[Asis-l] FW: First Monday September 2004

Tue Sep 14 08:37:06 EDT 2004

------------
Richard Hill
Executive Director
American Society for Information Science and Technology
1320 Fenwick Lane, Silver Spring, MD  20910 
FAX: (301) 495-0810
Voice: (301) 495-0900
www.asis.org

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Readership of First Monday [mailto:FIRSTMONDAY at LISTSERV.UIC.EDU] On
> Behalf Of Edward J. Valauskas
> Sent: Monday, September 13, 2004 10:08 PM
> To: FIRSTMONDAY at LISTSERV.UIC.EDU
> Subject: First Monday September 2004
> 
> \Dear Reader,
> 
> The September 2004 issue of First Monday (volume 9, number 9) is now
> available at http://firstmonday.org/issues/issue9_9/
> 
> -------
> 
> Table of Contents
> 
> Volume 9, Number 9 - September 6th 2004
> 
> Asynchronous discussion groups as Small World and Scale Free Networks
> by Gilad Ravid and Sheizaf Rafaeli
> http://firstmonday.org/issues/issue9_9/ravid/
> 
> Abstract:
> What is the network form of online discussion groups? What are the
> topological parameters delineating the interaction on such groups? We
> report an empirical examination of the form of online discussion
> groups. We are interested in examining whether such groups conform to
> the Small World and the Scale Free models of networks. Support for
> these expectations provides a formal expression of growth, survival
> potential and preferential attachment in the connection patterns in
> discussion groups. The research questions were tested with a sample
> of over 8,000 active participants, and over 30,000 messages. We find
> that the social network resulting from discussion groups is indeed a
> Scale Free Network, based on In, Out and All Degree distributions. We
> also find that, for the same sample, discussion groups are a Small
> World Network too. As expected, the clustering coefficients for these
> groups differ significantly from random networks, while their
> characteristic path lengths are similar to random networks.
> Implications of the topology for the design and understanding of
> discussion groups include the stability and control of such groups,
> as well as their longevity.
> 
> -------
> 
> Lost in gallery space: A conceptual framework for analyzing the
> usability flaws of museum Web sites
> by Paul F. Marty and Michael B. Twidale
> http://firstmonday.org/issues/issue9_9/marty/
> 
> Abstract:
> This article reports on a study which used results from 119
> scenario-based evaluations of 36 museum Web sites to develop a
> conceptual framework for analyzing the usability flaws of museum Web
> sites. It identifies 15 unique dimensions, grouped into five
> categories, that exemplify usability problems common to many museum
> Web sites. Each dimension is discussed in detail, and typical
> examples are provided, based on actual usability flaws observed
> during the evaluations. The availability of this conceptual framework
> will help the designers of museum Web sites improve the overall
> usability of museum Web sites in general.
> 
> -------
> 
> Small ads as first steps to Internet business: A preliminary survey
> of Cameroon's commercial Internet usage
> by David Zeitlyn and Francine Barone
> http://firstmonday.org/issues/issue9_9/zeitlyn/
> 
> Abstract:
> We have surveyed current commercial use of the Internet in Cameroon.
> This paper provides some data on Cameroon's presence on the Internet
> as an initial means of assessing the impact information technologies
> and the Internet have had on local business practices in Cameroon. We
> have found some NGOs promoting entrepreneurs and artisan producers to
> sell their wares. Alongside tourism and import/export listings, the
> use of small ads is predominant. Connectivity via fixed lines remains
> a bottleneck impeding expansion. Since mobile phone use is
> mushrooming, a suggested solution is the development of SMS-Web
> bridges.
> 
> -------
> 
> The economics of open source hijacking and the declining quality of
> digital information resources: A case for copyleft
> by Andrea Ciffolilli
> http://firstmonday.org/issues/issue9_9/ciffolilli/
> 
> Abstract:
> The economics of information goods suggest the need for institutional
> intervention to address the problem of revenue extraction from
> investments in those resources characterized by high fixed costs of
> production and low marginal costs of reproduction and distribution.
> Solutions to the appropriation issue, such as copyright, are supposed
> to guarantee an incentive for innovative activities at the price of
> few vices marring their rationale. In the case of digital information
> resources, apart from conventional inefficiencies, copyright shows an
> extra vice since it might be used perversely as a tool to "hijack"
> and privatise collectively provided open source and open content
> knowledge assemblages, even in the case in which the original
> information was not otherwise copyrightable. Whilst the impact of
> hijacking on open source software development may be uncertain or
> uneven, some risks are clear in the case of open content works. The
> paper presents some evidence of malicious effects of hijacking in the
> Internet search market by discussing the case of The Open Directory
> Project. Furthermore, it calls for a wider use of novel institutional
> remedies such as copyleft and Creative Commons licensing, built upon
> the paradigm of copyright customisation.
> 
> -------
> 
> Cons in the panopticon: Anti-globalization and cyber-piracy
> by Indhu Rajagopal with Nis Bojin
> http://firstmonday.org/issues/issue9_9/rajagopal/
> 
> Abstract:
> This paper examines the paradox of the digital telecommunications
> revolution that augured the transcendence of big business and big
> government, but also extended to the World Wide Web the processes of
> privatization and commodification. Instead of facilitating
> individuals to design, through interactive technology, their own
> media and directly express their will, the Internet has come to
> embody a panopticon that extends the reach of corporatists. We
> discuss the panopticon in the context of the globalizing
> cyber-technology, and argue that piracy is an anti-globalization
> movement.
> 
> -------
> 
> Is copyright necessary?
> by Terrence A. Maxwell
> http://firstmonday.org/issues/issue9_9/maxwell/
> 
> Abstract:
> Copyright is a legal mechanism for promotion of useful knowledge.
> However, it is not the only means society could use to encourage
> information dissemination, and several alternative models have been
> suggested over the last 200 years. This article provides the results
> of a dynamic simulation of the publishing industry in the United
> States from 1800 to 2100, and tests the impact of different
> protection schemes on the development of authorship, the publishing
> industry, and reader access. It closes with a discussion of
> intellectual property information policy decisions that can be
> currently made, and their likely impacts on domestic and
> international copyright protection.
> 
> -------
> 
> Letters to the Editor
> http://firstmonday.org/issues/issue9_9/letters/
> 
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