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Re: internet research and confidentiality
by Michele H Jackson 21 Dec '04

21 Dec '04

Hi - About a year ago, I polled list members about this and received great answers, most of which are included in the ethics guideline Mark Johns pointed to. HOWEVER, we found that our IRB here at CU was not very well educated on online communication and interaction, so I would add two things: (1) be very explicit in describing what the data are, and use layperson's language. (2) work from your institutions PI Handbook/Guidelines for "exempt" research. Publicly available discourse/public discourse is "exempt" (for example, rhetoricians who study political speeches don't have to change the name of the politicians they are studying). We were able to get exempt approval (which usually does not require informed consent and may not require confidentiality) by making clear that we were analyzing publicly available *texts.* Good luck - mj ----------------------------------------------------------------- Michele H. Jackson | jackson(a)colorado.edu Associate Professor | http://comm.colorado.edu/jackson Department of Communication | v:303-492-8139 University of Colorado | f:303-492-8411 Boulder, CO 80309-0270 | ----------------------------------------------------------------- Graduate Study in Group Interaction at CU. see http://comm.colorado.edu/whitec/groupinteraction Associate Editor, Women's Studies in Communication. see http://www.orwac.org/

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Re: Re: [Air-l] internet research and confidentiality
by Oriana Solta Gatta 21 Dec '04

21 Dec '04

Hello again, Thank you for the informative and thought-provoking responses to my questions. I think I will need to alternately consider blogs both public information and information that requires consent to use. Since my research will explore the interactions between blogging practices and identity construction, I intend to dialogue with bloggers (in addition to peforming a content and formal analysis of the blogs). I think this dialogue should include asking permission to use the blogs and the communication between us, since the relationship between the blog and the individual's personal identity will be an important part of my analysis. Elijah, I think looking at the "public information" wording of your IRB form will be helpful to the extent that it can explain the minimal risk bloggers would incur above and beyond everyday interaction. Again, your insights are much appreciated, Oriana Gatta M.A. Candidate Georgia State University -----Original Message----- From: elijah wright <elw(a)stderr.org> To: air-l(a)listserv.aoir.org Date: Tue, 21 Dec 2004 10:29:05 -0600 (CST) Subject: Re: [Air-l] internet research and confidentiality Our IRB here (Indiana University) has taken the stance, with some coaxing from us, of considering weblogs public information - and thus not requiring any anonymization whatsoever. You should probably be prepared to fend off an angry message or two from bloggers who do not appreciate that you're using their blog in your research; people will probably figure out that something's going on from reading their referer logs. If you think that it would help, I think we could probably share the language we used in our last IRB applications in order to address just this issue. My personal understanding of the situation is that the information is public, but that you should certainly treat individuals with as much care and as ethically as possible. For our purposes (largely examination of genre characteristics and coding of features) the characteristics of individuals do not often seem to pose a problem, but for many types of study (for example, a piece of research that discusses blogging about sexual orientation or drug use) there may be repercussions for the studied blogger that need to be taken into very careful consideration. --elijah IU SLIS / Blog Research on Genre project http://www.blogninja.com > I am now in the middle of filling out an IRB form for research that I > intend to do on blogging practices, and it seems that any research done > on "human subjects" must keep personally identifying information > confidential. This is a difficult issue, since one's username and blog > title would identify an individual, but they may also be understood as > published/public information. If anyone has encountered a similar > situation and can advise as to how I should proceed or who can offer > research references that deal with this issue, that would be much > appreciated. > Take care, > Oriana Gatta > Women's Studies M.A. candidate > Georgia State University _______________________________________________ The Air-l-aoir.org(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://aoir.org/airjoin.html

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Question about undergrad courses on computing for Biology
by mboudour＠upatras.gr 21 Dec '04

21 Dec '04

Hello Air, Next semester I am going to teach an undergrad course on computing for students of Biology in my University. Up to last year, I was just coordinating a group of co-workers graduate students who were presenting the elements and history of computing and the Internet together with some very introductory lessons on how to use MS Office and to surf the net. Since our students' computer literacy is becoming better every year and it appears in the recent years that almost all of them already have acquired a satisfactory level of computer skills (either by their own or in high school), I was thinking to do something more interesting this year. What I would like to do in this course might be an introduction to elementary ideas in CMC and a first discussion of the social impact of new media. Moreover, I was thinking of presenting some basic ideas of how the configurations of distributed knowledge or e-science might be used by Biology students and professionals. So, I would like to ask you to give me your suggestions about possible undergrad courses on computing for Biology or other relevant introductory courses that you might know (and that are around basic CMC and impact or e-science facts). Of course, net resources (links of syllabi, online courses etc.) are mostly welcomed. Best, --Moses M.A. Boudourides Associate Professor Department of Mathematics University of Patras 265 00 Rio-Patras Greece Tel.: +30-2610-996318 Fax: +30-2610-996318, +30-2610-992965 http://www.math.upatras.gr/~mboudour

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second Yale ISP / IJCLP writing competition announcement: deadline February 1, 2005
by Rotenberg, Boris 21 Dec '04

21 Dec '04

http://www.ijclp.org http://islandia.law.yale.edu/isp/GlobalFlow/writingcompetition.html The Yale Law School Information Society Project ( ISP ), The Yale Journal of Law & Technology (YJoLT) and the International Journal of Communications Law and Policy ( IJCLP ) are pleased to announce their second interdisciplinary writing competition and a call for papers in conjunction with The Global Flow of Information Conference taking place on April 1-3, 2005 at Yale Law School. We invite students, scholars, policy makers, activists and practitioners to submit papers for the writing competition and/or for publication by YJoLT/IJCLP. Conference Description Patterns of information flow are one of the most important factors shaping globalization. Today individuals, groups, countries, and international organizations are trying to promote and control the flow of different kinds of information across national borders— information ranging from intellectual property and scientific research to political discourse, brand names and cultural symbols. And digitally networked environments subject information to ever new methods of distribution and manipulation. Fights over information flow are going to help define who holds power in the global information economy. The groundbreaking conference on Global Flows of Information, will explore these emerging patterns of information flow, and their political, economic, social, and cultural consequences. We will be looking at the following key questions in six different contexts: (1) governance; (2) economics; (3) culture; (4) politics; (5) science; (6) warfare: Can the flow of information across borders be controlled? If so, how? Whose interests are going to be affected by flows of information across borders? Who will be empowered and who will lose influence and authority? What role can or should law play in securing freedoms, rights, and democratic accountability as individuals, groups, and nations struggle over control of information flows? What lessons can we learn about how to regulate information flow from past experience with other kinds of flow across borders— for example, flows of goods, services, people, and capital? For a full conference description, list of speakers, schedule, and resources, please visit the Yale ISP web site ( http://islandia.law.yale.edu/isp/ ). Writing Competition Submissions for the writing competition must be received by noon EST, February 1st, 2005. The author of the best paper, as well as two runners-up will be invited to present their work at a panel during the conference. The author of the winning paper will receive coverage of his/her travel to and accommodations at Yale University for the conference. Selected papers will be announced by March 1st, 2005. The authors of the award-winning papers will automatically be invited to publish their work in special Fall 2005 volumes of the Yale Journal of Law & Technology (http://yjolt.org) and the International Journal of Communications Law and Policy ( http://www.ijclp.org ) devoted to the conference topic. Journal Publication Submissions for publication must be received by noon EST, May 1st, 2005 . The selection committee, composed of the editorial boards of YJoLT and IJCLP, will review and consider all submissions for publication in the special Fall Volume 2005 of the journals, including submissions for the writing competition. Authors will be notified of acceptance by June 1st, 2005. The journals reserve the right to decide which journal will publish which work, based on the journals' respective audiences and editorial expertise. Submission Guidelines All submissions should be written in English in .doc or .pdf format. They should conform to academic citation standards, be no longer than 25,000 words, and include an abstract of up to 250 words. Submissions should be e-mailed simultaneously to Simone Bonetti (simo.bonetti(a)tiscalinet.it) and Boris Rotenberg (boris_rotenberg(a)yahoo.it) lead editors IJCLP; as well as to Lawrence Cogswell (lawrence.cogswell(a)yale.edu) Editor-in-Chief, YJoLT. Inquiries may be addressed to any of the above.

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Call for Papers for International Symposium on Online Journalism
by jeremy hunsinger 20 Dec '04

20 Dec '04

> 2005 Call for Papers for International Symposium on Online Journalism > April 8-9, Austin, Texas > Submit Today! > Deadline: February 11, 2005 > > For the second year, the International Symposium on Online Journalism > will > include presentations of original research into online journalism. All > presentations will take place on the second day of the conference. The > first > day is devoted to presentations and panels of online journalism > professionals. > Prior symposia have included representatives of the NYTimes.com, > MSNBC.com and > WashingtonPost.com. > > Deadlines for papers or three-page abstracts: February 11, 2005. > > Submission requirements: Academic papers should present original > research into > any aspect on online journalism including, but not limited to, changes > in news > content and presentation, business models for online journalism, > shifting roles > of journalists and readers, and the legal and ethical implications of > globally > accessible journalism. > > Papers should not have been published or presented at a prior > conference. If a > completed paper is not yet available, please submit a three-page > abstract > including details on research questions and methodology. Papers should > be > completed by time of the conference. All submissions will undergo a > blind > review. Authors will be notified of acceptance by February 28, 2005. > All > submissions should be made electronically to: onlinesymp(a)yahoo.com. > More information and instructions available at: > http://journalism.utexas.edu/onlinejournalism/05callforpapers.html > > jeremy hunsinger jhuns(a)vt.edu www.cddc.vt.edu jeremy.tmttlt.com www.tmttlt.com () ascii ribbon campaign - against html mail /\ - against microsoft attachments Jeremy Hunsinger Center for Digital Discourse and Culture () ascii ribbon campaign - against html mail /\ - against microsoft attachments

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Cybersafety Conference - call for papers
by Vicki Nash 20 Dec '04

20 Dec '04

Dear Colleagues, The Oxford Internet Institute is issuing a Call for Papers for a major conference in 2005 on the value choices and conflicts surrounding cybersafety in a converged world. Abstracts should be submitted to cybersafety(a)oii.ox.ac.uk by March 11th 2005. For further information please see our website at <http://www.oii.ox.ac.uk/cybersafety> http://www.oii.ox.ac.uk/cybersafety best wishes Vicki Nash Dr Victoria Nash Policy and Research Officer 01865 287231 Oxford Internet Institute University of Oxford 1, St Giles OX1 3JS www.oii.ox.ac.uk <http://www.oii.ox.ac.uk/>

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Collaborative online dictionaries (etc.)
by Lauren Squires 19 Dec '04

19 Dec '04

Sincerest apologies if this has gone out before; I seem to be having trouble getting it to go through. Dear AoIRers, I'm working on a project looking at open content/collaborative reference sites, namely English-language dictionaries, such as Urban Dictionary and Wiktionary. Two questions: 1. Does anyone know of other such online dictionaries, which allow users themselves to define the entries? (I've googled fruitlessly.) 2. Does anyone have any references (articles, chapters, etc.) about collaborative reference projects? More specifically about the possibilities they pose for "democratization" (buzzword) of knowledge/language? I can take responses off-list. Thanks, Lauren ps - If there's something I'm missing here about the difference between "collaborative," "open content," and "wiki" (aside from the fact that the latter is branded), I'd also be grateful for terminological clarification! ---- Lauren Squires Linguistics Program University of Virginia *** http://polyglotconspiracy.net

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future of online media
by Philipp Budka 19 Dec '04

19 Dec '04

Hi all, Take a fascinating look into the future of online media and journalism: http://www.letitblog.com/epic/ "In the year 2014, The New York Times has gone offline." cheers, Philipp -- Philipp Budka philbu(a)gmx.net Rustengasse 5/10 A-1150 Wien, Austria http://www.philbu.net http://www.lateinamerika-studien.at -- NEU +++ DSL Komplett von GMX +++ http://www.gmx.net/de/go/dsl GMX DSL-Netzanschluss + Tarif zum superg�nstigen Komplett-Preis!

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folder and file names as direct speech
by David Palfreyman 17 Dec '04

17 Dec '04

Hi all, In recent weeks I've noticed an interesting phenomenon on our large and volatile university shared drive (a "scratch" drive accessible to all faculty and students, which is wiped clean once a week). Students are using folder names and file names as public announcements. For example, a student might put a folder on the scratch drive called "Last Samurai here plz", asking any student who has the film to upload it to there for her to copy. There's one today called "plzzzz we need the new version of adobe photoshop". There's also a folder called "movies", containing (among other things) a text file with the following name: "can u put ur requests in this (Text document and not folders) cuz we dont know which folder contains something or not and have to enter each ONE.txt" People also use the drive for backing up their data for short periods (e.g. for transfer between computers); last week I found a folder on the scratch drive called "Please don't touch my documents". Of course I opened it :-) and found just one subfolder called "I'm warning you". Opening that I got a single subsubfolder called "Shame on you", and within that was one called "everything", which contained the student's data. Do institutions in other parts of the world have a drive like this? Do similar things happen there? David Palfreyman Dubai :-D

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cfp: blogtalk in Sydney
by Adrian Miles 15 Dec '04

15 Dec '04

Please feel free to redistribute: Call for Papers BlogTalk Downunder Sydney, 20 & 21 May, 2005 An official call for papers that address any of the conference themes, but not restricted to these, is announced. Papers are welcomed from academics or practitioners across all levels and disciplines. Early career researchers and students are also encouraged to submit abstracts for papers. Suggested conference themes: Weblogs in education Weblogs in language & literacy Weblog application tools / software Weblogs in organisations Weblogs as a medium: genres, styles, aesthetics, discourse etc Weblogs in social studies Weblogs in journalism Weblogs in cultural studies Weblogs in political arenas Weblogs & technologies – RSS, graph theory, network mapping Weblogs and knowledge management Emergent trends – including moblogging, audio-blogging, vlogs Future issues Abstracts of no more than 500 words are required in Word format – emailed to: Anne.Bartlett-Bragg(a)uts.edu.au Please include: Your name Position Institution or Organisation email contact URL (if relevant) Acknowledgement will be sent via email within 48 hours of receipt. Key Dates: Submission of abstracts 31 January, 2005 Paper acceptance 28 February, 2005 Final versions of papers 31 March, 2005 Final Papers: Final papers are due by 31 March, 2005. A maximum of 3,000 words. Paper presentations will be a maximum of 20 minutes, with 10 minutes for discussion. All papers accepted will be blind refereed by 3 people and eligible for DEST. Workshop Sessions: Submissions to conduct a half-day (3 hour) workshop are also welcomed. A detailed outline, including objectives and topics to be covered, will be reviewed by the organising committee. Participant attendance will be at additional cost to conference registration. Costs of the workshop and fees will be negotiated with presenters. cheers Adrian Miles +++++++++++++++++++++ http://hypertext.rmit.edu.au/vog/vlog/

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