- Air-L - lists.aoir.org

Vacancy: PhD position in the area “Computational Social Science” at ZeMKI, University of Bremen
by Leif Kramp 03 Mar '20

03 Mar '20

1 x 1,0 PhD position (f/m/d) in the area “Computational Social Science” The Centre for Media, Communication and Information Research (ZeMKI) at the University of Bremen is offering a 3-year PhD position (f/m/d) – under the condition of job release – which will be based in the Computational Communication and Democracy (CCD) Lab and will be co-sponsored by the Information Management and Media Technology (IMMT) Lab (Department of Mathematics and Computer Science). The PhD student will work with the lab directors, Prof. Yannis Theocharis and Prof. Andreas Breiter on the broader thematic area Computational Social Science. Description of the position Duration: 3 years Starting date: as soon as possible Remuneration is based on grade E13 TV-L (100%, full-time position) of the German federal employee scale Tasks: Writing a PhD Thesis focusing on one of the research areas of the labs Research in the field of political communication, based on computational methods such as text-as-data, network and image analysis Research on new methodological approaches with focus on machine-learning and natural language processing Teaching assistance in computational methods for social scientists (study programs at Faculty 9) and machine learning models in informatics and educational technologies (Faculty 3) Description of teaching duties: The position involves 4 hours of teaching per week. Essential qualifications Master’s Degree in Media and Communication, Political Science and/or Sociology with a strong focus on computational methods, or in Computer Science and Digital Media with a strong focus on social phenomena Skills in quantitative methods Skills in computational methods (a focus on text-as-data methods – especially automated text analysis and machine-learning – is a plus)Proven experience with R, Python, Ruby, Java, or equivalent object-oriented programming language Interest in political communication Experience with social media data analysis is desirable Strong command of English (C1), in German at least B2 Candidates who already hold a PhD degree will not be considered. The University of Bremen has received a number of awards for its diversity policies and offers a family-friendly working environment as well as an international atmosphere. The University of Bremen intends to increase the proportion of women in science and therefore urges women to apply. Handicapped applicants with the same professional and personal suitability are given priority. Applications from people with a migration background are encouraged. For any questions please contact Yannis Theocharis at: yannis.theocharisuni-bremen.de <> Application The application should include the following documents: A 2-page letter of motivation. Page 1 should describe your research interests and explain why you believe your profile fits with the main objectives and mission of the ZeMKI Labs. Page 2 should briefly sketch the topic of the PhD project you’d like to pursue. CV A copy of your academic certificates and transcripts A writing sample (research paper, publication, or Master’s thesis) Names of two referees Please send your application including the reference number A4/20 until 31 March 2020 to: Universität Bremen Zentrum für Medien-, Kommunikations- und Informationsforschung (ZeMKI) Frau Denise Tansel Postfach 33 04 40 28334 Bremen Or as PDF via Email (single file) at: dtanseluni-bremen.de <> The employment is fixed-term and serves the scientific qualification, governed by the Act of Academic Fixed-Term Contract, §2 (1) (Wissenschaftszeitvertragsgesetz). Therefore, candidates may only be considered for appointment if they still have the respective qualification periods available in accordance with § 2 (1) WissZeitVG. About the Computational Communication and Democracy Lab The Lab’s substantive research agenda is driven by the idea that the proliferation of digital media opens up new avenues for social and political interaction that have radical effects on democratic processes: participation, organisation, representation. As such, digital communication offers opportunities, but also poses enormous challenges that fundamentally affect the quality of our democracies. Relying on developments in the field of computational social science as a point of departure, the Lab’s is also interested in methods through which new types of digital information can be processed and repurposed for studying a variety of social and political phenomena enabled by digital technologies. The lab has two main goals. First, to lead research on different but interdependent substantive topics for understanding, the social and political impact of digital communication and address methodological and epistemological issues related to conceptualisation, operationalisation, measurement and inference. Second, to offer BA, Masters, and PhD students a path for specialisation in computational and data science methods, with applications to communication and media research. About the Information Management and Media Technologies Lab The Lab combines theoretical research on the change of organizations (particularly in the education sector and in connection with mediatisation) with application-oriented research and the development of media technologies. The lab integrates the perspectives of informatics and social sciences. The underlying assumption is that the change of organisations with and through media technologies can only be studied by an empirically substantiated understanding of the particular application context. Accordingly, a variety of qualitative and quantitative methods is used in the research projects with a focus on computational social science. About the Centre for Media, Communication and Information Research (ZeMKI) As an inter-faculty research institute, the Centre for Media, Communication and Information Research (ZeMKI) bundles research activities at the University of Bremen in the area of media and communicative change regarding a broad range of cultural, social, organisational and technological context fields. The research institute is committed to interdisciplinary cooperation, integrating researchers from the areas of media and communication studies, cultural studies, information management and media pedagogics. In addition to their research activities, ZeMKI members are active in the various media related study programmes at the University of Bremen. The ZeMKI oversees the profile-building research group "Communicative figurations of mediatized worlds" of the University of Bremen. The research group has been supported as a "Creative Unit" by the institutional strategy "Ambitious and Agile" of the University of Bremen funded within the frame of the Excellence Initiative by the German Federal and State Governments. https://www.uni-bremen.de/en/university/the-university-as-an-employer/job-v…

1 0

Call for Abstracts: Fictional Representations of Nerds and Loneliness
by Johnson, Gareth 03 Mar '20

03 Mar '20

Dear all, Exchanges: The Interdisciplinary Research Journal [1], in association with SOAS and the University of Oxford, is delighted to announce the latest opportunity to contribute to a special issue, on the theme of 'fictional representations of nerds and loneliness across various media and cultures'. We are looking for contributions which explore fictional representations of nerds and loneliness across various media and cultures. Traditionally associated with a particular niche culture, nerds entered the mainstream through popular formats such as the highly successful TV show The Big Bang Theory (2007-2019) in the early 21st Century. Besides, the pervasiveness of the popular image of nerds has crossed linguistic borders and depictions of nerds are frequent beyond the Anglo-American context, as attested by the term nerd being widely used in languages such as Italian or German. Full details on the call, along with how to submit are available online. https://exchanges.warwick.ac.uk/announcement/view/20 Submissions & Deadline At this stage we are seeking abstracts (300 words) by 6th April 2020 - submitted by email to lonelynerds2021(a)gmail.com. Successful applicants will be invited to contribute an article to the special issue, as well as participate in a workshop at SOAS; both scheduled for 2021. We especially welcome contributions from post-graduate and early career researchers, addressed to an interdisciplinary audience, as per the core remit of the Exchanges journal. With thanks Gareth --- [1] About Exchanges Exchanges: The Interdisciplinary Research Journal (ISSN 2053-9665) is a scholar-led, peer-reviewed, open access, interdisciplinary, online-only journal dedicated to the publication of high-quality work by researchers in all disciplines. Launched in 2013 with the subtitle The Warwick Research Journal, from 2018 the title embraced a new brand as Exchanges: The Interdisciplinary Research Journal, to reflect the increasing international nature of its Editorial Board and author community. The title particularly attracts innovative research articles from emerging domain experts and early career researchers, but also seeks to publish scholarly work by authors who combine research with academic teaching or other professional employment. Further details on the journal can be found online, or via the Managing Editor-in-Chief. https://exchanges.warwick.ac.uk/about <https://exchanges.warwick.ac.uk/about> --- Dr Gareth (Gaz) J Johnson Managing Editor-in-Chief, Exchanges Journal Room C0.10, Institute of Advanced Study, Zeeman Building, University of Warwick https://warwick.ac.uk/fac/cross_fac/ias/ T: 024 765 7443 (extn 74423) E: gareth.johnson(a)warwick.ac.uk<mailto:gareth.johnson@warwick.ac.uk> B: https://blogs.warwick.ac.uk/exchangesias/ Tw:@ExchangesIAS<https://twitter.com/ExchangesIAS>

1 0

14th International Conference on Research Challenges in Information Science (RCIS 2020): Call for Research Projects @RCIS Track
by Announce Announcements 03 Mar '20

03 Mar '20

*** Call for Research Projects @RCIS Track *** 14th International Conference on Research Challenges in Information Science (RCIS 2020) Royal Apollonia Beach Hotel 5*, Limassol, Cyprus May 20-22, 2020, Limassol, Cyprus http://www.cs.ucy.ac.cy/~george/lm/lm.php?tk=YWlyLUwJCQlhaXItTEBsaXN0c2Vydi… Submission deadline: March 21, 2020 (AoE) RCIS 2020 features a new track entirely devoted to presenting results and perspectives of research projects (e.g. H2020 or ERC projects, national grants) in the context of Information Science. This track features a good opportunity for both presenters to disseminate the results of their projects, and for participants to get an updated view of ongoing research while getting in touch with potential research partners. The Research Projects @RCIS Track follows a two-step publication process. Firstly, the authors should submit a 2 pages paper summarizing the objectives of the project and relevant results. Each submission will be peer reviewed on the relevance of the submitted paper in the context of RCIS. If the paper is accepted, the authors will have to register to the conference in order to present their work at the Posters and Demos session at RCIS. After the conference, presenters will have the opportunity to submit the presented poster, which will be published in the RCIS 2020 website. No shows will be excluded from the final proceedings. SUBMISSION PROCESS Each submission will be reviewed by at least 2 members of the RCIS scientific committees, and should include: · Project full name, acronym, duration (from-to) and URL · Names of presenter(s) and main contributors · Summary of project objectives and expected tangible outputs. · Summary of current project results Papers shall be formatted according to the Springer LNCS/LNBIP conference proceedings template. To ensure uniformity, we have prepared ready-to-use templates for Word and LaTeX which are available on the conference web site. References and appendices must be included within the 2 pages. Papers can be submitted via Easychair (https://easychair.org/my/conference?conf=rcis2020#) by selecting the "Research Projects @RCIS 2020" track. IMPORTANT DATES · Submission deadline: March 21, 2020 (AoE) · Notification (based on relevance only): March 25, 2020 · Author registration and camera-ready copy deadline: March 31, 2020 · Conference: May 20-22, 2020 CONTACT POINTS For further questions please contact: Marcela Ruiz marcela.ruiz(a)zhaw.ch Elena Kornyshova elena.kornyshova(a)cnam.fr CONFERENCE COMMITTEES Steering Committee · Saïd Assar, Institut Mines-Telecom Business School, France · Marko Bajec,University of Ljubljana, Slovenia · Pericles Loucopoulos, Manchester University, University Kingdom · Haralambos Moratidis, University of Brighton, United Kingdom · Selmin Nurcan, Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne, France · Oscar Pastor, Universitat Politècnica de València, Spain · Jolita Ralyté, CUI, University of Geneva, Suisse · Colette Rolland, Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne, France General Chairs · George A. Papadopoulos, University of Cyprus, Cyprus · Pericles Loucopoulos, Harokopio University of Athens, Greece Organising Chair · Petros Stratis, Easy Conferences LTD., Cyprus Program Chairs · Jelena Zdravkovic, Stockholm University, Sweden · Fabiano Dalpiaz, Utrecht University, Netherlands Doctoral Consortium Chairs · Raian Ali, Bournemouth University, United Kingdom · Sergio España, Utrecht University, Netherlands Tutorial Chairs · Estefania Serral Asensio, KU Leuven, Belgium · Ignacio Panach, University of Valencia, Spain Posters & Demos Chairs · Elena Kornyshova, Conservatoire National des Arts et Métiers, France · Marcela Ruiz, Zurich University of Applied Sciences, Switzerland

1 0

JOBS: Four postdoc positions at CITAP (UNC-CH)
by Alice E. Marwick 02 Mar '20

02 Mar '20

The Center for Information, Technology, and Public Life (CITAP) has four postdoc opportunities open for the 2020-2021 academic year. All positions require PhD in hand by July 2020 and are located in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. CITAP is a bold initiative at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill dedicated to researching, understanding, and responding to the growing impact of the internet, social media, and other forms of digital information sharing. Center goals include: tackling broad research questions with real-world implications for information gathering, social media regulation, democratic governance, journalism, and civic understanding; developing a comprehensive understanding of information environments that will serve as a baseline for emergent research focused on the interaction of information and technology, particularly in the context of misinformation, partisanship, polarization, propaganda, and political institutions; and making subsequent research and data publicly available to inform technological development, journalistic best practices, and policymaking. The successful applicants will join a vibrant research community anchored by CITAP’s four principal researchers—Deen Freelon (Hussman School of Journalism and Media), Daniel Kreiss (Hussman), Alice Marwick (Dept. of Communication), and Zeynep Tufekci (School of Information and Library Sciences)—as well as a fifth principal who will join us in August 2020. CITAP affiliates will meet regularly for research updates and internal presentations, as well as travel to present their work at domestic and international conferences. All postdoc positions feature a complete benefits package including health, vision, and dental insurance. If you are interested please apply now - listings are open until position filled. Postdoc 1: Knight Postdoctoral Research Fellow https://unc.peopleadmin.com/postings/177305 - PhD in any related field required The CITAP invites applications for postdoctoral research fellows interested in the relationship between information and public life, with a particular focus on algorithms, misinformation, polarization, propaganda, political institutions, and platform companies. Successful applicants will be mentored by one or more of the CITAP’s principal investigators, but will be expected to conduct their own independent research projects as well as assist on pre-existing center studies. The positions require no teaching, but fellows may opt to teach up to one class per academic year. Strong research, analysis, and writing skills are used and required for this position. Duties include: 1) Conceptualizing and carrying out an independent research project related to CITAP’s core mission (1-2 year in scope) 2) Assist PIs with pre-existing research projects and streams as appropriate 3) Write reports and briefs aimed at journalists, the tech policy community, and the general public. 4) Write academic publications (papers, books, conference papers) as appropriate. Postdoc 2: Hewlett Postdoctoral Research Fellow https://unc.peopleadmin.com/postings/177994- PhD in communication, political science, information science, sociology, or a related social science field required CITAP is broadly focused on the intersection of misinformation, partisanship, polarization, propaganda, political institutions, and journalism. One of its major long-term projects, supervised by Dr. Deen Freelon, is the development of a next-generation media monitoring tool that will allow researchers to better understand internet users’ content consumption patterns. The successful candidate will assist in the development, testing, deployment, and evaluation of this tool, as well as design and lead research studies based on the data it will generate. This person will collaborate closely with Dr. Freelon and the full-time programmer who will be hired to develop the system’s technical infrastructure. The successful candidate will demonstrate skills and a sustained interest in media monitoring, public opinion, survey design and analysis, and/or secondary analysis of administrative records (e.g. US Census data). More specifically, we are looking for a scholar who believes that the future of social media analysis is individual-centered rather than platform-centered, and whose research record amply reflects this commitment. Accordingly, a promising body of relevant peer-reviewed publications and/or external funding is strongly preferred. The position will run for up to three years with renewal contingent upon performance. Postdoc 3 & 4: AI/Machine Learning/Encryption Postdoctoral Research Associates (2 positions) https://unc.peopleadmin.com/postings/173657 - PhD in Computer Science Required https://unc.peopleadmin.com/postings/173589 - PhD in Social Science Field Required This position will assist the PI (Zeynep Tufekci) in studying how digital connectivity, artificial intelligence and the technology industry intersect in terms of social, political and cultural dynamics, with emphasis on Global South but also including Western nations and liberal democracies. There will be special emphasis on the role of surveillance, security and encryption in mediating these dynamics. Duties include: 1) Carry out research on artificial intelligence and digital technologies, including data analytics, machine learning and related fields. Interest, work or understanding of encryption is a plus. 2) Show interest in, and ability to conceptually think about how technical developments, practices and affordances interact with dynamics of human societies, especially including conflict, violence and instability. This is a core job requirement. 3) Researching relevant news and incidents on the above topics. 4) Assisting the PI in assessing literature and, conducting field and other research. 5) Creation and writing of bibliographies, reports and papers based on the research and investigations. Alice E. Marwick, PhD (she/her) Assistant Professor, Department of Communication Principal Researcher, Center for Information, Technology and Public Life (CITAP) University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill amarwick(a)gmail.com http://www.tiara.org <http://www.tiara.org> http://citap.unc.edu <http://citap.unc.edu>

1 0

New Book: Incorporating the Digital Commons
by Benjamin Birkinbine 02 Mar '20

02 Mar '20

(Apologies for Cross-Posting) Hello everyone, AoIR members may be interested in my new book, "Incorporating the Digital Commons: Corporate Involvement in Free and Open Source Software" (University of Westminster Press, 2020). In the book, I draw from a critical political economic framework to investigate the intersection of the digital commons and digital capitalism. I use three case studies (Microsoft's history with FLOSS communities, Red Hat's relationship with the Fedora Project, and Oracle's acquisition of Sun Microsystems) to illustrate different dynamics between FLOSS communities and corporations. The best part is that Westminster is making the book available for free via open access. After all, a book about the digital commons should be available as a digital commons. You can find more information (and free digital copies of the book) here: https://www.uwestminsterpress.co.uk/site/books/10.16997/book39/ Thanks! Ben Birkinbine Benjamin J. Birkinbine (he/him/his) Assistant Professor Reynolds School of Journalism & Center for Advanced Media Studies University of Nevada, Reno @bjbirkin

3 2

CfP LSE Digital Ethnography Collective AoIR Satellite Event!
by Glatt,ZA (pgr) 02 Mar '20

02 Mar '20

Hello AoIRists, I hope you all met yesterday’s deadline without too much blood, sweat and tears. Now that it has passed, I am delighted to share with you the below call for papers for the LSE Digital Ethnography Collective’s one-day AoIR satellite event in London! As the Graduate Student Representative for AoIR, I’m really happy to be able to bring together these two groups, and I strongly encourage early careers researchers to submit as well as more senior researchers. We hope that we will get to meet lots of you who have only been able to participate so far via the livestream, as you'll be travelling to this part of the world for AoIR. When: Monday 26th October (3 days before AoIR) Where: London School of Economics (LSE) Submission deadline: Friday 29th May *** Digital ethnography is by no means a new methodology. In the 1990s researchers begun grappling with issues regarding the cultural impacts of the Internet and how to go about conducting ethnographic research in/on ‘virtual’ spaces. Since then, we have seen significant technological and cultural shifts, most notably the fact that in 2020 smartphones are commonplace and social media platforms have become a ubiquitous part of everyday life in many parts of the world. Whilst holding on to the valuable insights of earlier research, digital ethnographers are required to remain methodologically agile in order to keep up with rapidly changing socio-technological contexts. This one-day symposium hosted by the LSE Digital Ethnography Collective invites participants to discuss the state of digital ethnographic research in 2020, by both reaching back into its rich history and thinking about future directions. We are inviting submissions spanning from ‘finished product’ empirical work to presentations addressing common concerns in the practise of carrying out digital ethnographic research (methods, ethics, self-reflexivity etc.) in the hopes that the day will generate both interesting and useful conversations amongst attendees. The LSE Digital Ethnography Collective is an interdisciplinary group exploring the intersections of digital culture and ethnographic methods, with the aim to establish a global community of scholars of digital ethnography and to work through challenges in this growing subdiscipline. Researchers passionate about digital ethnography are dispersed around the globe, and whilst we foster international collaboration via our livestreams and mailing list, it’s always a pleasure to get together IRL! With this in mind, we are hosting this symposium at the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) on Monday 26th October 2020. There is a sizeable overlap of membership between the LSE Digital Ethnography Collective and the Association of Internet Researchers and so we have arranged this as a ‘satellite event’ to the AoIR Annual Conference in the hopes that AoIR attendees interested in attending will be able to stop over in London before heading on the main conference in Dublin. The symposium welcomes digital ethnographers at all levels from PhD upwards to submit proposals for 20-minute presentations relating to any of the following areas (this is a non-exhaustive list): * bridging the old and the new: innovative but historically-grounded approaches to digital ethnographic methodologies * digital culture and everyday life * empirical work relating to the Internet/platforms/social media/gaming cultures * digital transformations in work and labour – the gig economy, creative industries, datafication, algorithms etc. * critical intersectional feminist ethnography in digital contexts * approaches from the Global South that challenge Western-centric digital ethnographic research * self-reflexive accounts of challenges and opportunities in digital ethnographic research * inside/outside: entering and exiting the digital ‘field’, navigating or moving beyond the online/offline binary, accessing private online spaces, local/global and the role of geography in digital ethnography, etc. * conducting ethical digital ethnographic research Please send proposals of 300 words (word document or PDF) to Media.DigEthnog(a)lse.ac.uk<mailto:Media.DigEthnog@lse.ac.uk> by 29th May 2020. This deadline is designed to be after the notification of acceptances for presenters to AoIR, so that applicants will be certain that they are going to Dublin beforehand. Selected participants will be notified by 1st June 2020 so that they will have plenty of time to make travel and accommodation arrangements. Please note that, while the symposium is free to attend, we cannot provide funding for travel or accommodation. All the best, Zoë and Branwen LSE Digital Ethnography Collective useful links: CfP also here: https://zoeglatt.com/?page_id=598 Twitter: https://twitter.com/DigEthnogLSE Mailing List: https://tinyurl.com/y5a6odte Livestreams: http://tinyurl.com/w252kvq Digital Ethnography Reading List: http://tinyurl.com/ubczhsq ________________________ Zoë Glatt www.zoeglatt.com<http://www.zoeglatt.com/> ESRC PhD Researcher in Media & Communications London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) Managing Editor: Communication, Culture & Critique Co-Founder: LSE Digital Ethnography Collective @DigEthnogLSE<https://twitter.com/DigEthnogLSE> Graduate Student Rep: Association of Internet Researchers (AoIR) Associate Lecturer in Media & Communications (2019/20): Goldsmiths University YouTube channel<https://www.youtube.com/user/Zedstergal> | Twitter<https://twitter.com/ZoeGlatt> | LSE bio<http://www.lse.ac.uk/media-and-communications/people/phd-researchers/zoe-gl…>

1 0

Critical Approaches to Media Discourse (CAMD2020): Call for Papers
by Wing Hei Adrian Yip 02 Mar '20

02 Mar '20

Dear all This is a gentle reminder that it’s two weeks away from the abstract submission deadline for the conference “Critical Approaches to Media Discourse (CAMD2020)”. More information is available on the conference website: https://camd2020qmul.wixsite.com/camd2020. -- Critical Approaches to Media Discourse (CAMD2020) 14-15 May 2020 Queen Mary University of London, Mile End Road, London, E1 4NS Media not only reflect but also reinforce dominant ideologies and power relations in our everyday life. They play an increasingly important role in the construction and communication of ideas and beliefs in the contemporary mediatized world. The continually changing mediascape poses challenges to the examination of media discourses, from theoretical and methodological considerations to the intersections of discourse, media, power and ideologies. CAMD2020 aims to re-envision criticality in media discourse analytic work and stimulate dialogue and reflection of various critical approaches to the analysis of language in the media. We welcome researchers from across disciplines, whose work spans a wide range of topics, contexts and traditions of discourse studies. Plenary Speakers: Professor John Flowerdew (Lancaster University) Professor Per Ledin (Södertörn University) Professor Jeremy Munday (University of Leeds) Discussions at the conference will be organized into two main strands including but not limited to the following themes: 1. Theory and methodology • Theoretical approaches to media discourse • Research methods in media discourse analysis • Micro analysis of media discourse • Critical discourse analysis • Corpus-assisted (critical) discourse studies • Multimodality • Social semiotics and visual communication • Traditional media, new media, social media • Methodological innovations and challenges • Ethics 2. Ideology and power • Discourse and society • Power and identity • Gender and sexuality discourse • Race and class discourse • Political discourse • Academic discourse • Health discourse • Environmental discourse • Other discourses of ideology and power Each participant can submit as a first author one abstract, for paper presentation (20 minutes) or lightning talk (8 minutes). Proposals for both lightning talks and paper presentations should be no more than 300 words (including references). Please submit your abstract as a Word Document to camd2020.qmul(a)gmail.com<mailto:camd2020.qmul@gmail.com> and include the following in your submission: • title of the presentation • name(s), affiliation(s) and contact email(s) of the author(s) • proposed category of your submission: lightning talk or paper presentation • proposed strand: theory and methodology or ideology and power Abstract submission deadline: 16 March 2020 Further information about the conference can be found on the website. Please don’t hesitate to contact us if you have any questions/suggestions. Best regards -- Adrian Yip, Songyan Du, Jessica Zhong PhD Candidates in Linguistics Queen Mary University of London

1 0

New book: "Corporate Capitalism's Use of Openness: Profit for Free?"
by Arwid Lund 02 Mar '20

02 Mar '20

(Apologies for Cross-Posting) I am happy to announce that my new book, co-authored with Mariano Zukerfeld, is now published by Palgrave! Hardcover due Mars 20. Corporate Capitalism’s Use of Openness: Profit for Free? is available here: https://www.palgrave.com/gp/book/9783030282189 Please let us know if your journal wants a review copy of the book. >From the publisher’s description: “This book tackles the concept of openness (as in open source software, open access and free culture), from a critical political economy perspective to consider its encroachment by capitalist corporations, but also how it advances radical alternatives to cognitive capitalism. Drawing on four case studies, Corporate Capitalism’s Use of Openness will add to discussion on open source software, open access content platforms, open access publishing, and open university courses. These otherwise disparate cases share two fundamental features: informational capitalist corporations base their successful business models on unpaid productive activities, play, attention, knowledge and labour, and do so crucially by resorting to ideological uses of concepts such as “openness”, “communities” and “sharing”. The authors present potential solutions and alternative regulations to counter these exploitative and alienating business models, and to foster digital knowledge commons, ranging from co-ops and commons-based peer production to state agencies' platforms. Their research and findings will appeal to students, academics and activists around the world in fields such as sociology, economy, media and communication, library and information science, political sciences and technology studies.” All the best, Arwid Lund Södertörn University (senior lecturer) and assistant professor at Linnaeus University

1 0

new trove of potential research materials from Internet Archive
by Patricia Aufderheide 28 Feb '20

28 Feb '20

Brewster Kahle has managed to get hold of zillions of microfiche records of journals, newspapers, magazines, etc. (think Readers' Guide to Periodical Literature) and the AI folks are busy digitizing them. They've made headway, and Caitlin Olson at AI sent me this information, in case it whets a research appetite: * This Archive item has some photos and information on the collection: https://archive.org/details/SerialsOnMicrofilmCollection <https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__archive.org_details_Se…> * Here's the start to our collection getting digitized: https://archive.org/details/sim_microfilm<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__archive.org_details_si…> * And here's a spreadsheet with a bunch of the titles we ended up with, as well as the metadata: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1m_QqU3iQqLD7W8VDzxER8WAEqKY86fJWyOM…<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__docs.google.com_spread…> Patricia Aufderheide, University Professor, School of Communication (she/her/hers) PhD Program Director Founder, Center for Media & Social Impact American University 4400 Massachusetts Av., NW American University, Washington, DC 20016-8017 McKinley Hall 323 @paufder @cmsimpact cmsimpact.org<http://cmsimpact.org> paufder(a)american.edu<mailto:paufder@american.edu> 202-885-2069 office 240-643-4805 mobile Reclaiming Fair Use--t<https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/022637419X?pf_rd_p=d1f45e03-8b73-4c9a-9be…>he second edition is out, with new stories, quizzes and entirely new chapters on the surprising success of fair use in enabling creativity!

1 0

Re: [Air-L] Event - Autonomous Vehicles: What Could Possibly Go Wrong?
by Jake Goldenfein 28 Feb '20

28 Feb '20

Dear AoIR Community If you are in the New York City area on March 13, Cornell Tech is hosting an event – Autonomous Vehicles: What Could Possibly Go Wrong? Please visit the event website to register your interest in attending: https://www.dli.tech.cornell.edu/autonomousvehicles (We are still accepting registrations). --- As public perceptions of autonomous vehicles waver, rigorous ethical and political analysis of the future of transport has never been more important. Looking beyond questions of driver and pedestrian safety, this workshop will investigate other possible dark sides of autonomous vehicle deployments to expose and understand societal consequences. Different stakeholders pursue different visions for the development of autonomous transport, each with different business models, technological configurations, governance structures, and policy outcomes. Each vision generates different social, ethical, and political implications that often escape ethical analyses focused exclusively on safety. However, autonomous vehicles systems also have the potential to cause economic exploitation, anti-democratic public governance, environmental degradation, and the dehumanization of public space. Now is the time to identify and avoid the worst that could happen, and to ensure these complex systems are oriented towards the improvement of individual, social and civic life. Workshop Overview | This single day event will bring together experts from engineering, policy, and industry to discuss the social implications of autonomous transport from different perspectives. We plan to explore questions such as: * How different vehicle deployments change how human occupants are identified and defined, and how that may affect questions of privacy and autonomy. * How different business models like passenger ride-sharing, fleet management, or private vehicle ownership require different technological configurations, and what they require in terms of data flows and public accountability. * How different vehicle systems require changes to public space or re-instrumenting of roadways, and who has the power to determine the shape of those new urban environments. * How business decisions, and the technologies required to implement them, interact with broader policy questions around public life, the environment, and international geopolitics. Confirmed speakers include: * Jane Lappin (Toyota Research Institute) * Andrew Kun (University of New Hampshire) * Li Jin (New York University) * Alain L. Kornhauser (Princeton University) * Ignacio Alvarez (Intel) * Nahom Byene (Rand Corporation) * Janet Vertesi (Princeton University) * Luke Fletcher (Toyota Research Institute) * Nikolas Martelaro (Carnegie Mellon University) * Bill Horrey (AAA Traffic Safety Foundation) Many thanks! -- Dr Jake Goldenfein Postdoctoral Research Fellow Digital Life Initiative<http://www.dli.tech.cornell.edu/> Cornell Tech | Cornell University 2 West Loop Rd, New York, NY 10044 SSRN<https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/cf_dev/AbsByAuth.cfm?per_id=2722511>

2 1