At 3:36 PM -0400 7/14/02, Bram Dov Abramson wrote:

Generally, I think that the divide posited between academics and private corporations is less germane than the one between disciplines. Marketing researchers in academia and the private sector work fairly closely together, but they and their counterparts in sociology and demographics, statistics, psychology, and other similarly-interested disciplines don't appear -- that is, from my limited vantage point -- to chat as often as might be in their interests on such matters.

I agree with this as a summary statement (particularly given the degree to which the engineering fields are increasingly engaged with universities' patent and intellectually property efforts). But there are remarkable differences between, and within, disciplines, and types of universities, in the degree to which academic and private sectors work and/or talk together.

I wonder whether an organisation like AOIR mightn't be well-placed to help open that conversation up, given the absence of any given discipline's monopoly (well, one hopes) over so-called "Internet studies". In which case, academic research's lack of isolation from private-sector work might helpfully be regarded less as unfortunate, than as a fortunate point from which to build a baseline set of guidelines ... atop which any disciplinary or organisational entities should, it goes without saying, feel quite justified in wishing to layer their own sets of rules.

It's always been my hope that AoIR would have members from industry, government, the private sector, etc., in addition to members from academe. Membership is open to anyone interested in Internet research. If we were to be a catalyst for conversations between all of these I would be as pleased as I am that we are a catalyst for conversations among those from a variety of disciplines engaged in Internet research. We are, to a large extent, at the mercy of the membership to have such things happen, though. I think some of the work of creating "a baseline set of guidelines" has been happening, in part institutionally as we work on things like an ethics statement, and in part informally at conferences and online. But the association, as such, does not make these things happen - members do. I hope that I and the other members of the executive committee are sufficiently approachable that those with an interest in working on initiatives are comfortable with contacting us to talk about those interests. Sj