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open-access is the future: boycott locked-down academic journals
by danah boyd 10 Feb '08

10 Feb '08

At AOIR this year, we heard a lot about open-access journals and the future of academic publishing. These talks were extremely well- received. At the same time, I have a sneaking suspicion that most of us came back home and continued to publish with the same respected journals that we've always published with. I've certainly seen a lot of CFPs from folks wanting to publish issues in locked-down journals. Today, an article of mine was finally published in Sage's Convergence series. I should be excited by this, but I'm actually quite depressed. While I'm lucky to be visible enough that some folks will find out about my article and ask me for a copy, most of the articles in that issue will barely get read because they are virtually inaccessible. Additionally, while scholars will ask me for my article, most policymakers and technologists will not, even though the article is probably more relevant to them than it is to you. I believe that the locked-down nature of this publishing regime silences academics while capitalizing off of our free labor at every turn. I think that this is unfair, unacceptable, and irresponsible. Thus, since I'm a blogger, I wrote a ranty blog entry about the topic: http://www.zephoria.org/thoughts/archives/2008/02/06/openaccess_is_t.html In said ranty blog entry, I laid out a set of steps for how to proceed to make change. For example, I think that all tenured faculty have a responsibility to stop publishing in locked-down journals and help build up the reputations of open-access ones. (I even believe that those who flout journal's restrictions by publishing their pieces on their websites are failing future generations by not pushing for change to happen.) I offer steps for scholars, libraries, universities, tenure committees, disciplinary associations, and scholars at all stages. In short, I'd like to see a boycott of locked-down academic journals. I think that it's particularly critical in our field since we are doing work that is relevant beyond the academy. I think that we need to stand in solidarity to stop this abuse of our labor and this silencing of our voices. Am I crazy? danah

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powerful senior professors
by Jonathan Sterne, Dr. 10 Feb '08

10 Feb '08

Christian Nelson's understanding of the editorial process seems a bit naive. First, I'm not sure that open access journals ought to have open source reviewing. Knowledge is not necessarily democratic: there are people who know more about their fields than others, and frankly, I'd like THOSE people to review my work when I submit it to a journal. One of the great values of the humanities and social sciences (and indeed all basic research) is that learned people are allow to pursue lines of inquiry whose immediate payoff may not be immediately apparent to others. Academics should not be subject to popularity contests or ratings. CNET is very useful for what it is, but it is not a model for scholarship. More often than not, leading figures in a field don't do a lot of journal reviewing because they're too busy with other kinds of reviewing, like tenure dossiers (this has certainly happened to me, and I'm not even full yet). I also find that senior, leading figures are just as likely to be MORE open minded to new ideas and new approaches than younger scholars, who may have more invested in advancing or defending a particular paradigm as they establish themselves. Of course there are also tenured professors who appear to eat their own brains, so I guess we can't generalize too much in this regard. Open access, yes, but with a solid, blind peer review. In that respect, IJOC is a fine example. Best, --Jonathan

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Disruptive Scholarship
by Gerry Mckiernan 10 Feb '08

10 Feb '08

Colleagues/ I am pleased to read the variety of recent posting about Open Access and Alternative Scholarship. On Thanksgiving Day, November 22, 2007, I launched a new blog titled _Scholarship 2.0: An Idea Whose Time Has Come_ _Scholarship 2.0_ is located at [ http://scholarship20.blogspot.com/ ]

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Re: [Air-L] open-access is the future: boycott locked-down academic journals
by Caroline Haythornthwaite 09 Feb '08

09 Feb '08

This one has prompted me to respond! ... This is such an odd view of "powerful academics". It is precisely the "powerful academics", aka tenured and/or full Professors, who can afford to go to these new venues. Moreover, if work is not getting full play in journals -- because of the invisibility and inaccessibilty of print journals or fee-based online journals -- then why wouldn't we all flock to online publishing to gain the 'power' of widespread access. So, why don't we? -- because, believe it or not, many of us actually have put time and energy into journals -- setting them up, reviewing papers, considering the standards of good research, argumentation and knowledge, and wanting to make it worth someone taking the time to open up a journal, and for those outside our discipline to take us seriously as a discipline. Yes, it is a gatekeeper role, and I'm proud to be part of it as should be all others who strive for quality in their work and *their* journals. /Caroline ---- Original message ---- >Date: Fri, 08 Feb 2008 16:37:15 -0500 >From: Christian Nelson <xianknelson(a)mac.com> >Subject: Re: [Air-L] open-access is the future: boycott locked-down academic journals >To: air-l(a)listserv.aoir.org > >We're still talking about open-source journals that would utilize >some sort of reader rating system to make editorial decisions, right? >Why would powerful academics leave the current set of journals, over >which they have total editorial control, for journals over which they >would have considerably less control, considering that journal >article publication is the main source of academic capital for most >scholars? No one ever gives up power willingly. > >On Feb 8, 2008, at 4:25 PM, Jimmy Wales wrote: > >> So yes, I agree: luring big names is part of what has to be done. >> I just don't find that particularly daunting. >_______________________________________________ >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/ ---------------------------------------- Caroline Haythornthwaite Associate Professor Graduate School of Library and Information Science, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign 501 East Daniel St., Champaign IL 61820

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Fwd: Invitation to join the Document Freedom Day 2008
by Jeremy Hunsinger 09 Feb '08

09 Feb '08

> > > Begin forwarded message: > >> From: "Georg C. F. Greve" <greve(a)fsfeurope.org> >> Date: 08 February 2008 12:03:23 PM >> To: greve(a)fsfeurope.org >> Subject: Invitation to join the Document Freedom Day 2008 >> >> Dear colleagues, >> >> advocating Free Software towards various people and groups is often >> made >> more difficult by their legacy of data lock-in. Migration to some >> seems >> a choice of gaining their freedom by losing all their old data, and >> in >> too many cases that is unfortunately true enough. >> >> The logical answer to this are Open Standards that give everyone the >> freedom to use, study and implement them. But most people don't know >> much about this issue and generally don't take care to save their >> data >> in ways that allow them to choose and live in freedom. >> >> There has been some debate about this through the years, with >> particular >> focus around the Open Document Format (ODF) due to current events. >> >> In this group, people have been discussing the idea of a "Document >> Freedom Day" for some time - and FSFE's Serbian team now jumped at >> the >> possibility and took initiative for the Document Freedom Day, which >> will >> advocate freedom of data in the area that everyone has a direct >> relationship to -- documents -- to raise awareness about the >> principles. >> >> The Document Freedom Day is planned as a complimentary activity to >> the >> Software Freedom Day - so the two are placed six months apart: The >> first >> Document Freedom Day will be held 26 March 2008. >> >> The message of the DFD will be focussed on benefits of freedom in >> data >> and formats, specifically the Open Document Format (ODF) and the >> relevance of Open Standards. >> >> You can find the (still rudimentary) web site at >> >> http://www.documentfreedom.org >> >> and you are very much invited to join this effort as an >> organisation and >> get personally involved. >> >> If you know others who might have an interest in this activity, >> please >> feel free to also invite them. But please avoid blogging about this >> before the first official announcement, as we would prefer to add >> some >> more information first. >> >> With best regards, >> Georg >> >> -- >> Georg C. F. Greve <greve(a)fsfeurope.org >> > >> Free Software Foundation Europe (http://fsfeurope.org >> ) >> Join the Fellowship and protect your freedom! (http://www.fsfe.org >> ) >> What everyone should know about DRM (http://DRM.info >> ) > jeremy hunsinger Information Ethics Fellow, Center for Information Policy Research, School of Information Studies, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee (www.cipr.uwm.edu ) wiki.tmttlt.com www.tmttlt.com () ascii ribbon campaign - against html mail /\ - against microsoft attachments http://www.stswiki.org/ sts wiki http://cfp.learning-inquiry.info/ Learning Inquiry-the journal http://transdisciplinarystudies.tmttlt.com/ Transdisciplinary Studies:the book series

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Open access
by Jonathan Sterne 09 Feb '08

09 Feb '08

Hi All, I just want to add my voice in support of danah's. I got radicalized about open access when Sage and their lawyers tried to give me a DRMed author's copy of (amusingly enough) an essay I wrote on the very promiscuous mp3 format for _New Media and Society_. The problem was that they decided I, as an author, actually ought to have fewer rights than I would as a reader using my library's copy of the journal. I'm probably a little too vain to totally give up on non-open access journals (there are a few I'd love to have on my CV) but my plan is to go open access whenever possible from here on out. My Sage experience is documented here: http://superbon.net/?p=449 http://superbon.net/?p=461 Best, --Jonathan -- Jonathan Sterne Associate Professor and Chair Department of Art History and Communication Studies McGill University http://www.mcgill.ca/ahcs/ http://sterneworks.org

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Summer School on Internet Governance
by Jeremy Hunsinger 09 Feb '08

09 Feb '08

> > Please distribute it as widely as possible > wolfgang > > > > > Call for Application > > > > > > 2nd Summer School on Internet Governance (SSIG) > > > > Meissen, July 25 - August, 31, 2007 > > > > <http://www.unesco.org/en> > > > > > > <http://www.norid.no/> <http://www.eurid.eu/> <http://www.dotasia.org/ > > > > > > > > The Internet, with more than 1.2 billion users worldwide, is the > most important infrastructure of the information age. The Internet > influences policies, economics and cultures on the global as well as > on the local level. Internet related issues like security and > stability, freedom of expression, privacy, eCommerce, new market > opportunities, protection of intellectual property, fight against > cybercrime, development, digital divide and others getting higher > and higher priorities on the national and international political > agenda. To reach the UN Millenium Development Goals (MDG) until 2015 > the Internet is a crucial tool. For some experts Internet Governance > will become as important as it is climate change today. > > > > Do you want to understand, how and by whom the Internet is governed > and what the issues are which have made Internet Governance as one > of the new global conflicts of the diplomacy of the 21st century? Do > you want to know what the political, economic, social and legal > implications of Internet Governance are and what is behind ICANN, > RIRs, ccTLDs, gTLDs, iDNs, IPv6, IGF, WGIG and WSIS ? Do want to get > more detailed information on how technical Internet Standards, > Protocols and Codes, how the Domain Name System and the IP Address > Space or the Domain Name market is evolving? Than you should apply > for the "2008 Summer School on Internet Governance" (SSIG). > > > > The 2008 Summer School offers a unique multidisciplinary high level > 50 hours academic programme both for graduate students and young > academics as well as for junior professionals from private sector, > government and civil society. The programme is a well balanced > mixture of theoretical lectures with world leading academics as well > as practical presentations from well known experts working directly > in the technical community, the market or in policy. It offers also > opportunities for interactive communication with faculty members and > among the fellows themselves by the daily evening programme of > students presentations. > > > > Members of the 2008 Faculty include, inter alia > > Prof. Olga Cavalli, University of Buenos Aires > > Bertrand de la Chapelle, Envoy of the Information Society, French > Foreign Ministry > > Avria Doria, Lulea Technology University, Chair of ICANNs GNSO Council > > Dr. William Drake, Graduate Institute for International and > Development Studies, Geneva > > Philipp Grabensee, Chairman of the Board of Afilias Ltd., Dublin > > Ayesha Hassan, International Chamber of Commerce (ICC), Paris > > Markus Kummer, Executive Secretary of the Internet Governance Forum, > (TBC) > > Prof. Milton Mueller, School of Information Studies, Syracuse > University, N.Y. > > Michael Niebel, European Commission, Member of ICANNs GAC, Brussels > > Prof. Jonathan Zittrain, Oxford Internet Institute (TBC) > > The Faculty is chaired by Prof. Wolfgang Kleinwächter, University of > Aarhus > > > > The 2008 Summer School on Internet Governance (SSIG) takes place in > the St. Afra Monastery of the "Evangelische Akademie Meissen" in > Germany, a historic place, where the father of the German > enlightenment, Gotthold Ephraim Lessing, went to school. Meissen is > a 1000 years old small city, famous for its "Meissen China", its > very dry white wine and its old fortress, gothic churches and > historic wine cellars from July 25 - July 31, 2008. It is a 30 > minutes train ride from Dresden Airport, which connected by six > daily shuttles to Munich and Frankfurt. > > > > The Summer School on Internet Governance (SSIG) is organized by the > University of Aarhus and the Medienstadt Leipzig e.V., a recognized > "At Large Structure" (ALS) under ICANN Bylaws. It is sponsored by > five TLD Registries, among them as Golden Sponsor DENIC (.de), as > Silver Sponsor UNINETT (.no) and SIDN (.nl) and as Bronze Sponsor > EURID (.eu) and DotAsia (.asia). Additionally UNESCO, Diplo > Foundation, GIGANET, ENOM, Afilias, Dotberlin and others have > partnered with the Summer School. > > > > The fee of 1.000.00 EUR (plus 19% VAT) includes, next to the full > lecture programme > > * six nights accommodation in single guest rooms of the academy, > * breakfast, lunch, dinner, coffee and snacks & wine at the daily > night sessions, > * one evening reception in the Meissen Procellanmanufactory, > * a gala dinner in the historic wine-restaurant "Vinzenz Richter", > * sightseeing events, > * free WiFi access and > * all teaching material. > > > > There is a special fee for students of 500.00 EUR (plus 19% VAT). > There is also an opportunity to apply for support from the > fellowship programme which is still under development. Students > will get a certificate at the end of the Summer School. > > > > Detailed information, including the Draft Programme and the > electronic "Application Form" as well as comments from 2007 Summer > School Fellows can be found under www.euro-ssig.eu <http://www.euro-ssig.eu/ > > > > > > If you are interested in the Summer School on Internet Governance > (SSIG), please send Applications until May 31, 2008 by using the > electronic form on the website or contacting directly Sandra > Hoferichter (info(a)hoferichter.eu) the Secretary of the Summer > School or Prof. Wolfgang Kleinwächter (wolfgang(a)imv.au.dk) chair of > the 2008 Faculty. > > > > > > > > > > > > > > Members of the 2008 Programme Committee > > > > Prof. Wolfgang Kleinwächter, University of Aarhus (Chair); Dr. > William J. Drake, Graduate Institute for International and > Development Studies Geneva; Prof. Milton Mueller, Syracuse > University; Avria Doria, Lulea Technology University; Bart > Vastenburg, SIDN; Giovanni Seppia, EURID; Sabine Dolderer, DENIC; > Philipp Grabensee, Afilias; Axel Plathe, UNESCO > > 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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FW: Call for papers: IEEE Intl Conf on Digital Games & Intelligent Toys Based Education (DIGITEL 2008)
by Steve Jones 09 Feb '08

09 Feb '08

2nd IEEE International Conference on Digital Games and Intelligent Toys Based Education (DIGITEL 2008) November 17-19, 2008, Banff, Canada http://www.ask4research.info/digitel/2008/ ** Sponsored by IEEE Technical Committee on Learning Technology The Conference Proceedings will be published by the IEEE Computer Society Press. ** Important dates: Submissions due: May 30, 2008 Decision notification: August 1, 2008 Final articles due: September 12, 2008 Conference: November 17-19, 2008 There is a rapidly growing interest in exploring design and technology of digital games and intelligent toys for learning. While digital games, especially online games, exploit advanced multimedia and Internet technology, intelligent toys embedded with chips and sensors utilize wireless, mobile, and ubiquitous computing technologies. Digital games and intelligent toys are potential new genres of advanced learning technology. The gaming strategies and toy design that incorporate both individual and social activities will offer a significant opportunity for researchers to investigate the long-running research issues of technology enhanced learning such as attention, motivation, and emotion. It will not be a surprise that in the distant future when this emerging research is proved to be fruitful, most technology enhanced learning will incorporate some elements of digital games. Despite the surging interest in this emerging research, there are plenty challenging research issues to be investigated. For example, can one really learn meaningfully and deeply from games? Will there be new theories that explain phenomena of learning with fun? What constitute game pedagogies? How this genre of technology enhanced learning can be adopted to formal and informal learning settings? What are the possible dark sides of game and toyed education and how to prevent them? DIGITEL 2008 provides a forum for researchers various disciplines and practitioners to share and exchange of this emerging research area. We invite submission of papers reporting original academic or industrial research on the issues related to digital games and toyes based education. Complete papers will be required for review process; only abstracts will not be sufficient. All authors of accepted submissions will be required to complete IEEE Copyright Form. Authors of selected papers will be invited to submit extended versions for a Special Issue of a reputed journal. ** Submissions Submissions are invited in following categories: Full papers: 8 pages Short papers: 5 pages Posters: 3 pages Workshop proposals: 2 pages Panel proposals: 2 pages Interactive sessions: 3 pages ** For more details, please see the website: http://www.ask4research.info/digitel/2008/ * Conference Chair Margaret haughey, Athabasca University, Canada * Program Chair: Michael Eisenberg, University of Colorado, Boulder, USA * Local Chair Maiga Chang, Athabasca University, Canada * General Chair Kinshuk, Athabasca University, Canada * General Co-Chair Tak-Wai Chan, National Central University, Taiwan * Organization Chair: Rory McGreal, Athabasca University, Canada * Local Administrator Jill Calliou, Athabasca University, Canada * Finance Chair Rebecca Heartt, Athabasca University, Canada ** For queries, please contact: Kinshuk (kinshuk(a)ieee.org) Jill Calliou (jillc(a)athabascau.ca)

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Re: [Air-L] open-access is the future: boycott locked-down academic journals
by Marj Kibby 08 Feb '08

08 Feb '08

I think whether they come or not depends on what it is that you built. If you have solved the Poincare Conjecture, publishing it solely in your Gardening Blog will probably get you the Fields Medal. If you are offering another perspective on the effect of the internet on domestic arrangements, your research will probably have no impact at all unless it is published in a high-impact forum. Marj Dr Marjorie Kibby, Senior Lecturer in Communication & Culture Faculty of Education and Arts The University of Newcastle, Callaghan NSW 2308 Australia Marj.Kibby(a)newcastle.edu.au +61 2 49216604 >>> Gilles Frydman <gfrydman(a)acor.org> 02/09/08 8:44 AM >>> There is an amazing precedent in the field of mathematics publishing, demonstrating that if you build it, they will come! On their own. Look at the story of Grigori Perelman, who received the Fields Medal (the highest prize in mathematics) for solving the Poincare Conjecture. <snip>

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Re: [Air-L] open-access is the future: no, it is not! only if it is non-corporate: the capitalist political economy of academic journals and open access
by aforte 08 Feb '08

08 Feb '08

Well said, Ingbert. "Academic publishing" is not one monolithic regime. It's not even two regimes (ie open and not). Publishing experiences of an interdisciplinary researcher of online communities are different from those of a mathematician, a biomedical researcher or a communications researcher (for example) in at least a few ways that seem significant here. One of the more critical differences when comparing disciplines: review criteria. In interdisciplinary fields that draw from a variety of literatures and epistemological traditions, review is a more strenuous burden on the community than in fields with an accepted canon and methodological repertoire. The cost of participation is higher. Another critical difference: Some disciplines are currently more dependent than others on for-profit organizations. It's actually not all large, profit-hungry corporations eating our intellectual progeny for dinner. A great deal of the literature I read coming out of computer science and/or engineering is produced by non-profit professional associations. Individuals invest heavily in sustaining these organizations for the good of their academic communities (and, yes, to establish themselves within those communities). There are already a number of alternate models out there for academic publication. Viva open access for sure, but defining responsible/good/ positive/humanitarian/effective/insert-value-laden-adjective-here publishing using the line between "free" and "not-free" is perhaps too coarse a distinction. Andrea

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