- Air-L - lists.aoir.org

the slow decay of myspace
by 'Gail Taylor 02 Sep '07

02 Sep '07

My take on the issue is that researchers in online environments are either concerned with processes, practices or a combination of the two. Those who are concerned with processes conduct research on the technological structures that enable online interactions. Those who are concerned with practices conduct research on social structures. Others are choosing to use a hybrid approach that combines both process and practice. >From the process perspective, researchers would think MySpace popularity is on the rise due to increasingly larger numbers of user accounts, as opposed to a drop-off. From the process approach, researchers would think there might be a decline based on actions of a select group of users as opposed to practices of those who are new to the service or "power users". The power users are those who are maximizing the service. Lois Scheidt mentioned that some researchers are having participants develop technobiographies, or a hybrid approach. This research approach is representative of the socio-technical approach to conducting research. This approach is grounded in research that was conducted by researchers at the Tavistock Institute of Human Relations in London (England) in the 1950s. Theoretical foundations are the sociotechnical systems theory (STS) and body of literature that is an outcome of application of this approach to conducting research in various settings. Rob Kling and other informatics researchers, including those who Lois mentioned, are using this approach to conduct research, primarily in face-to-face settings. It is well-suited for online environments. I started using the socio-technical approach a number of years ago, working as a knowledge management professional in environmental science research organizations. The STS body of literature can by located by doing a search that include phrases such as "socio-technical approach", "socio-technical perspective", and "sociotechnical system theory", among others. -------------------------------- Gail Taylor, M.Ed. Human Resource Education Ph.D. Candidate Library and Information Sciences Research Assistant University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

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Re: [Air-L] archiving virtual worlds for social science
by Suzana Sukovic 02 Sep '07

02 Sep '07

Pandora: Australia's web archive http://pandora.nla.gov.au/selectionguidelinesallpartners.html PANDORA is a selective archive. The National Library and its partners do not attempt to collect all Australian online publications and web sites, but select those that they consider are of significance and to have long-term research value. Some national libraries, such as Australia and Canada, have established selective archives, and some, such as Sweden, Norway, Finland, Iceland and Austria, endeavour to take periodic snapshots of their countries' entire web domains. There are advantages and disadvantages to both approaches. The ideal situation would, perhaps, be a selective archive supplemented by periodic snapshots of the entire domain. For a discussion of the advantages and disadvantages of both approaches see Sections 3-5 (pages 10-12) of <http://pandora.nla.gov.au//bsc49.doc>Collecting Australian Online Publications. Collecting Australian Online Publications outlines some approaches to archiving online documents. Pandora doesn't collect games. Suzana Suzana Sukovic PhD Candidate _________________________________________ Information & Knowledge Management Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences University of Technology, Sydney PO Box 123 Broadway NSW 2007, Australia www.hss.uts.edu.au/research/research_students/suzana_sukovic.html

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Invite from Sarah Robbins (intellagirl@gmail.com)
by Sarah Robbins 02 Sep '07

02 Sep '07

SarahRobbins (intellagirl(a)gmail.com) has invited you as a friend on Quechup... ...the social networking platform sweeping the globe Go to: http://quechup.com/join.php/aT0wMDAwMDAwMDA5MDg4NjkzJmM9OTY2NjU%3D to accept Sarah's invite You can use Quechup to meet new people, catch up with old friends, maintain a blog, share videos & photos, chat with other members, play games, and more. It's no wonder Quechup is fast becoming 'The Social Networking site to be on' Join Sarah and his friends today: http://quechup.com/join.php/aT0wMDAwMDAwMDA5MDg4NjkzJmM9OTY2NjU%3D ------------------------------------------------------------------ You received this because Sarah Robbins (intellagirl(a)gmail.com) knows and agreed to invite you. You will only receive one invitation from intellagirl(a)gmail.com. Quechup will not spam or sell your email address, see our privacy policy - http://quechup.com/privacy.php Go to http://quechup.com/emailunsubscribe.php/ZW09YWlyLWxAbGlzdHNlcnYuYW9pci5vcmc… if you do not wish to receive any more emails from Quechup. ------------------------------------------------------------------ Copyright Quechup.com 2007. ------------------------------------ Go to http://quechup.com/emailunsubscribe.php/ZW09YWlyLWxAbGlzdHNlcnYuYW9pci5vcmc… if you do not wish to receive any more emails from Quechup

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[Fwd: more facebook analysis...]
by Paula Graham 01 Sep '07

01 Sep '07

-----Original Message----- From: Garth Graham [mailto:garth.graham@telus.net] Sent: 31 August 2007 21:35 To: advisors(a)tc.ca; AFCN Members; privsec(a)wsis-cs.org; ciresearchers(a)vancouvercommunity.net Subject: [ciresearchers] The following article from the Toronto Globe and Mail recommends open standards for social networking functions as an antidote to the "irritations" of things like Facebook. It hadn't occurred to me before reading it that social networking is an important dimension of "user-centric digital identity." But, since identity is defined in social relationship, obviously it should have. Now Ivor Tossell doesn't say anything about identity as such. But my thanks to him for broadening my thinking about achieving ownership of identity online. Because it will block the kind of "walled gardens" the article refers to, achieving user-centric digital identity as an extension of Internet Protocol is utterly critical to the Internet's survival. But it's one of those issues that's so highly specialized that hardly anyone is paying attention to it. Because capacity to support social networking contributes to the self organization of community online, perhaps open standards for social networking is one of those issues that community networking organizations should be paying attention to? Does anyone know who is working on open standards for social networking? And does anyone have suggestions as to how community networking organizations could support that work? GG ======================= Ivor Tossell. Why I believe Facebook's days are numbered. Globe and Mail, August 31, 2007, R5 After Facebook, what? The delicious riddle of Facebook's future is part parlour game, part billion-dollar question. It might just be me, but I'm hearing more grumbling than raving about the site these days. For people who joined earlier in the year, the novelty has worn off. The rush of long-lost acquaintances clamouring for renewed "friendship" has petered out. After all, one can only have gone to grade school with so many people. There's also the fact that the only thing with tastes more fickle than a teenager is the media. In this corner, anyway, Facebook got so overexposed so quickly that we're getting loath to raise it again, what with readers' groans echoing pre-emptively in our ears. Facebook moved to forestall ennui by allowing third parties to write add-ons to their service, but so far the most compelling of these add- ons allow people to play online Scrabble with one another and add their pets as friends. So, for many, things have settled into a period of quiet stagnation, in which Facebook's mild diversions weigh off against its mild irritations. It follows that I'm not just being curmudgeonly to suggest that Facebook's days in the sun are numbered. It's not going to implode any time soon, but the sheen will wear off, and the vanguard of cool kids will seek greener pastures, and the cheerleading media will chase after them as soon as it clues in. But what will those greener pastures look like? One option is that they will look a lot like Facebook, but with a new name and some appealing innovations - say, maybe some way of structuring "friendships" so that your best friend of decades is not given the same status as your Grade 9 nemesis. But a site like that would share the same Achilles heel that Facebook shares with Friendster, MySpace, Orkut, and all the other social networks that came before it. To use your Facebook account, you first have to log into Facebook. Everything you do there is transacted in Facebook's private la-la land. Facebook news, Facebook mail, Facebook friends. It's a Web within the Web, a world unto its own, something they call a "walled garden" website. What's the downside to a walled garden? For one thing, it faces users with a my-way-or-the-highway decision. If you want to talk to friends on Facebook, you need a Facebook account. That's fine and dandy so long as everyone is using Facebook. But, as per the immutable laws of ennui, it seems unlikely that everyone will stay there forever. You can't add people who use MySpace to a Facebook account, and so on. Nor is that list of friends you've built up any good for any application outside of the Facebook universe. The whole thing reminds me of a behemoth of yesteryear. Remember America Online? In the early nineties, its private network offered subscribers a fun, easy-to-use online experience before the Web as we know it even existed. You could point-and-click your way through discussion forums and live chats. You could even find pictures of Marilyn Monroe in various states of undress. I remember this specifically, because I was 12, and it was momentous. America Online was able to leapfrog existing services by using its own private technology on its own private network; standards of the day were clunky and text-based. But in the end, it couldn't keep up with a peculiar open network that crept up from behind: the World Wide Web. You didn't have to subscribe to services from any one company to access the Web. Instead, you could use any Web browser on any computer, because they all spoke the same language. You usually had to pay someone for access, but you weren't bound to them. As the Web grew and diversified, AOL's walled garden became less and less fragrant. AOL's glory days are long gone. Today, it's a big corporate Internet service provider like any other, driving users towards a big, dumb, mass-market website. (Current top headline: "Crunchy Twist on Chicken Salad!") Facebook today is like the AOL of 15 years ago. It's big, it's on top of its game, and it doesn't play nicely with others. But imagine if it did. Right now, Facebook and its competitors own their users' lists of friends. To access your network, you have to log into Facebook. But what if that list of relationships didn't belong exclusively to Facebook? What if your friend's list lived out on the Internet, and could be used by any authorized website or application? For instance, that same network of friends might pop up in Microsoft Word, where you could call on people to collaborate on documents. Your contacts would be available on the Web-surfing smartphones we're all about to have foisted upon us. It would power your instant- messaging chat, the list of people who can see your private Flickr album, and on, and on. An open standard would let users access the same universal social network through whichever service they like. Facebook and its brethren would be left looking like gated suburbs next to thriving neighbourhoods. The nerd in me wants to see it happen, even though the fact remains that it's easier to make money from a closed system, at least in the near term. But if an open standard liberated networks of friends from the clutches of their chosen social networking site, a plethora of possibilities would emerge. So, back to where we started. After Facebook, what? Personally, I'm hoping for the deluge. ---- end ----- --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "PRADSA" group. To post to this group, send email to pradsa(a)googlegroups.com To unsubscribe from this group, send email to pradsa-unsubscribe(a)googlegroups.com For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/pradsa?hl=en-GB -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---

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apologies for invites
by Sarah Robbins 01 Sep '07

01 Sep '07

I've just become aware that when I let Quechup check my gmail list for friends who were already members that it, instead, sent an invitation to everyone on my mailing list. Sincere apologies for this goof. Please feel free to ignore the invite message. -- Sarah "Intellagirl" Robbins Director of Emerging Technologies www.MediaSauce.com www.ubernoggin.com http://www.intellagirl.com http://secondlife.intellagirl.com Yahoo: Intellagirl Skype: Intellagirl SecondLife: Intellagirl Tully

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NEW BOOK: Cyberfeminism in Northern Lights: Digital Media and Gender in a Nordic Context
by Malin Sveningsson 01 Sep '07

01 Sep '07

***apologies for cross posting*** Dear all, Here's some shameless self-promotion for a new volume on digital media, gender and politics of location: CYBERFEMINISM IN NORTHERN LIGHTS: Digital Media and Gender in a Nordic Context edited by Malin Sveningsson Elm and Jenny Sundén What does it mean to study supposedly global media phenomena from a Nordic perspective? What would be particular and unique about Nordic cyberfeminism - compared to the “unmarked” version dominating the field today? Cyberfeminism in Northern Lights pushes the boundaries of contemporary cyberfeminism. Against the background of an expanding body of research in the field of digital media and gender - which to this date has primarily been carried out from an Anglo-American perspective - the book argues that feminist studies of digital media need to become more inclusive and aware of their own geographical and cultural biases and limits. The book is a step in this direction, focusing on the knowledge and experiences from the Nordic countries: Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden. TABLE OF CONTENTS: Introduction, Jenny Sundén & Malin Sveningsson Elm Digital Media and Gender in a Nordic Context Part I: Sexualities, Bodies, and Desire Chapter One, Jenny Sundén On Cyberfeminist Intersectionality Chapter Two, Susanna Paasonen Online Pornography, Normativity and the Nordic Context Chapter Three, Janne C.H. Bromseth Nordic Feminism in a Cyberlight? Part II: Gender Identities, Performance, and Presentations of Self Chapter Four, Malin Sveningsson Elm Doing and Undoing Gender in a Swedish Internet Community Chapter Five, Charlotte Kroløkke Performing and Positioning PowerBabes Chapter Six, Cecilia Åsberg and Bodil Axelsson Digital Performances of Gendered Pasts Part III: Gendered Computing and Computer Use Chapter Seven, AnnBritt Enochsson Differences and Similarities in Girls’ and Boys’ Internet Use Chapter Eight, Hilde Corneliussen Cultural Appropriation of Computers in Norway 1980-2000 Chapter Nine, Gudbjörg Linda Rafnsdóttir and Lára Rún Sigurvinsdóttir Surveillance Technology, Work and Gender Chapter Ten, Fatima Jonsson The Absence of Hackerettes in the Culture of Programming Closing Essay, Anne Scott Sørensen Digital Media and Cyberculture: A Feminist and Nordic Approach ABOUT THE EDITORS: Malin Sveningsson Elm is Assistant Professor at the Department of Media and Communication Studies at Karlstad University, Sweden. She is the author of Creating a Sense of Community: Experiences from a Swedish Web Chat, and co-author of Digital Borderlands: Cultural Studies of Identity and Interactivity on the Internet. Jenny Sundén is Assistant Professor in Media Technology at the School of Computer Science and Communication, Royal Institute of Technology (KTH), Stockholm. She is the author of Material Virtualities: Approaching Online Textual Embodiment, and co-author of Digital Borderlands: Cultural Studies of Identity and Interactivity on the Internet. ORDER FROM: www.amazon.co.uk www.amazon.com Hardback (295pp), UK: £34.99, US: $69.99 Malin Sveningsson Elm, PhD Media & Communication Faculty of Economic Science, Communication and IT Karlstad University SWEDEN email: malin.sveningsson(a)kau.se phone +46 (0)54 700 18 33 (office) +46 (0)70 244 38 90 (mobile)

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Job Announcement: Endowed Chair in Media and Political Economy, Louisiana State University
by Felicia Song 31 Aug '07

31 Aug '07

JOB ANNOUNCEMENT: LEMUEL HEIDEL BROWN ENDOWED CHAIR IN MEDIA AND POLITICAL ECONOMY Manship School of Mass Communication, Louisiana State University The Manship School of Mass Communication at Louisiana State University seeks a distinguished scholar for an endowed chair in media and political economy. The intent of this chair is to enhance research and teaching in mass communication and public affairs, specifically the economic/business functions of the media in a democratic society. The rank is negotiable, either associate professor with tenure or full professor with tenure. The successful candidate should have a doctorate in mass communication or a related field such as economics, business, political science, sociology or history, and a distinguished record of teaching and scholarly achievement. The holder of the Brown Chair is expected to take an active part in continuing to build the school's unique Ph.D. program in mass communication and public affairs, and in guiding its students. The chair will also be involved in the ongoing activities of the school's Reilly Center for Media & Public Affairs. The ability to seek federal research grants is a plus. The LSU administration has designated the Manship School as one of its priority programs, making the Manship School the only college-level unit on campus to receive that designation. In addition, the doctoral program was recently ranked by Academic Analytics as one of the top ten doctoral programs in mass communication in the nation, based on faculty research productivity. More information about the school is available at http://www.manship.lsu.edu. An offer of employment is contingent upon a satisfactory pre-employment background check. To receive full consideration, we encourage applicants to submit their materials by October 15th, although we will consider nominations and applications received after that date. Submissions must include a letter of application, a current vita or resume (including e-mail address), and the names and contact information for three references. Applications should be sent to: Drs. Margaret DeFleur and Regina Lawrence, Co-chairs Search Committee Manship School of Mass Communication Louisiana State University Ref: Log #0984 Baton Rouge, Louisiana 70803-7202 LSU is a flagship institution which holds the Carnegie Foundation's designation as a Doctorate-granting University, with very high research activity. LSU is located in the state capital. Louisiana State University is an equal opportunity/equal access employer and encourages applications from women and minorities. LSU IS AN EQUAL OPPORTUNITY/EQUAL ACCESS EMPLOYER

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Re: [Air-L] exporting an even older technology
by nsenga＠mediom.qc.ca 31 Aug '07

31 Aug '07

Professor Wellman, Since I understand you are retiring and "consolidating offices", have you considered perhaps assisting Vietnamese students and teachers to CRITICALLY read the books you are "exporting" to them? I received a similar request several years ago from my former Department at the University of Nairobi, for old Design books and old computers. I just declined...! I rather proposed to start a locally inspired Design incubator for graduates, to slowly bring them to invent and innovate their own indigenous materials and equipments; eventually with some Canadian remote guidance... Francois Montreal Original Message: ----------------- From: Barry Wellman wellman(a)chass.utoronto.ca Date: Thu, 30 Aug 2007 21:05:47 -0400 To: air-l(a)aoir.org Subject: [Air-L] exporting an even older technology I am now exporting to the third world an even older technology than PCS, one that is also subject to insects and moisture, but may have a longer shelf life: BOOKS! I'm consolidating offices, and after 40 years of being a prof., I have 50 cartons of books to give away. Turns out, University of Toronto library doesn't want them. Books are so twentieth century! But Vietnam's universities do! And are willing to pay for shipping. As I moved to Canada to be a prof. in 1967, that the books will end up in Vietnam is a happy circumstance. Hey, hey, LBJ -- how many books did you burn today? The discussion on this list by Denise, etc strikes a note, as my student just returned from three happy months in rural eastern Ghana. She got to use a computer by bicyling over to the nearby hotel. And her school built a website, even though they don't have a PC. (BTW, she reports that Paris Hilton is the best known American in her area.) Barry Wellman PS: In case you're wondering, consolidating offices, but certainly not retiring. _______________________________________________________________________ S.D. Clark Professor of Sociology, FRSC NetLab Director Centre for Urban & Community Studies University of Toronto 455 Spadina Avenue Room 418 Toronto Canada M5S 2G8 http://www.chass.utoronto.ca/~wellman fax:+1-416-978-7162 Updating history: http://chass.utoronto.ca/oldnew/cybertimes.php Elvis wouldn't be singing "Return to Sender" these days _______________________________________________________________________ -------------------------------------------------------------------- mail2web.com What can On Demand Business Solutions do for you? http://link.mail2web.com/Business/SharePoint

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New on ICT Guides
by Craig Bellamy 31 Aug '07

31 Aug '07

Dear All, ICT Guides is a service offered by the Arts and Humanities Data Service (AHDS) at King's College, London. It seeks to promote the use of ICTs in research and learning through cataloging good-practice digital arts and humanities projects along with the tools and methods they employed. A number of new projects have been added to ICT Guides: http://ahds.ac.uk/ictguides/projects/allProjects.jsp Highlight: 3D Reconstruction of the Unbuilt Project Pont destiné à réunir la France à l'Italie (1829) by Henri Labrouste " Henri Labrouste (1801-75) is best known as the architect of two important public buildings in Paris, both libraries. The Bibliothèque Sainte-Geneviève, completed in 1851, demonstrated Labrouste's unconventional use of classical elements, much disputed at the time, and his structural innovation of introducing an exposed iron frame. The Bibliothèque Nationale, completed in the year of his death, is renowned for its eclectic reading room reminiscent of a Seljuk mosque: a light, top-lit round space with slender cast-iron columns, which support a multitude of small domes. Both these buildings are representative of the so-called Beaux-Arts style that flourished at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Paris of which Labrouste was a student. ". " See: http://ahds.ac.uk/ictguides/projects/project.jsp?projectId=766 ** Suggestions for new projects most welcome. Kind Regards, Craig Bellamy -- Dr Craig Bellamy Research Associate ICT Guides, AHDS, King's College, London http://ahds.ac.uk/ictguides/ ----- 26 - 29 Drury Lane 3rd Floor King's College London LONDON, WC2B 5RL Phone: 020 7848 1976 ______________________________________________________________________ This email has been scanned by the MessageLabs Email Security System. For more information please visit http://www.messagelabs.com/email ______________________________________________________________________

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Jan Marco Leimeister ist außer Haus.
by Jan Marco Leimeister 31 Aug '07

31 Aug '07

Ich werde ab 30.08.2007 nicht im Büro sein. Ich kehre zurück am 16.09.2007. Ich werde Ihre Nachricht nach meiner Rückkehr beantworten. Bitte wenden Sie sich in allen Projekt-bezogenen Angelegenheiten direkt an die entsprechenden Mitarbeiter. I will be away from my mail until Sep. 17, in project-related matters please contact the corresponing colleagues directly.

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