolled in an Environmental Policy class I was teaching > at the time. As a class we reviewed some of the documents, met with > staff from the agency that had collected the comments, and drew up > a list of potential codes (NVIVO calls them nodes) along with a > brief description of when that node would be appropriate. I had > every document separately coded by 2 students. If there was a > disagreement about the coding the students met and agreed on a > coding. Even with this reliability check there was some confusion > about the coding. I ended up recoding many of the documents myself. > If I were doing this again I would probably do all the coding > myself, or go through a more lengthy training with the students > that involved group coding of a number of the documents. > In the end we had too many nodes and the comments were a bit > difficult to analyze although we did find some interesting > patterns. Your project sounds more limited looking for needs and > interests.4) Sent by: Stephen Purpura <stevepurpura(a)gmail.com> > I'm a PhD student at Cornell (and graduate of the Kennedy School of > Government) and I pretty much just work on automating content > analysis of > government data. I have two papers set for publication at dgo.2008 > (digitalgovernment research) on automating finding issues in > regulatory rule > comments (I can send the drafts) and another in press with JITP (see > http://www.stephenpurpura.com/20080116_HillardPurpuraWilkerson- > revised.pdf).My other publications are listed at > http://www.purpuras.net/publications.html. > Laura B. Nielsen, Ph.D. > Adjunct Professor of Public Policy > Georgetown Public Policy Institute > 3520 Prospect Street, Suite 308F > Washington, DC 20007 > WEB http://www.georgetown.edu/faculty/lbn4/ > > Program Analyst > Environmental Analysis Division, MC 2842T > Office of Information Analysis and Access > Office of Environmental Information > U.S. Environmental Protection Agency > (202) 566-0621 > > _______________________________________________ > The Air-L(a)listserv.aoir.org mailing list > is provided by the Association of Internet Researchers http://aoir.org > Subscribe, change options or unsubscribe at: > http://listserv.aoir.org/listinfo.cgi/air-l-aoir.org > > Join the Association of Internet Researchers: > http://www.aoir.org/ >

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CFP - Computers, Freedom, & Privacy: Technology Policy '08
by Michael Zimmer 28 Feb '08

28 Feb '08

Dear AoIR-ers: Please distribute widely the following call for proposals for this year's Computers, Freedom and Privacy conference. -mz ----- Michael Zimmer, PhD Microsoft Fellow, Information Society Project Yale Law School e: michael.zimmer(a)yale.edu w: http://michaelzimmer.org ----------- COMPUTERS, FREEDOM, AND PRIVACY: TECHNOLOGY POLICY '08 http://cfp2008.org/ 18th Annual CFP conference May 20-23, 2008 Omni Hotel New Haven, CT CALL FOR PROPOSALS This election year will be the first to address US technology policy in the information age as part of our national debate. Candidates have put forth positions about technology policy and have recognized that it has its own set of economic, political, and social concerns. In the areas of privacy, intellectual property, cybersecurity, telecommunications, and freedom of speech, an increasing number of issues once confined to experts now penetrate public conversation. Our decisions about technology policy are being made at a time when the architectures of our information and communication technologies are still being built. Debate about these issues needs to be better- informed in order for us to make policy choices in the public interest. This year, the 18th annual Computers, Freedom, and Privacy conference will focus on what constitutes technology policy. CFP: Technology Policy '08 is an opportunity to help shape public debate on those issues being made into laws and regulations and those technological infrastructures being developed. The direction of our technology policy impacts the choices we make about our national defense, our civil liberties during wartime, the future of American education, our national healthcare systems, and many other realms of policy discussed more prominently on the election trail. Policies ranging from data mining and wiretapping, to file-sharing and open access, and e-voting to electronic medical records will be addressed by expert panels of technologists, policymakers, business leaders, and advocates. Open participation is invited for proposals on panels, tutorials, speaker suggestions, and birds of a feather sessions through the CFP: Technology Policy '08 submission at http://www.cfp2008.org/submissions/. Suggested topics for discussion include: * Information Privacy * Anonymity Online * Government Transparency * Voting Technology * Online Campaigning * Social Networks * Citizen Journalism * Cybercrime & Cyberterrorism * Digital Education * Copyright and Fair Use * Patent Reform * Open Access * P2P Networks * Information Policy and Free Trade * Media Concentration * Genes & Bioethics * Electronic Medical Records * Web Accessibility * Open Standards * Network Neutrality * High-Speed Internet Access Policy * Freedom of Information * Technology Policy Administration Submission Deadlines: Panel, Tutorial, and Speaker proposals: March 21, 2008. Birds of a Feather Session (BoFs) proposals: April 21, 2008. Panel, Tutorial, and Speaker proposals accepted by the Program Committee will be notified by April 7, 2008. Registration available online at http://www.regonline.com/Checkin.asp? EventId=193762. _______________________________________________ Isp-internal mailing list Isp-internal(a)mailman.yale.edu http://mailman.yale.edu/mailman/listinfo/isp-internal

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Fwd: CfP Immersive Virtual, Mixed, or Augmented Reality Art - International Journal of Arts and Technology
by Steve Jones 28 Feb '08

28 Feb '08

Begin forwarded message: > > Call for Papers on Immersive Virtual, Mixed, or Augmented Reality Art > a Special Issue of the International Journal of Arts and TechnologyΒ > > http://www.inderscience.com/browse/callpaper.php?callID=914 > > Important Dates > Submission intent (title and 300-word abstract): 1 September, 2008 > Deadline for full paper submission: 31 October, 2008 > Review results returned to authors: February 29, 2009 > Deadline for camera-ready papers: June 30, 2009 > > Guest Editors: > Maria Roussou, makebelieve design & consulting, Greece > Maurice Benayoun, UniversitΓ© Paris 1 Pantheon-Sorbonne, France > > For the past fifteen years, virtual reality (VR) and, more recently, > mixed reality (MR) and augmented reality (AR) environments that > immerse their participants in imaginary space, have emerged to > define an area that blurs the lines between the seemingly different > worlds of research, creativity, and technological practice, while > exploring the interdependencies between the virtual and the > physical. From the immersive, yet more esoteric, CAVEΒ®-based > projects of the mid-nineties to the contemporary open experiences > spread out in virtual as well as physical space, creative VR/MR/AR > applications are challenging the ways we perceive both digital art > and the science and engineering behind them. > > Early enthusiasm with the use of projection-based display structures > and the development of authoring solutions for application-building > has brought a level of maturity, characterized by the emergence of > new technical and conceptual forms. It is this particular moment in > the evolution of immersive VR/MR/AR art practice that this special > issue seeks to capture. Hence, in this special issue, we aim to > bring forth the topic of immersive art in its current maturity, > present the newest developments and explore its evolving forms, > aspiring to shape a framework that will help us to develop the next > generation of environments. > > Therefore, this special issue will not include contributions that > deal solely with describing a narrow and specific piece of art or > research without reference to a conceptual framework or a critical > analysis; rather we encourage contributions that take a broad and > integrative view of relevant topics, encompassing both theoretical > and empirical perspectives of digitally-generated creative spaces. > > > Submissions are invited that touch on but are not limited to the > following themes: > Theoretical discourse on immersive virtual, mixed or augmented > reality art environments. > Novel design concepts, applications, implementations and experiences > from the actual deployment of immersive VR/MR/AR art applications > Research or empirical work addressing some of the open questions in > the design of immersive art environments. For example: > Issues concerning creativity and aesthetics, visual depiction, > storytelling and narrative, triggering other senses, embodiment, etc. > The fine line between designing for entertainment or for artistic > pleasure > Issues in the design of interactivity, interfaces, and interaction > methodologies, such as navigation by and tracking of multiple users, > meaningful group interaction, the integration of multi-modal > interfaces (e.g. tactile and haptic displays, sensing technologies), > etc. > Issues concerning the design and development process of immersive > artwork, such as the conceptualisation and collaboration challenges > presented by multitalented interdisciplinary teams working together, > the unavailability of resources and work environments, etc. > Issues in the deployment of different display configurations, sizes, > and installations, as well as challenges in the practical use with > diverse audiences (e.g., the need to guide people in experiencing > the artwork) > Contributions are encouraged from different disciplinary > perspectives, including fine arts, computer science, performance > art, theatre, design, architecture, communications and social > sciences, philosophy, cognitive psychology, and enabling technologies. > > Contributions should take a broad and integrative view of relevant > topics, rather than merely describing a narrow and specific piece of > art or research. > > > See http://www.inderscience.com/browse/callpaper.php?callID=914 for > more information.

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CFP - The 10th Persistent Conversation minitrack
by Tom Erickson 28 Feb '08

28 Feb '08

CALL FOR PARTICIPATION Persistent Conversation Minitrack Digital Media and Content Track at HICSS 42 January 5-8, 2009 Hilton Waikoloa Village, the Big Island, Hawai'i See http://www.visi.com/~snowfall/HICSS_PC.html for an online version and further information. IN ONE PARAGRAPH The Persistent Conversation minitrack is a yearly gathering of people who design and study systems that support computer-mediated communication. Persistent conversation is not limited to asynchronous textual communication: It includes instant messaging, voice chat, and other 'ephemeral' media. Nor do we limit our focus to systems explicitly designed to support conversation: We are interested in conversational exchanges as manifested in applications (for instance, blogs, annotation systems, distance education) and in sites oriented around the use of photos, video and other media. If you're interested in presenting a paper in the minitrack, the first step is to submit an abstract by March 15, 2008. A 10-page paper would be due June 15th. IMPORTANT DATES -03/15: Prospective authors submit 300-word abstracts -03/31: Feedback on abstracts sent -06/15: 10-page papers due (see http://www.hicss.hawaii.edu/hicss_42/authorinstruction.htm for details) -08/15: Accept/Conditional Accept/Reject notices sent -09/15: Final papers due; at least one author must register for conference ABOUT THE MINITRACK This interdisciplinary minitrack and workshop brings designers and researchers together to explore persistent conversation, the transposition of ordinarily ephemeral conversation into the potentially persistent digital medium. Persistent conversations occur via instant messaging, text and voice chat, email, blogs, web boards, MOOs, graphical and 3D virtual environments, gaming systems, video sharing sites, document annotation systems, mobile phone texting, etc. Such communication is persistent in that it leaves a digital trace, and the trace in turn affords new uses. It permits conversations to be saved, visualized, browsed, searched, replayed, and restructured. Persistence also means that conversations need not be synchronous: They can be asynchronous (stretching out over hours or days) or supersynchronous (with multiple parties 'talking' at the same time). Finally, the creation of persistent and potentially permanent records from what was once an ephemeral process raises a variety of social and ethical issues. ABOUT PAPER TOPICS We are seeking papers that address one or both of the following two general areas: * Understanding Practice. The burgeoning popularity of the internet (and intranets) provides an opportunity to study and characterize new forms of conversational practice. Questions of interest range from how various features of conversations (e.g., turn-taking, topic organization, expression of paralinguistic information) have adapted in response to the digital medium, to new roles played by persistent conversation in domains such as education, business, and entertainment. * Design. Digital systems do not currently support conversation well: It is difficult to converse with grace, clarity, depth and coherence over networks. But this need not remain the case. Toward this end, we welcome analyses of existing systems as well as designs for new systems which better support conversation. Also of interest are inquiries into how participants design their own conversations within the digital medium -- that is, how they make use of system features to create, structure, and regulate their discourse. Examples of appropriate topics include, but are not limited to: - Turn-taking, threading and other structural features of CMC - The dynamics of large scale conversation systems (e.g. blog networks) - Methods for summarizing or visualizing conversation archives - Studies of virtual communities or other sites of digital conversation - The roles of mediated conversation in knowledge management - Studies of the use of instant messaging in large organizations - Novel designs for computer-mediated conversation systems - Analyses of or designs for distance learning systems NEXT STEPS Submit a 250 to 300 word abstract of your proposed paper via email to the chairs: Tom Erickson (snowfall at acm dot org), Susan Herring (herring at indiana dot edu) by the deadline noted above. We will send you feedback on the suitability of your abstract by the deadline noted above. FOR MORE INFORMATION - About the minitrack, see http://www.visi.com/~snowfall/HICSS_PC.html or contact: Thomas Erickson (snowfall at acm.org) and Susan Herring (herring at indiana.edu) - About previous years' papers (including pdf's) and participants, see: http://www.visi.com/~snowfall/HICSS_PC_History.html - About the HICSS conference, see: http://www.hicss.hawaii.edu/ ----------------- Tom Erickson http://www.visi.com/~snowfall/

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The Truth About Autism: Scientists Reconsider What They Think They Know
by Pamela Rosengren 28 Feb '08

28 Feb '08

http://www.wired.com/medtech/health/magazine/16-03/ff_autism? currentPage=all At the risk of teaching my grandmother to suck eggs! This is from my ISP-based e-mail account. I'm also pamrosengren(a)gmail.com and pamela.rosengren(a)postgrad.curtin.edu.au - those two are more reliable than this. Lochie did well with the CSIRO, and is happily wasting time now. Also grading for a black belt in Hap Ki Do soon, then off to Japan in early April. If you want me to come to one of your afternoon teas this year, I'll seriously try. My health seems to be more stable than it was last year or the year before. Must go, Cheers, Pam

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