May 15, 2002 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 2002 Conference Coordinator: Monica Murero 2002 Conference Program Chair: Klaus Bruhn Jensen Ethics Working Group Chair: Charles Ess 1. Introduction & General (Jones) Below is the monthly report from AoIR executive committee members. 2. Executive Officers' Reports 2.1 President (Jones) 2.1.1 As mentioned in last month's report we have implemented a couple of new working groups - one to assist with Internet resources via the aoir.org site, and another to evaluate AoIR's election procedures. I wish to thank Charlie Breindahl and Nancy Baym for agreeing to be executive committee liaisons with those working groups, and to thank those members who volunteered to serve on the working groups. More opportunities for members to volunteer will undoubtedly arise in the future, and I greatly appreciate the willingness of people to assist AoIR in its early, formative years. 2.2 Vice President (Baym) 2.2.1 I have been organizing the elections working group for which I'll be the executive committee liaison. And I've been participating in ongoing discussions, with particular focus on the issue of association publication (to do? not to do? what to do? how to do? stay tuned for opportunities to give your input). 2.3 Secretary (Bunz) 2.3.1 The listserve project (David Silver, Matt Allen, Ulla Bunz) is almost completed. After feedback from the exec, Jeremy is now providing technical support. We anticipate publicizing the final result within the next few weeks. The list is extensive (more than 80 reviewed entries) and we are trying to find a compromise between printer friendly, simplistic, yet usable layout. Also, I am organizing an editors roundtable for Maastricht, and have actively participated in the discussions of the executive committee list. I've wanted to say this for a couple of months, so here it goes. Whenever I write the short summaries (below), I'm amazed at how cut and dry they sound. I can assure you that your EC has passion, fire, enthusiasm and callused finger tips from writing (sometimes quite a bit) more than a hundred email messages each month. Summary April 12 - May 13, 2002 This month on the executive list: * Publication of the Internet resource working group charge and the Election working group charge to air-l; Charlie and Nancy (the liaisons to the executive committee respectively) have reported back and work will begin soon. * Discussion of eprints services, and the pro and cons of a possible AoIR journal (print, online, or both) * Decision to accept Routledge's Cyberstudies Catalog discount offer * Discussion of conference issues, including keynote speakers for Maastricht, reviewing issues in general, possible formation of a conference work group, suggestions for the editors roundtable at Maastricht, and long term planning for future conferences (call for papers for Toronto, call for host for AoIR 5.0) * The EC provided feedback on an advanced draft of the listserve project which will be completed in the upcoming month * Discussion on whether to publicize AoIR more aggressively and to which audiences, or not * The EC provided feedback on the ethics work group's draft 2.4 Treasurer (Bates) 2.4.1 No report (w/o Net access for a short time). 2.5 Open Seats (Silver, Wellman) 2.5.1 Silver: As Ulla noted (see above), Matt, Ulla, and myself and putting the final touches on the list project and have benefited greatly from Jeremy's help. Helped Jeremy organize an AIR reception at the recent Critical Cyberculture Studies conference at the University of Maryland. Ideas were shared, drinks were dranked, and friendships were begun and/or solidified. Been keeping up with the heavy email activity taking place on the executive list. 2.5.2 Wellman: Initiated discussion of desirability for reporting back of referees' comments to conference paper submitters, especially, but not exclusively, rejectees. Initiated discussion about desirability for reaching out to expand AOIR's active membership, especially at leading research institutions. 2.6 Appointed Seats (Allen, Shade) 2.6.1 Allen: No report. 2.6.2 Shade: Participated in a few conferences: --seminar on Digital Divide for Canadian Heritage, Ottawa --panel presentation on Dot Force at Bugs: Globalism and Pluralism, Montreal --panel on power and inequality at Globalization and Social Justice, Chicago Met with Sj in Chicago, and talked about What I Should Do For AOIR, among other things 2.7 Student Seat (Klastrup) 2.7.1 On leave. 2.8 Publications Officers (Hunsinger, Breindahl) 2.8.1 Hunsinger: I helped charlie with the lists because we have been getting an inordinate amount of attempts to send virus's and spam of late. I am researching a solution to implement soon. Covered some of the Treasurer job while Ben is away. Fixed some minor problems on the server. Updated server software. Advised Klaus and Monica when they asked for advice. Helped the List group a bit. Created/implemented the working group lists. Created/implemented the members announcement system. Discussed at length several things on the exec list. Helped with some membership problems. Did some things for the Ethics working group. There are probably other things:) 2.8.2 Breindahl: I have been appointed liaison between the "Internet Resources Working Group" and the Executive Committee. Nine volunteers have come forward and the working group is now starting its work. Otherwise I have taken part in most of the discussions of the executive committee and tended to our mailing-lists. 2.9 2002 Conference (Monica Murero, Coordinator; Klaus Bruhn Jensen, Program Chair) 2.9.1 Murero: The organization of A(o)IR conference is quite advanced at this time, and is progressing well. It was an intense month! We have now 4 confirmed keynote speakers. Announcements will follow soon. The conference website has been updated with new information, particularly about registrations, accommodations, transportations, program and home page. Registrations are now open and messages will be sent out soon to boost registrations. Steve and I are working on it at the present time. The organization of the 2 pre-conference workshops is completed. Klaus and I have taken care of sending this information online together with an "appetizer" of the program. I have worked on a frame for the conference program (time-schedule). Building on previous conferences, time for lunch (we missed it last year), coffee breaks, and early departures are all taken into considerations this year. I have answered a lot of e-mails and processed requests from unwaged participants. I did some intermediation between local proposals and AoIR executive committee's vision. I'd like to address a particular thank to Steve for his constant help and quick feedbacks. 2.9.2 Jensen: Following notification of submitters for AoIR 3.0, I have been working with Monica Murero to adjust the program and getting it as well as information on preconference workshops online. Confirmations from participants are due June 1; reminders are being sent out, and the resulting preliminary program will be put online in June. 2.10 AoIR Ethics Working Group (Charles Ess, Chair) 2.10.1 The working group has continued to revise and refine its draft statement on Internet research ethics, in preparation for making it available to the aoir-list for comment. We have reviewed additional scholarly resources (print and web-based), including those suggested by recent discussion on the aoir-list; these are incorporated in the draft. We are also considering a case study submitted by an aoir member, which may be notable for its being relatively non-problematic in ethical terms! ------------------------------------end of executive committee report------------------------------ The Association of Internet Researchers is a scholarly association dedicated to the advancement of the cross-disciplinary field of Internet studies. It is a resource and support network promoting critical and scholarly Internet research independent from traditional disciplines and existing across academic borders. The association is international in scope. The association's web site is at http://www.aoir.org. Membership information is available at http://aoir.org/airjoin.html