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'wireless' special issue
by Gerard Goggin 29 Jan '07

29 Jan '07

[apologies for x-posting] call for papers ‘Wireless Cultures and Technologies’ special issue of 'Media International Australia' (125, November 2007) edited by Gerard Goggin (USyd) and Melissa Gregg (U Qld) Wireless technologies and cultures could be said to encompass anything from WiFi-enabled laptops and handheld devices to wireless broadband protocols such as Bluetooth and Radiofrequency Identification (RFID) as well as a range of cultural and community movements centering on wireless networks. While these emerging technologies are of great critical and particularly business interest worldwide, there has been little cultural research and analysis accompanying their uptake in Australasia. This lack of attention is notable given the intense discussion of new wireless technologies in Europe and North America. Following on from an ARC Cultural Research Network workshop, this special issue of Media International Australia aims to generate debate about the current and potential uses of wireless technology in Australia. It seeks to map and assess the research and development taking place in relation to wireless use to account for the Australasian context within wider international trends. Among other things, it will explore the benefits of established cultural research methods and theories for understanding the rationales and desires behind technology design and adoption. Accordingly, we invite papers on topics such as (although certainly not restricted to): • wireless use in particular contexts—domestic space, neighbourhood networks and workplace environments • cultural and social shaping of wireless technologies • theories of wirelessness • characteristics of wireless cultures • wireless provision, policy, and practice in Australia and internationally • mobiles and wireless technologies • cultural and community movements around wireless • implications of wireless for media and contemporary culture. Please send abstracts of no more than 500 words to both Gerard Goggin (gerard.goggin(a)arts.usyd.edu.au) and Melissa Gregg (m.gregg(a)uq.edu.au) by Monday 26 February 2007. If selected, full papers will be due by 15 May 2007,and the issue published in November 2007. About the journal: Media International Australia (MIA) publishes new scholarly and applied research on the media, telecommunications, and the cultural industries, and the policy regimes within which they operate (http://www.emsah.uq.edu.au/mia/index.html) MIA was founded by Professor Henry Mayer in 1976. It was published by the Australian Film, Television and Radio School until 1997, when it moved to the Centre for Cultural and Media Policy at Griffith University. At that time, it was merged with the Centre's journal, Culture and Policy. From 2004, it became a publication of the School of EMSAH and the Centre for Critical and Cultural Studies, at The University of Queensland. In 2005 the Henry Mayer Lecture was established in memory of the journal's founder. Broadly inclusive and inter-disciplinary, the journal welcomes the writing of history, theory and analysis, commentary and debate. While its primary focus is Australia, the journal also aims to provide an international perspective. About the special issue editors: Melissa Gregg is an ARC Postdoctoral Research Fellow in the Centre for Critical and Cultural Studies, University of Queensland, where she is studying the impact of new media technologies on work and home life. She is author of 'Cultural Studies’ Affective Voices' (Palgrave, 2006) and co-editor of 'Counter-Heroics and Counter-Professionalism in Cultural Studies’ Continuum 20 (2) 2006. With Greg Seigworth, she is currently editing 'The Affect Reader', while preparing a manuscript on online cultural studies with Catherine Driscoll. General editor of 'Media International Australia', Gerard Goggin is an ARC Australian Research Fellow in the Department of Media and Communication, the University of Sydney, currently working on a book on global mobile media. He is author of 'Cell Phone Culture' (Routledge, 2006), and editor of 'Internationalising Internet Studies' (with Mark McLelland, Routledge, 2007) and 'Virtual Nation: The Internet in Australia' (UNSW Press, 2004). -- \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ Dr Gerard Goggin ARC Australian Research Fellow Editor, 'Media International Australia' Department of Media and Communications The University of Sydney e-mail: gerard.goggin(a)arts.usyd.edu.au p: +61 2 9036 6424 f: 61 2 9351 5444 http://www.arts.usyd.edu.au/departs/media/?page=staff&id=gerard.goggin

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Question re Size of Data Set...
by Matthew Pearson 29 Jan '07

29 Jan '07

Hello All: This is my debut post to this excellent list after a long time spent reading lots of good stuff from others. I have a question re the size of my data set for my dissertation project: Is my data set too large, too small, or just right? I'd very much appreciate any insight/ideas/feedback anyone has about this. My advisor and I aren't that sure about this issue, and I haven't been able to discern much about this issue from a lot of the studies I've read. I do realize my question is thus far meaningless without knowing anything about my project, so here's some more information/background: I'm doing a close look at one message board community--one devoted to discussion of a particular college basketball team. I've got all sorts of things I'm interested in, but my central research question has to do with the ways that people teach each other and learn from one another the conventions for discourse in/on the message board. (I'm also interested in potential emerging genres of writing, the influence of sports fandom on online literacy practices, and perhaps even examining issues related to gender (which I realize is a pretty general thing to say, but I'll keep it at that for now).) I've got two main sources of data: both (1) archived threads/posts from the message board, and (2) online questionnaires that participants/members filled out. My question concerns source (1)-- the archival data. I have tons of data archived. I used one of those "site-sucker" programs to grab all the discussions on the message board over about a 8 month period of time. Given that this message board is a pretty busy one and that I'm using a ground-theory approach to the data analysis, I chose to sample a smaller set of the overall data. I used an "event sampling" method and, with input from posters on the message board, chose 5 "big" events around which to sample discussion. I then also chose 5 other events that occurred during the months I archived discussion that were not listed as "big" events by anyone who offered their sense of the "big" events. I didn't, though, choose just those threads of discussion related to those "big" and non-big events, but rather used those as anchoring moments in time, and then sampled ALL discussion that occurred on those dates, and one day prior and one day later. This resulted in such a large data set that I ended up using only 3 "big" events and 3 non- big ones, and then sampling for those dates, and the days immediately around them. What I'm left with now is about 4000 individual .html pages, some of which have fairly detailed threads of discussion, with sizable individual posts, and also, of course, many of which that have cursory, short sentences that perhaps look more like "chat." This is a lot of stuff to wade through, yet it does represent only 18 days of life on this message board. Thus far I've been going through the data in separate "passes," looking for answers to particular aspects of my research question, and it's a daunting thing. I know research takes a lot of work and time, but I thought it wise to get feedback to see if I'm going overboard here. So does my sample sound reasonable? I'm well aware that the way I sample will directly impact the kinds of conclusions can draw and level of rigor folks see in my work. Any thoughts? Good sources re this kind of methodology? I've got Virtual Methods Ed. by Hine, among other sources, and haven't seen anything yet re sample size. Maybe I missed it somehow? many thanks, Matthew Pearson mdpearson(a)wisc.edu PhD Candidate, University of Wisconsin Department of English-- Composition and Rhetoric; Research Assistant, UC-Irvine Writing Project; & Man on the Street

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interlinking URLS in university course discussion boards
by Stephanie Jo Kent 28 Jan '07

28 Jan '07

Hi all, I finally agreed to teach an online course on interpersonal communication because I thought I would be able to use the discussions generated as actual 'samples' of discourse/dialogue in action: I've been thinking of this method as a bridge between the computer mediated format and the historical subject of the course (direct face-to-face interaction). I've been disappointed to learn that my university's platform won't support internal linking in the discussion boards - the URLS there "float." Does anyone know of a platform, or a patch, or a way around this problem so that I can craft lesson plans that direct students back to look at 'performances' of interpersonal communication that they have already enacted? Thanks, I'll compile a resource list if there's enough to warrant one. steph http://www.reflexivity.us

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Re: [Air-l] Ecademy-----Social/business Network
by Jess Porter 28 Jan '07

28 Jan '07

Hello John: Thank You for writing. I am a member of LinkedIN, and read Thomas Powers blog. I am pretty active on ecademy and have heard rumors that they are selling ecademy, that was about 2 months ago, so not sure how true it is. I live 35 miles West of Washington DC, so I am going to write to Penny, and see if they are heading my way in their RV, would like to meet them. I will keep researching Virtual communities until I feel a know what is going on. Regards, Jess =========================== ----- Original Message ---- From: John Veitch <jsveitch(a)ate.co.nz> To: air-l(a)listserv.aoir.org Sent: Sunday, January 28, 2007 4:03:17 AM Subject: Re: [Air-l] Ecademy-----Social/business Network Hello Jess Some of us have a lot of experience on many social networks. I think the general opinion is that both Ryze and Ecademy which were both early leaders in the field have lost their leadership. In the case of Ryze, the management were far too inactive for a long time. They that made a sudden change in exactly the wrong direction and they lost a large part of their most experienced network leaders. Ryze is making a slow comeback, no fuss, no big campaign, just regular small improvements. In the case of Ecademy, there was an urge to take over the world. A world tour by Thomas Power. Association with the XL Corporation. The campaign the turned LinkedIn "Blue". And the campaign to make every member of Ecademy a paying member. Many are saying this was caused by the fact that Mr and Mrs Powers believe in the "Law of Attraction". Anyhow the thinking became both hard-nosed about money and airy-fairy about how the world worked. Ecademy shot itself. For your entertainment read this. (You need to be a member of LinkedIn) http://www.linkedin.com/answers?viewQuestion=&questionID=6001&askerID=9635&… If you need to join LinkedIn, I suggest you begin here. http://www.ate.co.nz/ Regards John Jess Porter wrote: > I am the leader of the Virtual communities Club on Ecademy. I was wondering, if anyone or two would be interested in speaking in my club forum. I can give membership for this purpose to anyone interested. > > A couple topics of Interest would be a comparison between ecademy and some of the other business clubs, like LinkedIN, or OpenBC, etc. Or a talk about how people's social lives are being changed by the Internet. > John Stephen Veitch http://www.ate.co.nz Should we be talking? Can I help? Google me _______________________________________________ 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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Ecademy-----Social/business Network
by Jess Porter 28 Jan '07

28 Jan '07

Hello: My name is Jess Porter, and I have been reading emails here for about 3 months. This is a fascinating mail list for me. My traning and background is in computers, so the electronic part of the WWW I know, it's the Sociology where I am lacking. I am the leader of the Virtual communities Club on Ecademy. I was wondering, if anyone or two would be interested in speaking in my club forum. I can give membership for this purpose to anyone interested. A couple topics of Interest would be a comparison between ecademy and some of the other business clubs, like LinkedIN, or OpenBC, etc. Or a talk about how people's social lives are being changed by the Internet. If you are interested, just respond here, and I will contact you. You could even use this opportunity to do some research work. The Virtual communities club, is on the web, just Google "ecademy virtual Communities." Regards, Jess

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Fwd: Online research related research grant in Slovenia (fwd)
by elw＠stderr.org 27 Jan '07

27 Jan '07

fyi. ---------- Forwarded message ---------- Date: Sat, 27 Jan 2007 10:18:29 -0500 From: Jim Witte <jwitte(a)CLEMSON.EDU> To: CITASA Listserv Subject: Fwd: Online research related research grant in Slovenia Sorry, if you are on the GIR-L (German Internet Research List) mailing list and have already seen this, but seems like a very interesting opportunity. Also if you are not on the list but read German, I'd highly recommend joining. jim > There are chances to apply for funding for a research visit of a PhD student > or a post-doctoral researcher to come to the Faculty if Social Sciences, > University of Ljubljana, Slovenia. > > This could be a 3 to 12 months visit with the purpose of working on one of > our research projects. The agency that offers funding will cover the living > costs of 1.000 per month (what enables very decent living in Slovenia), > while faculty will provide some extra payment, which will be negotiated based > on the work on the research project. > > The candidate will be involved into: > > * maintainance and development of WebSM site (www.websm.org) > * research work on comparison of Web surveys with other survey modes; this > could result either in a joint research paper(s) or can be a part of a PhD > dissertation. > > Supervision is done by dr. Katja Lozar Mandreda and/or dr. Vasja Vehovar. > > CV and description of research interests should be sent to info(a)websm.org by > February 20, 2007. > > > _______________________________________________ > GIR-L mailing list > GIR-L(a)dgof.de > http://www.dgof.de/mailman/listinfo/gir-l ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- James Witte Professor and Survey Lab Director Clemson University Phone: 864.656.3816. Department of Sociology Fax: 864.656.1252 123D Brackett Hall http://business.clemson.edu/Socio/vitawitte.html Clemson, SC 29634-13566 Communication and Information Technology section of ASA: www.citasa.org --- --- --- Send CITASA mailing list submissions to citasa(a)lists.ist.psu.edu To subscribe to the CITASA list send an e-mail to lyris(a)lists.ist.psu.edu with subscribe citasa in the message body. To unsubscribe, send a blank e-mail to: leave-citasa(a)lists.ist.psu.edu Visit the CITASA website at http://www.citasa.org/ --- --- ---

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Reminder: AoIR 8.0 DEADLINE is next Thursday, February 1, 2007
by consalvo＠ohio.edu 27 Jan '07

27 Jan '07

hi all, As the subject line says, the deadline for submitting proposals for papers, panels, roundtables, and creative/aesthetic presentations is fast approaching. Please go to: http://conferences.aoir.org/index.php?cf=6 to submit your abstracts. Please email me offlist at consalvo @ ohio.edu if you have questions about the submission process. Also, thank you to all who have volunteered to review-- stay tuned for more information. Best, Mia Mia Consalvo, Program Chair School of Telecommunications Ohio University

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Community Informatics - Prospects for Communities and Action, Nov 5 -7 2007
by M.B.Gaved 27 Jan '07

27 Jan '07

Some members may be interested in this conference. regards Mark Gaved COMMUNITY INFORMATICS--PROSPECTS FOR COMMUNITIES AND ACTION, NOV 5-7 2007 4rd Prato International Community Informatics Conference. CIRN 2007 and the Inaugural International Development Informatics Association Conference 5-7 November 2007, Monash Centre, Prato Italy. www.ccnr.net/prato2007- more information will become available via the conference website shortly. CALL FOR PAPERS We are seeking abstracts and proposals from academics, practitioners and PhD students for a conference and workshop event at the Monash University Centre, Prato Italy (near Florence). The Centre for Community Networking Research, Monash (www.ccnr.net) in conjunction with the Community Informatics Research Network (www.ciresearch.net) has held highly successful events in 2003, 2004, and 2006 in Prato. This conference is also being held in conjunction with the inaugural conference of the International Development Informatics Association (IDIA) (www.developmentinformatics.org) The Prato campus is an exceptional environment in which to exchange ideas. We emphasise participatory processes in the conference. The Centre is just off the main piazza of a small Tuscan town. It is close to Italian transport hubs. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Internet has become a powerful community resource in many parts of the world. It is widely viewed as a device with capacity for incorporation into different forms of community action, including social change, community learning, community connection, community knowledge, and community well-being and community development. The concept of 'community' itself is itself interpreted in a multitude of ways, and the problem of definition of this (and other terms such as 'empowerment') was highlighted at the 2006 Prato conference. The 90 or so questions which were emphasised during the final plenary represent the eternal cycle of questions of community action and engagement. Whatever technology may be used to work with a community, the issues remain. At the forthcoming event, we will accept that the concepts of action and community are variable, and that the forms of action which have emerged over the past decade should be judged in terms of what they achieve for community and social good. Through learning about multiple forms of action and how action is understood, we should improve our grasp of the complexities of social-technical relations. The Conference will feature a special stream led by the International Development Informatics Association of South Africa as part of its first conference, devoted to studying these, and related questions in relationship to development informatics. The implementation of ICT in developing economies involves constraints not applicable in developed regions. Constraints cover a wide range from technologies and infrastructures (energy grids, networks) to human aspects such as poverty and illiteracy. The Conference aims to create a platform for exchanging experience and possible solutions to address such problems. Please distribute this announcement to colleagues and I apologise for cross-postings. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- IMPORTANT DATES/PROCESSES: 1 April 2007: all 250 word abstracts due for consideration - the earlier the better. 1 May 2007 : acceptance/rejection of abstracts 1 July 2007 : papers due 1 September 2007 : final version of papers after refereeing for publication in the official conference proceedings. Abstracts must be in the following format and submitted to prato2007ATfastmail.fm (change AT to @): 1)Name/s of Authors 2) Affiliation/contact details [university/organisation, email of first author] 3) Title of Abstract 4) Conference stream (specify one) a) Community Informatics b) Development Informatics c) Both 5) 250 word abstract or summary in English. Contact: prato2007 AT fastmail.fm (substitute @ for AT) Website: www.ccnr.net/prato2007 which will be updated. There are a limited number of workshop or poster session slots available. If you believe that you can offer an engaging and relevant workshop, please submit a short proposal as soon as possible. If you have other innovative ideas for events at the conference, please don't hesitate to contact us! ** The early submission of abstracts for refereed papers are strongly encouraged as the number of presentation slots is limited. *** Do not submit a paper at this time. Papers (up to 5,000 words) in the peer-reviewed stream will be blind-reviewed by at least two referees and only accepted upon the recommendation of referees and the review committee. We will be approaching all those to submit accepted abstracts to act as anonymous peer reviewers. Practitioners are strongly encouraged to submit papers or reports, but please indicate if you wish this to be in the reviewed or non-reviewed stream. A style guide will be made available. Abstracts must be written in English, though papers can be written in English, French, Spanish or Italian. DO NOT submit a paper until your abstract is accepted. Papers will be published in the conference proceedings. Poster displays are also encouraged. POTENTIAL THEMES FOR PAPERS AND PRESENTATIONS. You are encouraged to submit an abstract addressing one or more of the themes below, but if you have another innovative idea or project you wish to share at the conference, please also submit it for consideration. Stream 1: Community Informatics There has now been over a decade of action and research into how different information and communication technologies enable and empower social communities to the achievement of collective goals. What have learned and what might we do differently? * Case studies of community action via ICTs. * The question of 'community and 'action': how has it been dealt with in your project? * Theoretical dimensions of social-technical systems, action, and change. * How is policy change best achieved? * Why and when does community action leads to community conflict? * Types of community benefits from community projects involving technology. * How to promote the advantages of community action to all stakeholders. * Successful strategic planning of projects for social action and change. * Evidence that economic good and social good go hand-in-hand in community informatics projects. * The role of research to assist with community action. * What factors create good relationships between academics and communities when they collaborate on action? * How to ensure ongoing community participation in action. * How can the needs of civil society be best served with technology and social action? * Managing the role of volunteers in community action. * Methods for monitoring and evaluating community action. * Managing relationships with funding partners. * The effectiveness of social entrepreneurs and enterprises in community action * Inaction. * Technical systems, information management for community action. Stream 2: Development Informatics The implementation of ICT in developing economies has constraints not applicable in developed regions. Constraints cover a wide range: from technologies and infrastructures (energy grids, networks) to human aspects such as poverty and low or no literacy. The Conference aims to create a platform for exchanging experiences, case studies, and possible solutions to address the difficulties in deploying ICT in developing contexts. Suggested themes include, but are not limited to: * Web technologies - eg. synchronisation with off-line systems * Human Factors (Human Computer Interaction) - e.g. interfaces for limited or non-literate users * Online communities * e-Governance * e-Democracy * Education * Agriculture * Healthcare * Telecentres and Multi-Purpose Community Centres * Rural connectivity * Multi-language systems * other... Note that contributions must be relevant to Development Informatics. PHD STREAM PhD students are encouraged to submit a short paper (1000-2000 words) in the PhD colloquium for discussion with academics and other students. The paper should be about your PhD research and is NOT limited to the conference themes. This is an excellent opportunity for feedback about your research and an opportunity to meet other students, researchers, and practitioners. Student accommodation will be available. DRAFT CONFERENCE PROGRAM (subject to alteration) 1) Ph.D. colloquium with feedback from academics and students. Students make a short presentation and submit a 1000-2000 word position paper or report. 2) Parallel Refereed & practitioner streams 3) Research/Practitioner workshops and free meeting time. 4) Keynote address/es from leaders in community and development informatics 5) Social program. CONFERENCE PUBLICATION A conference CD Rom will be distributed prior to the event and it is intended to publish selected referred papers published in conjunction with Cambridge Scholars Press. REGISTRATION/ACCOMMODATION We anticipate that full registrations will be in the region of $AU500 (=310) and a moderately priced conference banquet in Prato. Registration concessions will be available for students. Registrations will be taken from mid-year, and is separate from your accommodation booking. You will be able to also register for social events and tours. We are unable to offer any bursaries or scholarships for attendance. Delegates must seek their own funds, and secure appropriate visas to attend. Hotel space in Prato is limited, and your early reservation is strongly encouraged. Information will be posted shortly. We are also seeking modestly-priced student dormitory accommodation and will post information. TRAVEL/SOCIAL Prato is close to Italian rail, air, and other transport hubs via Florence. Social and cultural information will be posted shortly. If you are thinking of bringing a spouse, partner, family or friend, Prato is an excellent base from which to explore Tuscany without the crowds. QUERIES prato2007ATfastmail.fm (replace AT by @) For the Conference ********************** -- Larry Stillman Centre for Community Networking Research Monash University

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Protecting Children in the 21st Century Act (American legislation)
by Kevin Guidry 26 Jan '07

26 Jan '07

For those interested in pending American legislation: Senator Ted Stevens has introduced the Protecting Children in the 21st Century Act. It appears to encompass the provisions of the Deleting Online Predators Act (DOPA) that was unsuccessfully introduced last year as well as some additional material. The text of the bill can be found at http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c110:S.49: Early commentary can be found at http://www.pbs.org/teachersource/learning.now/2007/01/lifting_the_hood_on_d…. I'm sure there there is going to be a whole lot commentary, discussion, and heated debate coming very soon. Kevin

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The CIA and Facebook
by John McNutt 26 Jan '07

26 Jan '07

There is an article in this morning's Chronicle of Higher Education about the Facebook site created by the Central Intelligence Agency. The link is http://chronicle.com/wiredcampus/index.php?id=1830. John John G. McNutt Associate Professor Univ. of South Carolina Columbia, SC 29208 803.777.6258 www.policymagic.org Be ashamed to die until you've won some victory for humanity-Horace Mann The only limit to our realization of tomorrow will be our doubts of today. Franklin D. Roosevelt Nemo repente fuit turpissimus -Juvenal

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