bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
The Externalities of Search 2.0: The Emerging Privacy Threats when the Drive for the Perfect Search Engine meets Web 2.0
Authors: Zimmer Michael
Published: May 2013

Web search engines have emerged as a ubiquitous and vital tool for the successful navigation of the growing online informational sphere. As Google puts it, the goal is to "organize the world's information and make it universally accessible and useful" and to create the "perfect search engine" that provides only intuitive, personalized, and relevant results. Meanwhile, the so-called Web 2.0 phenomenon has blossomed based, largely, on the faith in the power of the networked masses to capture, process, and mashup one's personal information flows in order to make them more useful, social, and meaningful. The (inevitable) combining of Google's suite of information-seeking products with Web 2.0 infrastructures -- what I call Search 2.0 -- intends to capture the best of both technical systems for the touted benefit of users. By capturing the information flowing across Web 2.0, search engines can better predict users' needs and wants, and deliver more relevant and meaningful results. While intended to enhance mobility in the online sphere, this paper argues that the drive for Search 2.0 necessarily requires the widespread monitoring and aggregation of a users' online personal and intellectual activities, bringing with it particular externalities, such as threats to informational privacy while online.
The contribution of online news attributes to its diffusion: An empirical exploration based on a proposed theoretical model for the micro-process of online news adoption/use
Authors: Nguyen An
Published: May 2013

This paper develops and tests a theoretical model of the online news adoption/use process, based on expectancy-value and innovation-diffusion theories, to examine the predictive power of nine common features of online news in its potential development. Using data from a national survey of online news uses in Australia, the study finds that while some online attributes such as its immediacy and content-richness features have a strong impact on the way online news is adopted, used and integrated into daily life, its unique attributes such as customisation and interactivity still have a limited effect. Also, despite that online news attributes tend to be integrated together in online news packages and thus can be unintentionally used without motivation, there is strong evidence to suggest that each of the nine online news features is substantially used because it is consciously appreciated and evaluated.
The Consequences of Information: Institutional Implications of Technological Change by Jannis Kallinikos
Authors: Iannacci Federico
Published: May 2013

The article summarises and reviews a new book on the consequences of information growth. It underlines the importance of studying technological change by focusing on information growth dynamics rather than individual and collective agents. It also shows that new organisational arrangements falling under the network umbrella should be conceptualised as spatio-temporal instantiations of institutional arrangements reflecting the quest for cross-boundary transactions involving mostly the exchange, transfer and generation of messages and information.
A marketplace for attention: Responses to a synthetic currency used to signal information importance in e-mail
Authors: Reeves Byron , Roy Simon , Gorman Brian , Morley Teresa
Published: May 2013

The productivity of information workers is jeopardized by too much e-mail. A proposed solution to e-mail overload is the creation of an economy that uses a scarce synthetic currency that senders can use to signal the importance of information and receivers can use to prioritize messages. A test of the virtual economy with corporate information workers showed that people in a large company used different amounts of the currency when sending e-mails, and that the amount of currency attached to messages produced statistically significant differences in how quickly receivers opened the messages. An analysis of the network of virtual currency trades between workers showed the different roles that participants played in the communication network, and showed that relationships defined by currency exchanges uncovered social networks that are not apparent in analyses that only examine the frequency, as opposed to the value of interactions.
Exploring structural interactivity in online newspapers: A look at the Greek Web landscape
Authors: Spyridou Paschalia-Lia , Veglis Andreas
Published: May 2013

As the online news industry has completed its first decade of existence, online newspapers are moving beyond the realm of "shovelware" to produce news marked by increased interactivity, content richness and user control. Content originality and the advantages provided by technology are said to lie at the core of efficient online news production. This paper examines the development of online newspapers in terms of exploiting the structural interactive features available today. Drawing upon quantitative research, it is argued that in the Greek online press the range of possible forms and expressions of interactivity are limited and uneven. The dominant journalistic culture of Greece - in combination to political and cultural traits of the country - are assumed to hinder the expected development of Web publishing.
Copyright protection and the new stakeholders in online distance education: The Play’s the Thing
Authors: Mann Bruce L
Published: May 2013

This paper analyzes the university as an Internet intermediary in the current climate of online distance education, classifies the stakeholders associated with the university in Web course management, and explores the need for an “Instructional Design Copyright Law”. The situation is likened to a theatrical production, with front-of-house preparations, backstage operations, and tragic characters.
The World is Not Flat: Expertise and InPhO
Authors: Allen Colin , Buckner Cameron , Niepert Mathias
Published: May 2013

The Indiana Philosophy Ontology (InPhO) is a “dynamic ontology” for the domain of philosophy derived from human input and software analysis. The structured nature of the ontology supports machine reasoning about philosophers and their ideas. It is dynamic because it tracks changes in the content of the online Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. This paper discusses ways of managing the varying expertise of people who supply input to the InPhO and provide feedback on the automated methods.
The Humanities in the Digital Age
Authors: Cole Bruce
Published: May 2013

Bruce Cole, Chairman of the National Endowment for the Humanities, delivered welcoming remarks to participants at the 2008 WebWise Conference on Libraries and Museums in the Digital World in Miami Beach, Florida on March 6, 2008. In his remarks, he discussed the effect that digital technology is having on humanities scholarship and access, and described the Endowment’s efforts in the realm of the “digital humanities.”
Animating the archive
Authors: Schnapp Jeffrey
Published: May 2013

Derived from ancient Greek άρχεϊου ("government"), the late Latin word "archive" has come in the modern era to refer not just to public records but also to the entire corpus of material remains that the past has bequeathed to the present: artifacts, writings, books, works of art, personal documents, and the like. It also refers to the institutions that house and preserve such remains, be they museums, libraries, or archives proper. In all of these meanings, archive connotes a past that is dead, that has severed its ties with the present, that has entered the crypt of history. The essay explores the ways in which Internet 2.0 offers new possibilities for institutions of memory: novel approaches to conservation and preservation based not upon limiting but multiplying access to the remains of the past; participatory models of content production and curatorship; mixed reality approaches to programming and informal education that expand traditional library and museum audiences; and enhanced means for vivifying and for promoting active modes of engagement with the past.
The Encyclopedia of Life, Biodiversity Heritage Library, Biodiversity Informatics and Beyond Web 2.0
Authors: Norton Cathy N.
Published: May 2013

Abstract: E.O. Wilson, the noted entomologist at Harvard, “wished” for an authoritative encyclopedia of life that would be freely available on the worldwide Web for the entire world. On May 9th, 2007, The Encyclopedia of Life (EOL) was launched as a multi-institutional initiative whose mission is to create 1.8 million Web sites detailing all the known attributes, history, and behavior, about every known and described species and portraying that information through video, audio, and literature, via the Internet. A major contributor to the Encyclopedia is the Biodiversity Heritage Library that is currently scanning all the core biodiversity literature
Multimedia for Peanuts: The Pachyderm Project at Five
Authors: Johnson Larry
Published: May 2013

The genesis for this paper was a panel discussion held in March 2008 at the annual WebWise conference on the topic of “The Power of Presentation.” In that discussion a number of projects were profiled that featured new approaches to presentation – some using virtual worlds, some recreating history – and some using a generic multimedia development platform called Pachyderm. As it happened, the invitation came at the same time that the Pachyderm Project, initially funded by the Institute for Museum and Library Services, was celebrating its fifth year of operations, under a model in which it had achieved self-sustaining status by the end of its third year. This paper captures the story of the Pachyderm Project in brief, and aims to highlight some of the insights and learnings the team had as they moved from a model of external support to one in which the project could move forward under its own power.
Whose space is MySpace? A content analysis of MySpace profiles
Authors: Jones Steve , Millermaier Sarah , Goya-Martinez Mariana , Schuler Jessica
Published: May 2013

This study examines the content of MySpace pages to reveal the types of personal information users disclose on their pages and the types of communication users engage in via through their MySpace account. The researchers performed a traditional content analysis on MySpace user profiles to learn about user characteristics and about the types of content posted on profiles pages. Findings showed a clear pattern of use of the site for creating and developing personal identities and relationships online. Findings show a high degree of control by users over private information, with very few users posting personal information such as telephone numbers and addresses. The results of this research contribute to an understanding of the use of MySpace as a social networking site, a communication tool, and a means of self-disclosure and identity formation.
Social networks that matter: Twitter under the microscope
Authors: Huberman Bernardo , Romero Daniel M , Wu Fang
Published: May 2013

Scholars, advertisers and political activists see massive online social networks as a representation of social interactions that can be used to study the propagation of ideas, social bond dynamics and viral marketing, among others. But the linked structures of social networks do not reveal actual interactions among people. Scarcity of attention and the daily rythms of life and work makes people default to interacting with those few that matter and that reciprocate their attention. A study of social interactions within Twitter reveals that the driver of usage is a sparse and hidden network of connections underlying the “declared” set of friends and followers.
Political video mashups as allegories of citizen empowerment
Authors: Edwards Richard , Tryon Chuck
Published: May 2013

When the viral video “Vote Different” broke into the mainstream media in March 2007, the political video mashup became a notable media phenomenon. User-generated mashups threatened to cut through the US news clutter that typically shapes election discourse. In this paper, political video mashups are examined as allegories of citizen empowerment during the 2008 U.S. presidential election. Political video mashups can act as tools of political advocacy, forms of political protest, and modes of political commentary. Finally, though they are already being co-opted by mainstream political campaigns, the paper addresses the potential of mashups to re-interpret political messages in ways that may encourage the active re-framing of political issues among 21st century citizens.
Public libraries and the Internet 2008-2009: Issues, implications, and challenges
Authors: Bertot John Carlo , Jaeger Paul T. , McClure Charles R. , Wright Carla B. , Jensen Elise
Published: May 2013

This paper presents an overview of methods, findings, issues, and implications from the 2008 Public Libraries and the Internet national survey, including comparisons to data from previous studies. Since 1994, these surveys have chronicled the expansion of the Internet as a primary library service. The 2008 survey includes key data about the many facets of public libraries as community Internet access, training, and service centers, from the number of workstations and connection speeds available to the most common Internet services and training. The findings from the 2008 survey reveal impacts of the global recession on public libraries and their ability to meet the needs and expectations of patrons, communities, and all levels of government.
Public lives and private communities: The terms of service agreement and life in virtual worlds
Authors: Halbert Debora J.
Published: May 2013

This paper argues that the terms of service (TOS) agreements, also sometimes referred to as end user license agreements (EULAs), governing virtual worlds have important implications for the political and legal structures under which our virtual selves will function. This essay will focus on four key political concepts central to all TOS agreements studied. These concepts include contract language governing speech codes, intellectual property rights, privacy, and the relationship of the gaming world to the real world. If indeed these agreements offer governing constraints for people functioning in virtual spaces, then not only should their anti–democratic construction be considered, but as people spend more time in virtual worlds, these structures will become increasingly important to many aspects of our virtual identities.
The self-Googling phenomenon: Investigating the performance of personalized information resources
Authors: Nicolai Thomas , Kirchhof Lars , Bruns Axel , Wilson Jason , Saunders Barry
Published: May 2013

This paper investigates self-Googling through the monitoring of search engine activities of users and adds to the few quantitative studies on this topic already in existence. We explore this phenomenon by answering the following questions: To what extent is the self-Googling visible in the usage of search engines; is any significant difference measurable between queries related to self-Googling and generic search queries; to what extent do self-Googling search requests match the selected personalised Web pages? To address these questions we explore the theory of narcissism in order to help define self-Googling and present the results from a 14-month online experiment using Google search engine usage data.
China’s Censorship 2.0: How companies censor bloggers
Authors: MacKinnon Rebecca
Published: May 2013

This study explores an under-studied layer of Chinese Internet censorship: how Chinese Internet companies censor user-generated content, usually by deleting it or preventing its publication. Systematic testing of Chinese blog service providers reveals that domestic censorship is very decentralized with wide variation from company to company. Test results also showed that a great deal of politically sensitive material survives in the Chinese blogosphere, and that chances for its survival can likely be improved with knowledge and strategy. The study concludes that choices and actions by private individuals and companies can have a significant impact on the overall balance of freedom and control in the Chinese blogosphere.
Cross-language search: The case of Google Language Tools
Authors: Chen Jiangping , Bao Yu
Published: May 2013

This paper presents a case study of Google Language Tools, especially its cross-language search service. Cross-language search integrates machine translation (MT) and cross-language information retrieval (CLIR) technologies and allows Web users to search and read pages written in languages different from their search terms. In addition to cross-language search, Google Language Tools provides various language support services to multilingual information access. Our study examines the functions of Google Language Tools and the performance of its cross-language search. The results and analysis show that Google Language Tools are useful for Web users. Its cross-language search service provides quality query translation while the automatic translation of result pages needs further improvement. The paper suggests that cross-language search could be used by different types of Web users. The authors also discuss the strategies and important issues with regard to implementing multilingual information access services for information systems.
Salvation or destruction: Metaphors of the Internet
Authors: Johnston Rebecca
Published: May 2013

People use metaphors routinely to express their thoughts regarding the Internet’s nature and potential. In a study of editorials over a three month period, writers used metaphors of physical space, physical speed, salvation, and destruction to describe the Internet. We need to understand what these metaphors imply and how they impact the Internet’s future.
Industries, artists, friends and fans: Marketing young adult fictions online
Authors: Rutherford Leonie Margaret
Published: May 2013

The Internet has facilitated the coming together of formerly more separated youth taste cultures, such that literary, screen and graphic fandoms now more readily overlap. Media industries have invested in online strategies which create an ongoing relationship between producers and consumers of entertainment media texts. Using the Internet marketing campaign for Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight saga as a case study, the paper examines the role of the publishing industry in marketing popular teen literary fiction through online channels in ways that often disguise promotional intent.
Running code as part of an open standards policy
Authors: Shah Rajiv , Kesan Jay
Published: May 2013

Governments around the world are considering implementing or even mandating open standards policies. They believe these policies will provide economic, socio-political, and technical benefits. In this article, we analyze the failure of the Massachusetts’s open standards policy as applied to document formats. We argue it failed due to the lack of running code. Running code refers to multiple independent, interoperable implementations of an open standard. With running code, users have choice in their adoption of a software product and consequently economic and technological benefits. We urge governments to incorporate a “running code” requirement when adopting an open standards policy.
New media vs. old media: A portrait of the Drudge Report 2002-2008
Authors: Leetaru Kalev
Published: May 2013

The Drudge Report is one of the founding flag bearers of the “new media”: a U.S.-based news aggregator founded in the late 1990’s that has developed a reputation for breaking tomorrow’s news today. The site has become a powerful force in the U.S. media sphere and its founder was named one of Time Magazine’s most influential people in 2006. In existence for more than a decade, the Drudge Report makes an ideal case study for examining the “new media versus old media” argument. How dependent is such a “new media” aggregator on the “old media” it draws from, and how does it find the breaking stories it has built its reputation on? A cross-section of analytical techniques is used to demonstrate how to profile a news Web site, and finds that the Drudge Report relies heavily on wire services and obscure news outlets to find the small stories that will break large tomorrow and is highly dependant on the mainstream “old media” sites it draws from.
Reinventing academic publishing online. Part I: Rigor, relevance and practice
Authors: Whitworth Brian , Friedman Rob
Published: May 2013

While current computing practice abounds with innovations like online auctions, blogs, wikis, twitter, social networks and online social games, few if any genuinely new theories have taken root in the corresponding “top” academic journals. Those creating computing progress increasingly see these journals as unreadable, outdated and irrelevant. Yet as technology practice creates, technology theory is if anything becoming even more conforming and less relevant. We attribute this to the erroneous assumption that research rigor is excellence, a myth contradicted by the scientific method itself. Excess rigor supports the demands of appointment, grant and promotion committees, but is drying up the wells of academic inspiration. Part I of this paper chronicles the inevitable limits of what can only be called a feudal academic knowledge exchange system, with trends like exclusivity, slowness, narrowness, conservatism, self-involvement and inaccessibility. We predict an upcoming social upheaval in academic publishing as it shifts from a feudal to democratic form, from knowledge managed by the few to knowledge managed by the many. The technology trigger is socio-technical advances. The drive will be that only democratic knowledge exchange can scale up to support the breadth, speed and flexibility modern cross-disciplinary research needs. Part II suggests the sort of socio-technical design needed to bring this transformation about.
From PDF to MP3: Motivations for creating derivative works
Authors: Hilton III John
Published: May 2013

With increasing frequency, authors are licensing their works in such a way so as to permit others to create derivative works. In some cases, these derivatives extend the impact of a work by providing a translation into another language or modifying the file format to make it more accessible. The Internet is increasing people’s ability to create and distribute these derivatives. Seventeen creators of derivatives were surveyed on their motivations for doing so. They indicated that they were willing to create derivatives that extend the original content of a book because they want to help others access the work. Nearly all the people surveyed indicated they were glad they had created derivative works, often feeling like they were part of a community effort to share the work with others. These creators of derivatives believe that as awareness of open licenses increases others will be encouraged to create derivative works.
The digital divide in Internet information searching: A double-hurdle model analysis of household data from Vermont
Authors: Zhang Guangxuan , Wang Qingbin , Kolodinsky Jane
Published: May 2013

While most studies on the digital divide in the United States focus on disparities in access to computers and the Internet, this study examines the digital divide in Internet information searching. With data from 476 Vermont households surveyed in 2009, a double-hurdle model is used to identify the factors that impact the likelihood and frequency of using the Internet for information searching. Empirical results suggest that there are significant disparities in both the likelihood and frequency of online information searching in Vermont and that these disparities are closely associated with several socioeconomic and demographic factors such as education level, income, and age. Also, the impacts of some variables on the likelihood to use the Internet are different from their impacts on the frequency of using the Internet for information searching. These research findings are expected to be useful when developing programs and policies for reducing the digital divide.
Twitter content classification
Authors: Dann Stephen
Published: May 2013

This paper delivers a new Twitter content classification framework based sixteen existing Twitter studies and a grounded theory analysis of a personal Twitter history. It expands the existing understanding of Twitter as a multifunction tool for personal, profession, commercial and phatic communications with a split level classification scheme that offers broad categorization and specific sub categories for deeper insight into the real world application of the service.
Factors affecting the frequency and amount of social networking site use: Motivations, perceptions, and privacy concerns
Authors: Cha Jiyoung
Published: May 2013

The purpose of this study is to explore the factors that affect the use of social networking Web sites. In doing so, this investigation focuses on two dimensions of social networking site use frequency (i.e., how often people use social networking sites) and amount (i.e., how much time people spend on social networks). Integrating the technology acceptance model with uses and gratification and other consumer characteristics, this study found that interpersonal utility, perceived ease of use, privacy concerns, and age predict the frequency of social networking site use. Interpersonal utility motive, escape motive, and Internet experience explain the time spent on social networking sites.
Political parties and voter privacy: Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom, and United States in comparative perspective
Authors: Howard Philip N. , Kreiss Daniel
Published: May 2013

Political parties are among the most lax, unregulated organizations handling large volumes of personally identifiable data about citizens’ behavior and attitudes. We analyze the privacy practices of political parties in Australia, Canada, United Kingdom, and United States to assess the current state of electorate data, compare regulatory efforts, and offer policy recommendations. While data has long been a part of political practice, there has been a revolution over the last decade in the opportunities for gathering, storing, and acting upon data. Candidates, parties, lobby groups and data–mining firms collect massive amounts of data. They trade analytical tools, databases, and consulting expertise on a vast and unregulated market. In these practices, political actors routinely violate the privacy norms of many citizens. There are also documented cases of data breeches in all four countries. Meanwhile, political parties face relatively few restrictions on their use of data, and have developed a wide variety of largely voluntary privacy policies that are inadequate. We argue that some straightforward policy oversight would significantly improve the way personal records are handled by political actors.
Sharing music files: Tactics of a challenge to the industry
Authors: Martin Brian , Moore Chris , Salter Colin
Published: May 2013

The sharing of music files has been the focus of a massive struggle between representatives of major record companies and artists in the music industry, on one side, and peer-to-peer (p2p) file-sharing services and their users, on the other. This struggle can be analysed in terms of tactics used by the two sides, which can be classified into five categories: cover-up versus exposure, devaluation versus validation, interpretation versus alternative interpretation, official channels versus mobilisation, and intimidation versus resistance. It is valuable to understand these tactics because similar ones are likely to be used in ongoing struggles between users of p2p services and representatives of the content industries.
Education and the social Web: Connective learning and the commercial imperative
Authors: Friesen Norm
Published: May 2013

In recent years, new socially-oriented Web technologies have been portrayed as placing the learner at the centre of networks of knowledge and expertise, potentially leading to new forms of learning and education. In this paper, I argue that commercial social networks are much less about circulating knowledge than they are about connecting users (“eyeballs”) with advertisers; it is not the autonomous individual learner, but collective corporate interests that occupy the centre of these networks. Looking first at Facebook, Twitter, Digg and similar services, I argue their business model restricts their information design in ways that detract from learner control and educational use. I also argue more generally that the predominant “culture” and corresponding types of content on services like those provided Google similarly privileges advertising interests at the expense of users. Just as commercialism has rendered television beyond the reach of education, commercial pressures threaten to seriously limit the potential of the social Web for education and learning.
How today’s college students use Wikipedia for course-related research
Authors: Head Alison J. , Eisenberg Michael B.
Published: May 2013

Findings are reported from student focus groups and a large-scale survey about how and why students (enrolled at six different U.S. colleges) use Wikipedia during the course-related research process. A majority of respondents frequently used Wikipedia for background information, but less often than they used other common resources, such as course readings and Google. Architecture, engineering, and science majors were more likely to use Wikipedia for course-related research than respondents in other majors. The findings suggest Wikipedia is used in combination with other information resources. Wikipedia meets the needs of college students because it offers a mixture of coverage, currency, convenience, and comprehensibility in a world where credibility is less of a given or an expectation from today’s students.
User creativity, governance, and the new media: An introduction to the First Monday special issue
Authors: Kow Yong Ming , Nardi Bonnie
Published: May 2013

In this special issue, we present a multi-disciplinary perspective of the emergence of user creativity in new media. The papers were written by researchers in anthropology, sociology, media studies, law, computer science, and management studies. The authors examine the roles of users and commercial actors in the new media, and help answer critical questions on intellectual property, ethics, practice, and governance. Taken together, the papers expose a complex, mutable, creative ecology influencing new media product development and practice.
Developing virtual worlds: The interplay of design, communities and rationality
Authors: Tschang F. Ted , Comas Jordi
Published: May 2013

This paper examines the evolution of virtual worlds from the developer's perspective. What are the motivations of developers? What are the specific challenges of the governance of user-generated content? User-created virtual worlds may be characterized according to their degree of design or emergence. On one end is the 'the designer as god' perspective and on the other is the unforeseeable and perpetually emergent 'user creativity.' Utilizing a theoretically derived sample of virtual worlds, we illustrate how governance is more complex as designers contend with three major issues. In general, across all three worlds, developers had to come to grips with the limits of their ability to design virtual worlds for premeditated outcomes. Secondly, communities forming within worlds, as opposed to atomized users, are central to the (creative) building, usage and governance of virtual worlds. Developers have a range of choices for how to interact with communities ranging from arm's length monitoring to engagement. Thirdly, developers have to manage instrumentally rational aspects of their business which can lead to tensions with the design and community goals, and, ultimately, lead to the failure of a world's business model. A fuller accounting of governance will have to accommodate the complex interplay between purposeful design, emergent community, and the logic of the marketplace.
The rewards of non-commercial production: Distinctions and status in the anime music video scene
Authors: Ito Mizuko
Published: May 2013

Anime music videos (AMVs) are remix videos made by overseas fans of Japanese animation. This paper describes the organization of the AMV scene in order to illuminate some of the key characteristics of a robust networked subculture centered on the production of transformative works. Fan production that appropriates commercial culture occupies a unique niche within our creative cultural landscape. Unlike professional production and many other forms of amateur media production, transformative fan production is non-commercial, and centered on appropriating, commenting on, and celebrating commercial popular culture. Participants in robust fan production scenes are motivated to create high-quality work that can rival the quality of professional media, but do this within an entirely non-commercial context. Rewards are not financial, but rather center on recognition and social participation. I describe how AMV creators, supporters, and viewers engage in processes of social inclusion as well as processes for marking status and reputation that delineate different modes of participating, contributing, and being recognized. This paper starts by outlining the conceptual framework and methodology behind this study. Then the paper provides historical background on the AMV scene before turning to descriptions of three complementary dimensions of the AMV scene drawn from ethnographic fieldwork: the properties of open access and sharing that support an amateur ethos, processes of connoisseurship and distinction making, and how status and reputation are established and negotiated among the elite editors that comprise the core of the scene. Together, these characteristics of the AMV scene provide incentives for both new and aspiring creators to participate, as well as for more experienced creators to improve their craft.
Modding to the big leagues: Exploring the space between modders and the game industry
Authors: Postigo Hector
Published: May 2013

Modding is an important characteristic of participatory culture in video games. Studies have shown that PC game modders mod for a host of reasons not least of which as a means of developing the skills and portfolio needed to get a job in the video game industry. Modding culture can be thought of as a point of articulation between the industry and participatory cultural practices. Modding culture is not only concerned with accessing the game industry however, but also puts a high premium on modding for fun or out of love for a particular community or game. Because it effectively straddles market and non-market interests it is important to study how modders negotiate the two sides of modding, which has been at the leading edge of the participatory turn in media consumption and production. This article undertakes an evaluation of modding discourses, first through an evaluation of surveys taken by moderators of modding discussion forums and secondly through an evaluation of discussions regarding technologies used by modders. The article sheds light on the complex ways in which modders' understand the practice of modding. It is framed broadly within political economic theories that have attempted to map modding in post-industrial logics and within theories that have understood it as a participatory culture. Ultimately this paper discusses other participatory practices, drawing parallels with modding and venturing some observations about user participation in the new media environment.
A theory of digital objects
Authors: Kallinikos Jannis , Aaltonen Aleksi , Marton Attila
Published: May 2013

Digital objects are marked by a limited set of variable yet generic attributes such as editability, interactivity, openness and distributedness. As digital objects diffuse throughout the institutional fabric, these attributes and the information-based operations and procedures out of which they are sustained install themselves at the heart of social practice. The entities and processes that constitute the stuff of social practice are thereby rendered increasingly unstable and transfigurable, producing a context of experience in which the certainties of recurring and recognizable objects are on the wane. These claims are supported with reference to 1) the elusive identity of digital documents and the problems of authentication/preservation of records such an identity posits and 2) the operations of search engines and the effects digital search has on the content of the documents it retrieves.
Scientometrics 2.0: New metrics of scholarly impact on the social Web
Authors: Priem Jason , Hemminger Bradely H.
Published: May 2013

The growing flood of scholarly literature is exposing the weaknesses of current, citation-based methods of evaluating and filtering articles. A novel and promising approach is to examine the use and citation of articles in a new forum: Web 2.0 services like social bookmarking and microblogging. Metrics based on this data could build a “Scientometics 2.0,” supporting richer and more timely pictures of articles' impact. This paper develops the most comprehensive list of these services to date, assessing the potential value and availability of data from each. We also suggest the next steps toward building and validating metrics drawn from the social Web.
Government and e-participation programs: A study of the challenges faced by institutional projects
Authors: Marques Francisco Paulo Jamil Almeida
Published: May 2013

This paper examines the difficulties faced by government projects aimed at fostering citizens' political participation by using the Internet. After presenting the participatory tools found on two institutional Web sites (the Brazilian Presidency and the House of Representatives), I examine how the constraints pointed out by a relevant part of the literature in e-participation are reflected in such initiatives. Promoting online participation needs more than providing communication resources, since civic culture and other issues are still key factors in influencing our patterns of political involvement. A participatory use of digital tools depends more on circumstances, such as institutional willingness, than on technical mechanisms available.
Awarding the self in Wikipedia: Identity work and the disclosure of knowledge
Authors: Ashton Daniel
Published: May 2013

The ‘behind-the-scenes’ discussion and edit pages of Wikipedia reveal a complex layering of debates and discussion between editors. Focusing on how Wikipedia ‘service awards’ can identify and distinguish editors, this paper explores the disclosure of knowledge as it is intimately bound up with identity work. Examining contributions/edits to Wikipedia as disclosures highlights processes of identity management and work.
New media and literacies: Amateurs vs. professionals
Authors: Koltay Tibor
Published: May 2013

New media are not supportive of critical thinking and conscious selection of information. Literacies of our age stress critical thinking and take many forms. Despite differences and similarities among information literacy, media literacy and digital literacy, all of them have to differentiate between amateur and professional contents produced in new media. Similarly to the traditional division of labor among libraries, the needs behind amateurism and professionalism have to be satisfied differently.
Internet regulation: The need for more transparent Internet filtering systems and improved measurement of public opinion on Internet filtering
Authors: Koumartzis Nikolaos , Veglis Andreas
Published: May 2013

All around the world, the phenomenon of Internet regulation is on the rise as more and more countries implement such policies, from Asian authoritarian regimes to Western democracies. At the same time, the great majority of Internet users are not aware that they access a filtered version of World Wide Web due to the “non–transparent” policy of many governments, something that results to a very dangerous precedent for the future of the Internet.

In this paper, the authors promote and encourage the participation of Internet users in the designing procedure of Internet Regulation Systems (IRSs), as a way to develop effective and ethically correct systems. This can be done via well–formatted surveys conducted in national level in order to measure public opinion and point out user’s needs. To justify their approach, the authors discuss the results of the available related surveys conducted around the globe. Last, in order to attract researchers in the field, they launched a portal for the International project WebObserver.net (http://webobserver.net/) via which they provide all the needed tools for researchers to conduct such surveys with ease and with the minimum time needed.
Scientists online: A framework for the analysis of Internet profiles
Authors: Bukvova Helena
Published: May 2013

Many scientists use the Internet to present themselves and their work. The content they create could be used to improve the awareness and communication within the scientific community. This requires a sound understanding of the contents on scientists’ profiles, especially with regard to their structure. Existing literature offers mostly basic categorisation, focusing only on single platforms. This article presents a study of scientists’ profiles on institutional and private Web pages, social networking services, blogs, and microblogs. The aim of the study was to describe structures within the profile contents. For this purpose, 79 profiles belonging to 15 German scientists were identified and analysed using the constructivist grounded theory method. The result was a framework, suitable for structuring and further analysis of scientists’ profiles. The framework describes three levels for the study of profiles: profile networks, profile instances, and content units. The content on the profiles can be classified with regard to its type, verbosity, and placement. The developed framework serves as a basic structure for further research into scientists’ online self–presentation.
LOLing at tragedy: Facebook trolls, memorial pages and resistance to grief online
Authors: Phillips Whitney
Published: May 2013

This paper examines the emergence of organized trolling behaviors on Facebook, specifically in relation to memorial groups and fan pages. In addition to mapping the development of RIP trolling — in which online instigators post abusive comments and images onto pages created for and dedicated to the deceased — the paper also examines the highly contentious and ultimately parasitic relationship(s) between memorial trolls, Facebook’s social networking platform and mainstream media outlets. Recalling Oring’s account of disaster humor, the paper goes on to suggest that, inadvertently or not, Facebook memorial page trolling presents a pointed critique of a tragedy–obsessed global media.
Back to the “wall”: How to use Facebook in the college classroom
Authors: Muñoz Caroline Lego , Towner Terri
Published: May 2013

The evolving world of the Internet — blogs, podcasts, wikis, social networks — offers instructors and students radically new ways to research, communicate, and learn. Integrating these Internet tools into the college classroom, however, is not an easy task. Therefore, the purpose of this article is to examine the role of social networking in education and demonstrate how social network sites (SNS) can be used in a college classroom setting. To do this, existing research relating to SNS and education is discussed, and the primary advantages and disadvantages of using SNS in the classroom are explored. Most importantly, specific instructions and guidelines to follow when implementing SNS (i.e., Facebook) within the college classroom are provided. Specifically, we show that multiple types of Facebook course integration options are available to instructors. It is concluded that SNS, such as Facebook, can be appropriately and effectively used in an academic setting if proper guidelines are established and implemented.
FYI: TMI: Toward a holistic social theory of information overload
Authors: Lincoln Anthony
Published: May 2013

Research into information overload has been extensive and cross-disciplinary, producing a multitude of suggested causes and posed solutions. I argue that many of the conclusions arrived at by existing research, while laudable in their inventiveness and/or practicality, miss the mark by viewing information overload as a problem that can be understood (or even solved) by purely rational means. Such a perspective lacks a critical understanding in human information usage: much in the same way that economic models dependent on rationality for their explanations or projections fail (often spectacularly, as recent history attests), models that rely too heavily upon the same rational behavior, and not heavily enough upon the interplay of actual social dynamics—power, reputation, norms, and others—in their attempts to explain, project, or address information overload prove bankrupt as well. Furthermore, even research that displays greater awareness of the social context in which overload exists often reveals a similar rationality in its conceptualization. That is, often the same “social” approaches that offer potential advantages (in mitigating information overload) over their “non-social” counterparts paradoxically raise new problems, requiring a reappraisal of overload that takes social issues into account holistically.
”Extended infomercials” or ”Politics 2.0”? A study of Swedish political party Web sites before, during and after the 2010 election
Authors: Larsson Anders Olof
Published: May 2013

Although many of the initial hopes regarding the Internet's effect on political engagement and participation has largely gone unfulfilled, it is generally held that the Internet still plays substantial role in political campaigns. Several studies have focused on how the Internet is employed for such purposes during an actual election campaign, but rather few studies have adopted a broader temporal scope, examining Web sites of political parties before, during and after an election. This paper fills this research gap by presenting a longitudinal analysis of the Web sites of Swedish political parties during the election year of 2010. Starting in January of 2010, these Web pages were downloaded on a monthly basis, a practice continued until the end of the year. By studying the Web sites of political parties before, during and after an election campaign, this project provides unique insights into Web campaigning rationale.
Digging into data using new collaborative infrastructures supporting humanities-based computer science research
Authors: Simeone Michael , Guiliano Jennifer , Kooper Rob , Bajcsy Peter
Published: May 2013

This paper explores infrastructure supporting humanities–computer science research in large–scale image data by asking: Why is collaboration a requirement for work within digital humanities projects? What is required for fruitful interdisciplinary collaboration? What are the technical and intellectual approaches to constructing such an infrastructure? What are the challenges associated with digital humanities collaborative work? We reveal that digital humanities collaboration requires the creation and deployment of tools for sharing that function to improve collaboration involving large–scale data repository analysis among multiple sites, academic disciplines, and participants through data sharing, software sharing, and knowledge sharing practices.
Sounds in the cloud: Cloud computing and the digital music commodity
Authors: Morris Jeremy
Published: May 2013

This paper investigates the rise of cloud computing, specifically for music. More than just new technologies for distribution, cloud services establish a fundamentally different relationship between listeners and their music. As the metaphor suggests, the cloud offers an infinite space where music is ever available, but cloud services also act as transient and enclosed spaces where the music we “own” is always at an ethereal distance. Cloud–based music services represent a particular cultural model of music distribution — one that enmeshes users in a network of technologies and a process of continual commodification.