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Fwd: Surveillance & Society | Mobilities and Surveillance Special (fwd)
by Barry Wellman 26 Jun '03

26 Jun '03

fyi. this is a new start-up journal with 2 issues out. In case you're interested, Jason Nolan, Steve Mann and myself have our Sousveillance article forthcoming in their third issue. It has been a pleasure to deal with the editors. 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 _____________________________________________________________________ ---------- Forwarded message ---------- Date: Thu, 26 Jun 2003 10:03:25 -0700 From: Sarah S. Lochlann Jain <sarjain(a)stanford.edu> To: gomobility(a)lists.Stanford.EDU Subject: Fwd: Surveillance & Society | Mobilities and Surveillance Special > > > >> >> Call for Papers | Surveillance & Society >> http://www.surveillance-and-society.org >> >> >> Issue 1(4): Surveillance & Mobilities - Reminder. >> >> Deadline for submissions: August 31st 2003 >> >> Mobility has become a key theme across academic disciplines, and >> enabling, controlling and preventing mobility is one of the most >> important aspects of surveillance in the 21st Century. The Editors are >> calling for submissions on all aspects of surveillance and mobilities, >> for example: mobile communications technologies and global positioning >> systems; migration, borders and border control; transport; automated >> urban infrastructures; virtual mobility; and so on. >> >> As usual, we welcome both conventional academic and artistic >> submissions, and will also consider submissions not relating to the main >> theme of the issue. >> >> This issue will be edited by Colin Bennett mailto:cjb@uvic.ca and >> Priscilla Regan mailto:pregan@gmu.edu. >> Please send all submissions to them. >> >> Check the Submission Guidelines: >> http://www.surveillance-and-society.org/call.htm >> >> >> Dr David Wood >> Managing Editor, Surveillance & Society > > http://www.surveillance-and-society.org > > > > mailto:d.f.j.wood@ncl.ac.uk -++**==--++**==--++**==--++**==--++**==--++**==--++**== This message was posted through the Stanford campus mailing list server. If you wish to unsubscribe from this mailing list, send the message body of "unsubscribe gomobility" to majordomo(a)lists.stanford.edu

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debate on on-line voting
by Sandra Braman 25 Jun '03

25 Jun '03

Many thanks to Christian Sandvig for the detailed and interesting report on the debate at Oxford on the question of on-line voting. A question: Years ago now James Carey pointed out that the "vote" is comprised of more than the voting moment, for it also includes public discourse about the issues and candidates being voted upon. For this reason, he argues, the question of electronic voting must include attention to the question of participation in public discourse about issues and candidates to be meaningful. Christian, in your report about the debate this topic doesn't appear -- was it raised at all? Thanks -- Sandra Braman

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1 book chapter and 7 <gulp> new papers on opensource.mit.edu
by Karim R. Lakhani 24 Jun '03

24 Jun '03

Hello All, I am pleased to let you know that I have loaded the following on the http://freesoftware.mit.edu | http://opensource.mit.edu web site: ############################## Book chapter ############################## Author: Ilkka Tuomi Title: Networks of Innovation: Change and Meaning in the Age of the Internet. Oxford University Press, 2002, Ch 1. http://opensource.mit.edu/papers/tuomi2.pdf Abstract: "Integrating concepts from multiple theoretical disciplines and detailed analyses of the evolution of Internet-related innovations (including computer networking, the World Wide Web and the Linux open source operating system), this book develops foundations for a new theoretical and practical understanding of innovation. It includes a detailed analysis of the Linux open source development model." The table of contents, references, and other related material is available at www.jrc.es/~tuomiil/moreinfo.html ############################################# Papers ############################################# Paper 1 Authors: Stefano Comino and Fabio M. Manenti Title: Open Source vs Closed Source Software: Public Policies in the Software Market http://opensource.mit.edu/papers/cominomanenti.pdf Abstract: This paper analyses the impact of public policies supporting open source software (OSS). Users can be divided between those who know about the existence of OSS, the ”informed” adopters, and the ”uninformed” ones; the presence of uniformed users yields to market failures that justify government intervention. We study three policies: i) mandatory adoption, when government forces public agencies, schools and universities to adopt OSS, ii) information campaign, when the government informs the uninformed users about the existence and the characteristics of OSS and, iii) subsidisation, when consumers are payed a subsidy when adopting OSS. We show that the second policy enhances welfare, the third is always welfare decreasing while mandatory adoption can be either good or bad for society depending on the number of informed and uninformed adopters. We extend the model to the presence of network effects and we show that strong externalities require ”drastic” policies. Paper 2 Author: Walt Scacchi Title: Open EC/B: A Case Study in Electronic Commerce and Open Source Software Development http://opensource.mit.edu/papers/scacchi1.pdf Abstract: This study investigates how to understand and transform an organizational system for internal or external operations using Open Source E-Commerce or E-Business capabilities. The objective is to identify and characterize the organizational resources and development capabilities that lie at the center of the initiative. Paper 3 Author: Walt Scacchi Title: Open Acquisition: Combining Open Source Software Development with System Acquisition http://opensource.mit.edu/papers/scacchi2.pdf Abstract: This study explores and develops concepts leading to the combination of best practices from open source software development (OSSD) projects with emerging capabilities for virtual system acquisition. Virtual system acquisition is an evolving approach to demonstrate significant improvements in reducing the cost and cycle time for acquiring software-intensive systems, while improving their quality. It employs techniques from electronic government applications together with those from OSSD. Paper 4 Author: Chris Jensen and Walt Scacchi Title: Simulating an Automated Approach to Discovery and Modeling of Open Source Software Development Processes http://opensource.mit.edu/papers/jensenscacchi.pdf Abstract: This paper describes a new approach to process discovery that examines the Internet information spaces of open source software development projects. Such knowledge can then be employed to determine the requirements and design of automated process discovery and modeling mechanisms that can be applied to Web-based open source software development projects Paper 5 Author: Margaret Elliott and Walt Scacchi Title: Free Software Development: A Case Study of Software Development in a Virtual Organizational Culture http://opensource.mit.edu/papers/eliottscacchi.pdf Abstract: This study examines how organizational cultural beliefs and values of a free software virtual organization influence software development processes. This study shows how these beliefs and values are manifested in software development methods, artifacts, and tool choice, as well as how dispersed developers cooperate and resolve conflict in a virtual community. Paper 6 Author: Walt Scacchi Date: April 2003 Title: Understanding Free/Open Source Software Evolution: Applying, Breaking and Rethinking the Laws of Software Evolution http://opensource.mit.edu/papers/scacchi3.pdf Abstract: This study examines whether the evolution of open source software conforms to the laws of software evolution that have been in development for more than 30 years. Given evidence and data that may not conform, it becomes necessary to consider how the laws and theory might be revamped to better account for the data that characterizes both conventional closed source software and F/OSS system evolution. Paper 7 Author: Walt Scacchi Title: Free/Open Source Software Development Practices in the Computer Game Community http://opensource.mit.edu/papers/scacchi4.pdf Abstract: This paper provides results from empirical studies that begin to outline some of the processes and practices for how F/OSS systems are developed in different communities. Examples drawn from the world of computer games reveal how processes and practices for the development and propagation of F/OSS technology are intertwined and mutually situated to benefit those motivated to use and contribute to it. -- =============================================== Karim R. Lakhani MIT Sloan School of Management & The Boston Consulting Group, Strategy Practice Initiative e-mail: karim.lakhani(a)sloan.mit.edu | lakhani.karim(a)bcg.com voice: 617-851-1224 fax: 617-344-0403 http://spoudaiospaizen.net/ http://opensource.mit.edu | http://freesoftware.mit.edu http://userinnovation.mit.edu

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Website Discourse analysis
by Shannon O'Lear 24 Jun '03

24 Jun '03

Greetings, Can anyone suggest references for scholarly work that has examined discourses of websites? I am working on a project analyzing official websites (e.g., embassy websites) of newly independent states. References on prior work and related methodolgies would be greatly appreciated. I am not a regular member of this list, so please respond to me directly at solear(a)uiuc.edu. Thanks in advance, Shannon O'Lear Assistant Professor of Geography -- Department of Geography, MC 150 -- Room 220 Davenport Hall -- 607 South Mathews Avenue -- University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign -- Urbana, IL 61801-3671 -- E-mail solear(a)uiuc.edu -- Tel. 217.244.9028 -- Fax. 217.244.1785

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FYI: new resource in Internet research ethics
by Charles Ess 24 Jun '03

24 Jun '03

Cher AoIR-ists: As someone who is looking for accessible resources for teaching online research ethics this fall, allow me to call to your attention a new publication that makes a significant contribution to the growing literature on Internet research ethics - and, I believe, will be of distinctive use especially in _teaching_ Internet research ethics: May Thorseth (ed). 2003. _Applied Ethics in Internet Research_. Trondheim (Norway): Programme for Applied Ethics, Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU). The book grew out of a conference and graduate course on Internet research ethics held in June, 2002, at NTNU. The first section of the book is made up of contributions by the conference speakers and serves as an introduction to the field of Internet research ethics: Dag Elgesem, "On the parallel between the norms of science and the norms of cultures on the Internet" Charles Ess, "Beyond Contemptus Mundi and Cartesian Dualism: the BodySubject, (re)New(ed) Coherencies with Eastern Approaches to Life/Death, and Internet Research Ethics" Chris Mann, "Generating data online: ethical concerns and challenges for the C21 researcher" Annette N. Markham, "Critical Junctures and Ethical Choices in Internet Ethnography" That is: the introductory material includes two more theoretical/conceptual approaches to Internet research ethics by philosophers engaged in applied ethics - and two very practically oriented guides by prominent researchers who have paid exceptional attention to ethics in their own work. (AoIR-ists might also note that the first three are members of the AoIR ethics working group. Chris Mann, in particular, is already deservedly well known for her 2000 book (co-written with Fiona Stewart), _Using the Internet in Qualitative Research: A Handbook for Researching Online_: the chapter on research ethics in this volume, in particular, served as a very useful required reading for the course. Annette Markham is of course prominent for her research, including her 1998 volume _Life online: researching real experience in virtual space_.) The second part of the volume is made up of the masters'-level research projects/papers developed by the course participants. These papers are equivalent to something like a semester/term research paper in the U.S. system: in addition, each paper was submitted to two of the participating conference faculty for critical review and comment, and revised accordingly. Hence they can be seen as something like "mini-masters" theses. Most of these contributions focus on specific ethical issues encountered by their authors in the course of a specific research project - and hence function as "real-world" case studies for teaching research ethics. Again, the AoIR ethics working committee is well represented here: the first contribution is from Janne C.H. Bromseth (who was also very much a central force in organizing the conference and course in the first place): "Ethical and methodological challenges in research on net-mediated communication". Further contributions include: Heidi Gilstad, "Ethical questions related to the development of telemedicine" Camilla Halvarson & Peter Lilliengren, "Private explanatory systems and informed consent online" Cecilia Löfberg, "Ethical and Methodological Dilemmas in Research with/on Children and Youths on the Net" Helge Ridderstrom, "Ethical challenges in research on youths' personal home pages." These last two address one of the thorniest areas of online research ethics - namely, ethical obligations, and how they might be met, to children and minors. (To my knowledge, this is one of the most complex areas because of the "constituency" - i.e., minors who are more vulnerable (and thus to whom more is owed in terms of protection, etc.) but who, at the same time, are not legally able to give (or, more fundamentally, fully understand the meaning of) "informed" consent. At the same time, to my knowledge, this area is among those least written about in the literature,. Hence these chapters are especially important and useful.) Two other contributions are written from more philosophical and theological perspectives: Roe Fremstedal, "Recognition between Internet users" Svein Sando, "Vulnerable bodies as ethical sensors" Fremstedal examines how far the Net may contribute to the sorts of inter-subjectivity (including recognition of "the Other" as _real_) required for discourse ethics and democratic deliberation in Apel and Habermas, and in light of Hegel's dialectic of recognition and Kierkegaard's existentialism (whew! great stuff for us philosophers!) Sando develops an equally interesting framework for research ethics, based on an overview of diverse Western philosophical and theological understandings of embodiment and the body, vis-a-vis contemporary theorists of embodiment and cyberspace such as Katherine Hayles and Barbara Becker. FWIW: both I and Sando develop views on embodiment that argue for a strong connection between our online and offline subjectivities - and thus for more of an analogy rather than disanalogy between online and offline research ethics. In any case, I believe the book will be of considerable value to both faculty and students who must confront the ethics of online research. To my knowledge, there are at least two other books coming out soon that likewise deserve serious attention - but this volume will be especially useful for teaching purposes as it includes not only solid theoretical reflections and orientation, but also a great range of _applied_ ethical reflection by both prominent researchers and masters-level students whose projects and reflections will be immediately accessible to their cohorts in other institutions. Finally - the book is most affordable: 100 Norwegian Kroner / 6.75 USD / 11 British pounds. (though I don't know what the shipping charges might be) Ordering address: Programme for Applied Ethics, Department of Philosophy, NTNU, NO - 7491, Trondheim, Norway. By e-mail: <may.thorseth(a)hf.ntnu.no> As the Germans say, "Selbstlob stinkt" (self-praise stinks): I hope these comments will not be interpreted as such. Rather, despite my inclusion in this volume (smile), I hope this brief overview will be a useful FYI.. And, of course: any other suggestions for teaching resources would be most appreciated! All best wishes, Charles Ess Distinguished Research Professor, Interdisciplinary Studies Drury University 900 N. Benton Ave. Voice: 417-873-7230 Springfield, MO 65802 USA FAX: 417-873-7435 Home page: http://www.drury.edu/ess/ess.html Co-chair, CATaC: http://www.it.murdoch.edu.au/catac/ Exemplary persons seek harmony, not sameness. -- Analects 13.23

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Motion fails by two votes: "This house has confidence in voting via the Internet"
by Christian Sandvig 23 Jun '03

23 Jun '03

Dear colleagues, I've written a brief conference report (well... a debate report) from today's event. I hope this is of interest, Christian **** Motion fails by two votes: "This house has confidence in voting via the Internet" 23 Jun 2003, Oxford, UK.\ Christian Sandvig (csandvig(a)uiuc.edu) This evening I attended a debate in the Oxford Union on the motion "This house has confidence in voting via the Internet". Jim Adler, CEO of e-voting technology company VoteHere, put the case for the motion. Jason Kitcat put the case against: Kitcat was the founder of an e-voting startup (in 1999) who has since renounced the idea and founded the Free e-Democracy Project. The debate was moderated by Prof. Stephen Coleman, best known for his work with the Hansard Society. The event was sponsored by the Oxford Internet Institute at Oxford University. The venue was the debating chamber of the Oxford Union: think of it as a stained glass temple to oration. The speakers addressed the motion, for and against, an expert panel commented on the presentations, and then two rounds of question and answer were held before a (non e-)vote on the motion. After the voting, some of the people sitting in my section commented that they voted for the motion despite the evidence presented by Mr. Adler, who was allegedly in support of it. His initial tactic to overcome the most damning objections to e-voting seemed to be not to mention them, but this did not serve him well after Mr. Kitcat and the audience began to speak. By the end of the evening he had admitted that voting online was problematic, and he had often asked the audience for blind faith in technological progress: sometimes directly and sometimes via truly tortured allusions to the early automobile and particle physics, among other innovations. He deferred more than one objection to e-voting by asserting that the technology presently exists to overcome the problem in question, but that the solution was too difficult to explain. I admit it was hard to assess some of Mr. Adler's case because he did not speak clearly or slowly -- for this he was heckled briefly. If you couldn't understand him on the webcast, this is not an artifact of the Web. Despite Mr. Adler's efforts against his own cause, several questioners (in person and via the Internet) eloquently came to his aid by highlighting the promise of e-voting for increasing turnout, experimentation, and voting in circumstances other than national elections. Most interesting to me: Mr. Adler was very clear in calling for verifiability, expert review of source code, and (shock!) even open source solutions if need be. I was personally surprised to find these positions from the CEO of VoteHere, and I wonder if he is representative of the industry in this. In contrast, Mr. Kitcat delivered a competent and thorough review of the risks of e-voting, doing an exceptionally good job of noting some of the problems with recent e-voting trial projects in the UK and elsewhere. With the aid of several questioners, over the course of the evening Kitcat developed a convincing argument that the emphasis on e-voting (particularly in the UK) is the result of governmental obsession with quantifiable benchmarks and show over substance. That is, noisy e-voting initiatives imply progress and suggest a solution to low turnout without addressing the fundamental problems that cause low turnout: perceptions among the electorate that their vote doesn't matter, they aren't well informed about the issues, and that politicians are interchangeable. This is a notable contrast to the US, where e-voting is often couched as a fix to an election system that is already broken and untrustworthy. Despite his strong performance overall, he never seemed able to meet the repeated suggestion (from Mr. Adler and the audience) that all voting systems have flaws. Although his presentation suggested to me that the Internet has fundamentally different and more significant flaws than other methods of voting, Mr. Kitcat did not seem able to incisively articulate them after questioning or in summation. Prof. Coleman chaired the event with a gentle dexterity and the expert panel provided some of the most significant comments of the evening. The debate was webcast (a first for the Oxford Union) and an archived webcast is due to be posted online soon. The archived Q&A is worth your time if you are interested in this area. After two hours, in a show of hands the motion failed by the narrow margin of two votes, leading to a cry of "recount!" URL: http://www.oii.ox.ac.uk/debate_230603.shtml -- http://www.niftyc.org/

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Fwd: CFP: Community & Technology 2003 Workshop - (Virtual) Community Informatics
by Michel J. Menou 23 Jun '03

23 Jun '03

Apologies for cross-postings Best regards, Michel J. Menou mailto:Michel.Menou@wanadoo.fr This is a forwarded message From: Michael Bieber <bieber(a)homer.njit.edu> To: Mike Gurstein <mgurst(a)vcn.bc.ca>, Michel Menou <Michel.Menou(a)wanadoo.fr> Date: Monday, June 23, 2003, 5:25:28 PM Subject: CFP: Cmty & Tech 2003 Workshop - (Virtual) Community Informatics ===8<==============Original message text=============== Call for Participation (Virtual) Community Informatics Workshop held in conjunction with the International Conference on Communities and Technologies (C&T 2003) Amsterdam, the Netherlands Friday September 19, 2003 http://is.njit.edu/ci-workshop-ct2003/ We cordially invite you to participate in the (Virtual) Community Informatics Workshop, to be held the first day of the C&T 2003 Conference. Researchers, students and practitioners interested in the areas of community informatics, virtual communities and communities of practice are welcome to submit either a position statement or a full paper for presentation. People are also welcome to attend without a position paper. (Virtual) Community Informatics lies at two cross-roads: bringing together people concerned with electronically enabling communities: local, virtual and Communities of Practice; and structuring collaborations between researchers and practitioners, including industry, in these three domains. (Virtual) Community Informatics promotes the cross-fertilization of ideas and experience found at this cross-roads, bringing together researchers and practitioners from many varied disciplines. Workshop Agenda We expect the discussion during the workshop to address the following questions, among others: - What interests should researchers and practitioners jointly have in community-support technologies? - How should we best to apply ICTs to support communities? - Which technologies best satisfy a community's tasks and needs (and the tasks and needs of individual members, for knowledge sharing and learning, etc.)? - What tasks and needs cannot be met with current technologies, and thus indicate new technologies that need to be developed? - How do we evaluate community technologies and their use? In general we are concerned with what researchers and practitioners in Virtual and Local communities can learn from the other regarding community technology. We shall look for collaboration opportunities that exist for both to come together regarding community technological support. Workshop Program Overview - keynote address - overview of and current issues in Community Informatics - paper presentations - panel of practitioners and researchers from both virtual communities and local communities - general discussion The workshop's focus will be on opportunities for technological support of both virtual and local communities. Deadlines: Full Papers are due July 15 Position Papers are due August 18 For further information and submission details, please see the workshop Web site: http://is.njit.edu/ci-workshop-ct2003/ --- Stay Informed on (Virtual) Community Informatics If you would be interested in further developments concerning (Virtual) Community Informatics, please email Michael Bieber (bieber(a)oak.njit.edu) or Michael Gurstein (gurstein(a)njit.edu) ===8<===========End of original message text===========

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June, 2003 AoIR Executive Committee Report
by Steve Jones 23 Jun '03

23 Jun '03

[My apologies...the previous post of this was for some reason truncated, here is the full report. -Sj] June 20, 2003 Report of the a(o).i.r. executive committee Prepared by Steve Jones AoIR Executive Committee President: Steve Jones Vice-President: Nancy Baym Secretary: Ulla Bunz Treasurer: Benjamin Bates Open Seats: David Silver and Barry Wellman Appointed Seats: Matthew Allen and Leslie Shade Student Seat: Lisbeth Klastrup Publications Officers: Jeremy Hunsinger and Charlie Breindahl 2003 Conference Chair: Liss Jeffrey 2003 Conference Program Co-Chairs: Matthew Allen and David Mitchell Ethics Working Group Chair: Charles Ess Elections Working Group Chair: Mia Consalvo Net Resources Working Group Chair: Charlie Breindahl 1. Introduction & General (Jones) Below is the monthly report from AoIR executive committee members. If you aren't reading this...well, you ought to be. I know it can get lengthy, and it can get detailed, but it's the single best way to know what AoIR is up to, and to find ways to get involved with it (in any number of ways from contacting the people who report to volunteering to work on something you see mentioned to making suggestions to...). 2. Executive Officers' Reports 2.1 President (Jones) 2.1.1 The election process for AoIR executive offices is now under way. I will post a longer, separate email message about it soon, but suffice here for me to remind you of the timeilne: 1. CALL FOR NOMINATIONS: Elapsed 2. END OF NOMINATION PERIOD: Elapsed 3. DISCUSSION PERIOD BEGINS: June 20, 2003 4. DISCUSSION PERIOD ENDS: July 11, 2003 3. VOTING PERIOD BEGINS: July 14, 2003 4. VOTING PERIOD ENDS: July 28, 2003 5. NEW COMMITTEE ASSUMES DUTIES: At the end of the General Meeting at the fourth annual AoIR conference, October 16 - 19, 2003. 2.1.2 As you will see below conference planning is well under way. I am delighted (and not just for reasons associated with our conference) that WHO announced last week that SARS appears to have been generally contained (today the announcement was that not only Toronto but Hong Kong, too, is free of SARS) and cases are on the decline. I will hope to see as many of you as can join us in Toronto in October. 2.1.3 If you have not yet registered for the conference or made a hotel reservation I encourage you to do so as soon as possible. Early registration fees are only in effect for a couple or so more weeks, and our hotel space is held for a limited amount of time. Please mention that you are registering for AoIR when you book your room at the Toronto Hilton (or use our Block Code - ASSA110703). As I have stated other times/other places, as AoIR has grown we have had to search for larger and larger meetings spaces, precluding most prospective college/university venues. This year we are meeting at a hotel in an urban area, and we have to meet the minimum occupancy with which we are able to use its meeting rooms - if we don't meet that occupancy rate then we'll have to increase the registration fees, to cover additional cost of the meeting rooms. The AoIR rate may be a few dollars more than the most discounted rate that you could get on your own, but that few dollars is in support of the facilities at the Hilton that we are using. I appreciate everyone's support of the conference and of AoIR. 2.1.4 While on the topic of support, I would like to reiterate some of the quite tangible benefits of AoIR membership. As a paying member of the Association of Internet Reseachers, you are entitled to a number of discounted journal subscriptions and book discounts. Journal Discounts: *The Information Society: An International Journal *Information, Communication and Society *e-Service Journal *CyberPsychology and Behavior * New Media & Society Books: Routledge Cyberstudies catalog These are described in greater detail at http://aoir.org/benefits.html. 2.2 Vice President (Baym) 2.2.1 Participated in election planning and candidate encouraging. 2.3 Secretary (Bunz) 2.3.1 Counted votes, participated in discussions (below), and been waiting for warm weather. May 15 - June 15, 2003 This month on the executive list: - The AoIR election process has begun. Nominations were collected until June 13. Starting June 20, an online open discussion forum will be available for AoIR members and non-members to interact with nominees. Position statements and biographical information will be available online too. Details and URLs will be posted to air-l within the next week. - Along those lines, the exec has been monitoring nominations and has been sharing public information with air-l. - The exec has been discussing creating a conference blog for the upcoming conference in Toronto. Jeremy Hunsinger from the exec committee and Jason Nolan from the Toronto local committee are collaborating on this and it will happen. In addition, the exec is considering a list of blogs available from the air website. - The exec continues to monitor the SARS situation in Toronto but at this point does not foresee any problems for our conference scheduled for October. - The exec has noted suggestions about organizing conferences in countries that have few visa requirements, and/or non-first-world countries. - The exec has discussed ways in which the association can financially support people with lower incomes who would like to attend our conferences or become members. Unfortunately, at this point we are not able to subsidize travel or fees. Subscribing to and participating on air-l is and will remain free. The executive committee has been considering various options for improving accessibility to its conferences. - Jeremy Hunsinger announced that air-l is up to approximately 1300 subscribers now, so draft your messages carefully as they will reach a wide audience. - The exec has been in touch with the local conference organizers about the final (online) conference program and similar conference-related issues. - The exec has continued its discussion for the local host for the 2004 conference and things are looking good. The exec voted unanimously in favor of the proposed site. The announcement for the 2004 conference will be made at the Toronto conference during the General Meeting. Discussions about sites for 2005 and 2006 are in progress. Bids may be submitted at any time to Steve Jones. - The exec has been discussing the possible institution of an advisory committee for agenda setting, but is still uncertain as to its members, adding an additional layer to the organizational hierarchy, etc. - The exec has continued its discussions on increasing quality at the conference and in submission reviewing, and continuing its outreach and growth in a natural way. Ulla Bunz, Secretary 2.4 Treasurer (Bates) 2.4.1 Been on vacation (supposedly) most of the last month, though after some struggle and a lot of help from Jeremy, managed to stay largely connected and to keep up with conference and membership payments. Will be back in the office next week. 2.5 Open Seats (Silver, Wellman) 2.5.1 Silver: took part in various discussions regarding the election; discussed ideas regarding the conference. 2.5.2 Wellman: Particiapting in exec committee deliberations. Watching brief on SARS. Lecturing about AoIR activities in Finland.Spent a good deal of time keeping abreast of SARS situation (and media scare elsewhere), and advising the Exec Committee and the Program Chair. Contributed to the ongoing deliberations of the Executive Committee. 2.6 Appointed Seats (Allen, Shade) 2.6.1 Allen: Less activity with respect to the conference this month. Mainly it has been chasing up details from presenters; finalising program; interacting with Conference Organiser to get program online. 2.6.2 Shade: Nothing to report. 2.7 Student Seat (Klastrup) 2.7.1 Nothing to report (been to Australia at conference) 2.8 Publications Officers (Hunsinger, Breindahl) 2.8.1 Hunsinger: this month has been election month, i've been busy: managing the nomination process, and am collecting the nominee info at nominate(a)aoir.org working with Charlie to get some bugs out of the website helping as necessary with conference stuff. posting election updates to air-l working on the aoir.org email system to lower spam rates and resolve other issues. responding to things on the executive list thinking about future conferences and how to manage them and trying to get some conversation going on air-l over the summer. 2.8.2 Breindahl: I have mainly discarded spam, which comes in ever-increasing numbers. As Jerry Pournelle says: "Spammers have got beyond the bounds of civilization. When you rob a million people of a minute, you have wasted two man years. [...] The First Amendment has nothing to do with this. You have the right to speak, but you don't have the right to make me listen at the cost of my own time." Also, on a happier note, I have updated the book list and put a new version of our logo on the aoir.org site. 2.9 2003 Conference (Liss Jeffrey, Chair; Matthew Allen, David Mitchell, Program Co-Chairs) 2.9.1 Dr Liss Jeffrey: The Toronto committee is hard at work, with new volunteers signing on to help out. Contact us at aoir(a)ecommons.net if you would like to join us. The Early Bird registration will now be extended to July 15, 2003. Please check the web site for information including the conference registration number. The early program will soon go online at www.ecommons.net/aoir. Matt Allen (who with his reviewers has done a tremendous job) remains the contact on all program-related issues. If you would like to propose a pre conference workshop, just drop us a line specifying topic, outline of seminar and time required, equipment or facility needs, expected or desired audience numbers, who you know locally (if anyone) who might help you with local logistics, who you expect would be most interested in your workshop/demonstration, and information on yourself and your background. This week we will be contacting all those who have submitted proposals to ask a few more questions or to confirm participation (Olivia Robertson is point person on this file and she will be in touch). The conference web site will be updated frequently so please check in. This week we will be adding the frequently asked questions (hotel, travel Rhiannon Bury is point on this rhiannon Bury <rbury(a)wlu.ca>). If there is a topic that we have not addressed, let us know and we will get it on there. Contact our point person on web informatics (Christie Hurrell: christie(a)ecommons.net ). Special thanks to Eric George, who has joined the steering/working committee and has helped all of us ensure that our Francophone members are included. Would you like to see a conference blog start now? Would you contribute? If so, please contact graig(a)ecommons.net Much more to come. Liss Jeffrey, conference chair. 2.9.2 Mitchell: No report. 2.10 AoIR Ethics Working Group (Charles Ess, Chair) 2.10.1 As part of a conference on ethical guidelines for socio-economic research (The RESPECT conference, June 12-13, Budapest), I was invited to comment on proposed guidelines in light of the AoIR ethics working committee´s guidelines, research, and approaches. The RESPECT Project is funded by the European Union´s Directorate-General for Research, and has already developed a range of resources for research ethics in medical and social sciences - of interest, of course, because of their necessarily multi-cultural foundations and orientation. Both resources and planned guidelines will be useful for further reflection on Internet research ethics. I will post a more complete summary of the conference, including a preliminary resource list, to both the ethics working committee and the air-list as soon as I can upon my return to the States. 2.11 AoIR Research Annual Working Group (Mia Consalvo, Chair) 2.11.1 The AoIR Annual has come back from copy-editing, and all contributors have been forwarded their chapters to make the suggested revisions. Once that is done, the manuscript goes back to the publisher (Peter Lang) and into production. 2.12 AoIR Net Resources Working Group (Charlie Breindahl, Chair) 2.12.1 There has been no activity in the 'Net WG.

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June, 2003 AoIR Executive Committee Report
by Steve Jones 23 Jun '03

23 Jun '03

June 20, 2003 Report of the a(o).i.r. executive committee Prepared by Steve Jones AoIR Executive Committee President: Steve Jones Vice-President: Nancy Baym Secretary: Ulla Bunz Treasurer: Benjamin Bates Open Seats: David Silver and Barry Wellman Appointed Seats: Matthew Allen and Leslie Shade Student Seat: Lisbeth Klastrup Publications Officers: Jeremy Hunsinger and Charlie Breindahl 2003 Conference Chair: Liss Jeffrey 2003 Conference Program Co-Chairs: Matthew Allen and David Mitchell Ethics Working Group Chair: Charles Ess Elections Working Group Chair: Mia Consalvo Net Resources Working Group Chair: Charlie Breindahl 1. Introduction & General (Jones) Below is the monthly report from AoIR executive committee members. If you aren't reading this...well, you ought to be. I know it can get lengthy, and it can get detailed, but it's the single best way to know what AoIR is up to, and to find ways to get involved with it (in any number of ways from contacting the people who report to volunteering to work on something you see mentioned to making suggestions to...). 2. Executive Officers' Reports 2.1 President (Jones) 2.1.1 The election process for AoIR executive offices is now under way. I will post a longer, separate email message about it soon, but suffice here for me to remind you of the timeilne: 1. CALL FOR NOMINATIONS: Elapsed 2. END OF NOMINATION PERIOD: Elapsed 3. DISCUSSION PERIOD BEGINS: June 20, 2003 4. DISCUSSION PERIOD ENDS: July 11, 2003 3. VOTING PERIOD BEGINS: July 14, 2003 4. VOTING PERIOD ENDS: July 28, 2003 5. NEW COMMITTEE ASSUMES DUTIES: At the end of the General Meeting at the fourth annual AoIR conference, October 16 - 19, 2003. 2.1.2 As you will see below conference planning is well under way. I am delighted (and not just for reasons associated with our conference) that WHO announced last week that SARS appears to have been generally contained (today the announcement was that not only Toronto but Hong Kong, too, is free of SARS) and cases are on the decline. I will hope to see as many of you as can join us in Toronto in October. 2.1.3 If you have not yet registered for the conference or made a hotel reservation I encourage you to do so as soon as possible. Early registration fees are only in effect for a couple or so more weeks, and our hotel space is held for a limited amount of time. Please mention that you are registering for AoIR when you book your room at the Toronto Hilton (or use our Block Code - ASSA110703). As I have stated other times/other places, as AoIR has grown we have had to search for larger and larger meetings spaces, precluding most prospective college/university venues. This year we are meeting at a hotel in an urban area, and we have to meet the minimum occupancy with which we are able to use its meeting rooms - if we don't meet that occupancy rate then we'll have to increase the registration fees, to cover additional cost of the meeting rooms. The AoIR rate may be a few dollars more than the most discounted rate that you could get on your own, but that few dollars is in support of the facilities at the Hilton that we are using. I appreciate everyone's support of the conference and of AoIR. 2.1.3 While on the topic of support, I would like to reiterate some of the quite tangible benefits of AoIR membership. As a paying member of the Association of Internet Reseachers, you are entitled to a number of discounted journal subscriptions and book discounts. Journal Discounts: *The Information Society: An International Journal *Information, Communication and Society *e-Service Journal *CyberPsychology and Behavior * New Media & Society Books: Routledge Cyberstudies catalog These are described in greater detail at http://aoir.org/benefits.html. 2.2 Vice President (Baym) 2.2.1 Participated in election planning and candidate encouraging. 2.3 Secretary (Bunz) 2.3.1 Counted votes, participated in discussions (below), and been waiting for warm weather. May 15 - June 15, 2003 This month on the executive list: - The AoIR election process has begun. Nominations were collected until June 13. Starting June 20, an online open discussion forum will be available for AoIR members and non-members to interact with nominees. Position statements and biographical information will be available online too. Details and URL= =92s will be posted to air-l within the next week. - Along those lines, the exec has been monitoring nominations and has been sharing public i

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Expert Evaluation.
by Bas ten Hove 23 Jun '03

23 Jun '03

Dear All, my name is Bas ten Hove and I am a fourth year student Applied Communication Studies at the University of Twente, The Netherlands and I would kindly ask for your assistence. A subject that I am working on is a usability test of a website (www.th-i.nl, my own website).] My study combines heuristic evaluation and a Thinking Aloud protocol. However, for the Heuristic Evaluation I need some experts, preferably more then three and I am asking for your help in that matter. Would you have time (and energy) to evaluate this website? You might wonder why i haven't asked Thea van der Geest or Menno De Jong from the University Twente, but since they are both going on vacation next week they don't have time enough. I hope that you can help me. Yours Sincerely, Bas ten Hove

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