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Panel Announcement: 'Women's Voices, Religion and ICTs' for IAHR 2005 Tokyo Congress'
by Anastasia Karaflogka 24 Oct '03

24 Oct '03

Dear AOIR I am writing to you because I am in the process of putting together a panel proposal on 'Women's Voices on/in Religious Discourses and Information Communication Technologies (ICTs)' for the 19th World Congress of the International Association for the History of Religions (IAHR) which will be held in Tokyo, Japan, March 24 - 30, 2005. My area of expertise is religious discourse and ICTs. Currently I am completing my PhD thesis at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), Study of Religions Department, University of London. My research addresses issues related to web theory and methodology for studying existing and emerging religious phenomena on the Web. I hold the position of part-time lecturer at SOAS for which I have designed and will be teaching a new course titled 'Religious Encounters in Cyberspace'. Additionally I am in the process of contracting with a publisher for my thesis.

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AoIR ethical guidelines
by Nina Bambina 24 Oct '03

24 Oct '03

http://www.aoir.org From: "Charles Ess @ ITU" <chess(a)itu.dk> To: <air-l(a)aoir.org> Date: Tue, 21 Oct 2003 16:22:52 +0200 Subject: [Air-l] Help with information gathering - AoIR ethical guidelines Reply-To: air-l(a)aoir.org Dear Sister and Fellow AoIR-ists: One of the great delights over the past year is to learn from the occasional conversation that yes, indeed, the AoIR guidelines are "out there" and making a difference (positive, so far as I know). E.g., * a young researcher approached her IRB to begin the process of applying for approval - and was told, without prompting, that she should be sure to look at the AoIR guidelines since her research involved online venues. (Yes, her project was approved.) * an Australian university (which shall remain nameless until I receive appropriate documentation and permission) likewise has included the AoIR guidelines in its resource database on matters ethical. And...??? (For this philosopher, two data points are good starting points towards a generalization... smile) Here's where you come in (I hope). If you're aware of the guidelines being used in some way at your institution, by a colleague you know, etc. - and if you're at liberty to say, would you mind sending me a note to that effect? My notion is to collect these sorts of listings and include them in a webpage affiliated with the ethics document. Presuming there are a good number of them, this will help other researchers who may want to use the guidelines in arguing for their particular research project's design for appropriate ethical requirements and protections - i.e., if said researcher can point out that other institutions are using the guidelines as well, it will add credibility to them and thus to his/her argument. So - if you're aware of uses of this sort and you and/or your institution are happy to have these publicly noted on a website affiliated with the document, please let me know. In the meantime, thanks - and thanks again to all the folk who made AoIR 4.0 such a delicious feast of new ideas, interesting research, and some of the most enjoyable folks I have the pleasure and honor of knowing. Cheers and all best wishes, Charles Ess Visiting Professor (fall, '03) Department of Digital Aesthetics and Communication (DIAC) The IT University of Copenhagen Glentevej 67 DK-2400 Copenhagen NV Telephone: +45 38 16 89 63 Mobile: +45 22 46 06 35 Fascimile: +45 38 16 88 99 Distinguished Research Professor, Interdisciplinary Studies Drury University 900 N. Benton Ave. Springfield, MO 65802 USA voice: 417-873-7230 fax: 417-873-7435 homepage: <www.drury.edu/ess/ess.html> http://www.aoir.org/mailman/listinfo/air-l

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aoir Toronto: missing floppy drive
by Rhiannon Bury 23 Oct '03

23 Oct '03

Hi folks: This message is directed at anyone who attended the conference in Toronto and presented in the Jackson on Thursday or Friday. Our AV supplier, Gary Krantz, removed the floppy drive from his laptop so someone could use it to play a CD. Now, he cannot find the floppy drive. It was wrapped in bubble wrap. Did anyone in that room accidently pick it up? Or see it lying around in that Jackson? If so, Gary would much appreciate hearing from you. psav6410(a)ps-av.ca Rhiannon

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Re: [Air-l] Post-conference thank you
by Liss Jeffrey 23 Oct '03

23 Oct '03

Thanks Steve, and thanks to all of those in Aoir Toronto 2003 who worked hard since the summer of 2002 to make this all happen. Thanks to the many participants who often came from far away to share ideas and projects, and to take time to comment on the work of others. Let me add just a few names to Steve's credits list: Lisa Morgan, MA from Communications and Culture at York /Ryerson University in Toronto. As conference coordinator, she did a great job and helped us make sure that we broadened the band by including French translation. Peter West, masters student in University of Western Ontario Media Information Technology Department (and student of McLuhan), Christie Hurrell, Jackie Reid masters candidates at York Ryerson, thanks for all that hard work. Thanks Lisa, Peter, Christie, Jackie, and thanks to all. Liss Jeffrey, PhD Conference Chair, Toronto 2003. (Hey thanks Charlie for putting me back on this list :) At 10:04 AM 22/10/2003 -0500, Steve Jones wrote: >It was a pleasure seeing many familiar faces, many new ones, and many who >have posted to air-l (and who will hopefully post to it in the future) at >last week's AoIR conference in Toronto. >[snip]

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AoIR 2004: Sussex!
by Nancy Baym 23 Oct '03

23 Oct '03

Welcome home to everyone who joined us in Toronto these last few days! I heard a few criticisms, but most people seem to have had a lovely (if exhausting) time and left with a head full of scholarly ideas, new friendships formed, and old friendships reinvigorated. I'm always interested in feedback on the conferences, so please post your thoughts to the list or email me offlist if you prefer. It's a tremendous pleasure to announce that next year's conference will be held at the University of Sussex from Sunday September 19 - Wednesday September 22, 2004. The conference chair will be Kate O'Riordan who has already been busy making plans for our arrival. We're excited to be able to meet on the other side of the Atlantic again, and hope this will make it easier for many of you to join us. I hope you will all consider contributing to next year's conference by spreading the word, revieiwing submissions, fund raising, or whatever else it is that you have to offer. We will soon be re-starting air-meet for anyone who wants to pitch in on discussion of conference planning. A Call For Papers will be forthcoming in the next couple of months so start forumulating ideas! I hope we'll see you there! Nancy -- Nancy Baym http://www.ku.edu/home/nbaym Communication Studies, University of Kansas Bailey Hall, 1440 Jayhawk Blvd., Room 102, Lawrence, KS 66045-7574, USA Association of Internet Researchers: http://aoir.org

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Re: [Air-l] Recommendations re: teaching an undergraduate IT policy in public administration
by Dan L Burk 23 Oct '03

23 Oct '03

On 22 Oct 2003, myildiz(a)indiana.edu wrote: > Greetings, > > I will be teaching an undergraduate "Information Technology Policy" class for > a > public administration school this Spring and right now I am preparing my > syllabus. > > I would appreciate it a lot if you could share your insights on what the > appropriate content would be. I am particularly interested in: > > 1. Topics that you think are relevant and should be taught > 2. Books, articles and videocassettes/ DVDs that can be used for instruction > 3. Sample syllabi for similar courses > 4. If applicable, your experiences in teaching similar courses > > Thank you for your contributions in advance, > > Mete Yildiz > Visiting Lecturer and Ph.D. Candidate in Public Affairs > Indiana University, Bloomington See Jessica Litman's resource collection of cyberlaw syllabus links at http://www.law.wayne.edu/litman/classes/cyber/courses.html Dan L. Burk Visiting Professor Boalt Hall School of Law University of California, Berkeley Oppenheimer, Wolff & Donnelly Professor University of Minnesota Law School 229 19th Avenue South Minneapolis, MN 55455 USA

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Recommendations re: teaching an undergraduate IT policy in public administration
by myildiz＠indiana.edu 22 Oct '03

22 Oct '03

Greetings, I will be teaching an undergraduate "Information Technology Policy" class for a public administration school this Spring and right now I am preparing my syllabus. I would appreciate it a lot if you could share your insights on what the appropriate content would be. I am particularly interested in: 1. Topics that you think are relevant and should be taught 2. Books, articles and videocassettes/ DVDs that can be used for instruction 3. Sample syllabi for similar courses 4. If applicable, your experiences in teaching similar courses Thank you for your contributions in advance, Mete Yildiz Visiting Lecturer and Ph.D. Candidate in Public Affairs Indiana University, Bloomington

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Post-conference thank you
by Steve Jones 22 Oct '03

22 Oct '03

It was a pleasure seeing many familiar faces, many new ones, and many who have posted to air-l (and who will hopefully post to it in the future) at last week's AoIR conference in Toronto. There are many people to thank for the success of the conference in Toronto. I could create a list that would be longer than air-l rules allow! In no order but that of largely memory, my sincerest thanks go to Program Chair Matthew Allen, Conference Chair Liss Jeffrey and her co-Chair David Mitchell, the myriad volunteers on-site (Susan Aaron , Kristen Berg, Chris Cocca, Bernie Hogan, Graig Kent, Alex Kuskis, Trishna Ninan, Dhirender Nirwani, Jason Nolan, Katherine Parrish, Monica Prijatelj, Inna Romanovska, Jason Shim, Phuoc Tran, Mark Tufford, and likely others whose names I don't know) before, during (and probably after) the conference, Barry Wellman for his great local assistance, and the myriad proposal reviewers (Samantha Adams, Ben Anderson, Mark Andrejevic, Kumiko Aoki, Michael Arnold-Mages, Senthilkumar Ayyasamy, Gitte Bang Stald, Mads B¯dker, Klaus Bruhn Jensen, Ulla Bunz, John Campbell, Scott Campbell, Alexander Campbell-Halavais, Martin S¯nderlev Christensen, Deborah Cohen, Mia Consalvo, Ann De Vaney, Simon Egenfeldt-Nielsen, Eric George, Gerard Goggin, Eszter Hargittai, Andy Herman, Bernie Hogan, Philip Howard, Jeremy Hunsinger, Venilde Jeronimo, Michelle Kazmer, Lori Kendall, Tracy Kennedy, Storm King, Lisbeth Klastrup, Rita Lauria, Jane Long, Uwe Matzat, Dan Menchik, Catherine Middleton, Adrian Mihalache, Melanie Mortensen, Gina Neff, Jason Nolan, Diana Odom-Gunn, Han Woo Park, Serge Proulx, Denise Rall, Gilad Ravid, Wendy Robinson, Christian Sandvig, Michael Schulte, Susannah Stern, Jonathan Sterne, Jennifer Stromer-Galley, TL Taylor, Rianne Ten Veen, Fred Turner, Cassandra Van Buren, Michele Willson, Mete Yildiz, and there may yet be others whom I've not listed), Jason Nolan and his crew for blogging and blog setup, Eric George for coordination of Francophone sessions, Graham Longford and Reem El-Tawashy for the printed program and to Ryerson University's School of Information Technology Management for assistance with its printing and with the printing of abstracts, Ira Nayman for bringing up Toronto as a site in the first place, some two years ago, seed sponsors Seneca College, the University of Toronto's Knowledge Media Design Institute (KMDI), Bell University Labs at the University of Toronto, byDesign eLab, eCommons/Agora, as well as Sage Publications, Apple Computer/Apple-Canada for technology support and demos, Heritage Canada, Industry Canada, and let's not forget the terrific people on the hotel staff who took very good care of us, particularly Jim Muratori and Gary Krantz. I also wish to particularly thank Rhiannon Bury, University of Waterloo, Catherine Middleton, Ryerson University, and Olivia Robertson, OISE, University of Toronto, who worked tirelessly during the run-up to the conference to put all the pieces together and make it happen. If I've left anyone out I do apologize...over time as our conferences have grown so too has (thank goodness!) the number of people involved and so too has my memory served me less well. I will hope to see you all at next year's conference in Sussex, UK! Steve Jones Sj the longest air-l daily digest: The Infonomics Institute and its Director, Luc Soete, The Cal Company and the MECC (which I still think stands for "Monica's Excellent Conference Center"), the members of the program committee and our terrific program chair this year Klaus Bruhn Jensen, the members of the executive committee, our keynoters, Apple Computer, Sander Pomme, Herman Pijper, Sage Publications for sponsoring a refreshment break...and on and on. Nevertheless, the primary "mover and shaker" behind it was Monica Murero and she deserves all of the thanks and credit in the world, certainly far more than I can convey. It was through her hard work and dedication that the stage was literally set for the several days we were able to meet, talk, think, share, eat, in some cases dance, and for many us rarely get some sleep. The conference was splendid, and I'm sure I speak on behalf of the attendees, as well as many who were unable to attend, in addition to myself, by saying that Monica has earned her place in AoIR history. Given this, she and the others of you, whether in Maastricht or not, have assured AoIR a strong and vibrant future. Two years ago when we met for the first time at the University of Kansas it was not entirely certain that we would have another meeting. The good people at the University of Minnesota ensured that we would, and I was more than heartened by the turnout there, in the face of great unease about travel - some of which continues to this day, and if not unease about travel then unease about the prospect of war. I continue to be grateful that so many are willing to spend time away from family and other loved ones to be with colleagues and friends for some days. Spending time with one another is a gift I suspect we do not think about as much as we may have before we had the Internet and widespread use of email, but it is cherished. It is my hope that many of you will again spend some time together, with me, in Toronto, October 16 - 19, 2003. There is a productive and spirited discussion on air-meet already going on concerning planning for the conference, and I encourage you to join in if you would like (http://www.aoir.org/mailman/listinfo/air-meet) Liss Jeffrey, David Mitchell and Matthew Allen are already leading us toward another excellent gathering in a year's time. We will need reviewers for conference paper, panel, workshop, etc., proposals - I cannot stress enough how much we will need your help for that! And I encourage you to consider hosting a future conference, so I will be re-posting our Call for Hosts in a moment. It is, of course, a lot of work to host a conference, but with each one we are better able to plan and anticipate the needs. Given our rapid growth we need to be planning still further ahead, and I will look forward to our 2004, 2005 and beyond meetings,too, with great anticipation. It is on such a note of encouragement that I will end this report. AoIR has grown phenomenally, and to make it an association that you like, you need to be involved in it. If you like something about it, please work with us to make it more to your liking. If you don't like something about it, work to change it. Whatever you do, do not walk away from it - neither we, nor you, I venture, can possibly gain that way. We have a diverse group of members, and we could diversify still further, but diversification, like anything else, will not happen if we look for someone else to do it for us. Tell people you think might be interested in AoIR about us. Join in on air-meet or on a working group. Propose a working group to start a new initiative. Propose panels, papers. Post to air-l. This association sprang from the desire of a few people to do something and from the follow-up actions they took, and it can continue only if others act on their interests and desires. Get in touch with me or with other members of the executive committee at your pleasure and let us know your thoughts and interests, and your interest to volunteer.

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Journal of Industrial Ecology -- full contents of special Internet issue available free on Web
by Ken Friedman 22 Oct '03

22 Oct '03

Dear Colleagues, The Journal of Industrial Ecology has just published a special issue on electronic commerce, the Internet and the environment. Funding from the United States National Science Foundation has permitted the journal to make the entire full contents of this issue available on the web. To access the journal and select article for free download, go to URL: http://mitpress.mit.edu/JIE/e-commerce JIE is a peer-reviewed quarterly journal owned by Yale University and published by MIT Press. You'll find a description of this issue below. I recommend this issue of JIE. Best regards, Ken Friedman -- E-commerce and the Environment: Good News or Bad? Insights from the Journal of Industrial Ecology E-commerce and information technology (IT) have been heralded as a source of dramatic and even inevitable environmental improvement. They have also been decried as energy hogs that will force society to "dig more coal." Emerging research, published in the prestigious Journal of Industrial Ecology, (and available for free in full text at <http://mitpress.mit.edu/JIE/e-commerce>), is beginning to move expert understanding beyond opposing assertions. This complex and more nuanced understanding suggests that: - Seemingly small decisions-by consumers, manufacturers, or shipping companies-can have large effects, often shifting environmental impacts from desirable to undesirable or vice versa. For instance, the energy efficiency of using a digital library improves significantly with increasing usage of the on-line articles and declines if users must drive somewhere to gain access to the information. The greenhouse gas emission reductions from e-grocery home delivery depend highly on the choice of delivery vehicle (car, van, etc.) and fuel type. - When positive effects from IT occur, such as reductions in pollution or energy use, they often fall in the range of 5-20 percent, not the four- or five-fold improvements that some have advocated (or hoped for). - The diverse and complex use of information technologies makes unintended consequences and indirect impacts hard to predict, let alone analyze in any scientific sense. This is especially true when trying to predict how businesses and consumers might use increased time and productivity gains from the use of e-commerce and other information technology applications. These insights emerge from a special issue of the Journal of Industrial Ecology on E-commerce, the Internet and the Environment. The Journal is a peer-reviewed international quarterly published by MIT Press and owned by Yale University. Articles in the special issue analyze the environmental consequences of telecommuting and assess the transformation of the wholesale, warehouse and retail sectors of the economy by network technology. The environmental impact of conventional and electronic approaches to grocery shopping, book selling and scholarly journals are compared and the possibility of using product tags to improve recycling is explored. The research ranges from the U.S. to Germany, from Finland to Japan. David Rejeski, Director of the Foresight and Governance Project at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in Washington, D.C. served as the guest editor for the special issue. Support for the special issue was provided by AT&T and the U.S. National Science Foundation. Journalists, students, and representatives from developing countries or non-governmental organizations can request a print copy of the special issue by writing to indecol(a)yale.edu.

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Assistant or Associate Professor in the Department of Science and Technology in Society
by jeremy hunsinger 21 Oct '03

21 Oct '03

VIRGINIA POLYTECHNIC INSTITUTE AND STATE UNIVERSITY, Blacksburg, VA. Assistant or Associate Professor in the Department of Science and Technology in Society. Information about the Graduate Program in Science and Technology Studies, our undergraduate programs, our faculty, and course descriptions is available from our webpage (http://www.cis.vt.edu/sts) The successful candidate must have a strong interdisciplinary background and be able to teach the STS Graduate Program's two history core courses in the history of science and the history of technology, as well as various introductory courses in our undergraduate programs. We have special interests in 20th century historical sudies (esp. physical science or technology), science/technology and the law, and engineering cultures. Three semester courses per year, undergraduate and graduate, with usual advising, service, and research responsibilities. Evidence of teaching excellence and a strong research program required. Salary commensurate with experience. Ph.D. in STS or related field in hand by August 2004. Interested candidates should send c.v., three reference letters, evidence of teaching ability, and a writing sample to Karen Snider, STS Executive Secretary, Science and Technology in Society, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA 24061-0247. We will start reviewing applications on 15 December 2003, but will accept applications until the position is filled. Virginia Tech is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer.

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