Fee Waiver Program

In order to increase the diversity of participation in the AoIR annual Internet Research (IR) conferences, the Association of Internet Researchers will make available up to three conference fee waivers per year. The number of fee waivers will depend first of all upon the ability of the conference budget to sustain such waivers (a judgment to be made by the AoIR Executive Committee upon the advice of the AoIR Treasurer and the local organizing committee) as well as upon the quality of the applications for fee waivers.

Applications for fee waivers are invited from student or faculty authors whose paper or panel proposals have already been accepted via the AoIR IR conference reviewing process. All applications should be directed to the Vice-President of AoIR (Alex Halavais, vp@aoir.org), and must be received by July 14, 2010. Late applications cannot be considered.

Applications should be no longer than 2 pages, and must include the following information:

1) A brief description of how the author’s presentation or contribution to the AoIR IR conference will uniquely articulate and/or represent a distinctive perspective (e.g., of persons and/or cultures) otherwise unlikely to be represented at the annual AoIR Internet Research conference.

2) An explanation of the author’s distinctive circumstances that would warrant a fee waiver. These may include, but are by no means limited to:

• exceptionally limited financial resources (e.g., as a graduate student or scholar in a non-OECD country, as a disabled person on a limited income, etc.);
• exceptional limits on institutional support otherwise normally available (e.g., travel funds, grant funds, etc.);
• other exceptional circumstances that render the usual AoIR IR conference fees an insurmountable obstacle to attending the IR conference in order to present one’s own work.

Applicants may also include a letter of support from someone familiar with her / his circumstances, special needs, etc.  Such a letter is optional, however, not a requirement.

Applications will be reviewed by the AoIR Executive Committee. Fee waivers will be awarded on the basis of the Executive Committee’s collective judgment as to which presentations will make the most distinctive contribution to the AoIR IR conference. In order to respect and protect the privacy of the applicants, all Executive Committee discussions and deliberations of fee waiver applications will be held in strict confidence.

The AoIR Executive Committee regretfully acknowledges that there will be more fully meritorious applications than we will be able to award and support. Nonetheless we hope that awarded fee waivers will not only assist deserving scholars and researchers, but also thereby enrich the AoIR IR conferences in important new ways.

• Bridging disability divides: A critical history of web content accessibility through 2001, by Elizabeth Ellcessor
• The interpenetration of technical and legal decision-making for the internet, by Sandra Braman
• YouTube and Proposition 8: A case study in video activism, by Kjerstin Thorson, Brian Ekdale, Porismita Borah, Kang Namkoong, and Chirag Shah
• The experience of connectivity: Results from a survey of Australian internet users, by Matthew Allen
• How offline gatherings affect online communities: When virtual community members ‘meetup’, by Lauren F. Sessions
• How executives perceive the net generation, by Karine Barzilai-Nahon & Robert M. Mason
• Citizenship and communication in online youth civic engagement projects, by Chris Wells
• Getting the whole picture? New information and communication technologies in healthcare work and organization, by
• Susan Halford, Ann Therese Lotherington, Aud Obstfelder, and Kari Dyb

http://ijoc.org/ojs/index.php/ijoc/article/view/636

Hargittai, E, Fullerton, F, Menchen-Trevino E & Thomas, K. (2010). Trust Online: Young Adults’ Evaluation of Web Content. International Journal of Communication. 4:468-494.

Little of the work on online credibility assessment has considered how the information-seeking process figures into the final evaluation of content people encounter. Using unique data about how a diverse group of young adults looks for and evaluates Web content, our paper makes contributions to existing literature by highlighting factors beyond site features in how users assess credibility. We find that the process by which users arrive at a site is an important component of how they judge the final destination. In particular, search context, branding and routines, and a reliance on those in one’s networks play important roles in online information-seeking and evaluation. We also discuss that users differ considerably in their skills when it comes to judging online content credibility.

Internet Research 11.0 – Sustainability, Participation, Action

The 11th Annual International and Interdisciplinary Conference of the Association of Internet Researchers (AoIR)

October 21-23, 2010 University of Gothenburg/Chalmers University of Technology, Gothenburg, Sweden

The challenge of this conference is to find multiple avenues for participation and action towards a sustainable future. In a society increasingly aware of social and ecological imbalance, many people now see information and communication technologies as key technologies for solving problems associated with an unsustainable future. However, while information technology may solve some problems, it can magnify others. As pointed out by world forums such as the United Nations and the European Commission, use of ICTs contributes to the unsustainable consumption of energy and resources. Similarly, unequal access and exploitative practices remind us that IT is not a utopian answer to complex social problems. A sustainable future is not only about greening processes and products at any cost, but also entails social responsibility, cultural protection and economic growth. Therefore the conference has a multi-dimensional focus, where the Internet is seen as a possible liberating, empowering and greening tool.

The conference will focus on how the Internet can function as a conduit for the development of greater global equality and understanding, a training ground for participation in debates and cross-cultural projects and a tool for mutual action; in short a technology of empowerment. The flip-side of the internet as a tool for empowerment is the issue of exploitation. Exploitation of resources and people is what has led to the current crisis, and issues of exploitation are highly relevant online, from abuse of the commons to censorship, fraud and loss of privacy and the protection of the rights of the individual.

Sustainability, Participation, Action invites scholars to consider issues concerning empowerment and/or exploitation in relation to the Internet. We ask scholars to specifically consider issues concerning integrity, knowledge production, and ethics in relation to the Internet and sustainable development. How do we, as Internet researchers, regard our work in relation to the unsustainable current situation and the possibilities of a sustainable future? How far can we take the Internet, and with it, people, individuals, groups and societies in order to create an arena for participation and action, all key elements in imagining a sustainable future? How can we apply previous knowledge to serve future solutions?

To this end, we call for papers, panel proposals, and presentations from any discipline, methodology, and community, and from conjunctions of multiple disciplines, methodologies and academic communities that address the conference themes, including papers that intersect and/or interconnect the following:

• Internet and an equal and balanced society
• Internet as an arena for participation
• Internet as a tool and arena for action
• Internet and an informed knowledge society
• Internet and a green society
• Internet and e‐commerce, dematerialization and transportation
• Internet and security, integrity and surveillance
• Internet and a healthy society
• Internet as an arena for cultural expressions, and source of a culture of its own.

Sessions at the conference will be established that specifically address the conference themes, and we welcome innovative, exciting, and unexpected takes on those themes. We also welcome submissions on topics that address social, cultural, political, legal, aesthetic, economic, and/or philosophical aspects of the Internet beyond the conference themes. In all cases, we welcome disciplinary and interdisciplinary submissions as well as international collaborations from both AoIR and non‐AoIR members.

SUBMISSIONS
We seek proposals for several different kinds of contributions. We welcome proposals for traditional academic conference PAPERS and we also welcome proposals for ROUNDTABLE SESSIONS that will focus on discussion and interaction among conference delegates, as well as organized PANEL PROPOSALS that present a coherent group of papers on a single theme.

DEADLINES
Call for Papers Released: 24 November 2009
Submissions Due: 21 February 2010, here.
Notification: 21 April 2010
Full papers due: 21 August 2010

SUBMISSION REQUIREMENTS
All papers and presentations in this session will be evaluated in a standard blind peer review.

Format
PAPERS (individual or multi-author) – submit abstract of 600-800 words
FULL PAPERS (OPTIONAL): For submitters requiring peer review of full papers, manuscripts of up to 8,000 words will be accepted for review. These will be reviewed and judged separately from abstract submissions
PANEL PROPOSALS – submit a 600-800 word description of the panel theme, plus 250-500 word abstract for each paper or presentation
ROUNDTABLE PROPOSALS – submit a statement indicating the nature of the roundtable discussion and interaction
Papers, presentations and panels will be selected from the submitted proposals on the basis of multiple blind peer review, coordinated and overseen by the Program Chair. Each individual is invited to submit a proposal for 1 paper or 1 presentation. A person may also propose a panel session, which may include a second paper that they are presenting. An individual may also submit a roundtable proposal. You may be listed as co-author on additional papers as long as you are not presenting them.

PUBLICATION OF PAPERS
Selected papers from the conference will be published in a special issue of the journal Information, Communication & Society, edited by Caroline Haythornthwaite and Lori Kendall. Authors selected for consideration for submission to this issue will be contacted prior to the conference.

All papers submitted to the conference system will be available to AoIR members after the conference.

PRE-CONFERENCE WORKSHOPS
On October 20, 2010, there will be a limited number of pre-conference workshops which will provide participants with in-depth, hands-on and/or creative opportunities. We invite proposals for these pre-conference workshops. Local presenters are encouraged to propose workshops that will invite visiting researchers into their labs or studios or locales. Proposals should be no more than 1000 words, and should clearly outline the purpose, methodology, structure, costs, equipment and minimal attendance required, as well as explaining relevance to the conference as a whole. Proposals will be accepted if they demonstrate that the workshop will add significantly to the overall program in terms of thematic depth, hands on experience, or local opportunities for scholarly or artistic connections. These proposals and all inquiries regarding pre-conference proposals should be submitted as soon as possible to both the Conference Chair and Program Chair and no later than March 31, 2010.

FEE WAIVER
In order to increase the diversity of participation in the AoIR annual Internet Research (IR) conferences, the Association of Internet Researchers will make available up to three conference fee waivers per year. The number of fee waivers will depend first of all upon the ability of the conference budget to sustain such waivers (a judgment to be made by the AoIR Executive Committee upon the advice of the AoIR Treasurer and the local organizing committee) as well as upon the quality of the applications for fee waivers.

Applications for fee waivers are invited from student or faculty authors whose paper or panel proposals have already been accepted via the AoIR IR conference reviewing process. All applications should be directed to the Vice-President of AoIR, and must be received by June 30 of the conference year. Late applications cannot be considered. More information and submission guidelines will be published in a separate announcement.

CONTACT INFORMATION
Program Chair: Torill Elvira Mortensen, Volda University College, Norway. torill.mortensen@gmail.com
Conference Co-Chairs and Coordinators: Ann-Sofie Axelsson, Chalmers University of Technology and Ylva Hård af Segerstad, University of Gothenburg, Sweden.

Important Dates

Submissions Due 21 February 2010

Notifications of Acceptance 21 Apr 2010

Abstract Revisions Due7 May 2010

Full Papers Due 21 August 2010

Pre-Conference Workshops 20 Oct 2010

Main Conference 21-23 Oct 2010

Please click the candidates’ names to read their statements.

Vice President

• Alex Halavais
• Monica Murero

Secretary

• Catherine Middleton

Treasurer

• Michael Zimmer

Graduate Student Representative

• Gordon Carlson

Open Seat

• Elizabeth Buchanan
• Ted Coopman
• Suely Fragoso
• Marj Kibby

I have served Aoir since 2001 (Treasurer, Open seat, Conference Chair) . Since 2005 I am the AoIR Treasurer; during my mandate our money in the bank has triplicated.

I am interested in sustaining the uniqueness of air-l network where anyone can exchange and benefit from information and discussion of new ideas not easily available otherwise.

I have worked with all the AoIR Presidents: Steve Jones, Nancy Baym, Matthew Allen, Charles Ess and Mia Consalvo. I have learned a lot from them and I have been inspired by their dedication and hard work over the years.

Every year since 2001 I work on the conference organization. I vision the friendly atmosphere of AoIR conferences as a real treasure to safe over time. I am interested in preserving the unique “Aoir academic atmosphere” we create every year. I anticipate the moment when I meet amazing people that are stimulated and challenged by great ideas and serious discussions, different perspectives and exchanges in an informal setting, that make me look forward to traveling every year to meet what I feel have become “my people”, and without which most of my work would have not been written.

2. What are your qualifications for this position?

Charles Ess calls me the “Aoir bee”.

I have 9 years experience serving Aoir in different positions and projects. I have worked “behind the stage” in all areas of activity from finance , to conference organization and publications. I started serving when Aoir was 2 years old as Conference Chair (Maastricht, 2001/2002) and received the first Aoir Lifetime membership. In 2003 I joined the exec (invited open seat, Nancy Baym President) . From 2005 I was elected Treasurer twice (Matthew Allen and Charles Ess Presidents). I have worked with amazing people behind the stage of the most successful Aoir conferences , including Vancouver, Copenhagen and Milwaukee, trying to keep our “informal style” unchanged over time. In 2009 I was nominated for both the positions of Treasurer and VP (no self-nomination!) .

Outside from my Aoir activity, and through my professional curriculum I have developed a multicultural and open academic vision having worked and lived for several years in the US, Holland, Canada, and Ireland.

As Director of the e-Life International Institute at the University of Firenze for several years, I have developed a solid experience in financial control and I have preserved my global coordinating international teams. At the present I work as Associate Professor in Sociology of New Technologies and Politics of e-government and I have developed a research interest in the interdisciplinary field of e-health. In 2006 Ronald Rice and I edited a book where all contributors are Aoir’s ( Murero M., Rice R., (2006) Internet and Health Care: Theory, Research and Practice. NJ, USA: Erlbaum).

3. What are two or three short-term goals you would like to achieve through membership of the executive?
Planning and spending money on strategic goals is difficult . Finding the money to finance those visions and projects is challenging – my main contribute to our association in the last years.

I.First short-term goal: Introduce New Aoir Research GRANTS to fund solid research proposals from young and “not so young” scholars or groups of researchers that can contribute to the growth of Internet Research in the international scientific community. There are amazing people, ideas and projects that deserve an opportunity to grow.

II. Develop further AoIR fee-waiver policy and conference travel funds to participate to our conference (see question n.5). Funds are scarce everywhere and we need to have more chances to receive financial support based on merit and need. In 2009 three attendees will receive a conference-fee waiver. I think this is the right direction for Aoir ’s future.

III. Our website should treasure the amazing information we exchange in air-l . I think about a paid position for the job for someone interested: job and publications opportunities, research grants, news, other conferences, educational tools to improve the quality of our lessons and smart software to develop our research interests will be at easy reach in our website to anyone interested in Internet Research .

4. What is your long-term vision for AoIR?

I think that AoIR has grown enough to straighten its prestige internationally. Our community has extraordinary competences to participate to key debates on the future of the internet from an academic perspective . In order to reach this goal I am thinking about activating collaborations and cultural exchange via publication projects, conferences, air-l diffusion and research projects with international and worldwide organizations like UNESCO, WHO, W3C and others- with which I am already in contact for my professional activity – and write together the white pages of the future of Internet Research. We have the people, resources and chances to be successful.

Long-term vision of Internal /administrative process: currently, Aoir is run exclusively thanks to volunteers that have been doing an amazing job all these years. Financially, we are solid enough to vision, plan and pay for professional services and rationalize key area like system administration and conference management. We’ll grow as association if we improve difficult internal processes (abstract submission system, management of registrations to the conference, membership database, access to Aoir website conference papers and air-l archives – should all be part of a well coordinated multi-task software solution , to be set up by paid professionals together with an Aoir’s interdisciplinary team.

5. What else should voters consider when deciding whether or not to vote for you?

Steve Jones wrote: ” Monica has earned her place in AoIR history” (Maastricht conference, Conference Chair, 2002 – http://aoir.org/?page_id=49 ) .

Since our bank account has triplicated during my current mandate as Treasurer we have the money for new initiatives to sustain people who “have much to contribute to an annual Internet Research Conference”, a goal I was dreaming since 2005 (I.R.6.0 , Aoir GM, Chicago) . Thanks to the hard work and dedication of many people that dream has became a concrete reality (new aoir Fee-Waivers policy, 2008 http://listserv.aoir.org/htdig.cgi/air-l-aoir.org/2009-January/017893.html ).

AoIR has been a kind of academic home for me, a place where I can learn and explore new ideas. Over the years, it has provided a great deal to me and I would like to continue to contribute back to the organization in a meaningful way. In the position of VP, I have the opportunity to help directly shape the future of AoIR, and I look forward to fostering the growth and evolution of the community.

2. What are your qualifications for this position?

I am currently an associate professor, teaching in a masters program in “interactive communication” at Quinnipaic University, just outside of New Haven, Connecticut. My research increasingly addresses how scholars make use of networked technologies, work that I hope can continue to influence the success of AoIR as a scholarly institution. I also serve as the Technical Director for the Digital Media and Learning Hub, housed at the UC Humanities Research Institute–another effort to bring together scholars into a digital community. Before and during my academic career, I have served in a range of positions in city government (in the US and abroad) and business, including work in financial services, teaching, and budget and administration.

Not having been involved from the first year, I cannot make the claim to pioneer status in AoIR. But starting in 2001, I have presented at each of the conferences, and have been an an active contributor to discussions outside of the conferences. In the process, I’ve been lucky enough to meet and talk to many of you. I’ve served on the Executive Committee for the last four years as the systems officer, and in that position gained a fairly intimate picture of the how AoIR works (and doesn’t work).

3. What are two or three short-term goals you would like to achieve through membership of the executive?

First, I think that AoIR needs a clearer long-term strategic plan. We need to think now about where we aim to be not just next year, but five years from now. This is particularly true in terms of our use of both traditional capital and social capital. AoIR is maturing as an organization, largely through the efforts of a large group of people dedicated to seeing it succeed. There is a danger that as we grow, we may fail to leverage this good will and the talents of our membership. We need to seek out ways in which small contributions of time from our members can result in significant outcomes for the field.

We have been lucky enough over the last few years to accumulate some capital, but have failed, I think, to adequately reinvest those funds in the health of the organization and the benefit of its membership. This should not be seen as a specific critique of anyone on the Executive Committee. We needed to secure the organization and ensure its continued viability even during economic and other downturns. However, we need to have a much stronger plan for how to make use of those funds most effectively in the future. There are some things we can do in the short and long term to enhance the organization and better serve its members. I have some specific ideas about how to do this, as do other members, and we need to have a conversation about how best to move forward.

Second, and very broadly, I would like to see a greater dedication to opening up the organization. This means a number of things. I think the decisions of the Executive should be transparent and publicly published so that the membership knows what we are doing, can hold us accountable, and can contribute to the discussion.

We need to actively engage a range of publics to make sure our research becomes a part of public and policy discussions. And I think we need to explore ways of engaging in open exchange of not just research results, but research in progress, shared data, methods, and tools. We need to make sure that the Association of Internet Researchers promotes not just the dissemination of research but the social and technical infrastructures to encourage it. The annual conference is a great way for this to happen, as is AIR-L, and I hope we can build on those two models.

4. What is your long-term vision for AoIR?

I think our trajectory is right, and it’s not time for major change. But there are things we can do better.

There has been a recognition in a range of fields and industries that the social and cultural dimensions of computing and networking are especially important. This is something many of us have been telling our constituent fields for decades, but now even the slowest moving are finally coming around. This is a critical juncture, and many are adding their voices to the discussion. I think that it is important that AoIR be at the forefront of this discussion. There are opportunities for partnering with disciplinary organizations and conferences, but I do not want the unique voice of AoIR, an organization that has pioneered this as a field, to be lost in the sea of newcomers. We need to invite them in, and continue to act as a catalyst in building connections across disciplines.

5. What else should voters consider when deciding whether or not to vote for you?

As I’ve seen a series of people pass through the process of being VP, president, and past-president, I realize that rather than any particular stance or direction, what is important is someone who can get things done. We’ve been extraordinarily lucky as an organization to have a series of people who have been able to get things done, and people who have had fun doing it. It’s a tall order to fill those shoes, but I think I can do it.

I have some more specific thoughts about what should happen in the first few months of the new Executive. Some of these I’ve shared informally with the current Executive, and others will be specific to my successor in the systems position. However, if you have questions, I do hope you will comment below. Nothing demonstrates the health of a scholarly group better, I think, than good (friendly) critical discussion.