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Call for Participation -- Wikimania 2006 -- Aug. 4 - Aug. 6, Cambridge, MA
by Joseph Reagle 23 Feb '06

23 Feb '06

Call for Participation -- Wikimania 2006 -- Aug. 4 - Aug. 6, Cambridge, MA For more information, see the Wikimania website: http://wikimania.wikimedia.org ----- About Wikimania Wikimania is an annual global event devoted to Wikipedia and other Wikimedia projects. It is both a scientific conference and a community event, open to the public. Wikimania is a place for users and editors of the projects to gather from around the globe, to meet each other, to exchange ideas, and to report on research and projects. This year's conference will be held from 4-6 August, 2006, on the Harvard Law School campus in Cambridge, Massachusetts. We are accepting submissions for papers, posters, presentations, workshops, and discussion groups. We are also accepting nominations for speakers and speaker panels, and suggestions for other activities. Everyone is welcome to submit abstracts and ideas. Be bold in your submissions! ----- Important dates: * 30 Mar 2006: Proposal deadline for workshops and tutorials Notification of acceptance: by April 30 * 15 Apr 2006: Abstracts due for panels, papers, posters and presentations Notification of acceptance: by May 15 * 4-6 Aug 2006: Wikimania ----- Conference Themes Submissions should address one or more of the following themes: * Technical infrastructure -- Issues related to Mediawiki development and extensions; Wikimedia hardware layout; new ideas for development (including case studies from other wikis or similar projects). * Wikimedia projects and content -- Presentation of interesting projects and results; future aims of the projects and types of distribution; ways to improve content quality. New uses for project content: in education, journalism, research, &c. * Free knowledge and access to information -- Present and future free knowledge initiatives; related library and archival projects around the world and input from librarians and archivists; ways to gather and distribute knowledge. * Wiki social science -- The contributors and users (who are they? Where do they come from?); reputation and identity issues; conflict resolution and community dynamics; scaling digital communities. Languages and cultures and their interactions online; multilingualism via wikis. Linguistics studies on wiki communities. * Law and Policy -- Copyleft, collective copyright, special issues pertaining to communal editing and distribution; other legal areas for which Wiki[mp]edia is an interesting case study. Policy creation within individual projects. ----- Submissions Types of Submissions: * Panels (Suggest a group of 2-5 speakers on a specific subject) * Workshops (From 30-120 minutes) * Presentations (10-30 minute presentations/papers) * Posters (Printed presentations or visual displays that can stand on their own) * BOFs (Birds-of-a-Feather/discussion sessions - 45-60 minutes of group discussion) We are also accepting artistic submissions, especially visualizations or other representations of some aspect of the projects. ------ Submission format * All submissions must include a title and an abstract of 100 to 300 words. They should also list the full name (and wiki name if appropriate) of the submitter, with contact information and affiliations. Special requirements for the presentation (equipment for a workshop or panel) should be noted. The abstracts should be provided as plain text, and not as file attachments. * Workshop submissions should include a 1-2pp overview of the areas to be covered or taught. * Speaker panel submissions should include short biographies of each suggested panelist. * Paper and Presentation submissions may include a link to a draft of the paper or slides, if available. State clearly whether the submission concerns a specific wiki project, and whether the presentation is intended to be a specific length. * BOF proposals should describe the significance of and community interest in the topic, and name the proposed discussion leader(s). To process your submission, please see the Wikimania website - http://wikimania.wikimedia.org/wiki/Call_for_papers. Send questions or suggestions to wikimania-cfp <at> wikimedia.org . ----- Final Submissions Final submissions must be provided in an open format (OpenOffice, LaTeX sources, HTML...) and licensed under a free content license (GFDL or CC-BY-SA). ----- Stipends A limited number of stipends will be available to those unable to obtain funding to attend the conference. Accepted presenters are encouraged to apply if assistance is needed. ----

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Re: [Air-l] air-l Digest, Vol 19, Issue 11
by Barry Wellman 23 Feb '06

23 Feb '06

this was invented in the late 1960s by Simon & Garfunkel. They called it "the sound of silence" ;-) But seriously, I would check with the conversation analysts such as Manny Schegloff. They've worried about this stuff for 30 years. Barry _____________________________________________________________________ Barry Wellman Professor of Sociology NetLab Director wellman at chass.utoronto.ca http://www.chass.utoronto.ca/~wellman Centre for Urban & Community Studies University of Toronto 455 Spadina Avenue Toronto Canada M5S 2G8 fax:+1-416-978-7162 To network is to live; to live is to network _____________________________________________________________________ On Thu, 23 Feb 2006 air-l-request(a)listserv.aoir.org wrote: > Date: Thu, 23 Feb 2006 12:02:39 -0800 > From: air-l-request(a)listserv.aoir.org > Reply-To: air-l(a)listserv.aoir.org > To: air-l(a)listserv.aoir.org > Subject: air-l Digest, Vol 19, Issue 11 > > Send air-l mailing list submissions to > air-l(a)listserv.aoir.org > > To subscribe or unsubscribe via the World Wide Web, visit > http://listserv.aoir.org/listinfo.cgi/air-l-aoir.org > or, via email, send a message with subject or body 'help' to > air-l-request(a)listserv.aoir.org > > You can reach the person managing the list at > air-l-owner(a)listserv.aoir.org > > When replying, please edit your Subject line so it is more specific > than "Re: Contents of air-l digest..." > > > Today's Topics: > > 1. SCMC transcription suggestions. (joshua raclaw) > > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > > Message: 1 > Date: Thu, 23 Feb 2006 11:24:24 -0700 > From: joshua raclaw <Joshua.Raclaw(a)colorado.edu> > Subject: [Air-l] SCMC transcription suggestions. > To: air-l(a)listserv.aoir.org > Message-ID: <1140719064.43fdfdd86dc6b(a)webmail.colorado.edu> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 > > Hi all, > > I'm working on a transcription system for transcribing conversations held > through instant messages (specifically, through AIM)- it's based loosely off > of the system used in Garcia and Jacobs 1999 for chatroom data. I'm > interested specifically in doing micro-analyses of the talk, so using logfiles > obtained through the program as data just aren't cutting it. One of my > problems is recording silences in between utterances, since I'm aiming towards > measuring them in tenths of a second, and the only transcription software I'm > aware of can only measure gaps this closely from an audio file. All obvious > lack of sound aside, I'm transcribing directly from a quicktime video file of > the interaction. > > Is anyone aware of a transcription program that can precisely measure silences > straight from a video file? Additionally, any other known examples from books > or articles of non-logfile transcription systems for synchronous CMC would be > appreciated. > > Best, > > Joshua > > > > > > Joshua Raclaw - MA student > Department of Linguistics > University of Colorado at Boulder > http://ucsu.colorado.edu/~raclaw/ > > > ------------------------------ > > _______________________________________________ > 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/ > > End of air-l Digest, Vol 19, Issue 11 > ************************************* >

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Long-distance PhD
by Maria Elisa Peirano 21 Feb '06

21 Feb '06

Dear Air-L members: I joined this group a little unsure about my real belonging to it, until I got that email asking for help regarding a Phd supervisor. Then I knew I was in the right place. My personal situation is one of a kind. I am an argentinian, living in Argentina in the middle of the farm (thank God for broadband) and I am conducting my PhD at a distance with my supervisor who is based in New Zealand. The truth is he has a lot of faith in me. I did my Master in Management supervised by him while I was in New Zealand. We have been working together during the last year, long distance. I have been marking his students' assignments and sending them back through the net. This year I am starting my doctorate with the hope of becoming a distance researcher, that's my career choice. I have a baby, she is five months old and she is the reason I want to work like this. My husband and I are convinced that technology nowadays should enable us possibilities our parents never ever dreamed of. My PhD will be about knowledge creation and communities of practice, my setting will probably be to study a group of agriculture producers currently working in an organization in Argentina. I am also looking for funds to afford my studies. It is extremely difficult for me to apply for grants and research funds beacuse being a long distance PhD does not meet most requirements. I'll be paying tuition fees with my marking work, but I will need other source of funds to be able to conduct the study. I thought I'd tell you my story to see if I could get some help or references. Thanks Maria Elisa Peirano-Vejo Maria Elisa Peirano de Peluffo Direccion: Casilla Postal # 105 Carlos Casares - C.P. 6530 Prov. de Buenos Aires Argentina Tel: 02395 15403047 --------------------------------- Brings words and photos together (easily) with PhotoMail - it's free and works with Yahoo! Mail.

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Re: [Air-l] Long-distance PhD
by Sarah Stewart 21 Feb '06

21 Feb '06

Hello Maria I am doing my PhD by distance as well. I live in New Zealand and am enrolled at the Centre for Online Health at the University of Queensland, Brisbane. Luckily I am able to pop across a couple of times a year to catch up and get a dose of inspiration and motivation. On the whole I find distance supervision very hard. I lose focus easily and find that email/telephone just isn't as good as face-to-face. My advice would be to build up as much support as you can with fellow students and colleagues, and especially with a second supervisor who you can see face-to-face. The other issue is the context of my research is different from what is experienced by my distance supervisor so I have a circle of people I check in with about local contextual issues. regards and good luck Sarah Sarah Stewart Senior Lecturer School of Midwifery Otago Polytechnic Dunedin New Zealand Tel: 0800 762786 sarahs(a)tekotago.ac.nz

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Last day to submit a paper for AoIR conference in September
by Matthew Allen 21 Feb '06

21 Feb '06

Dear all A final reminder that you have 1 day left to complete your submission of abstracts for papers, panels and roundtables for the 7th conference of AoIR in Brisbane in September 2006. The conference is shaping up very nicely with 2 leading academics, one Australian, one Chinese, confirmed as keynote speakers, and a very nice mix of international and local paper presenters on a wide array of topics. There are also several very good workshops being planned (more details to come when they are finalised) including the Doctoral Colloquium. Best wishes Matt Dr Matthew Allen Associate Professor in Internet Studies President Association of Internet Researchers Faculty of Media Society and Culture Curtin University of Technology CRICOS Provider Code 00301J http://smi.curtin.edu.au/NetStudies/allen.htm +61 8 92663511 (v) +61 8 92663166 (f)

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CFP: Persistent Conversation minitrack (HICSS 40)
by Tom Erickson 20 Feb '06

20 Feb '06

CALL FOR PAPERS [online: http://www.visi.com/~snowfall/HICSS_PC.html ] Eighth Annual Minitrack on Persistent Conversation Hawaii International Conference on Systems Science (HICSS 40) Hyatt Regency, Kauai, Hawaii January 4-7, 2006 The Persistent Conversation minitrack and workshop is a yearly gathering of those who design and study systems that support computer-mediated communication. === AT A GLANCE === = Summary of Topic = Persistent conversations occur via instant messaging, text and voice chat, email, blogs, wikis, web boards, MOOs, graphical VR environments, document annotation systems, text messaging on mobile phones, etc. Such forms of conversation play a crucial role in domains such as online communities, the sharing and management of knowledge, and the support of e-commerce, e-learning and other network mediated interactions. The persistence of digitally mediated conversation affords new uses (e.g., searching, replaying, restructuring) and raises new problems. This multi-disciplinary minitrack seeks contributions from researchers and designers that improve our ability to understand, analyze, and/or design persistent conversation systems. = Who = Researchers and designers from fields such as anthropology, computer-mediated communication, HCI, interaction design, linguistics, management, psychology, rhetoric, sociology, and so forth. We also welcome submissions from graduate students. = Chairs = Thomas Erickson, IBM T. J. Watson Research Center (snowfall(a)acm.org) Susan Herring, School of Library and Information Science, Indiana University (herring(a)indiana.edu) = Important Dates* = Fri, Mar 31, 2006: Abstract submission Fri, Apr 14, 2006: Feedback on abstracts Th, June 1, 2006: Paper submission - [Instructions will be on the HICSS site] Tu, Aug 15, 2006: Accept/Conditional Accept/Reject notice To be determined: Resubmission of Conditional Accept papers - Fri Sep 15, 2006: Final publication-ready papers due - Fri Sep 15, 2006: One author must register for HICSS - ---------- * For other dates, such as end of early registration and hotel deadlines, see the official HICSS conference site === DETAILS === = 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. The phenomena of interest include human-to-human interactions carried out using chat, instant messaging, text messaging, email, blogs, wikis, mailing lists, newsgroups, bulletin board systems, multi-authored Web documents, structured conversation systems, textual and graphical virtual worlds, etc. Computer-mediated conversations blend characteristics of oral conversation with those of written text: they may be synchronous or asynchronous; their audience may be small or vast; they may be highly structured or almost amorphous; etc. The persistence of such conversations gives them the potential to be searched, browsed, replayed, annotated, visualized, restructured, and recontextualized, thus opening the door to a variety of new uses and practices. The particular aim of the minitrack and workshop is to bring together researchers who analyze existing computer-mediated conversational practices and sites, with designers who propose, implement, or deploy new types of conversational systems. By bringing together participants from such diverse areas as anthropology, computer-mediated communication, HCI, interaction design, linguistics, management, psychology, rhetoric, sociology, and the like, we hope that the work of each may inform the others, suggesting new questions, methods, perspectives, and design approaches. = 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., USENET) * 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 For other examples see the list of previous years' papers: http://www.visi.com/~snowfall/HICSS_PC_History.html = The Workshop = The minitrack is normally preceded by a half-day workshop open to all minitrack authors, as well as those who will form the core audience for the minitrack. We will know whether the workshop has been accepted for HICSS 2007 in early April. Watch the online version of this call for more details: http://www.visi.com/~snowfall/HICSS_PC.html = Instructions for Abstract Submission = Submit a 250 word abstract of your proposed paper via email to the chairs: Tom Erickson <snowfall(a)acm.org>, Susan Herring <herring(a)indiana.edu> by the deadline noted above. = Instructions for Paper Submission = * HICSS papers must contain original material not previously published, or currently submitted elsewhere. All papers will be submitted in double column publication format and limited to 10 pages including diagrams and references. Papers undergo a double-blind review. * Do not submit the manuscript to more than one Minitrack. If unsure which Minitrack is appropriate, submit the abstract to the Track Chair for guidance. * Submit your full paper according to the instructions that will appear on the HICSS web site: http://www.hicss.hawaii.edu/ = For More Information = * This call for participation, etc.: http://www.visi.com/~snowfall/HICSS_PC.html * History (papers and participants in previous minitracks): http://www.visi.com/~snowfall/HICSS_PC_History.html * About the minitrack, contact: snowfall(a)acm.org, herring(a)indiana.edu * About the HICSS conference, see: http://www.hicss.hawaii.edu/ === END, HICSS PERSISTENT CONVERSATION CFP === -- ------------------------------------------ Tom Erickson IBM T.J. Watson Research Center Email: snowfall(a)acm.org (preferred); snowfall(a)us.ibm.com(IBM confidential) http://www.visi.com/~snowfall/

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Re: [Air-l] social networking websites research/grad student questions
by Caroline Haythornthwaite 20 Feb '06

20 Feb '06

A decision between a Business and an Information Science degree comes down to who you want to teach when done, and which disciplinary practices and knowledge you want to be embedded in. If you want to teach future business people, then it's best to go for a business degree. If you want to teach future librarians and/or information scientists, its an LIS or Information Studies degree. There are also communications schools to consider; many now have people working on virtual community -- mixed with an organizational communication focus you might bridge the business and information worlds. Another angle to consider is if you intend to build the virtual community software (a computing orientation), help people use them (information studies), market them (business), or study them as social phenomenon (information studies, communications, sociology). I think the best thing is to see whose research you like best -- i.e., that is closest to what you want to do -- and then see where they work. Consider the papers you are reading and see where these people work. That will give you an idea of where the work you want to do is best accepted. /Caroline ---- Original message ---- >Date: Sun, 19 Feb 2006 16:47:54 +0100 >From: Maciej Kos <kos(a)gnu.univ.gda.pl> >Subject: [Air-l] social networking websites research/grad student questions >To: air-l(a)listserv.aoir.org > >Dear All, > >Last year I graduated from Master's program in economics with minor in >e-business. I wrote my thesis on "virtual communities as a new channel >of Internet marketing communications". I wanted to pursue (I still do) a >career in research so it was clear to me, I should apply to PhD program >in economics, especially that I was offered a faculty position at my >home economics/e-business department. My research interests are: virtual >communities, WEB 2.0, Internet marketing. My Ph D's preliminary working >title is "Social networking websites (Web 2.0) as a new way of >organizing and evaluating information on the web. What is a lesson to >learnt for on line marketeers?". I would like to describe what Web 2.0 >is, how it is affecting the way we look for information, evaluate it and >how it's affecting our buying behaviors. > >I spent last few months on digging through research papers related to >this topic. I was also trying to find a thesis supervisor. These two >things led me to a belief that perhaps my interests are more of >information studies, rather than business ones. I have a really hard >time finding anyone at my university with expertise in virtual >communities, etc. > >1) If you were in my shoes, would you choose: >a) Information studies program or >b) Marketing program? > >2) Which program is easier to get it: >a) Information studies program or >b) Marketing program? > >3) Do you know of anybody, whose expertise would benefit my research? I >am considering going to a different university for some time as a >visiting scholar (Europe/USA). >4) Which places (universities/programs) would you recommend as best ones >to do an interdisciplinary research into the Internet? > >5) Do Information and Business PhDs' salaries differ significantly: >a) inside academia >b) outside of academia > >There is nobody at my university to mentor me or to supervise my >dissertation, so I feel a little lost. Your help would be very much >appreciated. > >Best Regards, >M.K. > > > > > >_______________________________________________ >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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FOAF and privacy
by Rowin Young 20 Feb '06

20 Feb '06

Hello all, I wondered if anyone had any opinions or could recommend good material on the FOAF (friend of a friend) project, particularly in relation to the privacy of the people who are listed on (so called!) friends' foaf files without their knowledge or permission. I did find one very interesting article at http://www.w3.org/2001/sw/Europe/events/foaf-galway/papers/fp/technical_and_ privacy_challenges/, but one thing that struck me was the quite aggressive tone (I felt) it took in the discussion of privacy, stressing that the data owner has the right to do what they want with their data, and the data subject has no rights over information about them. I'd be interested to know if this is the case in UK law as well as US. Many thanks for any thoughts or insights on this! Dr Rowin Young University of Strathclyde

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social networking websites research/grad student questions
by Maciej Kos 19 Feb '06

19 Feb '06

Dear All, Last year I graduated from Master's program in economics with minor in e-business. I wrote my thesis on "virtual communities as a new channel of Internet marketing communications". I wanted to pursue (I still do) a career in research so it was clear to me, I should apply to PhD program in economics, especially that I was offered a faculty position at my home economics/e-business department. My research interests are: virtual communities, WEB 2.0, Internet marketing. My Ph D's preliminary working title is "Social networking websites (Web 2.0) as a new way of organizing and evaluating information on the web. What is a lesson to learnt for on line marketeers?". I would like to describe what Web 2.0 is, how it is affecting the way we look for information, evaluate it and how it's affecting our buying behaviors. I spent last few months on digging through research papers related to this topic. I was also trying to find a thesis supervisor. These two things led me to a belief that perhaps my interests are more of information studies, rather than business ones. I have a really hard time finding anyone at my university with expertise in virtual communities, etc. 1) If you were in my shoes, would you choose: a) Information studies program or b) Marketing program? 2) Which program is easier to get it: a) Information studies program or b) Marketing program? 3) Do you know of anybody, whose expertise would benefit my research? I am considering going to a different university for some time as a visiting scholar (Europe/USA). 4) Which places (universities/programs) would you recommend as best ones to do an interdisciplinary research into the Internet? 5) Do Information and Business PhDs' salaries differ significantly: a) inside academia b) outside of academia There is nobody at my university to mentor me or to supervise my dissertation, so I feel a little lost. Your help would be very much appreciated. Best Regards, M.K.

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Studying Wikipedia, studying humans?
by Jeremy Hunsinger 17 Feb '06

17 Feb '06

I was reading over some wikipedia policies and related things this morning and once again the perennial question arose... at what point is studying wikipedia... studying humans? granted that wikipedia is much larger than the human content, with both its technical infrastructures and bots. However, this wouldn't be a question for studying the Britannica as a 'book', though it might be a an issue in studying the production of the encyclopedia in situ via ethnography or other workplace studies methods. So where would you mark the difference in wikipedia? When are you studying an object, vs a human subject in wikipedia, or... is the distinction not clear enough to differentiate because of the interaction collapses the distinction? Thoughts? Jeremy Hunsinger Center for Digital Discourse and Culture () ascii ribbon campaign - against html mail /\ - against microsoft attachments http://www.aoir.org The Association of Internet Researchers http://www.stswiki.org/ stswiki

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