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Tech Active: London, 28 June
by csandvig＠uiuc.edu 18 Jun '04

18 Jun '04

Dear AIR colleagues, The attached event might be of interest. Christian -- http://www.niftyc.org/ Please forward as appropriate. ************************ TECH ACTIVE A panel discussion in London on 28 June 2004. Activists, scholars, and programmers have sometimes seen the Internet as a lever they can use to change the world, or they have seen the world as a lever they can use to change their Internet -- for the cause of privacy, liberty, democracy, or equity, among others. Where has this online activism about social justice faltered and how has it triumphed? If you own a computer and a conscience, please join influential activist/scholars to consider the meaning and practice of online activism. What has changed after all this effort, and what might change if we get it right? Details: Monday, 28 June 2004 A panel discussion from 15:00 to about 17:00, with drinks to follow, at the Stanhope Centre for Communications Policy Research (tube: Marble Arch, use exit #11 from the Hyde Park pedestrian subway) Stanhope House, Stanhope Place (at Hyde Park), London W2 2HH Free and open to the public; no advance booking is required. Featuring: *** Nerd Determinism, Nerd Fatalism, and the Copyfight *** CORY DOCTOROW is the European Affairs Coordinator of the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a contributing editor at Wired magazine, and a Visiting Lecturer in the Faculty of Engineering at Yale University. *** Civil Society Bites, and other Privacy Failures *** GUS HOSEIN is a Fellow in Information Systems at the London School of Economics, a Senior Fellow at Privacy International, and an advisor to non-governmental organizations in Europe and the US. *** Online Activism in Raced and Queer Media Spaces *** LISA NAKAMURA is Assistant Professor of Communication Arts and Visual Culture Studies at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, the author of Cybertypes and co-editor of Race In Cyberspace. *** If You're Going to Play the Game, You Need to Play it Well *** BILL THOMPSON is a writer and journalist for BBC Radio and BBC News Online, an external lecturer at City University, a research associate with the iSociety project, and an editorial advisor to OpenDemocracy.net. This event is hosted by the Stanhope Centre for Communications Policy Research, and kindly co-sponsored by the Computer Professionals for Social Responsibility and The Internet Society of England. For more information: http://www.stanhopecentre.org/ info(a)stanhopecentre.org Tel. +44 (0) 207 479 5900

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re: [Air-l] question about interview language for online/offline distinction
by Sal Humphreys 17 Jun '04

17 Jun '04

I too have been interested in how to frame the distinction or lack of distinction between on and offline spaces. One of the things that struck me in a recent set of interviews with online gamers, was that some had a kind of instrumental use of the terminology 'RL'. It seemed to be a way of resolving what would otherwise be some very troublesome contradictions in their lives. For instance, a woman who is 'happily married', has an avowed commitment to monogamy, and who spends up to 40 hours a week in the game, where she has about 6 different characters, all married to other players' characters, some with an accompanying intense emotional involvement, most with online cybersex involvements. For her, invoking RL also allows her to rationalise her in-game involvements as not RL and therefore not at all contradictory to her stance on marriage and monogamy. Granted, game worlds specifically give people a licence to create and live fantasy, unlike some other online environments spoken of in the list discussion, but the convenience of the term RL for people living with a series of contradictions about their lives did strike me as a possible reason for its use. Not suggesting it is a universal....just a small observation. cheers Sal Humphreys Creative Industries Faculty Queensland University of Technology

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tools for social networking at conferences (fwd)
by Caroline Haythornthwaite 17 Jun '04

17 Jun '04

There are two projects I know of. One is called IKNOW, developed by Nosh Contractor at UIUC. Participants can pre-enter their interests and IKnow then shows the social networks among them based on their interests. http://www.spcomm.uiuc.edu/Projects/TECLAB/IKNOW/ The other is a system called Intellibadge, lead developer Donna Cox, using RFID badges to capture and display co-participation at conferences http://intellibadge.ncsa.uiuc.edu/index.htm Both are useful for conferences. The Intellibadge requires physical devices, but IKnow does not. /Caroline --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Caroline Haythornthwaite (haythorn(a)uiuc.edu) www.lis.uiuc.edu/~haythorn Associate Professor, Graduate School of Library and Information Science University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- On Wed, 16 Jun 2004, Kris Markman wrote: > Dear AoIR folk, > I'm part of a group of graduate students at the > Univ. of Texas working on a consulting project > for the organizers of the 2006 World Congress of > Information Technology > (http://www.wcit2006.org/) One of our projects > is to come up with recommendations for > technologies that can enhance the social > networking of conference delegates during and > after the conference. We're looking for ways that > different devices and applications (and > especially ones that make use of wireless & > mobile technology) can help conference delegates > track, find and manage contacts and extend > face-to-face discussions during the conference, > and help them continue networking after they've > left. > > I'm interested to know if any of you have ever > attended or organized a conference (professional, > academic, industry, or other) where technology > was used in interesting/useful/innovated ways > specifically to enhance social networking. I'd > like to get an idea of what kinds of things have > been done (successfully and unsuccessfully) in > the past as we develop our plans for this project. > > Please feel free to share your experiences and insights with me off list. > > Thanks! > -Kris > -- > ffffff ffffff ffffff ffffff > Kris M. Markman, M.A., Ph.D. Candidate > Dept. of Communication Studies > The University of Texas at Austin > 1 University Station Stop A1105 > Austin, TX 78712-0115 > Email: jho-kmm(a)mail.utexas.edu > ffffff ffffff ffffff ffffff > > > > _______________________________________________ > Air-l mailing list > Air-l(a)aoir.org > http://www.aoir.org/mailman/listinfo/air-l >

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question about interview language for online/offline distinction
by andrea baker 17 Jun '04

17 Jun '04

Mary, you raise a very interesting question. To add to what Annette said I could propose that *f2f* (face-to-face) or ftf might fill work with *online*. Like her, I tend to use online/offline which works best for studies emphasizing online interactions, I agree. Distinctions used: online/offline online/f2f OL/IRL or RL virtual reality/physical space cyberspace/meatspace The last is controversial among some for perhaps obvious reasons. I have found it useful to discuss comparative features of the two realms. Virtual reality vs. physical space or physical reality have served us in times past but seem dated also, even more than online/offline. What terms do young people use? As you note, their realities are more seamless, what with phone, IM, maybe texting...And yet, meeting "in person" retains a distinct flavor of its own, methinks. best, andrea (andee)

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Re: [Air-l] question about cyberspace ethnography literature
by Anne Beaulieu 17 Jun '04

17 Jun '04

Besides the excellent suggestions already mentionned, you might want to look at a recent paper called 'Mediating Ethnography', in which I analyse how ethnographic approaches have been adapted to the study of the Internet. Blogs are also specifically discussed, as a way of adapting intersubjectivity to a virtual context. A pre-print is available here: http://www.niwi.knaw.nl/en/nerdi2/group_members/a/publ/toon The following is another valuable resource where lots of virtual ethnography researchers and literature can be found: http://www.lse.ac.uk/collections/ethnobase/ Looking forward to your article! Anne -- Dr Anne Beaulieu Networked research and digital information KNAW-Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Science Joan Muyskenweg 25 Postbus 95110 1090 HC Amsterdam The Netherlands tel: (31)(20)462-8739 fax: (31(20)665-8013 http://www.niwi.knaw.nl/en/nerdi2/group_members/a/toon >>> "Alireza Doostdar" <alireza(a)doostdar.com> 16/06/2004 15:37:51 >>> Dear AoIRs, I'm in the process of revising a paper I've submitted to the American Anthropologist about blogging in Iran, which I've titled "'The Vulgar Spirit of Blogging': On Language, Culture, and Power in Persian Weblogestan". My ethnographic research consisted in part of maintaining a Persian-language blog where I wrote observations and commentary on a debate that was raging among many Iranian bloggers at the time on "vulgar" linguistic and cultural practices, and where I engaged in conversations with other bloggers. In my paper, I reflect on my methods of drawing attention to my own words on my blog (through hyperlinking, explicitly invoking other people's blog entries, sending trackback pings, making provocative statements, etc) so as to get comments from other people, and I analyze these methods within a larger context of communicative practices by bloggers who write to be noticed and who need to be noticed in order to be read. Based on this and other analyses, I conceptualize blogging (in the Persian language at least) as an emergent speech genre (in the Bakhtinian sense) that draws on various on- and off-line genres of speech. One of my reviewers has asked that I situate my intensively engaged ethnographic method within a literature of cyberspace ethnography that discusses such engagement (and other methods, like lurking) and the relevant theoretical and ethical issues. I already have several pieces I can use, including Christine Hine's "Virtual Ethnography" and David Hakken's "Cyborgs@Cyberspace?". I would TREMENDOUSLY appreciate pointers on other relevant literature, preferably things I can get my hands on fast, as my revisions are due by Monday! Thank you in advance, -Alireza _______________________________________________ Air-l mailing list Air-l(a)aoir.org http://www.aoir.org/mailman/listinfo/air-l

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Literature about redevelopments of commercial web sites.
by Fernando Alonso 17 Jun '04

17 Jun '04

Dear colleagues I am looking for studies concerning the redevelopments of commercial web sites. I'm interested in good case studies describing the process of particular projects in SMEs but specially in conceptual papers describing general guidelines, lessons, critical success factors, evaluation of success...etc. Summary of responses will be posted. Sincerely, Fernando Alonso

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tools for social networking at conferences
by Kris Markman 16 Jun '04

16 Jun '04

Dear AoIR folk, I'm part of a group of graduate students at the Univ. of Texas working on a consulting project for the organizers of the 2006 World Congress of Information Technology (http://www.wcit2006.org/) One of our projects is to come up with recommendations for technologies that can enhance the social networking of conference delegates during and after the conference. We're looking for ways that different devices and applications (and especially ones that make use of wireless & mobile technology) can help conference delegates track, find and manage contacts and extend face-to-face discussions during the conference, and help them continue networking after they've left. I'm interested to know if any of you have ever attended or organized a conference (professional, academic, industry, or other) where technology was used in interesting/useful/innovated ways specifically to enhance social networking. I'd like to get an idea of what kinds of things have been done (successfully and unsuccessfully) in the past as we develop our plans for this project. Please feel free to share your experiences and insights with me off list. Thanks! -Kris -- Kris M. Markman, M.A., Ph.D. Candidate Dept. of Communication Studies The University of Texas at Austin 1 University Station Stop A1105 Austin, TX 78712-0115 Email: jho-kmm(a)mail.utexas.edu

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question about cyberspace ethnography literature
by amarkham 16 Jun '04

16 Jun '04

Off the top of my head (or from my Internet browser bookmarks), I would recommend: Baym, N. (2000). _Tune in, Log on_. (Sage publishers). And I'll add my own book, _Life Online: Researching real experience in virtual space_. (Alta Mira Press, 1998). Also see an overview of issues related to ethics and representation in online ethnography: Markham, A.: "Reconsidering Self and Other: The methods, politics, and ethics of representation in Online Ethnography." In N. Denzin and Y. Lincoln (Eds.). Handbook of Qualitative Research. (forthcoming) Online draft here: http://ascend.comm.uic.edu/~amarkham/writing/denzinlincoln.htm Johns, M. D., Chen, S. L. S., & Hall, G. J. (Eds.). (2003). _Online social research: Methods, issues, and ethics_. (Peter Lang Press). (good edited collection with many issues addressed) Buchanan, E. (2004). Readings in Virtual Research Ethics: Issues and controversies. (Information Science Publishing) (includes many relevant readings in online qualitative research methods/ethics. Many good chapters. I'll mention here Malin Sveningsson's chapter "Ethics in Internet Ethnography," which provides a good overview of some major issues.) Eichhorn, K. (2001). Sites unseen: Ethnographic research in a textual community. International journal of Qualitative studies in Education, 14 (4), 565-578. Special issue on internet research ethics. Ethics and Information Technolog http://www.nyu.edu/projects/nissenbaum/ethics_ess.html. and, of course, the recommendations of the AOIR working committee on ethics:www.aoir.org/reports/ethics.pdf Hope these are of some use to you, Annette Markham - Show quoted text - On Wed, 16 Jun 2004 20:01:48 +0200, Maja van der Velden <maja(a)globalagenda.org> wrote: > > To Alireza, > > Blogging thoughts: personal publication as an online research tool > by Mortensen, T. and J. Walker (2003), > www.intermedia.uio.no/konferanser/skikt-02/docs/ > Researching_ICTs_in_context-Ch11-Mortensen-Walker.pdf > > Success, Maja > > > On Jun 16, 2004, at 3:37 PM, Alireza Doostdar wrote: > > One of my reviewers has asked that I situate my intensively engaged > > ethnographic method within a literature of cyberspace ethnography that > > discusses such engagement (and other methods, like lurking) and the > > relevant theoretical and ethical issues. I already have several pieces > > I > > can use, including Christine Hine's "Virtual Ethnography" and David > > Hakken's "Cyborgs@Cyberspace?". I would TREMENDOUSLY appreciate > > pointers > > on other relevant literature, preferably things I can get my hands on > > fast, as my revisions are due by Monday! > > > > > Maja van der Velden > http://www.globalagenda.org > > > > > _______________________________________________ > Air-l mailing list > Air-l(a)aoir.org > http://www.aoir.org/mailman/listinfo/air-l > Annette N. Markham, Ph.D. Assistant Professor Department of Communication (M/C 132) 1007 W. Harrison Street Chicago, IL 60607-7137 amarkham(a)uic.edu http://ascend.comm.uic.edu/~amarkham/

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Re: question about cyberspace ethnography literature from Alizera Doostdar
by Andrew Wenn 16 Jun '04

16 Jun '04

On 17/6/04 2:00 AM, "air-l-request(a)aoir.org" <air-l-request(a)aoir.org> wrote: [snip] Hi Alireza, Sounds like a very interesting paper. I am a little surprised that the two authors you mention weren't enough to keep the reviewers happy. However that is part and parcel of the review process. I haven't kept terribly up to date with the literature on ethnography in cyberspace. One book that you might try and track down is: Markham, A. N. 1998, 'Life Online: Researching Real-Life Experience in Virtual Space', AltaMira, Walnut Creek, CA. I found it a good reflective ethnography and an excellent read. I have just looked at a couple of recent issues of New Media and Society and come across this article: Fernback, J. 2003, 'Legends on the Net: An Examination of Computer-Mediated Communication as a Locus of Oral Culture', New Media & Society, vol. 5, no. 1, pp. 29-45. Now whether or not you can get you hands on this before Monday I cannot say. It does ground the research in ethnomethodology though. Another article I have seen referred to in one or two places is Fox, N. and Roberts, C. (1999) 'GPs in Cyberspace: the sociology of a "Virtual Community"', Sociological Review 47(4): 643-71. I haven't seen this so cannot comment on it. Best of luck, Andrew. > Message: 7 > Date: Wed, 16 Jun 2004 09:37:51 -0400 > From: "Alireza Doostdar" <alireza(a)doostdar.com> > Subject: [Air-l] question about cyberspace ethnography literature > To: <air-l(a)aoir.org> > Message-ID: <000e01c453a7$20104ec0$02fea8c0(a)ne1.client2.attbi.com> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" > > Dear AoIRs, > > I'm in the process of revising a paper I've submitted to the American > Anthropologist about blogging in Iran, which I've titled "'The Vulgar > Spirit of Blogging': On Language, Culture, and Power in Persian > Weblogestan". My ethnographic research consisted in part of maintaining > a Persian-language blog where I wrote observations and commentary on a > debate that was raging among many Iranian bloggers at the time on > "vulgar" linguistic and cultural practices, and where I engaged in > conversations with other bloggers. In my paper, I reflect on my methods > of drawing attention to my own words on my blog (through hyperlinking, > explicitly invoking other people's blog entries, sending trackback > pings, making provocative statements, etc) so as to get comments from > other people, and I analyze these methods within a larger context of > communicative practices by bloggers who write to be noticed and who need > to be noticed in order to be read. Based on this and other analyses, I > conceptualize blogging (in the Persian language at least) as an emergent > speech genre (in the Bakhtinian sense) that draws on various on- and > off-line genres of speech. > > One of my reviewers has asked that I situate my intensively engaged > ethnographic method within a literature of cyberspace ethnography that > discusses such engagement (and other methods, like lurking) and the > relevant theoretical and ethical issues. I already have several pieces I > can use, including Christine Hine's "Virtual Ethnography" and David > Hakken's "Cyborgs@Cyberspace?". I would TREMENDOUSLY appreciate pointers > on other relevant literature, preferably things I can get my hands on > fast, as my revisions are due by Monday! > > Thank you in advance, > > -Alireza > > > > > ------------------------------ > > _______________________________________________ > Air-l mailing list > Air-l(a)aoir.org > http://www.aoir.org/mailman/listinfo/air-l > > > End of Air-l Digest, Vol 1, Issue 1087 > ************************************** > -- School of Information Systems Victoria University PO Box 14428 Melbourne City MC 8001 Australia ---------- email: andrew.wenn(a)vu.edu.au www: http://sol.vu.edu.au/~andrew/default.htm phone: +61 3 9688 4342 fax: +61 3 9688 5024

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Re: [Air-l] question about cyberspace ethnography literature
by Maja van der Velden 16 Jun '04

16 Jun '04

To Alireza, Blogging thoughts: personal publication as an online research tool by Mortensen, T. and J. Walker (2003), www.intermedia.uio.no/konferanser/skikt-02/docs/ Researching_ICTs_in_context-Ch11-Mortensen-Walker.pdf Success, Maja On Jun 16, 2004, at 3:37 PM, Alireza Doostdar wrote: > One of my reviewers has asked that I situate my intensively engaged > ethnographic method within a literature of cyberspace ethnography that > discusses such engagement (and other methods, like lurking) and the > relevant theoretical and ethical issues. I already have several pieces > I > can use, including Christine Hine's "Virtual Ethnography" and David > Hakken's "Cyborgs@Cyberspace?". I would TREMENDOUSLY appreciate > pointers > on other relevant literature, preferably things I can get my hands on > fast, as my revisions are due by Monday! > Maja van der Velden http://www.globalagenda.org

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