I've been mostly lurking through this thread, partly because I'm in the middle of final revisions (yay for posting, will send an announcement to y'all when my wonderful chair signs the bottom line...) partly because I've been thinking where I stand on this. This has been a fascinating conversation about the culture of internet research - coming from an anthropologist I can't resist thinking about it this way. But I have to say, knowing where in the world, literally, someone is situated is pretty important to me, because it gives me a sense of where different kinds of expertise are developing, and frankly as a researcher that's helpful. Personally I don't care what someone's technical credentials are. I'm someone in the humanities who got into technology as sort of a fluke, and my skills come from practical experience and the couple courses I managed to squeeze in while doing my doctoral coursework and and while I've been researching and writing. It is interesting, however, to see where people come from in their expertise on that topic. Bungee jumping, while fascinating *grin* (mostly because I'm too chicken to do it) doesn't give me anything scholarly to chew on, though when I start meeting folks at conferences it'll be a great conversation starter. Seriously, this may just need to be a live and let live situation, where we all occasionally weigh in and debate it - pretty healthy discussion for a growing, interdisciplinary group such as ours. I love that this has been civil and yet many people have different stances on this. With that in mind, I'll sign off with relevant credentials, and hope to continue this conversation at some point over a beer or similar beverage... Cheers! J. Meryl Krieger (almost!) Ph.D., Folklore & Ethnomusicology, Indiana University Associate Instructor, Department of Communication & Culture Adjunct Instructor, Ivy Tech Community College kriegerj@indiana.edu On Wed, Aug 19, 2009 at 11:11 AM, John Postill <jpostill@usa.net> wrote:
Funnily enough, I too was about to stress *relevance* before reading Rasha's latest posting below.
As a subscriber to the Association of Internet Researchers list I am interested in keeping up with what other Internet researchers are doing, and this includes being able to place them and their Internet research geographically, professionally, etc. So I look at signatures pragmatically: it makes life easier when people remind others of their geographical location and academic (or non-academic, as the case may be) background.
A signature often helps to jog the memory as well (e.g. oh yes, that phd student at Bristol university working on Twitter). Whether a list contributor practices snowboarding or is a fan of Ricky Gervais is not relevant to this Internet research list. So I would encourage posters to include a relevant signature, preferably with a link to a homepage or blog where we can learn more about their Internet research, but I wouldn't make this mandatory.
Thank you all for a great thread
John
Dr John Postill C3 Research Institute (C3RI) Sheffield Hallam University Sheffield S1 2NU United Kingdom http://johnpostill.wordpress.com/
------ Original Message ------ Received: Wed, 19 Aug 2009 01:39:06 PM BST From: "Dr. Rasha Abdulla" <rasha@aucegypt.edu> To: jeremy hunsinger <jhuns@vt.edu>Cc: air-l@aoir.org Subject: Re: [Air-L] Credentials
Ok, I can't resist:) One (hopefully final) reply on my part. This is actually a message that I've written privately to a list member in reply to their private message, but I think it might add some value. I want to stress on two things though: 1) I never said I wanted titles to be a requirement, it was simply a request for people to identify themselves more; and 2) I never claimed academics (or those with Ph.D.s or whoever) are necessarily better, or more credible, or more knowledgeable than others. As I'm sure you know, people will be more credible depending on their relevance to the matter in question. It was simply that relevance that I requested them to make clear. And I do not think that getting text book recommendations or advice on how to code content analysis is the same as talking to a stranger on a bus, although of course all information should be judged critically. Here's the message. And again thank you all for your responses, public and private. And special thanks to those who did include some kind of affiliation. To me, it adds more value and context to the message, and I still don't think it hurts anyone (unless people are bent on taking it in a negative sense). --------
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