tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-41435050730479594082024-03-13T10:54:23.040-07:00Tim's World of WebAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14202310699301582381noreply@blogger.comBlogger20125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4143505073047959408.post-41418647265280391292014-02-11T11:17:00.000-08:002014-02-11T11:17:32.551-08:00Open Hypermedia and the Web<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjza43g3ljz43fY4kN8DTm3DOpu3qUTK7oqg92VgyWKNAKiUC6IlSmz7pbjLISHapraO54e4nukVD1zTmj2Cr_6bXWwNleeWDAELXARDrVV3I2wdz7SwUyRFoNfsKJirVCt9yk1RHhPnwBj/s1600/UsingMicrocosm_P3_92_1_small.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjza43g3ljz43fY4kN8DTm3DOpu3qUTK7oqg92VgyWKNAKiUC6IlSmz7pbjLISHapraO54e4nukVD1zTmj2Cr_6bXWwNleeWDAELXARDrVV3I2wdz7SwUyRFoNfsKJirVCt9yk1RHhPnwBj/s1600/UsingMicrocosm_P3_92_1_small.jpg" height="236" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Using Microcosm/Electronics & Computer Science © 1993/<a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/" target="_blank">CC BY 2.0</a><br /></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<h4>
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Introduction</span></h4>
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Tim Berners-Lee, the main architect of the World Wide Web (W3), developed the system while working for CERN, the European Organisation for Nuclear Research in the late 1980s. W3 was developed to overcome difficulties with managing information exchange via the Internet. At the time finding data on the Internet required pre-existing knowledge gained through various time-consuming methods: the use of specialised clients, mailing lists, newsgroups,hard copies of link lists, and word of mouth.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">At CERN, a large number of physicists and other staff needed to share large amounts of data and had begun to employ the Internet to do this. Although the Internet was acknowledged as a valuable means of sharing data, towards the end of the 1980s the need to develop simpler, more reliable methods encouraged the creation of new protocols using distributed hypermedia as a model. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Developments in Open Hypermedia Systems (OHSS) had gained pace throughout the 80s; a number of stand-alone systems had been prototyped and early attempts at a standardised vocabulary had been made [1]. OHSS facilitate key features: a separation of link databases (‘linkbases’) from documents, and hypermedia functions enabled for third party applications with potential accessibility within heterogeneous environments. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Two key systems; Hyper-G, developed by a team at the Technical University of Graz, Austria [1], and Microcosm, originating at the University of Southampton [5] were at the heart of pioneering approaches to hypermedia. Like W3, they were launched in 1990, but within 10 years both were outpaced by the formers overwhelming popularity. Ease of use, the management of link integrity and content reference, and the ‘openness’ of the underlying technology were contributing factors to W3's success. However, both Hyper-G's and Microcosm's approach to linking media continue to have relevance for the future development of the Web.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The Dexter Hypertext Reference Model</span></h4>
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">In 1988 a group of hypertext developers met at the Dexter Inn, New Hampshire to create a terminology for interchangeable and interoperable hypertext standards. About 10 different contemporary hypertext systems were analysed and commonalities between them were described. Essentially each of the systems provided “the ability to create, manipulate, and/or examine a network of information-containing nodes interconnected by relational links.”[6]</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The Dexter Model did not attempt to specify implementation protocols, but provided a vital reference model for future developments of hypertext and hypermedia. The Model identified a ‘component’ as a single presentation field which contained the basic content of a hypertext network: text, graphics, images, and/or animation. Each component was assigned a ‘Unique Identifier’ (UID), and ‘links’ that interconnected components were resolved to one or many UIDs to provide ‘link integrity’</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The World-Wide Web</span></h4>
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">By the mid-80s Berners-Lee saw the potential for extending the principle of computer-based information management across the CERN network in order to provide access to project documentation and make explicit the ‘hidden’ skills of personnel as well as the ‘true’ organisational structure. He proposed that this system should meet a number of requirements: remote access across networks, heterogeneity, and the ability to add ‘private links’ and annotations to documents. Berners-Lee's key insights were that ”Information systems start small and grow”, and that the system must be sufficiently flexible to “allow existing systems to be linked together without requiring any central control or coordination”.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">His proposal also stressed the different interests of “academic hypertext research” and the practical requirements of his employer. He recognised that many CERN employees were using “primitive terminals” and were not concerned with the niceties of “advanced window styles” and interface design [2]. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Towards the end of 1990, work was completed on the first iteration of W3, which included a new Hypertext Markup Language (HTML), an ‘httpd’ server, and the Webs first browser, which included an editor function as well as a viewer. The underlying protocols were made freely available and within a few years the technology had been used and adapted by a wide variety of Internet enthusiasts who helped to spread W3 technology to wider audiences.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Microcosm</span></h4>
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Aimed at providing solutions to perceived problems in contemporary hypermedia systems, Microcosm was launched as an “open model for hypermedia with dynamic linking” [5] in January 1990. The Microcosm team identified that existing hypermedia systems, although useful in closed settings, did not communicate with other applications, used proprietary document formats, were not easily authored, and as they were distributed on read-only media, did not allow users to add links and annotations. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">While Microcosm used read-only media (CD-ROMs and laser-discs) to host components within an authored environment, it separated these ‘data objects’ from linkbases housed on remote servers. This local area network-based system allowed all users, authors and readers, to add advanced, n-ary (multi-directional) links to multiple generic objects. Microcosm was also able to process a range of documents and had some potential for interoperability due its modular structure, which enabled it to offer a degree of interoperability with W3 browsers [7].</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">While recognising the significance of W3, the Microcosm team identified some weakness, especially in the manner HTML managed links. Rather than storing links separately, W3 embedded links in documents which resulted in the inability to annotate or edit web documents, and suffered from ‘dangling’ or missing links when documents were deleted or URLs changed. In addition, HTML was limited in how links could be made, there were a small number of allowable tags and only single-ended, unidirectional links could be authored. To counter these link integrity issues the Microcosm team developed the Distributed Link Service (DLS) which enabled the integration of linkbase technology into a W3 environment [3].</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Using the DLS, W3 servers could access linkbases and enabled user authored generic as well as specific links. Generic link authoring allows users to create links that connect any mention of phrases within sets of documents, and allows bi-directional links within documents.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Hyper-G</span></h4>
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Hyper-G offered a number of solutions to the linking issues identified by others working in hypermedia systems development. In a similar manner to Microcosm, Hyper-G stored links in link databases. This allowed users to attach their own links to read-only documents, multiple links to documents or anchors within text or any other media object could be made, users could readily see what objects were linked to, and links could be followed backwards so users could see “what links to what”. Unlike Microcosm, the system use an advanced probabilistic flood (‘P-Flood’) algorithm which managed updates to remote documents and linkbases ensuring link integrity and consistency essentially informing links when documents have been deleted and changed.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Like W3, Hyper-G was a client-server system with its own protocol (HG-CSP) and markup language (HTF). Hyper-G browsers integrated with Internet services W3, WAIS and Gopher, supported a range of objects (text, images, audio, video and 3D environments) and integrated authoring functionality with support for collaboration. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Hyper-G was a highly advanced system that successfully applied key hypermedia principles to managing data on the Internet. As web usability expert, Jakob Nielsen asserted, it offered “some sorely needed structure for the Wild Web” [8].</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Why W3 Won</span></h4>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Despite acknowledged limitations, W3 retained its position as the <i>defacto</i> means of traversing the Internet, and continued to grow and spread its influence. The reasons for this are relatively straightforward. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">W3 was free and relatively easy to use; anyone with a computer, a modem and a phone line could set up their own servers, build web sites and start publishing on the Internet without having to pay fees or enter into contractual relationships.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Although limited in terms of hypermedia capability, these shortcomings were not serious enough to prevent users taking advantage of its data sharing and simple linking functions. Dangling links could be ignored, as search engines allowed users to find other resources, and improved browsers allowed users to keep track of their browsing history, and backtrack through visited pages. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">In contrast, Microcosm and Hyper-G were developed, in their early stages at least, as local systems. This enabled them to employ superior technology to manage complex linking operations much more effectively than W3. However, this focus led to systems that were significantly more complex to manage than W3, and presented difficulties for scaling up to the wider Internet. In addition it was not clear which parts, if any, were free for use. Both systems promoted </span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">commercial versions early in their development which had the unintended effect of stifling adoption beyond an initial core group of users.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Future directions</span></h4>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">W3 has developed into a sophisticated system that provides many of the functions of an open hypermedia system that were lacking in its early stages of development. Attempts to integrate hypermedia systems with W3 [3],[4],[9] and find solutions to linking and data storage issues influenced the development of the open standard Extensible Markup language (XML) and XPath, XPointer and XLink syntaxes. While HTML describes documents and the links between them, XML contains descriptive data that add to or replace the content of web documents. XPath, XPointer and XLink describe addressable elements, arbitrary ranges, and connections between anchors within XML documents respectively.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">XML may be combined with Resource Description Framework (RDF) and Web Ontology Language (OWL) protocols to store descriptive data that produce web content in more useful ways than with simple HTML. These protocols allow web content to be machine-readable, allowing applications to interrogate data and automate many web activities that have previously only been executable by human readers. These protocols are seen as precursors for the ‘Semantic Web’, a new development of W3 that links data points with multi-directional relationships rather than uni-directional links to documents [10].</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">References</span></h4>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">[1] Keith Andrews, Frank Kappe, and Hermann Maurer. The Hyper-G Network Information System. In J. UCS The Journal of Universal Computer Science, pages 206–220. Springer, 1996.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">[2] Tim Berners-Lee. Information Management: A Proposal. CERN, 1989.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">[3] Les A Carr, David C DeRoure, Wendy Hall, and Gary J Hill. The Distributed Link Service: A Tool for Publishers, Authors and Readers. 1995.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">[4] Hugh Davis, Andy Lewis, and Antoine Rizk. Ohp: A Draft Proposal for a Standard Open Hypermedia Protocol (Levels 0 and 1: Revision 1.2-13th March. 1996). In 2nd Workshop on Open Hypermedia Systems, Washington, 1996.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">[5] Andrew M Fountain, Wendy Hall, Ian Heath, and Hugh C Davis. Microcosm: An Open Model for Hypermedia with Dynamic Linking. In ECHT, pages 298–311, 1990.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">[6] Frank Halasz, Mayer Schwartz, Kaj Grønbæk, and Randall H Trigg. The Dexter Hypertext Reference Model. Communications of the ACM, 37(2):30–39, 1994.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">[7] Wendy Hall, Hugh Davis, and Gerard Hutchings. Rethinking Hypermedia: the Microcosm Approach, Volume 67. Kluwer Academic Publishers Dordrecht, 1996.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">[8] Hermann Maurer. Hyperwave - The Next Generation Web Solution, Institute for Information Processing and Computer Supported Media, Graz University of Technology, [Online: http://www.iicm.tugraz.at/hgbook Accessed 5 December 2013].</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">[9] Dave E Millard, Luc Moreau, Hugh C Davis, and Siegfried Reich. Fohm: A Fundamental Open Hypertext Model for Investigating Interoperability Between Hypertext Domains. In Proceedings of the Eleventh ACM on Hypertext and Hypermedia, pages 93–102. ACM, 2000.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">[10] Nigel Shadbolt, Wendy Hall, and Tim Berners-Lee. The Semantic Web Revisited. Intelligent Systems, IEEE, 21(3):96–101, 2006.</span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14202310699301582381noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4143505073047959408.post-10482532151427965672014-02-10T03:19:00.000-08:002014-02-10T07:32:43.427-08:00MSc Web Science - Week 19<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiImPseRcUtmUfljcXfBDDxsG4zL165H7PSC4jCfEdTeMZGNuCG5ySFHT3p_-4Z7esUUTm-evL7JlKjsnmaXuCaUWZePcosSdujRnYlpjX2h6OdooFGqaPw6nNKCnH2YbXWOYIrWj2oOD26/s1600/Reading_SamHowzit_8165693058_b5fbe3aaf5_z.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiImPseRcUtmUfljcXfBDDxsG4zL165H7PSC4jCfEdTeMZGNuCG5ySFHT3p_-4Z7esUUTm-evL7JlKjsnmaXuCaUWZePcosSdujRnYlpjX2h6OdooFGqaPw6nNKCnH2YbXWOYIrWj2oOD26/s1600/Reading_SamHowzit_8165693058_b5fbe3aaf5_z.jpg" height="213" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; line-height: 14px;"><u><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/12508217@N08/8165693058/" target="_blank">Reading</a></u></span><span style="line-height: 14px;">/Sam Howzit © 2012/</span></span><a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;" target="_blank">CC BY 2.0</a></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">This week's readings:</span><br />
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<h4>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">COMP6047 - Further Web Science</span></h4>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Price, Vincent (2006) </span><a href="http://www.hks.harvard.edu/netgov/files/talks/docs/11_13_06_seminar_Price_citizens-delib_online.pdf" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;" target="_blank">'Citizens Deliberating Online: Theory and Some Evidence’</a><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">, in Todd Davies (ed.) Online Deliberation: Design, Research, and Practice. Chicago, University of Chicago Press.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Wright, Scott and John Street (2007) </span><a href="http://nms.sagepub.com/content/9/5/849.short" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;" target="_blank">‘Democracy, deliberation and design: the case of online discussion forums’</a><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">. New Media and Society, 9, 849-69.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Smith, Graham, Peter John and Patrick Sturgis (2011) </span><a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1467-9248.2012.00989.x/full" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;" target="_blank">‘Taking political engagement online: an experimental analysis of asynchronous discussion forums’</a><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">, unpublished manuscript</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Janssen, Davy and Raphael Kies (2005) ‘</span><a href="http://edemocracycentre.ch/files/onlineforums.pdf" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;" target="_blank">Online Forums and Deliberative Democracy</a><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">’. Acta Politica, 40, 317-335.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Online deliberative polling: </span><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><a href="http://cdd.stanford.edu/polls/btp/2007/index.html">http://cdd.stanford.edu/polls/btp/2007/index.html</a></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Chadwick, Andrew (2009) ‘</span><a href="http://newpolcom.rhul.ac.uk/storage/chadwick/Chadwick_Web_2.0_New_Challenges_for_the_Study_of_E-Democracy_I-S_2009.pdf" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;" target="_blank">Web 2.0: New Challenges for the Study of E-Democracy in an Era of Informational Exuberance</a><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">’, I/S: A Journal of Law and Policy, 5, 1: 9-41</span></li>
</ul>
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<h4>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">COMP6048 - Interdisciplinary Thinking</span></h4>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Repko A. F. (2008) Interdisciplinary Research: Process and Theory. Sage Publications. Chapters 3 and Chapter 4</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Plus </span><a href="https://drive.google.com/folderview?id=0B8HMI3oMi__mLTMzSzZCYWlaMWM&usp=sharing&invite=CJ3M0M8M" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;" target="_blank">6 readings</a><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"> for first group work.</span></li>
</ul>
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<h4>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">COMP6050 - Semantic Web for Web Science</span></h4>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">J. Kahan, M.-R. Koivunen, E. Prud'Hommeaux and R.R. Swick, </span><a href="http://www10.org/cdrom/papers/488/index.html" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;" target="_blank">Annotea: an open RDF infrastructure for shared Web annotations</a><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">, Computer Networks, 39, 589-608, 2002</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Leslie Carr, Wendy Hall, Sean Bechhofer and Carole Goble,</span><a href="http://eprints.ecs.soton.ac.uk/5834/1/p334-carr.pdf" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;" target="_blank"> Conceptual Linking: Ontology-based Open Hypermedia</a><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">, in Proceedings of the Tenth International World Wide Web Conference, 334-342, 2001</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">John Domingue, Martin Dzbor and Enrico Motta, </span><a href="http://eprints.aktors.org/265/01/iswc03-p47-dzbor-domingue-motta.pdf" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;" target="_blank">Magpie: Supporting Browsing and Navigation on the Semantic Web</a><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">, in Proceedings of the Conference on Intelligent User Interfaces, January 2004, Portugal</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Sean Bechhofer, Leslie Carr, Carole Goble, Simon Kampa and Timothy Miles-Board,</span><a href="http://eprints.ecs.soton.ac.uk/6978/1/annotation.pdf" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;" target="_blank"> The Semantics of Semantic Annotation</a><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">, in Proceedings of the First International Conference on Ontologies, Databases, and Applications of Semantics for Large Scale Information Systems, Irvine, California, 2002</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Anupriya Ankolenkar, Mark Burstein, Jerry R. Hobbs, Ora Lassila, David L. Martin, Sheila A. McIlraith, Srini Narayanan, Massimo Paolucci, Terry R. Payne, Katia Sycara and Honglei Zeng,</span><a href="http://www.daml.org/services/owl-s/SWWS.pdf" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;" target="_blank"> DAML-S: A Semantic Markup Language For Web Services</a><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">, in Proceedings of the Semantic Web Working Symposium (SWWS), 2001</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Dumitru Roman, Uwe Keller, Holger Lausen, Jos de Bruijn, Ruben Lara, Michael Stollberg, Axel Polleres, Cristina Feier, Cristoph Bussler and Dieter Fensel, </span><a href="http://iospress.metapress.com/content/dccb867p347xxebx/fulltext.pdf" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;" target="_blank">Web Service Modelling Ontology</a><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">, Applied Ontology 1(1), 2005, pp77-106</span></li>
<li><a href="http://www.semanticgrid.org/documents/semgrid-journal/semgrid-journal.pdf" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;" target="_blank">The Semantic Grid: A Future e-Science Infrastructure</a><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"> (service oriented model and knowledge), in Grid Computing: Making The Global Infrastructure a Reality, Fran Berman, Anthony J.G. Hey and Geoffrey Fox, John Wiley & Sons.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Carole Goble and David De Roure, </span><a href="http://www.semanticgrid.org/documents/sigmod/ami9.pdf" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;" target="_blank">The Grid: An application of the Semantic Web</a><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">, ACM SIGMOD Record, Volume 31, Number 4, 65-70, 2002.</span></li>
</ul>
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<h4>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">COMP6052 Social Networking Technology</span></h4>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Easley, D. and Kleinberg, J. </span><a href="http://www.cs.cornell.edu/home/kleinber/networks-book/" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;" target="_blank">Networks Crowds and Markets</a><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">. Cambridge University Press, 2010. MyiLibrary: </span><a href="http://lib.myilibrary.com/Open.aspx?id=272489" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">http://lib.myilibrary.com/Open.aspx?id=272489</a><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"> (chapters 16, 19 and 20) </span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Watts, D., 2002. </span><a href="http://www.pnas.org/content/99/9/5766.full.pdf+html" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;" target="_blank">A simple model of global cascades on random networks</a><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Morris, S., 2000. </span><a href="http://restud.oxfordjournals.org/content/67/1/57.full.pdf" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;" target="_blank">Contagion</a><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">. The Review of Economic Studies</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Watts, D., 1998. </span><a href="http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v393/n6684/pdf/393440a0.pdf" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;" target="_blank">Collective dynamics of “small-world” networks</a><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">. Nature. </span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span id="docs-internal-guid-2a5037d9-1c5a-c684-6017-a80e24d0df43"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Wang, X. F., & Guanrong Chen, I. (n.d.). <a href="http://www.ee.cityu.edu.hk/~gchen/pdf/CW-CASM03-overview.pdf" target="_blank">Complex networks: small-world, scale-free and beyond</a>. Circuits and Systems Magazine, IEEE, 3(1). </span></div>
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<li><div dir="ltr" style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;">Hein, O., Schwind, M., & König, W. (2006). <a href="http://eaton.math.rpi.edu/csums/papers/ScaleFree/Scale-Free%20Networks.pdf" target="_blank">Scale-free networks</a>. WirtschaRsinformaSk,</span><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;">48(4),</span><span style="line-height: 18.399999618530273px;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;">267–275.</span></div>
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</ul>
<h4>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">RESM6003 - Qualitative Methods</span></h4>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Farnsworth, J. and B. Boon. (2010) </span><a href="http://qrj.sagepub.com/content/10/5/605.short" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;" target="_blank">Analysing group dynamics within the focus group</a><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">, Qualitative Research, 10 (5): 605-624.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Halkier, B. (2010) </span><a href="http://openworkshop.pbworks.com/w/file/fetch/64358957/Focus%20groups%20Halkier%202010.pdf" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;" target="_blank">Focus groups as social enactments: integrating interaction and content in the analysis of focus group data</a><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">, Qualitative Research, 10 (1): 71-89.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Henderson, N. (2003) Enjoy the view. Ground rules for observing focus groups, Marketing Research, 15 (1): 38-9. [TDNet] </span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Howatson-Jones, I.L. (2007) </span><a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17315775" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;" target="_blank">Dilemmas of focus group recruitment and implementation: a pilot perspective</a><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">, Nurse Researcher 14 (2): 7-17.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Krueger, R. (1994) Focus groups: A practical guide for applied research. Newbury Park, CA: Sage Publishing. [H 61.28 KRU]</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Marková, I., Linell, P., Grossen, M., and Orvig, A. (2007) </span><a href="http://liu.diva-portal.org/smash/record.jsf?pid=diva2:262417" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;" target="_blank">Dialogue in Focus Groups: Exploring Socially Shared Knowledge</a><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">. London: Equinox. [P 40.5.D53 MAR]</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Morgan, D. (1996) Focus groups, Annual Review of Sociology, 22:129–52. [TDNet]</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Morgan, G. and Britten, M. (2002) </span><a href="http://qrj.sagepub.com/content/2/1/5.short" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;" target="_blank">Hearing children’s voices: methodological issues in conducting focus groups with children aged 7–11 years</a><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">, Qualitative Research, 2 (1): 5-20.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Peek, L. and Fothergill, A. (2009) </span><a href="http://qrj.sagepub.com/content/9/1/31.short" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;" target="_blank">Using focus groups: lessons from studying daycare centers, 9/11, and Hurricane Katrina</a><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">, Qualitative Research, 9 (1): 31-59.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Puchta, C. and Potter, J. (2004) </span><a href="http://lib.myilibrary.com/Open.aspx?id=53874&src=0" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;" target="_blank">Focus Group Practice</a><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">. London: Sage Publications. [ELECTRONIC RESOURCE]</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Stewart and Williams. (2005) </span><a href="http://books.google.co.uk/books?hl=en&lr=&id=EeMKURpicCgC&oi=fnd&pg=PA290&dq=Online+focus+groups&ots=3xTXzdy8dX&sig=fHbJIqZSEoiYvMLKFZjxT4sk1Ac" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;" target="_blank">Online focus groups</a><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">, Qualitative Research, 5 (4): 395-416.</span></li>
</ul>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14202310699301582381noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4143505073047959408.post-8940014088337401592014-02-05T09:27:00.000-08:002014-02-05T09:27:17.933-08:005 interactions between the Web and Education that are changing the way we learn<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjTdtGW-F-50HCTPsuzzu8qY3hIoL-rJKhjT2nxDUefI77uUUjsGBj0eLHRMAOd42_BfqzKFT8aFGeIbgEfTe_kacnLEwqOc26zBx6qXJv4kJ7SqwfvU9OWZCJwvzrx0LSQgDHoGo6LwQy/s1600/UsingMacSmall.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjTdtGW-F-50HCTPsuzzu8qY3hIoL-rJKhjT2nxDUefI77uUUjsGBj0eLHRMAOd42_BfqzKFT8aFGeIbgEfTe_kacnLEwqOc26zBx6qXJv4kJ7SqwfvU9OWZCJwvzrx0LSQgDHoGo6LwQy/s1600/UsingMacSmall.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; text-align: start;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/26126239@N02/7005615775/in/photolist-bF4BuT" target="_blank">Using MACs in the Computer Laboratory</a>/University of Exeter ©2008/<a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/deed.en" target="_blank">CC BY 2.0</a></span></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">The way we learn and the tools we use to extend our capacity for learning have always been closely interrelated. Over 2000 years ago wax tablets enabled learners to show their working, 500 years ago the introduction of movable type made books more accessible, 150 years ago the postal system provided the infrastructure for distance education, the introduction of radio and television services established the means for widespread educational initiatives, and personal computers and portable video making equipment were widely adopted by educators in the 1970s and 80s. Since the emergence of the Web 25 years ago, both learners and educators have exploited the potential of the underlying technologies and the services developed with them to support and change the way we think about learning in many fundamental ways.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">1. Technology </span></h4>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The educational value of the Internet was recognised at its inception and computing science academics working in universities and colleges keenly adopted the technology to share data among themselves and with their students. However, as the number of resources hosted on networked computers increased they tended to become ‘siloed’ and difficult to find. The invention of the Web fundamentally changed this environment and the way people interacted with the Internet. The underlying protocols that govern the way the Web works are based on linking electronic documents over disparate networks using web browser applications. By making the protocols open to everyone at no cost the Web’s founders allowed people to build upon the technology, for example one of the earliest adaptations introduced the search function that enables users to discover resources significantly easier than with earlier technologies.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">In the mid-1960s <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moore's_law" target="_blank">Gordon Moore</a> identified an interesting fact about the processing power of computers – that it appeared to double every two years. Once this filtered through to computing hardware manufacturers and as the demand for personal computers increased, this became something of a self-fulfilling prophesy – one that has led to the development of ever sophisticated, ever smaller, less expensive computing devices. From laptop computers to smartphones to tablets to <a href="http://www.google.co.uk/glass/start/" target="_blank">Google Glass</a> and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rfid" target="_blank">Radio-frequency identification </a>(RFID) devices, this phenomenon has placed powerful, mobile computing into the hands of more than 1.5 billion people worldwide allowing learners and educators to access significantly more information than has been available to any previous generation.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">2. The Evolving Web</span></h4>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The early Web gave learners and educators a taste of what could be achieved in this new environment. Learners could access information that had previously been ‘hidden’ in libraries and archives and educators were able to either convert existing instructional progammes, quizzes and exams into Web-enabled resources or develop new assets that guided learners through a set of learning objectives. But this essentially static, ‘read-only’ Web allowed little opportunity for learner interaction, collaboration and sharing, all vital components of the learning process. This began to change with the introduction of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wiki" target="_blank">Wiki</a>’s in the mid-90s.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">These web applications enable users to comment on or change the text on a web page that had been written by others, and provide a platform for group collaboration and sharing. In addition to inspiring the creation of the global knowledge bank that is <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page" target="_blank">Wikipedia</a>, wiki’s encapsulated many of the features of a ‘read, write and execute’ web - what is commonly referred to as Web 2.0. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The ability to readily create a presence on the Web via blogs, social networking, and video sharing sites has created a dynamic resource that continues to make radical changes to our learning and teaching experience. Web 2.0 applications have been embraced by learners and educators at all levels. YouTube and other video sharing sites provide a platform for user-generated <a href="http://www.howcast.com/" target="_blank">how-to videos</a>, <a href="http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL5DE86FDC53716BEE" target="_blank">software advice</a>, and exemplars of arts and science disciplines (e.g. <a href="http://youtu.be/LIckScLypGA" target="_blank">The LXD: TED Talk</a>, <a href="http://www.periodicvideos.com/" target="_blank">Periodic Videos</a> and <a href="https://www.khanacademy.org/" target="_blank">Khan Academy</a>), that inform and inspire millions of informal learners as well as students in formal education. The social networking site, Facebook is used by teachers to facilitate collaborative group work (e.g. in <a href="http://altc2012.alt.ac.uk/talks/28023" target="_blank">Music Technology at Bridgend College</a>), and a large number of user-generated resource sharing sites (e.g. <a href="http://www.flickr.com/groups/cc-the-best-photos/pool" target="_blank">Flickr</a>, <a href="http://www.slideshare.net/" target="_blank">SlideShare</a> and <a href="https://storify.com/" target="_blank">Storify</a>) and cloud computing services (e.g. <a href="https://drive.google.com/" target="_blank">Google Drive</a>, <a href="http://www.wevideo.com/" target="_blank">WeVideo</a>, and <a href="http://www.pixlr.com/" target="_blank">Pixlr</a>) enable learners and educators to extend their tools and resources beyond the traditional classroom.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">3. Theory</span></h4>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The network of collaborative and productive spaces enabled by Web 2.0 has inspired an invigoration of constructivist educational theory and its application to a range of online learning spaces. Learners and educators are able to communicate, provide feedback and collaborate in order to co-create the learning process using a variety of free-to-access synchronous and asynchronous technologies. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">In constructivist theory learning takes place primarily through interaction between learners and between learners and teachers. Teachers assess the suitability of technologies in various settings and judge what are called their <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Affordance" target="_blank">affordances</a> for learning, that is, the essential features of a technology and what the interface allows learners to do. For example the affordances of Facebook may be the opportunities to support collaboration, a shared group identity and understanding of knowledge. Once the teacher is familiar with the environments they can orchestrate learning in a manner that supports learners through the process (i.e. ‘scaffolding’).</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The Web has also revived interest ‘autonomous education’, highlighted by interest in the ‘<a href="http://www.ascilite.org.au/ajet/ajet21/mitra.html" target="_blank">Hole in the Wall</a>’ experiments undertaken by <a href="http://www.ascilite.org.au/ajet/ajet21/mitra.html" target="_blank">Professor Sugata Mitra</a> in the late 90s. These experiments involved observing children’s use of Web-connected computers placed in open spaces in rural settings in India and demonstrated that children were able to learn how to use the devices, to find information and teach others how to use the computers without any instruction or guidance. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">While supporting opportunities for self-learning, the Web also provides a platform for delivering timely instruction and feedback that can shape learning outcomes using <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operant_conditioning" target="_blank">operant conditioning</a> methods. This approach to teaching is based on behaviourist theory which claims that learning can be reinforced through the use of rewards and punishments. In Web-based learning environments this is normally applied through the use of ‘gamification’ techniques such as the awarding of virtual badges for achievement or through the provision of a visual indication of learner progress (e.g. a ‘<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Progress_bar" target="_blank">progress bar</a>’).</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">4. Pedagogy</span></h4>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">New technologies inspire new approaches to teaching, and the Web has made a huge impact in this area. Formal education has adopted new approaches including the use of <a href="http://jiscdesignstudio.pbworks.com/w/page/26405652/Learning%20environments" target="_blank">Virtual Learning Environments</a> (VLEs), <a href="http://www.jisc.ac.uk/whatwedo/programmes/elearning/eportfolios.aspx" target="_blank">e-Porfolios</a>, and <a href="http://www.jisc.ac.uk/inform/inform36/MakingSenseOfMOOCs.html#.Utk2nhB_t8E" target="_blank">Massive Open Online Courses</a> (MOOCs) which support new blended learning methods. Course materials, formative assessments, lecture recordings (including video, audio and synchronised slides), and assignment information and submission form the backbone of VLEs used in most educational institutions. In addition, many institutions encourage their students to develop their own ePortfolios – a self-edited collection of coursework, blog posts and other educational activity that reflects the students’ progress, experience and knowledge gained during their time at a university of college. These are often integrated with (although kept separate from) the more formal VLE, and the institutions’ Careers Service and used as an addition to a students’ <a href="http://www.hear.ac.uk/" target="_blank">Higher Education Achievement Record</a>.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">VLEs are primarily used to support ‘bricks and mortar’ educational, they are not viewed as a replacement for class-based learning, but are ‘blended’ with traditional methods. MOOCs on the other hand appear to be heralding a paradigm shift in the delivery of formal learning. This relatively new web-based form of distance learning emerged in 2008 and has its antecedents in Open Educational Resources initiatives. MOOCs typically provide opportunities for an unlimited number of learners to experience a short college or university level module (normally around 6 weeks in length), delivered using synchronous and asynchronous tutorials, web-based video, readings and quizzes. At the end of the course learners are required to produce some form of relevant feedback that demonstrates their achievement, which is then assessed by their course peers or course tutors.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">5. Openness</span></h4>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The early decision to open Web technologies for all was inspired by research sharing practices in academia, and as the Web has developed it has been used as a platform for sharing ideas, research and teaching. <a href="http://www.eprints.org/openaccess/" target="_blank">Open Access</a> to research papers that have traditionally published by academic journals and available at a high premium, has the potential to transform learning and research. Making academic research available to everyone via the Web provides opportunities for wider access to learning for the poor and those living in rural areas, and improves the uptake of research outputs. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Similarly <a href="http://www.heacademy.ac.uk/oer" target="_blank">Open Educational Resource</a> initiatives are providing opportunities for teachers to share teaching materials, allowing others to reuse and repurpose content. Issues regarding ownership of content have been overcome in many instances through the use of <a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/deed.en" target="_blank">Creative Commons</a> licenses – a scheme that allows content owners to clearly show how they would like others to use their material.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The increasing ubiquity of Web technologies combined with the culture of openness promoted by its founders of the Web, and increasing availability of low cost Web-enabled devices are transforming opportunities for learning and teaching, and are changing the way education is perceived. Despite inequality of access, the ‘<a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/8568681.stm" target="_blank">digital divide</a>’ and ‘<a href="https://wiki.mozilla.org/Learning/WebLiteracyStandard" target="_blank">web literacies</a>’, the opportunities for accessing education are greater today largely due to the Web.</span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14202310699301582381noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4143505073047959408.post-3603034620293185092014-02-05T09:23:00.000-08:002014-02-05T09:24:06.076-08:00Encouraging a corporate open data culture: An interdisciplinary approach to assessing risk and uncertainty in the hydrocarbon exploration industry<h4>
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Introduction</span></h4>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The Royal Society’s influential paper on the use and misuse of risk analysis asserts that “[a]ny corporation, public utility or government will react to criticism of its activities by seeking…new ways to further the acceptable image of their activities” (Pearce, Russell & Griffiths, 1981). In the past decade the timely availability of relevant data has become widely acknowledged as having “a huge potential benefit” to the practice of risk assessment and management (Hughes, Murray, & Royse, 2012). Partly in response to climate change concerns the importance of access to data is acknowledged at a local, national and international level. To enable and encourage the wider use of public environmental and health related data, initiatives like the European Union’s INSPIRE Directive are establishing standardised, legally enforceable data infrastructures (European Union, 2014), and many governments have adopted ‘open data' strategies (e.g. UK Government, 2014; Google, 2011).</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">While the benefits of open data has been recognised and is being acted on in the public realm, despite the good intentions of some corporations (Ghafele & O’Brien, 2012, Alder, 2014) most commercial organisations have been slow to respond. The principle barriers to data sharing in the corporate sector have been identified as resulting from concerns over intellectual property, commercial confidentiality, and ‘cultural’ issues. While not offering any actionable recommendations to tackle these issues, the UK Government’s recent ‘Foresight’ Review asserts that “a more holistic approach to risk analysis…is undoubtedly needed” (Hughes et al, 2012).</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Risk analysis and management of uncertainty demand an interdisciplinary approach (Rougier et al., 2010: 4) and the purpose of this essay is to follow this course and explore the social science disciplines of Anthropology and Economics in order to propose a combined approach that includes relevant methods from both fields. While the evolution of these disciplines has followed different trajectories, and underlying methodological differences can be identified, the increasingly blurred boundaries within science ensure that the identification of discrete ontologies is problematic. The move towards transdisciplinarity involving as it does the sharing of research tools and theoretical perspectives, and the emergence of new multidisciplinary fields (e.g. economic anthropology) provides a fertile field for developing ‘Mode 2’ research propositions (Nowotny, 2001).</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Specifically, this essay explores the factors influencing data sharing in the hydrocarbon exploration industry (HEI) where potential exists for the timely publication of data gathered from monitoring hydraulic fracturing activity.</span><br />
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<h4>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Background</span></h4>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Hydraulic fracturing, more widely known as ‘fracking’, is a technique that has been used to release and collect methane gas from shale rock for more than 60 years. The fracking process employs explosive charges and specially formulated chemical fluids pumped under high pressure to help release gas for extraction. This process takes place more than 1,500m below ground level, at a significantly greater depth than typical coal mining activities (Mair et al, 2012; Wood, 2012). The British Geological Survey estimate that “resources of 1,800 to 13,000bcm [billion cubic metres]”, the equivalent of more than 23 years supply at current UK consumption rates, are “potentially recoverable” from sites in northern and southern England (POSTbox, 2013). However exploration is required in order to discover if this potential is realisable. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Public concerns about fracking focus on the possibility of increased seismic activity, leakage of chemical contaminants into the water table, air pollution caused by the leakage of methane, and the continuing reliance on carbon resources with potentially harmful effects on the world’s climate (Mair, et al, 2012; Kibble et al, 2013; Ricketts, 2013). These concerns have been expressed in public demonstrations against the process (The Guardian, 2013), and the introduction of moratoria on exploration in a number of countries. These public expressions of concern are viewed by the HEI as a significant additional risk to an already hazardous enterprise (Wood, 2012).</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">In the UK, all industrial activities are subject to health and safety audits and some involve continuous, around the clock monitoring. For example in the HEI, Cuadrilla Resources commission Ground Gas Solutions Ltd. to provide monitoring services (Cuadrilla, 2013) which aim to: “…provide confidence to regulators, local communities and interested third parties that no environmental damage has occurred.” (GGS Ltd., 2013). Some of this data are made public via reports to regulatory authorities which can be subject to significant delay, are written in formal, technical language, and are not easily accessed by the general public (Boholm, 2003: 172). This essay proposes a interdisciplinary research methodology to explore the potential for allowing open access to real time (or close to real time) monitoring data that could help to alleviate some public concerns.</span><br />
<br />
<h4>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Economics</span></h4>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Whether analysing large scale issues of national or global significance (macroeconomics) or focussing on the actions of individuals and local groups (microeconomics), the study of economics is defined by its evaluation of human behaviour in relation to the exploitation and control of scarce resources. In all disciplines there are varieties of opinion on the efficacies of different theories; in economics this can be illustrated by reference to the divergent theories regarding government intervention in markets advocated by Keynesian economists and those following the Chicago School. In practice economists prioritise their research by balancing the availability of data and the effectiveness of its collection against the needs of their audience (e.g. government agencies and corporations) and the strength of their beliefs in the determining factors that influence the behaviour of individuals in society (Kuznets, 1978). For example, when seeking solutions to economic depression a Keynesian may advocate increased government spending, whereas a Chicago School economist would suggest increased money supply, allowing a free market to correct itself.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Key concepts in economics include the evaluation of the cost and benefits of future economic activity and the maximisation of utility. Predicting the outcomes of activities with varying levels of uncertainty involve the collection of relevant data, risk analysis and the evaluation of statistical probability. In high-risk investment industries the effective collection and analysis of data is vital, not least in hydrocarbon exploration, where the large rewards for discovering untapped, scarce resources are balanced by the huge investments involved in exploration. The assessment of risk plays a significant part in evaluating the potential costs and economic value of recoverable hydrocarbon resources and multidisciplinary teams comprising geologists, statisticians, legal experts, engineers and economists are engaged within the HEI to ensure that rational choices are made, resources are used to their full potential and that risk is kept ‘as low as reasonably practical” (HSE, 2014). A range of complex and exhaustive appraisal models are used in evaluation, the core aims being to use data as efficiently as possible and minimise subjectivity in order to reduce uncertainty when ascertaining the economic risks and rewards (Nederlof, 2014).</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The evaluation process can be broken down into three key stages: </span><br />
<br />
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><i>Resource evaluation</i>. This is normally undertaken using a "petroleum system model" and is based on the assumption of five independent geological processes that facilitate hydrocarbon accumulation: generation, migration, entrapment and retention and recovery (Häntschel & Kauerauf, 2009). Data for each of these processes are collected using a range of tools (e.g. Geographic Information Systems software) (Hood et al, 2000). </span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><i>Monte Carlo statistical analysis</i>. This uses computer-based statistical analysis tools (e.g. Palisade Corporation, 2014) to process input variables many thousands of times using different random choices to create vectors of equally probable outcomes. A typical output from this process is a range of expectation curves which display the predicted outcomes in ascending order of probability (Nederlof, 2014).</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><i>Economic appraisal</i>. Essentially this involves translating the predicted amount of recoverable resources into a cash value. Considerations of the value of the resource need to account of inflation, predicted future prices, regulation, safety, health and environmental considerations and exploitation contracts and licences. All of these factors are subject to variations over time (e.g. possibility of a future ‘windfall tax’) and economists typically provide a number of alternative scenarios indicating the probabilities arising from the interplay of different variables (Haldorsen, 1996).</span></li>
</ul>
<br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">While the statistical analysis of this detailed mesh of quantitative data is a powerful tool in helping decision makers in the HEI, economists understand that care must be taken in reaching definitive conclusions and in making predictions. A key concern is that primary data may be treated without a suitable understanding the historical background, conventions and collection practices that influence the production of this data (Fogel, Fogel, Guglielmo & Grotte, 2013: 96). An appreciation of the contribution of anthropological research may be helpful is this area. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<h4>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Anthropology</span></h4>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Although anthropologists “cast their net far and wide” (Eriksen, 2004: 45) in order to provide context for their observations, their work is undertaken primarily through close interaction with individuals and the groups they inhabit. In-depth, structured interviews are used extensively and the key research method is ‘participant observation’ – the goal being to extensively record everyday experiences as an aid to gaining new knowledge on the existence (or otherwise) of ‘human universals’ (shared characteristics).</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Developing from the study of ‘exotic’ cultures in the 19th and early 20th century, it is perhaps inevitable that with a field as large as the scientific study of humanity at all times and in all places would branch into a heterogeneous collection of sub-disciplines - ‘urban anthropology’, ‘design anthropology’, ‘theological anthropology’, ‘digital anthropology’, and so on. Although there probably is an ‘anthropology’ for every area of human activity, each with its own unique ontology, the features that distinguishes this social science from other, similar, disciplines (e.g. sociology) resides primarily in its approach to data collection and interpretation. Unlike researchers in most other disciplines, anthropologists immerse themselves within the social and cultural life of their subjects, living closely ‘in the field’ with the people they are studying. The purpose is to attempt to see the world from the subjects’ point of view, and to provide a rich, contextualised, ‘thick’ description and localised interpretation of this perspective (Geertz, 1994: 140). </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Data collection follows a systematic approach which typically focuses on particular fields of study, primarily: kinship, reciprocity, nature, thought and identification. For example an anthropologist may explore how the community they are researching view reciprocity; how gifts are exchanged, goods are paid for, and how the community view property, as well those things that cannot be exchanged or given away (Weiner, (1992: 33). Comparisons can then be made between groups with a view to establishing and understanding similarities and differences, and ultimately identifying characteristics which are unique to specific societies and those that are universally shared (Goodenough, 1970). </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Within the terms of this essay, perhaps the most appropriate sub-discipline to explore in some detail is where anthropologists are commissioned by commercial organisations to describe and analyse ‘organisational culture’ – what is typically referred to as ‘organisational anthropology’. Anthropologists working in the commercial sector are usually engaged in ‘problem-oriented’ research, attempting to uncover the root of human relations issues identified by corporate leaders (Catlin, 2006). Within this environment they apply anthropological methodologies to particular fields of interest, for example: work processes, group behaviour, organisational change, consumer behaviour, product design and the effects of globalisation and diversity (Jordan, 2010). The focus of this research is placed on talking with employees and management to reach descriptions and interpretations of the overall culture as well as any existing sub-cultures, with the aim of providing recommended courses of action that are relevant to the organisations’ strategic goals. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">In addition to work in the corporate sector the anthropologists’ practice of long-term engagement is also useful to public policymakers where collected data can be extremely useful in tracking changes in over extended periods of time (Perry, 2013). Within the HEI, anthropologists explore the relationships between companies, state organisations and communities (Stammler & Wilson, 2006), the cultural implications of the regulation of risk (Kringen, 2008), the environmental impact on communities and their resilience to exploration (Buultjens 2013), as well as land use and the social organisation of the workforce (Godoy, 1985).</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Finally, Monte Carlo analysis is not simply the preserve of economic analysts. The method is used in other social sciences including social anthropology (Tate, 2013), linguistics (Klein, Kuppin & Meives, 1969), education (Pudrovska & Anishkin, 2013) and public health studies (Morera & Castro, 2013) and applied to statistical analysis when evaluating and predicting incomplete or missing data.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<h4>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Proposal for an interdisciplinary approach</span></h4>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">This essay has explored the relevant theories and research themes that influence those involved in economic decisions in the HEI and how anthropology approaches the study of cultures. A key element in the context of this essay is the evaluation of risk: how does the HEI balance risk and reward in the search for scarce, economically recoverable resources, and what can anthropology offer in understanding the human perception of risk. Central to the risk question, both evaluation and perception, is how data is used to aid economic decision making on the part of corporations, and to enable society to compare potential hazards and manage health and safety, and environmental concerns. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">When experts analyse risk in the HEI, the terms they use to define the costs and benefits of a particular course of action are highly relevant to decision makers, but may have little meaning to “people in social settings” (Boholm, 2003: 166). While the maximisation of utility through rational choices motivates the statistical analysis of potential hydrocarbon fields, from the anthropology perspective this approach fundamentally misrepresents the essentially cultural construction of risk perception (Bourdieu, 2005: 215) and has “limited relevance for explaining how people think and act in situations where there is an element of uncertainty” (Boholm, 2003: 161). </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Although generally useful, there are two essential problems with this approach. Firstly, anthropologists are divided on the concept of ‘culture’. In its plural form it can be seen as divisive and not conducive identifying human universals, definitions of ‘culture’ are often vague and do not acknowledge the permeability of boundaries in human society, or the possibilities for internal variation (Hannerz, 1992: 13). Secondly, when explaining ideas of risk and hazard, anthropology tends to favour definitions based on objective social phenomenon (e.g ‘taboo’ in traditional societies is viewed as a means of maintaining social order - Tansey and O'Riordan 1999: 74) rather than an individuals’ subjective consideration of risks based on available evidence (Slovic, 1987: 280). However, by taking care when making generalised statements regarding ‘culture’ and by exploring how people “identify, understand and manage uncertainty in terms of knowledge of consequences and probabilities of events” (Boholm, 2003: 166) - and by acknowledging the relevance of expert risk analysis, a consensus definition of risk can be expressed as: “a situation or event where something of human value (including humans themselves) has been put at stake and where the outcome is uncertain” (Rosa 1998: 28).</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Managing risks at both a corporate and community level entails the timely communication of relevant data in a form that can be readily understood by all parties. In the current setting economic analysis can provide some highly relevant expert insight into risk in the HEI, and anthropological research can describe and interpret the context of the perception and consideration of risk and uncertainty. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">In essence this combined approach would involve primary anthropological research methods including in-depth structured interviews, and participant observation within the HEI and affected communities. The outputs of these studies would be used to inform a more nuanced approach to uncertainty and risk in economic modelling and the use of computational methods (including Monte Carlo analysis) to predict the effects of social vulnerability and environmental protest activity on hydrocarbon exploration. By adopting this form of research methodology it is proposed that an effective approach to communicating risk can be formulated which may encourage a more transparent publication of data and help the HEI “to further the acceptable image of their activities” (Pearce, et al., 1981).</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"> </span><br />
<h4>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">References</span></h4>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Rougier, J., Sparks, S., Aspinall, W., Cornell, S., Crosweller, S., Edwards, T., Freer, J., Hill, L., & Hincks, T., 2010. SAPPUR: NERC Scoping Study on Uncertainty and Risk in Natural Hazards. Summary and recommendations. Bristol Environmental Risk Research Centre (BRISK), University of Bristol, UK. [Online] Available at <a href="http://www.nerc.ac.uk/research/programmes/pure/documents/sappur-summary-report.pdf">http://www.nerc.ac.uk/research/programmes/pure/documents/sappur-summary-report.pdf</a> [Accessed 3 January 2014].</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Tate, E., 2013. Uncertainty analysis for a social vulnerability index. In Annals of the association of American geographers, 103:3, 526-543. [Online] Available at: <a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00045608.2012.700616#.Us2S3_RdV8H">http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00045608.2012.700616#.Us2S3_RdV8H</a> [Accessed 8 January 2014].</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Wood, J., 2012. The global anti-fracking movement: what it wants; how it operates and what’s next. Control Risks. [Online] Available at: <a href="http://www.controlrisks.com/Oversized%20assets/shale_gas_whitepaper.pdf">http://www.controlrisks.com/Oversized%20assets/shale_gas_whitepaper.pdf</a> [Accessed 5 January 2014].</span><br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14202310699301582381noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4143505073047959408.post-81306631948322883582014-02-05T09:07:00.004-08:002014-02-05T09:24:00.442-08:00How does a ‘social science’ or ‘philosophy of science’ perspective on science and technology inform Web Science?<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">'A Manifesto for Web Science'' (Halford, Pope and Carr, 2010) defines the essential characteristics of this relatively new area of study; Web Science “must be a critical discipline” that “looks both ways to see how the web is made by humans and how humans are made by the web”. This broadly socio-technical approach is derived from studies that critically respond to widely-held ‘positivist’ accounts of ‘Normal Science’. These accounts depict the practice of science as a systematic means of discovering facts about the natural world that inevitably progresses toward improved understandings, and technology as a reasonably uncomplicated application of these discoveries. This classical empiricist argument presents a straightforward worldview within which disinterested scientists seek to objectively develop a body of proven knowledge; they make observations, establish hypotheses, collect data and use these to establish new theories. Technologists play a secondary, essentially pragmatic role and “identify needs, problems, or opportunities, and creatively combine pieces of knowledge to address them” (Sismondo, 2010: 8). </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Criticism of this view emerged in the mid-twentieth century, developing Hume’s critique of inductive reasoning (Hume, 1748 [2007]: 26) to establish new ways of thinking about the practice of science and the relationship between science, technology and society. Originating from theories of falsification (Popper, 1959), ‘epistemological anarchism’ (Feyerabend, 1975) and theories expounding ‘paradigms’ and ‘communities’ as an explanation for scientific and technological progress (Kuhn, 1962), over the past half century this body of thought has developed under the general heading of Science and Technology Studies (STS).</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Perceived by some as a threat to the authority and survival of ‘Normal Science’ (Stove, 1982; Theocharis and Psimopoulos, 1987), STS, with its inclusion of non-human as well as human ‘actors’ within its field of view, arguably draws a more nuanced picture of the social construction of science and technology than previous models, and is potentially more suited to the study of the Web. As a system made up of “decentralised information structures … [and ] informal and unplanned informational links between people, agents, databases, organisations and other actors and resources” (Berners-Lee et al., 2006) analysis of the Web needs to reflect this structure, and employ and develop relevant research methodologies . </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The question then arises that if ‘Normal Science’ explanations are not fit for purpose, what should be the proper approach to doing Web Science?</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The processes involved in undertaking scientific enquiry are based on methodologies that set parameters for measurement, analysis, evaluation, and iteration. An essential outcome of this activity is the communication of results. Because of the nature of funding, most scientists are ultimately called to account on their ability to provide effective evidence to substantiate their claims (Theocharis & Psimopoulos, 1987: 598). Web scientists must not only convince their peers in their own and other disciplines of their competence, the efficacy of their methods, and of the explanatory or predictive power of their conclusions (Prelli, 1990: 89-90), but also non-experts, whether they are in communities, governments or corporations. Essentially, in a world where positivist thought continues to maintain dominance, web scientists need to adopt methodologies that are accepted as effective, and modes of communication that are persuasive. In this context STS, the study of “… the myriad, daily negotiations among human and non-humans that make up the consensus called technology” (Haraway, 1997) has much to offer practitioners of Web Science. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Kuhn’s recognition that science and technology are essentially socially constructed activities, no different from any other work, had a huge impact on the study of science, technology and society that followed in its wake. The assertion that groups of scientists and by extension, technologists, share common methodologies, modes of communication and interpretations of their work which are constructed in social settings in ways that do not accord with straightforward positivist interpretations, continues to be explored by social scientists and anthropologists. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The common thread of STS is that “technologies … gain sense and significance within everyday activities and ordinary experience’ (Heath, Luff and Svensson, 2003: 77) and various methodologies have and are being developed to explain and deepen our understanding of how science and technology are socially constructed. A significant contribution to these evolving methodologies is the ‘Strong Programme’ of the Sociology of Scientific Knowledge (SSK). Bloor’s ‘four tenets’ establishes a clear research framework. Methodologies should be:</span><br />
<br />
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><i>Causal</i> - concerned with conditions that bring about beliefs or states of knowledge</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><i>Impartial</i> - with respect to truth and falsity, rationality or irrationality, success or failure. All sides require explanation.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><i>Symmetrical</i> in the style of explanation.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><i>Reflexive</i> - applicable to sociology itself. (Bloor, 1991 [1995]: 5).</span></li>
</ul>
<br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">With its agnosticism toward scientific truths and methodological symmetry, this approach focuses on the work as it is performed, and has an open, naturalistic attitude to science and technological knowledge. It applies the concept of ‘finitism’, in that social forces affect interpretations and rules are adapted when applied to new cases. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Criticisms of the Strong Programme have centred on the tendency of practitioners to overlook the changeable nature of society and to simplify the interests of participants as well as areas of conflict. This leads to problems in demonstrating causal links between beliefs and membership of social groups.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The link between technology, beliefs and membership of social groups is highlighted by explanations of how powerful interests may benefit in the social construction of technology. Langdon Winner asserts that by the adoption of some technologies people are unconsciously coerced into actions that may be against their interests. However while power can be exercised in the “design and arrangement of a device or system” to the potential benefit of individuals who align themselves with powerful institutions, it is by no means given that these technologies have “intractable properties” (Winner, 1986). As Pinch and Bijker convincingly argue in their description of the development of the bicycle, as technologies are brought into the field of practice, users exercise ‘interpretive flexibility’ (Pinch and Bijker 1989). That is, science and technology is essentially a rhetorical operation where inventors design artifacts to solve particular problems with specific uses in mind, but users adapt and modify them to fit many and various unforeseen circumstances. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">In terms of web-based technologies for learning, ideas generated within Social Construction of Technology (SCOT) closely align with the concept of affordances. This concept has been adopted by educational studies from Gestalt psychology to describe characteristics of the learning process (Laurillard et al, 2000) often attributed to learning technologies. The basic affordances of an artefact are “fundamental properties that determine just how the thing could possibly be used” (Norman, 1985) which are “usually perceivable directly, without an excessive amount of learning” (Gibson, 1979). For example, research into students use of lecture video recordings has shown that they do not watch entire lectures (as may have been predicted by developers), but fast forward through the material to find content of particular interest to them (Gorissen, Van Bruggen and Jochems, 2011).</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The adaptation of technologies to meet various specific needs also opens to question the position that scientists and technologists can be studied as discrete and identifiable communities with shared methodologies and ontologies. Haraway’s exploration of disputes within feminism in the eighties (Haraway, 1991) indicates that categorisation of communities is problematic.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">In addition Haraway’s re-evaluation of human-machine symbiosis personified by the ‘cyborg’, a creature often depicted as a threatening in science fiction, represented the construct as an empowering figure. The cyborg concept is revisited twenty years later in the context of the Web as an expression of ‘post-human’ entities brought about by the wide adoption of web technology (Hayles, 2006). Hayles re-imagines the cyborg web as the ‘cognisphere’ - a non-human, or disembodied, network that does not replace the human body but extends it through incorporation into human life practices. Non-human networked and programmable media become ‘cultural cognitions’ as they impact on human sensory-motor functions, cognitive processing, and wider political and economic activity. The individual is no longer an appropriate unit of analysis as these ‘cultural cognitions’ are embodied both in people and their technologies.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">In direct response to concerns about the prevalence of social determinism in STS, Actor Network Theory (ANT) replaces artefacts and social relations with “chains which are associations of humans … and non-humans” (Latour, 1991: 110). Latour acknowledges that the processes of science and technology are alike and coins the term ‘technoscience’ to encapsulate both (Latour, 1987: 19) and in a similar manner to the Strong Programme, ANT employs methodological symmetry and makes no hierarchical distinction between the human and non-human. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Actor Network Theory employs three key concepts to describe and analyse the 'co-evolution' of technoscience and society: </span><br />
<br />
<ul>
<li><i style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Actor worlds:</i><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"> defines the identities, histories, sizes, theories, and roles that unite the diverse entities (human and non-human) involved in specific areas of study.</span></li>
<li><i style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Translation:</i><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"> “To translate is to speak for, to be indispensable, and to displace.” The researcher ‘delineates the scenario’, ‘problematises’ actions and sets out the terrain that the ‘actor-world’ inhabits. To reach a ‘stable construction’ a process of displacement takes place when the entities under analysis are written up within the context of their physical and social environment.</span></li>
<li><i style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Actor networks:</i><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"> The description of the dynamics and internal structure of actor-worlds which emphasises that the structure is “susceptible to change” (Callon, 1986).</span></li>
</ul>
<br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">In his analysis of the development of an electric car in France in the 1970s, Callon describes the role of electronic fuel cells within the actor network as a “black box whose operation has been reduced to a few well-defined parameters, gives way to a swarm of new actors: scientists and engineers who claim to hold the key to its functioning”. In this analytical process controversies are divided into a series of other elements as a watch is "dismantled by a jeweller to find out what is wrong" (Callon, 1986: 30).</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">In the study of the Web, ANT methodology can be used to unpick and analyse the actor world within which heterogeneous entities (individual users, researchers, web protocols, network infrastructure, the National Grid, news media, Mark Zuckerberg etc.) interact on an equal footing with (for example) a social network platform. The object of study is not the actors themselves, but the phenomena which is expressed through the interplay of these components (Barad, 2003).</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Latour asserts that with the increasing availability of digital techniques and tools which allow “the tracing and visualization of …social phenomenon” and as digital profiles are changing the definition of what it means to be an individual, it may be more productive to focus on this ‘one level standpoint’, in contrast to exploring how individual decisions impact of social constructions (the ‘two-level standpoint’). Latour’s hypothesis is that significant, deeply entrenched social phenomena may be fruitfully investigated, analysed and evaluated through studying the ‘performance’ of new data mining and visualisation techniques. “Web 2.0...has turned [one-level standpoint] navigation into a mainstream experience which might be captured in a sentence: the more you wish to pinpoint an actor, the more you have to deploy its actor-network.” (Latour et al., 2012: 591).</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Criticism of theories that foreground social construction of technology focus on the lack of utility awareness this understanding brings to those actively involved in the experience (Hacking, 1999: 2), however, STS provides a diverse, eclectic and in-depth range of approaches to the study of the co-evolution of science, technology and society (e.g. the heterogeneity of actors under scrutiny, the equal treatment of human and non-human entities and methodological agnosticism) and indicates the efficacy of rejecting a ‘fixed theory of rationality’ and applying an ‘anything goes’, mixed approach when developing methodologies for Web Science (Feyerabend, 1975: 28). As Haraway asserts: </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">‘The point is to make a difference in the world, to cast our lot for some ways of life and not others. To do that one must be in the action, be finite and dirty, not transcendent and clean.’ (Haraway, 1997: 36).</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">In education, as in other fields, it is acknowledged that technology provides "the means through which individuals engage and manipulate both resources and their own ideas" (Hannafin, Land, and Oliver, 1999: 128) but also that “...new technology easily supports a fragmented, informational view of knowledge…and is in danger of promulgating only that.” (Laurillard, 2002: 227). In this environment policy makers require guidance on the potential impact of web technologies (e.g. Jisc, 2013 and New Media Consortium, 2013) which enable educators to develop interventions that orchestrate and scaffold learning. This strongly indicates the necessity for using research and evaluation methods that explore the full range of potential affordances and constraints of web technologies and provide predictive tools that facilitate reliable indicators of future challenges and opportunities.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Therefore a mixed approach that enables researchers to choose appropriate methods, whether it is the randomised trials of the positivist tradition, other quantitative and qualitative methods, or pragmatic evaluation processes is required. In the second half of the last century there have been calls to democratise science and technology (Feyerabend, 1999: 224), and the inclusion of public participation has been shown to “increase[s] the quality and relevance of the research” (Staley et al., 2012). In recent years the validity of employing “multiple evaluators” in heuristic evaluation (Nielson, 2009), user involvement in systematic literature reviews (EPPI Centre, 2013), and public involvement in the research and evaluation of health technologies (NIHR, 2013) indicates increased awareness of the usefulness of non-expert involvement in research practices. This may take the form of ‘crowdsourcing’, for example data collection using Mechanical Turk initiatives (e.g Saunders, Bex and Woods, 2013), ‘citizen science’ interventions (e.g. Crowston and Prestopnik, 2013), online surveys (e.g. De Vera et al., 2010), or the formal engagement of lay panels in the assessment of research options (e.g. Boote et al., 2012).</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">In 2007 environmental scientist Mike Hulne contributed an article for The Guardian about the role of STS in the study of the changing global climate: </span><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">All of us alive today have a stake in the future, and so we should all play a role in generating sufficient, inclusive and imposing knowledge about the future. Climate change is too important to be left to scientists - least of all the normal ones. (Hulme, 2007).</span></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">This sentiment applies equally to the study of the Web. In order to develop effective research programmes that disentangle the complex relationships between people and technology, that facilitate better understandings of the impact of changes brought about by our interaction with the Web, and improve the ability to predict the effect of Web-based activity, scientists in the field, informed by STS theories, need to employ wide-ranging, diverse and relevant methodologies. </span><br />
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<h4>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">References</span></h4>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Barad, K., 2003. Posthumanist performativity: towards an understanding of how matter comes to matter. In Signs, 28(3) pp.801-31.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Berners-Lee, T., Hall, W., Hendler, J.A., O’Hara, K. , Shadbolt, N. and Weitzner, D.J., 2006. A Framework for Web Science. In Foundations and Trends in Web Science Vol. 1, No 1 (2006) 1–130 [Online] Available at <a href="http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/263347/1/1800000001%5B1%5D.pdf">http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/263347/1/1800000001%5B1%5D.pdf</a> (Accessed 1 December 2013).</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Bloor D., 1991. The strong programme. In Knowledge and Social Imagery. Ch 1 [Online] Available at <a href="http://faculty.washington.edu/lynnhank/Bloor.pdf">http://faculty.washington.edu/lynnhank/Bloor.pdf</a> (Accessed 1 December 2013).</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Boote, J. D., Dalgleish, M., Freeman, J., Jones, Z., Miles, M., and Rodgers, H., 2012. ‘But is it a question worth asking?’A reflective case study describing how public involvement can lead to researchers’ ideas being abandoned. In Health Expectations. [Online] Available at <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1369-7625.2012.00771.x/full">http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1369-7625.2012.00771.x/full</a> (Accessed 9 December 2012).</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Callon, M., 1986. The Sociology of an Actor-Network: the Case of the Electric Vehicle. In M. Callon, J. Law and A. Rip (Eds.) Mapping the Dynamics of Science and Technology: Sociology of Science in the Real World. London, Macmillan: 19-34. [Online] Available at <a href="http://www.homepages.ucl.ac.uk/~ucessjb/S3%20Reading/callon%201986.pdf">http://www.homepages.ucl.ac.uk/~ucessjb/S3%20Reading/callon%201986.pdf</a> (Accessed 29 November 2013).</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Crowston, K. and Prestopnik, N.R., 2013. Motivation and Data Quality in a Citizen Science Game: A Design Science Evaluation. In System Sciences (HICSS), 2013 46th Hawaii International Conference on , vol., no., pp.450,459. [Online] Available at <a href="http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/stamp/stamp.jsp?tp=&arnumber=6479888&isnumber=6479821">http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/stamp/stamp.jsp?tp=&arnumber=6479888&isnumber=6479821</a> (Accessed 11 December 2013).</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">De Vera, M. A., Ratzlaff, C., Doerfling, P., & Kopec, J., 2010. Reliability and validity of an internet-based questionnaire measuring lifetime physical activity. American Journal of Epidemiology, 172(10), 1190-1198.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">EPPI Centre, 2013. Welcome to the EPPI Centre. [Online] Available at <a href="http://eppi.ioe.ac.uk/cms/">http://eppi.ioe.ac.uk/cms/</a> (Accessed 9 December 2013).</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Feyerabend, P., 1975. Against Method: Outline of an Anarchistic Theory of Knowledge. London: Verso.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Gibson, J. J., 1979. The Ecological Approach to Visual Perception, Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Gorissen, P., Van Bruggen, J.M. and Jochems W., 2011. Analysing the use of recorded lectures by students. Short paper presented during the ALT-C conference in Leeds, UK [Online] Available at <a href="http://www.slideshare.net/PiAir/altc-2011-presentation">http://www.slideshare.net/PiAir/altc-2011-presentation</a> (Accessed 25 November 2013).</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Hacking, I., 1999. The social construction of what? Harvard University Press.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Halford, S., Pope, C. and Carr, L., 2010. A Manifesto for Web Science. In, Proceedings of the WebSci10: Extending the Frontiers of Society On-Line, Raleigh, US, 26 - 27 Apr 2010. , 1-6. [Online] Available at <a href="http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/271033/">http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/271033/</a> (Accessed 5 November 2013).</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Hannafin, M., Land, S., and Oliver, K., 1999. Open learning environments: Foundations, methods, and models. In C. M. Reigeluth (Ed.), Instructional design theories and models: A new paradigm of instructional theory (Vol. II, pp. 115-140). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Haraway, D.,1991. A Cyborg Manifesto: Science, Technology and Socialist Feminism in the Late Twentieth Century. In D. Haraway (Ed.) Simians, Cyborgs and Women: the Reinvention of Nature. London, Free Association Books: 149-181.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Haraway, D. J., 1997. Modest-witness@ second-millennium. Femaleman [Copyright]-meets-oncomouse [Trademark]: Feminism and Technoscience. Psychology Press.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Hayles, N. K., 2006. Unfinished Work: From Cyborg to Cognisphere. In Theory, Culture & Society, December 2006 23: 159-166, [Online] Available at <a href="http://tcs.sagepub.com/content/23/7-8/159">http://tcs.sagepub.com/content/23/7-8/159</a> (Accessed 5 December 2013).</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Heath, C., Luff, P., and Svensson, M. S., 2003. Technology and medical practice. In Sociology of Health & illness, 25(3), 75-96. [Online] Available at <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1467-9566.00341/full">http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1467-9566.00341/full</a> (Accessed 7 November 2013).</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Hulme, M., 2007. The appliance of science. In The Guardian. [Online] 14 March. Available at <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/society/2007/mar/14/scienceofclimatechange.climatechange">http://www.theguardian.com/society/2007/mar/14/scienceofclimatechange.climatechange</a> (Accessed 25 November 2013).</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Hume, D., 2007. An enquiry concerning human understanding. Oxford University Press. Originally published in 1748. [Online] Available at <a href="http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/9662">http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/9662</a> (Accessed 6 November 2013).</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Jisc, 2013. Jisc Inform: Spotting emerging technologies. Issue 36. [Online] Available at <a href="http://www.jisc.ac.uk/inform/inform36/SpottingEmergingTechnologies.html#.UpHf5dK-2So">http://www.jisc.ac.uk/inform/inform36/SpottingEmergingTechnologies.html#.UpHf5dK-2So</a> (Accessed 20 November 2013).</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Kuhn, T. S., 1962. Historical Structure of Scientific Discovery. In Science, 136 (3518), June 1, 1962, 760-764. [Online] Available at <a href="http://www.compilerpress.ca/Competitiveness/Anno/Anno%20Kuhn%20History%20of%20Discovery.htm">http://www.compilerpress.ca/Competitiveness/Anno/Anno%20Kuhn%20History%20of%20Discovery.htm</a> (Accessed 7 November 2013).</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Latour, B., 1987. Science in Action: How to Follow Scientists and Engineers Through Society. Cambridge MA: Harvard University Press.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Latour, B., Jensen, P., Venturini, T., Grauwin, S. and Boullier, D., 2012, ‘The whole is always smaller than its parts’ – a digital test of Gabriel Tardes' monads. The British Journal of Sociology, 63: 590–615. [Online] Available at <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1468-4446.2012.01428.x/full">http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1468-4446.2012.01428.x/full</a> (Accessed 26 November 2013).</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Latour, B., 1991. Technology is Society Made Durable. In Law J (Ed.) A Sociology of Monsters? Essays on Power, Technology and Domination, Sociological Review Monograph. London, Routledge: 103-131.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Laurillard, D., Stratford, M., Luckin, R., Plowman, L., and Taylor, J., 2000. Affordances for Learning in a Non-Linear Narrative Medium, in Journal of Interactive Media in Education, 2000 (2) [online]. Available at <a href="http://www-jime.open.ac.uk/00/2">www-jime.open.ac.uk/00/2</a> (accessed 28 November 2013).</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Laurillard, D., 2002. Rethinking university teaching: A conversational framework for the effective use of learning technologies. Psychology Press.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">National Institute of Health Research, 2013. Evaluation, trials, studies. [Online] Available at <a href="http://www.nets.nihr.ac.uk/">http://www.nets.nihr.ac.uk/</a> (Accessed 10 December 2013).</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">New Media Consortium, 2013. Sparking innovation, learning and creativity. [Online] Available at <a href="http://www.nmc.org/">http://www.nmc.org/</a> (Accessed 10 December 2013).</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Nielson, J., 2009. How to Conduct a Heuristic Evaluation. [Online] Available at <a href="http://www.useit.com/papers/heuristic/heuristic_evaluation.html">http://www.useit.com/papers/heuristic/heuristic_evaluation.html</a> (Accessed 10 December 2013).</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Norman D A (1988) The Design of Everyday Things, New York: Basic Books.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Pinch, T. J. and Bijker, W.E., 1989. The Social Construction of Facts and Artifacts: Or How the Sociology of Science and the Sociology of Technology Might Benefit Each Other. In Bijker WE, Hughes TP and Pinch TJ (eds.) The Social Construction of Technological Systems: New Directions in the Sociology and History of Technology. Cambridge, MA, MIT Press.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Popper, K., 1959. The logic of scientific discovery. London & New York:Routledge Classics. First published 1959 by Hutchinson & Co.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">[Online] Available at <a href="http://goo.gl/7MW7PE">http://goo.gl/7MW7PE</a> (Accessed 10 November 2013). </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Prelli, L. J., 1990. Rhetorical logic and the integration of rhetoric and science. In Communication Monographs. Volume 57, Issue 4, 1990 pages 315-322 [Online] Available at <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/03637759009376206">http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/03637759009376206</a> (Accessed 22 November 2013).</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Saunders, D. R., Bex, P. J., and Woods, R. L., 2013. Crowdsourcing a Normative Natural Language Dataset: A Comparison of Amazon Mechanical Turk and In-Lab Data Collection. In Journal of Medical Internet research, 15(5). [Online] Available at <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3668615/">http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3668615/</a> (Accessed 10 December 2013).</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Sismondo, S., 2010. An Introduction to Science and Technology Studies Oxford, Wiley-Blackwell.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Staley, K., Buckland, S. A., Hayes, H. and Tarpey, M., 2012. ‘The missing links’: understanding how context and mechanism influence the impact of public involvement in research. in Health Expectations. [Online] Available at <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/hex.12017/abstract">onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/hex.12017/abstract</a> (Accessed 10 December 2013).</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Stove, D. C., 1982. Popper and after : four modern irrationalists. Oxford : Pergamon Press.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Theocharis, T., and Psimopoulos, M., 1987. Where Science has Gone Wrong. In Nature, Vol 329, pp 595-598. [Online] Available at <a href="http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v329/n6140/pdf/329595a0.pdf">http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v329/n6140/pdf/329595a0.pdf</a> (Accessed 5 November 2013).</span><br />
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14202310699301582381noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4143505073047959408.post-79515261829532753972014-02-01T02:52:00.000-08:002014-02-10T07:15:39.799-08:00MSc Web Science - Week 18<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqm0xxg_u8FyQ8__AryERkxBNim0hQbdtA9sTvet5e6YgCXyaJVLGnJnBhJhgaMKHeiXOPbdPogXgA2e-DmQ7qD7VJp1alcqsA5Sozy9EJG0mHsuovEtb0262pFfgHRDuPzSBjVXNH-s_E/s1600/ElderlyMan7114730409_ca7b0ff754.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqm0xxg_u8FyQ8__AryERkxBNim0hQbdtA9sTvet5e6YgCXyaJVLGnJnBhJhgaMKHeiXOPbdPogXgA2e-DmQ7qD7VJp1alcqsA5Sozy9EJG0mHsuovEtb0262pFfgHRDuPzSBjVXNH-s_E/s1600/ElderlyMan7114730409_ca7b0ff754.jpg" height="320" width="232" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="background-color: transparent; line-height: 14px;"><u><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/60849810@N05/7114730409/" target="_blank">Reading the paper [Albert Jone]</a></u></span><span style="line-height: 14px;">/State Library of Victoria Collections © 2011/</span></span><a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/" target="_blank">CC BY 2.0</a></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br />
It's the first week of the new semester and the emerging theme is 'reading'. Give or take a couple of titles, this is my weekend reading list:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<br />
<h4>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">COMP6047 - Further Web Science</span></h4>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Cabinet Office (2012) ‘</span><a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/open-data-white-paper-unleashing-the-potential" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;" target="_blank">Open Data: Releasing the Potential</a><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">’, White Paper.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Shadbolt, Nigel and O'Hara, Kieron (2013) </span><a href="http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/354737/" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;" target="_blank">Linked data in government</a><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">. IEEE Internet Computing, 17, (4), 72-77.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Ubaldi, Barbara (2013) ‘</span><a href="http://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/governance/open-government-data_5k46bj4f03s7-en" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;" target="_blank">Open Government Data: Towards Empirical Analysis …</a><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">’, OECD Working Paper on Public Governance 22.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">O’Hara, Kieron (2011) ‘</span><a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/independent-transparency-and-privacy-review" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;" target="_blank">Transparent Government, Not Transparent Citizens</a><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">’, Cabinet Office.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">UCL Constitution Unit (2013) </span><a href="https://www.ucl.ac.uk/constitution-unit/research/foi" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;" target="_blank">Freedom of Information and Data Protection</a><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Public Administration Select Committee, </span><a href="http://data.parliament.uk/writtenevidence/WrittenEvidence.svc/EvidenceHtml/3823" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;" target="_blank">Oral evidence to Statistics and Open Data inquiry</a><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">, Nov 2013. (http://data.parliament.uk/writtenevidence/WrittenEvidence.svc/EvidenceHtml/3823, 3631, 3628 – and cf.4041)</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Anneke Zuiderwijk1, Marijn Janssen, Sunil Choenni, Ronald Meijer, and Roexsana Sheikh Alibaks, ‘</span><a href="http://www.ejeg.com/issue/download.html?idArticle=255" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;" target="_blank">Sociotechnical impediments of open data</a><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">’, Electronic Journal of e-Government, 2012</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Lessig, ‘</span><a href="http://www.newrepublic.com/article/books-and-arts/against-transparency" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;" target="_blank">Against Transparency</a><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">’, New Republic, 2009 </span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Public Accounts Committee, ‘</span><a href="http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201213/cmselect/cmpubacc/102/10202.htm" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;" target="_blank">Implementing the Transparency Agenda</a><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">’, 2012</span></li>
</ul>
<h4>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></h4>
<h4>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">COMP6048 - Interdisciplinary Thinking</span></h4>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Repko A. F. (2008) Interdisciplinary Research: Process and Theory. Sage Publications. </span><a href="http://www.uk.sagepub.com/upm-data/43242_1.pdf" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;" target="_blank">Chapter 1</a><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"> and </span><a href="http://www.uk.sagepub.com/upm-data/43243_2.pdf" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;" target="_blank">Chapter 2</a></li>
<li><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Plus </span><a href="https://drive.google.com/folderview?id=0B8HMI3oMi__mLTMzSzZCYWlaMWM&usp=sharing&invite=CJ3M0M8M" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;" target="_blank">6 readings</a><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"> for first group work.</span></li>
</ul>
<h4>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></h4>
<h4>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">COMP6050 - Semantic Web for Web Science</span></h4>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Tim Berners-Lee, James Hendler and Ora Lassila (2001) </span><a href="http://www-sop.inria.fr/acacia/cours/essi2006/Scientific%20American_%20Feature%20Article_%20The%20Semantic%20Web_%20May%202001.pdf" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;" target="_blank">The Semantic Web</a><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">, Scientific American.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Nigel Shadbolt, Wendy Hall and Tim Berners-Lee (2006) </span><a href="http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/262614/1/Semantic_Web_Revisted.pdf" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;" target="_blank">The Semantic Web Revisited</a><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">, IEEE Intelligent Systems, pp96-101, May/June 2006.</span></li>
</ul>
<h4>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></h4>
<h4>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">COMP6052 Social Networking Technology</span></h4>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Easley, D. and Kleinberg, J. </span><a href="http://www.cs.cornell.edu/home/kleinber/networks-book/" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;" target="_blank">Networks Crowds and Markets</a><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">. Cambridge University Press, 2010. MyiLibrary: </span><a href="http://lib.myilibrary.com/Open.aspx?id=272489" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">http://lib.myilibrary.com/Open.aspx?id=272489</a><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"> (chapters 16, 19 and 20) </span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Watts, D., 2002. </span><a href="http://www.pnas.org/content/99/9/5766.full.pdf+html" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;" target="_blank">A simple model of global cascades on random networks</a><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Morris, S., 2000. </span><a href="http://restud.oxfordjournals.org/content/67/1/57.full.pdf" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;" target="_blank">Contagion</a><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">. The Review of Economic Studies</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Watts, D., 1998. </span><a href="http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v393/n6684/pdf/393440a0.pdf" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;" target="_blank">Collective dynamics of “small-world” networks</a><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">. Nature. </span></li>
</ul>
<h4>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></h4>
<h4>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">RESM6003 - Qualitative Methods</span></h4>
<div dir="ltr" style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 18.399999618530273px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Atkinson, P. and Silverman, D. (1997) ‘Kundera’s immortality: the interview society and the invention of self’, Qualitative Inquiry, 3(3): 304-325. [TDNet - not available]</span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 18.399999618530273px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Baker, S.E. and Edwards, R. (eds) (2012) <a href="http://eprints.ncrm.ac.uk/2273/4/how_many_interviews.pdf" target="_blank">How Many Qualitative Interviews is Enough? </a>Expert Voices and Early Career Reflections on Sampling and Cases in Qualitative Research, National Centre for Research Methods Review Paper.</span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 18.399999618530273px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Edwards, R. and Holland, J. (2013) <a href="http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/359806/" target="_blank">What is Qualitative Interviewing?</a>, London: Bloomsbury Academic (ePrints link doesn't work).</span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 18.399999618530273px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Gubrium, J.F. and Holstein, J.A. (eds) (2003b) Postmodern Interviewing, London: Sage. [BF 637 GUB] (Library).</span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 18.399999618530273px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Kvale, S. (1996) InterViews: An Introduction to Qualitative Research Interviewing, London: Sage. [HM 48 KVA] (Library).</span></span></li>
</ul>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14202310699301582381noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4143505073047959408.post-29309960216736495152014-01-30T08:33:00.001-08:002014-01-31T06:20:48.983-08:00Video: Stevan Harnad - OA isn't rocket science<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">On the eve of his appearance to give <span style="background-color: white;"><a href="http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/348479/" target="_blank">evidence</a> at the House of Lords Science and Technology Select Committee on Open Access<span id="goog_448458464"></span> in November 2013, OA “Archivangelist”, Professor Stevan Harnad spoke about his concerns following the UK government's' apparent u-turn on Green Open Access. Acting on the <a href="http://www.researchinfonet.org/publish/finch/" target="_blank">Finch Report</a> on Open Access to scholarly articles, the government (and <a href="http://www.rcuk.ac.uk/" target="_blank">Research Councils UK</a>) had accepted what Harnad described as an "astonishing recommendation", essentially proposing to pay publishers considerably more than necessary for Open Access.</span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Harnad kick-started the OA debate in 1994 with the publication of his </span><a href="http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/253351/" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;" target="_blank">'Subversive Proposal'</a>, <span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">suggesting that scholarly articles should be made freely available for all via the Web. Physicists and computer scientists had been doing this for years, he argued, and it was about time the rest of the world did the same. The benefits were obvious: academics don't publish for profit - they do so for impact and usage, to gain uptake and application of their ideas, and the evidence shows that OA articles are </span><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">used and </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">cited more than non-OA.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">Subsequent to the 'Proposal', the School of Electronics and Computer Science at the University of Southampton </span></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">used <a href="http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/" target="_blank">ePrints</a> to create the world's first OA repository, and </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">mandated OA for all of its journal articles. I</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">n 2003 t</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">he UK House of Commons Science and Technology Committee </span><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200304/cmselect/cmsctech/399/399.pdf" target="_blank">supported this approach</a>,</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"> the research councils also adopted watered down Green OA policies and universities and institutions around the world began to follow suit.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">However despite the growth in Open Access in recent years, students and academics still need to access most access scholarly articles via their institutions' subscriptions to peer-reviewed journals. These annual subscriptions can amount to many hundreds of thousands of pounds, and even the most well-endowed universities (e.g. </span><a href="http://www.theguardian.com/science/2012/apr/24/harvard-university-journal-publishers-prices" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;" target="_blank">Harvard</a><span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">) are unable to subscribe to as many journals as they would like. There are </span><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">sometimes partial </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">workarounds to deal with this - contacting published academics directly, for example - but, Harnad asserts, it is more cost and research effective for institutions to adopt Green OA policies and make articles freely available, once they have completed the peer review process.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Although hailed as a <a href="http://www.publishers.org.uk/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=2281:the-uk-publishers-association-comments-on-the-finch-report-&catid=79:pa-in-the-media&Itemid=1403" target="_blank">"balanced package"</a>, the adoption of the Finch Report's recommendation that additional payments be made to publishers to cover the costs of 'Gold' OA (where publishers make articles open after an embargo period) is seen by many advocates of Green OA as a <a href="http://openaccess.eprints.org/index.php?/archives/904-Finch-Report,-a-Trojan-Horse,-Serves-Publishing-Industry-Interests-Instead-of-UK-Research-Interests.html" target="_blank">retrograde step</a>. However </span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">the </span><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Higher Education Funding Council for England's <a href="http://roarmap.eprints.org/834/" target="_blank">policy proposal</a><a href="http://roarmap.eprints.org/834/" target="_blank"> </a> which requires immediate-deposit (i.e. Green OA) as a condition for future Research Excellence Framework eligibility appears likely to be adopted. Should this happen as Harnad hopes, Finch's shortcomings will be remedied.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><b>Further reading:</b> </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Harnad, Stevan (2013) Follow-Up Comments for BIS Select Committee on Open Access. </span><i style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">UK Parliament Publications and Record</i><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">s, Spring Issue </span><a href="https://www.outlook.soton.ac.uk/owa/redir.aspx?C=5uKoBZHLx0azImfgXprxKifgrfiW8NAI6mlwm6iSMOCc3UcnbRczi2tBKNWVogv0KS9RONO5QR0.&URL=http%3a%2f%2feprints.soton.ac.uk%2f352011%2f" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;" target="_blank">http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/352011/</a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Harnad, Stevan (2013) Harnad Comments on HEFCE/REF Open Access Mandate Proposal. Open access and submissions to the REF post-2014 <a href="https://www.outlook.soton.ac.uk/owa/redir.aspx?C=5uKoBZHLx0azImfgXprxKifgrfiW8NAI6mlwm6iSMOCc3UcnbRczi2tBKNWVogv0KS9RONO5QR0.&URL=http%3a%2f%2feprints.soton.ac.uk%2f349893%2f" target="_blank">http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/349893/</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Harnad, Stevan (2013) Worldwide open access: UK leadership? <i>UKSG Insights</i>, 26, (1), Winter Issue, 14-21. <a href="https://www.outlook.soton.ac.uk/owa/redir.aspx?C=5uKoBZHLx0azImfgXprxKifgrfiW8NAI6mlwm6iSMOCc3UcnbRczi2tBKNWVogv0KS9RONO5QR0.&URL=http%3a%2f%2feprints.soton.ac.uk%2f349406%2f" target="_blank">http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/349406/</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Harnad, Stevan (2013) Harnad Evidence to House of Lords Science and Technology Select Committee on Open Access. <i>House of Lords Science and Technology Committee on Open Access</i>, Winter Issue, 119-123. <a href="https://www.outlook.soton.ac.uk/owa/redir.aspx?C=5uKoBZHLx0azImfgXprxKifgrfiW8NAI6mlwm6iSMOCc3UcnbRczi2tBKNWVogv0KS9RONO5QR0.&URL=http%3a%2f%2feprints.soton.ac.uk%2f348479%2f" target="_blank">http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/348479/</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Harnad, Stevan (2013) Harnad Evidence to BIS Select Committee Inquiry on Open Access. <i>Written Evidence to BIS Select Committee Inquiry on Open Access,</i> Winter Issue<a href="https://www.outlook.soton.ac.uk/owa/redir.aspx?C=5uKoBZHLx0azImfgXprxKifgrfiW8NAI6mlwm6iSMOCc3UcnbRczi2tBKNWVogv0KS9RONO5QR0.&URL=http%3a%2f%2feprints.soton.ac.uk%2f348483%2f" target="_blank">http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/348483/</a> </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Harnad, Stevan (2013) Harnad Comments on Canada’s NSERC/SSHRC/CIHR Draft Tri-Agency Open Access Policy. Canadian Tri-Agency Call for Comments, Autumn Issue <a href="https://www.outlook.soton.ac.uk/owa/redir.aspx?C=5uKoBZHLx0azImfgXprxKifgrfiW8NAI6mlwm6iSMOCc3UcnbRczi2tBKNWVogv0KS9RONO5QR0.&URL=http%3a%2f%2feprints.soton.ac.uk%2f358972%2f" target="_blank">http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/358972/</a></span></div>
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14202310699301582381noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4143505073047959408.post-42273383644830337472014-01-22T03:28:00.002-08:002014-01-22T22:27:04.999-08:00With the 'Cyborgs' at Speakerthon<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixiW50tUnB4p5i0PXfC8DQmLcONhBd7IAgs63CVnJTEUlaGiJD-1JlC8go5IjnljypsJ62lRuftXZhPphsZSkeY7pet-sqiubzk6nwv5SSoDmLsMpXNbsM8svnSMcO9Fz-Z-XP_u2IA-0V/s1600/Speakerthon+2014+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixiW50tUnB4p5i0PXfC8DQmLcONhBd7IAgs63CVnJTEUlaGiJD-1JlC8go5IjnljypsJ62lRuftXZhPphsZSkeY7pet-sqiubzk6nwv5SSoDmLsMpXNbsM8svnSMcO9Fz-Z-XP_u2IA-0V/s1600/Speakerthon+2014+2.jpg" height="218" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">Speakerthon 2014</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Collaged from works by </span><a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3ASpeakerthon_-_participants_02.JPG" style="font-size: x-small;" target="_blank">Andy Mabbett</a><span style="font-size: xx-small;">, </span><a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:BBC_Speakerthon_logo_550.jpg" style="font-size: x-small;" target="_blank">BBC</a><span style="font-size: xx-small;"> and </span> and <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/21203574@N06/12069218143/" style="font-size: x-small;" target="_blank">Tim O'Riordan</a><span style="font-size: xx-small;"> ©2014/</span><a href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/deed.en" style="font-size: x-small;" target="_blank">CC BY-SA 3.0</a></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">As a nascent Web Scientist the irony of a Dalek 'guarding' the entrance to this weekends' <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/rd/blog/2013/11/speakerthon-uploading-voice-samples-from-the-radio-4-archive-to-wikipedia" target="_blank">Speakerthon</a> event at BBC Broadcasting House in London, was not lost. Daleks represent a dystopian view of the 'cyborg', the twisted collaboration between organic and inorganic, a man-machine mashup that has willingly or unwillingly sacrificed human empathy for improved performance. The contrast between this popular icon and the people working in the hall beyond was considerable.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Speakerthon was organised by <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/rd" target="_blank">BBC R&D</a> and <a href="https://uk.wikimedia.org/wiki/Main_Page" target="_blank">Wikimedia UK</a> as a collaborative web-enhancement event. The aim of the day was to interrogate the BBC Radio 4's permanently available archive (e.g. <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b03m7z0d/features/womans-hour-collection" target="_blank">The Woman's Hour Collection</a>), select clips of notable people speaking and add them to <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page" target="_blank">Wikipedia</a>. Wikimedia UK's <a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Pigsonthewing" target="_blank">Andy Mabbett</a> thought up <a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Commons:BBC_voice_project" target="_blank">the idea</a> and has spent the past 2 to 3 years convincing BBC decision makers of the efficacy of opening up their archive. In addition to applying <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open_content" target="_blank">open licences</a> to BBC content, providing a rich layer of information to Wikipedia entries, and adding good quality <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linked_data" target="_blank">linked data</a> to the Web, the visibility of the archive is greatly enhanced, and tagged clips will be used to teach applications to automatically identify voices in the archive (e.g. <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/rd/projects/worldservice-archive-proto" target="_blank">The World Service Radio Archive Project</a>), thereby making BBC researchers jobs a great deal easier.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The day started with a briefing session. We were shown how to use the BBC '<a href="http://snippets.bbcredux.com/" target="_blank">Snippets</a>' software (sadly only made available to us on the day), and what type of clips to listen out for. Finding 20 to 40 second clips of individuals talking, preferably about themselves or their field of work, without interruption or any background music was frustrated on some programmes by over enthusiastic interviewers who would insist on butting in, whereas others (like <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/features/desert-island-discs/find-a-castaway" target="_blank">Desert Island Discs</a>) proved to be a goldmine of useful clips.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Once a clip was identified and selected, 'Snippets' created a URL, which we manually added to a Google Docs spreadsheet along with the persons name and gender, Wikipedia URL, and programme archive URL. This was then picked up by the BBC editorial team, who checked 'compliance' (i.e. the suitability of the clip and any outstanding copyright issues), trimmed and edited the clip (using <a href="http://audacity.sourceforge.net/" target="_blank">Audacity</a> a free audio editor), encoded it to the open source <a href="https://xiph.org/flac/" target="_blank">.flac</a> format, and uploaded it to Wikimedia. At the time of writing about <a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:BBC_voice_samples" target="_blank">100 clips</a> have been uploaded out of the 300 created on the day.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I added eleven clips to the Google Docs spreadsheet, three of which have been uploaded to Wikimedia. I was beaten to finding a clip of one of my <a href="http://www.southampton.ac.uk/webscience" target="_blank">Web Science</a> course leaders, and Head of Faculty, Dame Wendy Hall, although I think my selection where she talks about the Semantic Web, is more appropriate than the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wendy_Hall" target="_blank">clip currently on Wikipedia</a>. So far I've embedded voice clips and metadata for <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Owen_Hatherley" target="_blank">Owen Hatherley</a> and<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Claire_Skinner" target="_blank"> Claire Skinner</a>, and three of the clips: Guglielmo Marconi, his second wife Maria Cristina Bezzi-Scali and John Scott-Taggert (the first person to receive a radio message from a ship in distress) are awaiting confirmation of their copyright status.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">With the news often dominated by stories portraying the Web as an 'evil cyborg' out to dominate our lives, infringe our privacy and 'exterminate' our liberties, it was a real joy to take part in this life-affirming collaborative cyberspace project. We came together to share our love of archives and an appreciation of technology as a force for good, to start something that has the potential to be considerably bigger than the sum of its parts. </span><br />
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<b><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">See also:</span></b><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><a href="http://education.okfn.org/speakerthon-sharing-voice-samples/" target="_blank">Speakerthon: Sharing Voice Samples</a> - Marieke Guy, Open Education Working Group</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b>Please note:</b><br />While capturing audio from the BBC's web archive and uploading it to Wikipedia (or anywhere else) is relatively straight-forward, doing so without the express permission of the BBC infringes their copyright.</span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14202310699301582381noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4143505073047959408.post-84828759443320464322014-01-21T02:50:00.004-08:002014-01-21T02:50:54.230-08:00MSc Web Science - Week 17<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6pJ6_NP0mYY9RbTyNLAPaGGN5jtcS2iganaf8xHH83rEDVCs_D1kQp8u4pnAsqUC_biQrZhy8nWx2-bNUQM-01ineVqBpDb2VyPVsgzc6FpCwWNSfkrXvk3e7RJxx6ui2xGyenvvVJhKx/s1600/MindTheGap.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6pJ6_NP0mYY9RbTyNLAPaGGN5jtcS2iganaf8xHH83rEDVCs_D1kQp8u4pnAsqUC_biQrZhy8nWx2-bNUQM-01ineVqBpDb2VyPVsgzc6FpCwWNSfkrXvk3e7RJxx6ui2xGyenvvVJhKx/s1600/MindTheGap.jpg" height="168" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/endlisnis/458850262/" target="_blank"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 14px;">M</span>ind the Gap!</a><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="line-height: 14px;">/ Endlisnis © 2007/ </span></span><a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/" target="_blank">CC BY 2.0</a></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Life and coursework got rather hectic around the middle of last semester, and something had to go, hence the gap in posts. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Speaking of gaps, we had a MSc Supervisor 'speed networking' event last Friday where we had an opportunity to meet academics who were up for supervising our dissertations - which start in May. Having heard my brief introduction, one potential supervisor advised me to do a literature review and find a gap in what is, admittedly, a very busy field. Having done this a year ago when I applied I was a bit miffed by this comment - but thought I hadn't explained myself properly in the time available. A bit later, when I thought I had given a better explanation, another potential supervisor told me - "oh yes, I have a PhD student who's answered all those questions". Point taken. I need to find my niche - again.<br /><br />Hopefully normal service - or what passes for normal service - will resume shortly.</span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14202310699301582381noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4143505073047959408.post-34125732137338155402013-11-10T07:53:00.004-08:002013-11-10T07:58:30.542-08:00MSc Web Science - Week 6<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixkkNNYhfyHJNky-N0NgRxXIRhJVG0Z6rH0REOl19uOJ4elvl-zWEJxoX70N255SaJY86wcPG97aWksyLq3oZfXHdhHasZR19-8V3RJEHlq0O6L0khwpCNZEZjwm7Kfy0qks7zSEw8Tjbg/s1600/Image8.gif" height="320" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="320" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Hearsay: A New Way to Acquire Categories/Cangelosi & Harnad, 2002</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">On Wednesday Cognitive Scientist </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stevan_Harnad" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;" target="_blank">Professor Stevan Harnad</a><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">, a major thinker and strategist of the Open Access (OA) movement (Harnad, 1995) spoke to us about the potential impact of the Web on Scholarly Research in the form of “Open Access" and the twists and turns of OA progress caused by commercial and political lobbying. I met him earlier in the day and recorded a video interview with him, which I hope to get online soon (time permitting!).</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Stevan also had some potential dissertation projects for current MSc students. My initial interest was caught by his citation analysis project, but I was intrigued by his work on language analysis and categorisation. His description of "a foraging creature that depends on finding and eating mushrooms to survive" (Tijsseling, A., Pevtzow, R., & Harnad, no date) and a scenario where these mushrooms can be either edible/markable/returnable to, or the opposite indicated the possibility of designing a system that "forages" the web for educationally useful video.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I have no idea if this would work, but it may be worth investigating further.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
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<h4>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Quantitative Research Methods</span></h4>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The theme for this week is "falling behind" (my excuse - having to work as well as do a full time course).</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">We had a test this week and I realised that I needed to develop a means of linking the language used in a question with the appropriate statistical analysis method (e.g. the word "change" would indicate a two-sided test). I have a lot of revision to do on this subject.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
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<h4>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Computational Thinking</span></h4>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">One of our Public Engagement Lecture and 6th form student computing teaching activity team drop out of the course this week, but we have decided to stay with network security as the theme for our teaching activity. I have some work to do on finding ways to explain how public and private key encryption works. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
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<h4>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Hypertext and Web Text for Masters</span></h4>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">This week: early Open Hypermedia systems, including the influential NIST standardising hypertext systems agreement, 1990 which introduced the <a href="http://paul.luon.net/hypermedia/chapter6/modelsFrameworks/dhrm.html" target="_blank">D</a><a href="http://paul.luon.net/hypermedia/chapter6/modelsFrameworks/dhrm.html" target="_blank">exter Hypertext Reference Model</a>. This has 3 components:</span><br />
<ol>
<li><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Run time layer - presentation; user interaction; dynamics</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Storage layer - database of nodes and links (Dexter Model mainly interested in this)</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Within-component layer - content/structure inside nodes</span></li>
</ol>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">But, because all links resolve (link integrity) in this model there is no 404 error.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">We also looked at <a href="http://whatis.techtarget.com/definition/Hyper-G" target="_blank">Hyper-G</a> and the University of Southampton's own <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microcosm_(hypermedia_system)" target="_blank">Microcosm</a> hypermedia system.</span><br />
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<h4>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Foundations of Web Science</span></h4>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">This week was <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Actor%E2%80%93network_theory" target="_blank">Actor Network Theory</a> (ANT) week. This theory was developed as a response to the belief that social determinism had simply replaced technological determinism as the dominate way of exploring the development of science and technology. As established by Bruno Latour, Michel Callon and John Law, the essential ANT principles are:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">1. Materialist perspective (neither technical nor social)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">‘We are with chains which are associations of humans.. and non-humans’ - Latour</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">2. Heterogeneous networks</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The world is put together by combination of human and non-human actions.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">3. Radical symmetry</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Human and non-human actors are equally important (one side may gain greater importance - but no pre-existing hierarchy).</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">4. Network evolution is a process of translation</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Aims and intentions > identifying actors > getting actors on board > mobilising the network.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">5. There is no action at a distance (everything results from local actions).</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">6. Nothing inevitable about networks</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Entities in a network have relational ontologies - what we are comes about through our relationship with other human and non-human actors.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Criticisms of ANT</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">1. Practices and Cultures. P&C provide the context and structure for technoscientific opportunism. To account for even rational choices we need to invoke P&C - yet ANT is culturally flat.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">2. Problems of Agency. To treat humans and non-humans symmetrically, ANT has to deny intentionality is necessary for action. In practice ANT downplays non-human agency.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">3. Problems of Realism. ANT says what is, is constructed by networks of actors. Yet realists would argue that things have real and intrinsic properties beyond their location in networks.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">4. Problems of the Stability of Objects and Actions.ANT "glides over" the provisional and challenging nature of laboratory work, and obscures "layers of expert judgement".</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
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<h4>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">References</span></h4>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Cangelosi, A.& Harnad, S., 2001. <i>The adaptive advantage of symbolic theft over sensorimotor toil: Grounding language in perceptual categories</i>. [Journal (Paginated)] Available at: http://cogprints.org/2036/ (Accessed 10 November 2013).</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Harnad, S., 1995. A Subversive Proposal. In, Okerson, A. and O'Donnell, J. (eds.) <i>Scholarly Journals at the Crossroads: A Subversive Proposal for Electronic Publishing</i>. Association of Research Libraries. Available at: <a href="http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/253351/">http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/253351/</a> (Accessed 10 November 2013).</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Tijsseling, A., Pevtzow, R., & Harnad, S., no date. <i>Dimensional Attention Effects in Humans and Neural Networks</i>. Availble at: http://users.ecs.soton.ac.uk/harnad/Temp/adriaan1.pdf (Accessed 10 November 2013).</span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14202310699301582381noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4143505073047959408.post-81940722787939959382013-11-03T05:19:00.002-08:002013-11-10T07:55:36.277-08:00MSc Web Science - Week 5<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/22442464@N00/10608575054/" target="_blank">Day 305</a>/
Emmadukew © 2013/ <a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.0/deed.en" target="_blank">CC BY-NC-SA 2.0</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">This week there was a <a href="http://www.dailyecho.co.uk/news/education/10774956.University_and_college_lecturers_go_on_strike/" target="_blank">strike</a>.</span><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
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<h4>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Quantitative Research Methods</span></h4>
<div dir="ltr" style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 18px; white-space: pre-wrap;">We looked at the chi-square test, which is used with used with categorical variables. The chi-square test is unreliable with small samples and can only test for an association, not its direction. As a rule of thumb: don’t use if > 20% of cells have expected counts < 5.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 18px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 18px; white-space: pre-wrap;">A chi-square test is undertaken to find association between variables:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 18px; white-space: pre-wrap;">1. Set hypothesis and define population</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 18px; white-space: pre-wrap;">2. Assume null hypothesis </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 18px; white-space: pre-wrap;">3. Large discrepancy between observed and expected counts would indicate rejection of null hypothesis</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 18px; white-space: pre-wrap;">4. Find mean pass percentages for all variables</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 18px; white-space: pre-wrap;">5. Look at expected count in SPSS</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 18px; white-space: pre-wrap;">6. Number of rows - 1 x number of columns - 1 = Degrees of freedom</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 18px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Once we know the number of expected counts based on degrees of freedom all the others are fixed.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 18px; white-space: pre-wrap;">7. Use Chi - square table to work out critical value for 5% and 1%
</span></span></div>
<h4>
<span id="docs-internal-guid-205bc644-1da9-6963-6522-bf2011b1ccb3" style="line-height: 1.15;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Computational Thinking</span></span></h4>
<b id="docs-internal-guid-205bc644-1da9-6963-6522-bf2011b1ccb3" style="font-weight: normal;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Having been assigned groups at the end of last week we (Anna, Jessica, Conrad, Andrew and I) had chose a subject for our public engagement lecture ('What makes the Web the Web?') and submitted an abstract outlining what we have in mind. We also started work on lesson planning for the 6th form student computing teaching activity.</span></b>
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<b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></b>
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<h4>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Hypertext and Web Text for Masters</span></h4>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Telling Tales: Hypertext as non-sequential writing which offers readers a choice of readings. Bathes – the reader fixes the text, not author. Concept of ‘ergodic’ literature – the reader must expend some non-trivial effort in creating meaning.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Non-linearity can be introduced into:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">story (fabula), narrative (plot), and text/image</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Interesting hypertext literature:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><a href="http://elab.eserver.org/" target="_blank">The electronic labyrinth</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><a href="http://v2.nl/archive/works/afternoon-a-story" target="_blank">Afternoon - a story</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.ryman-novel.com/" target="_blank">253 or Tube Theatre</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Narrative game types:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Ludus – structured, Paidia – unstructured, Aleatory – random</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
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<h4>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Foundations of Web Science</span></h4>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Quote of the week from Sergio Sismondo:</span><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Science's networks are heterogeneous in the sense that they combine isolated parts of the material world, laboratory equipment, established knowledge, patrons, money, institutions, etc. These actors together create the successes of technoscience, and no one piece of a network can wholly determine the shape of the whole. (</span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Sismondo, 2003).</span></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Our seminar discussions have prompted me to explore how science is carried out and how results are published - which ultimately affects how findings become accepted in society. Essentially there were two main threads in my thinking. Firstly, peer reviewing doesn't appear to be working as well as may have done in the past, and an excellent briefing in the Economist entitled, <a href="http://www.economist.com/news/briefing/21588057-scientists-think-science-self-correcting-alarming-degree-it-not-trouble" target="_blank"><i>Trouble at the lab: </i></a></span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.economist.com/news/briefing/21588057-scientists-think-science-self-correcting-alarming-degree-it-not-trouble" target="_blank"><i>Scientists like to think of science as self-correcting. To an alarming degree, it is not</i></a> (which is based on a </span><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">meta-analysis of surveys questioning scientists about their misbehaviours </span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">by </span><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Daniele Fanelli and </span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">published in <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0005738" target="_blank">PLOSone</a>). As a result of many interrelated factors, the briefing asserts that </span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">"There are errors in a lot more of the scientific papers being published, written about and acted on than anyone would normally suppose, or like to think."</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The second thread of my thinking relates to how scientific research is strongly affected by institutionally and commercially induced bias. This position was reinforced by some video editing work that came my way this week via the National Institute for Health Research. They held a conference early last month to celebrate 25 years since the establishment of the <a href="http://www.nets.nihr.ac.uk/programmes/hta" target="_blank">Health Technology Assessment Programme</a> and needed eleven presentation videos edited and encoded for <a href="http://www.youtube.com/user/NIHRtv" target="_blank">their YouTube channel</a>. From a number of impressive presentations the one by </span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">health services researcher,</span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Sir Iain Chalmers, </span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">one of the founders of the <a href="http://www.cochrane.org/" target="_blank">Cochrane Collaboration</a>, and coordinator of the <a href="http://www.jla.nihr.ac.uk/" target="_blank">James Lind Initiative</a>, </span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">stood out. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Sir Iain's contention is that there is a 'stacked deck' in research activity which results in biased under-reporting of research. He says: </span><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Over 50% of studies are never published in full and those that do get published are an unrepresentative sample...the ones that report positive or statistically significant results are more likely to be published and outcomes for statistically significant studies have higher odds of being fully reported. </span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">(Chalmers, 2013) </span></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">In addition to the propensity of institutions to adopt technology before it has been shown to be useful, this state of affairs results in the application of poor and potentially life-threatening practice. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">An antidote to this is outlined in the <a href="http://www.testingtreatments.org/" target="_blank">Testing Treatments</a> web site:</span><br />
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Fair tests of treatments are needed because we will otherwise sometimes conclude that treatments are useful when they are not, and vice versa</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Comparisons are fundamental to all fair tests of treatments</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">When treatments are compared (or a treatment is compared with no treatment) the principle of comparing ‘like with like’ is essential</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Attempts must be made to limit bias in assessing treatment outcomes.</span></li>
</ul>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">In the Web Science context, for 'treatments' read 'web interventions'. I believe that this approach is exteremely relevant to the conduct of research in Web Science.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<h4>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Digital Literacies Student Champions</span></h4>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I published a new post on the Digichamps blog site: <i><a href="https://blog.soton.ac.uk/digichamps/get-started-with-wordpress/" target="_blank">Getting Started with WordPress</a></i>.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Also, I am working with Lisa Harris, Ellie and Meryl on a short presentation for the Biological Studies Careers Fair later this month. Essentially I have agreed to talk for 10 minutes on d</span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">igital identity management with a focus on the <a href="http://www.reppler.com/" target="_blank">reppler</a> online reputation app.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br /></span>
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<h4>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">References</span></h4>
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Fanelli D (2009) How Many Scientists Fabricate and Falsify Research? A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Survey Data. PLoS ONE 4(5): e5738. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0005738</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">NIHR, 2012. </span><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Iain Chalmers, INVOLVE 2012 Conference. Video [Online] Available at: http://youtu.be/R9dke0t1QuU</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Sismondo, S., 2003.</span><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"> “The social construction of scientific and technical realities”, from </span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">An introduction to science and technology. Oxford: Blackwell </span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Publishers, pp.51-64. </span><br />
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14202310699301582381noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4143505073047959408.post-14887916737242141282013-10-29T09:24:00.000-07:002013-10-29T09:27:23.130-07:00MSc Web Science - Week 4<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="line-height: 19px; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDKoVkD7YFk60yS2kzYIuTsCJEOctkMRvdoIvzAxH95kxnAaRKwtfAIulorGYqV6gWu6KUTxrpnc9L5SYFXimD6_6b5h_lHw1pNDQ0pm1Dx_Xspgsm65O4C_7sp8F3TdS5_3ZwvQsDDSRU/s1600/CareersFair231013.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDKoVkD7YFk60yS2kzYIuTsCJEOctkMRvdoIvzAxH95kxnAaRKwtfAIulorGYqV6gWu6KUTxrpnc9L5SYFXimD6_6b5h_lHw1pNDQ0pm1Dx_Xspgsm65O4C_7sp8F3TdS5_3ZwvQsDDSRU/s400/CareersFair231013.jpg" height="221" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Careers Fair/Tim O'Riordan ©2013/<a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/deed.en" target="_blank">CC-by-3.0</a></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 19px;">A big event this week was the University <a href="https://www.southampton.ac.uk/careers/students/events/fairs/itse.html" target="_blank">IT, Science and Engineering Careers Fair</a>. As well as picking up more free pens than I'll ever need and explaining to reps what <a href="http://www.websci12.org/%20introducing-web-science-2012" target="_blank">Web Science</a> is (variations on</span></span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 19px;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 19px;">'making the web better for </span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 19px;">future generations')</span><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 19px;">, I had a very interesting chat with someone on the <a href="http://www.sagentia.com/" target="_blank">Sagentia</a> stall. The stall featured a data collection device for use in the oil exploration industry that handled 15TB of data per 24 hours using the </span></span><a href="http://www.seg.org/resources/publications/misc/technical-standards" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 19px;" target="_blank">SEGD</a> <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 19px;">format</span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 19px;">. These devices are regularly collected from rigs by helicopter and are delivered to an oil industry organisation. The data is analysed for sale to the oil industry, and is stored in underground silos.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 19px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 19px;">The collection process is called <a href="http://www.seabed-geo.com/our-solutions/seabed-acquisition-services/permanent-reservoir-monitoring.aspx" target="_blank">Permanent Reservoir Monitoring</a> (see also <a href="http://www.orc.soton.ac.uk/652.html" target="_blank">ORC site</a>), is directly related to exploring <a href="http://www.onesubsea.com/products_and_services/services/life_field.aspx" target="_blank">Life of Field</a> issues, and is vital in the development of new methods of extracting oil from 'exhausted' fields (only 30% of oil is currently extracted - gaining an additional 1% is extremely profitable). This may be useful for my Independent Disciplinary Review project, which is looking at methods of approaching the open sharing or data by industry.</span></span><br />
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<h4>
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 19px;">Quantitative Research Methods</span></h4>
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 19px;">We explored hypothesis testing in more detail this week. I'm still trying to get to grips with the link between theory and the practical use of SPSS software. My main insights this week are: that the n</span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 19px;">ull hypothesis means there's no difference in variance in the sample, and the </span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 19px;">alternative hypothesis means that the variance is different.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 19px;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 19px;">There are 4 basic steps to testing the hypothesis:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 19px;">1. Specify Hypothesis test and level of significance (‘different’ = 2 sided, more or less = 1 sided)</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 19px;">2. Select random sample (mean, standard deviation, sample size)</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 19px;">3. Calculate test statistic using random sample</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 19px;">4. Make a decision - based on significance level, comparison with z-value and/or p-value.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 19px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 19px;">If the p-value is less than significance level (alpha), reject the null hypothesis.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 19px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 19px;">I also checked out the open source program <a href="http://www.gnu.org/software/pspp/" target="_blank">PSPP</a> to see if I could use it to replace the licensed <a href="http://www-01.ibm.com/software/uk/analytics/spss/" target="_blank">SPSS</a> program we're currently using. PSPP is pretty good, and the results are the same (to two decimal places instead of 3), but PSPP does not do graphing (yet) - so I'll stick with SPSS for the time being.</span></span><br />
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<h4>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 19px;">Computational Thinking</span></span></h4>
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/XV-7J5y1TQc?t=2m16s?rel=0" width="420"></iframe>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 19px;">This week we looked at programming languages from the early days (including PDP11 among many others) and were put into groups for the assessed teaching and public presentation projects. </span></div><br />
<h4>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 19px;">Independent Interdisciplinary Review</span></span></h4>
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 19px;">I'm continuing to read up on anthropology for the assessed project and have been particularly interested in theory related to </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reciprocity_(cultural_anthropology)" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 19px;" target="_blank">reciprocity</a><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 19px;"> and self-regulated systems (</span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyborg_anthropology" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 19px;" target="_blank">cybernetics</a><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 19px;">).</span><br /><br />
<h4>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 19px;">Hypertext and Web Text for Masters</span></span></h4>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 19px;">We had a packed programme of study this week - exploring the historical antecedents for and different approaches to </span></span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 19px;">hypertext, This</span><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 19px;"> including Paul </span></span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 19px;">Otlet's development of the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mundaneum" target="_blank">Mundaneum</a>. His masterwork, <i>Traite de Documentation (</i>Otlet<i>, </i>1934) is not yet available in English, but translations of some of his work have been <a href="https://www.ideals.illinois.edu/handle/2142/4004" target="_blank">published</a>. </span><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 19px;">There were also brief overviews of the work of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wilhelm_Ostwald" target="_blank">Wilhelm Ostwald</a>, who developed the concept of linking literature to small units of recorded knowledge (‘monos’) that could be arranged and linked with other units and was instrumental in establishing the </span></span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 19px;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Die_Br%C3%BCcke_(institute)" target="_blank">Die Brucke Institute</a> in Munich - place to find all knowledge </span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 19px;">(and invented a paper size system - A4 etc).</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 19px;">Also under consideration were American contributions to hypertext including <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vannevar_Bush" target="_blank">Vannevar Bush</a> (human thought works on links between concepts), </span></span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 19px;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doug_Englebart" target="_blank">Doug Englebart</a>'s first <a href="http://sloan.stanford.edu/MouseSite/19678Demo.htm" target="_blank">computer mouse</a> (developed at the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Augmentation_Research_Center" target="_blank">Augmentation Research Center</a> and demonstrated at the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Mother_of_All_Demos" target="_blank">Mother of All Demo's</a> in 1968) and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ted_Nelson" target="_blank">Ted </a></span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 19px;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ted_Nelson" target="_blank">Nelson</a>'s <a href="http://www.xanadu.com/" target="_blank">Project Xanadu</a> (and his <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computer_Lib_/_Dream_Machines" target="_blank">Dream Machines</a>).</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 19px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 19px;">We also looked at hypertext systems: </span></span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 19px;"><a href="http://www.digitalhumanities.org/dhq/vol/4/1/000081/000081.html" target="_blank">HES/Fress</a> (1967), </span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 19px;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ZOG_(hypertext)" target="_blank">ZOG</a> (1975), </span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 19px;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/KMS_(hypertext)" target="_blank">Knowledge Management System (KMS</a>, 1983), </span><a href="http://www.cs.umd.edu/hcil/hyperties/" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 19px;" target="_blank">Hyperties</a> (<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 19px;">1983), </span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 19px;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intermedia_(hypertext)" target="_blank">Intermedia</a> (1985), </span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 19px;"><a href="http://dl.acm.org/citation.cfm?id=30859" target="_blank">NoteCards</a> (1985) and </span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 19px;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HyperCard" target="_blank">Hypercard</a> (</span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 19px;">bundled with Apple Mac, </span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 19px;">1987).</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 19px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 19px;"><b>Useful links:</b></span></span><br />
<a href="http://www.eastgate.com/HypertextNow/archives/Akscyn.html" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 19px;" target="_blank">Akscyn's Law</a><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 19px;">Jeff Conklin, 1987. ‘Hypertext: An introduction and survey’. IEEE Computer, 20(9), pp.17-41 Available at: </span></span><a href="http://www.ics.uci.edu/~andre/informatics223s2007/conklin.pdf"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">http://www.ics.uci.edu/~andre/informatics223s2007/conklin.pdf</span></a><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 19px;">Cal Lee, 1999. </span><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 19px;">Where Have all the Gophers Gone? Why the Web beat Gopher in the Battle for Protocol Mind Share. </span></span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 19px;">University of Michigan, </span><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 19px;">School of Information. Available at: </span></span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 19px;"><a href="http://www.ils.unc.edu/callee/gopherpaper.htm">http://www.ils.unc.edu/callee/gopherpaper.htm</a></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 19px;">Types of hypertext systems include:</span><br />
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 19px;">Macro Literary Systems - large online libraries</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 19px;">Problem Exploration Tools - problem solving, early authoring and outlining, ‘mind mapping on steroids’</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 19px;">Structured Browsing Systems - single machine front-end</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 19px;">General Hypertext Technology - platforms that allow experimentation</span></li>
</ul>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 19px;">Foundations of Web Science</span></span></h4>
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 19px;">For the rest of the semester we will be reading (in great detail), </span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 19px;">talking</span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 19px;"> and writing about the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_constructionism" target="_blank">social construction of science</a>.</span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14202310699301582381noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4143505073047959408.post-82016193130830528842013-10-21T10:33:00.003-07:002013-11-10T07:56:44.719-08:00MSc Web Science - Week 3<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwpvJynEA0raOXr185jOw3K9iNJDTYQAs_E4jMLfBVvDG55IXCIqhTPU6Ob7cJGnq7n7Uru-zz9KGh-FuNAGqXxxMCEge-g2T1FKNepZjvchsVTe-U0ZxsktUf2wfOdtcAVFE2Zb4crtFv/s1600/kitten_small.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwpvJynEA0raOXr185jOw3K9iNJDTYQAs_E4jMLfBVvDG55IXCIqhTPU6Ob7cJGnq7n7Uru-zz9KGh-FuNAGqXxxMCEge-g2T1FKNepZjvchsVTe-U0ZxsktUf2wfOdtcAVFE2Zb4crtFv/s1600/kitten_small.jpg" height="213" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/18252321@N02/4639757602/" target="_blank">Kitten Baby Steps</a>/RSPCA WOAW ©2006/<a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/2.0/deed.en" target="_blank">CC BY-NC 2.0</a></span></td></tr>
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"<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-31Knavh2bw" target="_blank">Catch up, cats and kittens. Don't get left behind</a>..." (Monkberry Moon Delight, Paul McCartney, 1971)<br />
<br />
This line from a song has been going through my head all week - an annoying '<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earworm" target="_blank">earworm</a>' but also an important note to myself to get the balance of home, study and work right. So this weeks' post is brief and to the point - no prevaricating around the bush.<br />
<br />
<b>Quantitative Research Methods</b><br />
This week I found out about hypothesis testing and t-testing (for small samples). I dislike Powerpoint-driven lectures, but in this module the tutors use them to build a narrative about using different approaches to analysing datasets, and (for me) it works reasonably well.<br />
<br />
<b>Computational Thinking</b><br />
This week we moved into the self-study phase and I spent much of the time working out the deadlines and requirements for the assessed work. Something that is not easy to do, as module information is presented in different ways in different locations, and it isn't always clear if it's up to date.<br />
<br />
<b>Independent Interdisciplinary Review</b><br />
I will be looking at corporate policy on open data via the disciplines of Anthropology and Economics - for more details see my <a href="http://blog.soton.ac.uk/comp6044/2013/10/13/is-it-safe-to-drink-the-water/" target="_blank">blog post</a>.<br />
<br />
<b>Hypertext and Web Text for Masters</b><br />
More talk and Powerpoint. I am very much looking forward to working either individually or in groups on this topic.<br />
<br />
<b>Foundations of Web Science</b><br />
We had a very brief group-centred debate on "<a href="http://zaphod.mindlab.umd.edu/docSeminar/pdfs/Winner.pdf" target="_blank">Do Artifacts Have Politics</a>". I took notes and acted as <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rapporteur" target="_blank">rapporteur</a> for our group, and uploaded our outcomes to the <a href="https://secure.ecs.soton.ac.uk/student/wiki/w/COMP6037#Seminar_1_-_Do_artifacts_have_politics.3F" target="_blank">class wiki</a> (we're 'Team Alpha').<br />
I've also been thinking about pop culture representations of the technological-determinism, social-determinism debate, sparked by watching the 2009 film, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cloudy_with_a_Chance_of_Meatballs_(film)" target="_blank">Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs</a> during the week. The film neatly rehearses some of the arguments and presents some well-drawn popular stereotypes involved in technological development, as well as playing out myths about the unforeseen consequences of technology. Another film on the topic -<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Man_in_the_White_Suit" target="_blank">The Man in the White Suit</a>, also comes to mind, so this could be a useful theme to follow.<br />
<br />
<b>Digital Literacy Student Champions</b><br />
I produced an <a href="http://blog.soton.ac.uk/uosm2024/2013/10/16/wordpress-workshop/" target="_blank">online resource</a> and ran 3 x 30 minute Wordpress Workshop sessions with third years taking the 'Arab World' Curriculum Innovation Programme module.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14202310699301582381noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4143505073047959408.post-6957956886432273092013-10-13T13:52:00.000-07:002013-10-13T14:18:10.006-07:00MSc Web Science: Week 2<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcbsnvGpg5eYN558FJpkOOQnh7DbVaKhYDSNIQwkNBU7ZltbYknWePK-UM7_hBQhqSU6zoF6osE6KIGBhK7CHGYogC9Tufe8nxUjX0l8v74c8wh64nU2q2pmpb_CXsFyRT0hva898OlJGW/s1600/FiringUpPis101013.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="157" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcbsnvGpg5eYN558FJpkOOQnh7DbVaKhYDSNIQwkNBU7ZltbYknWePK-UM7_hBQhqSU6zoF6osE6KIGBhK7CHGYogC9Tufe8nxUjX0l8v74c8wh64nU2q2pmpb_CXsFyRT0hva898OlJGW/s400/FiringUpPis101013.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Firing up the 'Pi's/Tim O'Riordan 2013/<a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/uk/" target="_blank">CC BY 2.0 UK</a></td></tr>
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<h4>
<span style="font-weight: normal;">The highlight of the week was definitely the </span><a href="http://www.raspberrypi.org/" style="font-weight: normal;" target="_blank">Raspberry Pi </a><span style="font-weight: normal;">session; an hour long workshop</span> <span style="font-weight: normal;">that was added to the end of classes on Thursday. The Raspberry Pi is a tiny and cheap computer that has been developed to provide a budget platform for practicing programming. Because it's cheap (about £30), it can be used to run dedicated processes, like </span><a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-24395858" style="font-weight: normal;" target="_blank">controlling a pyrotechnic display, or carrying out passive surveillance</a><span style="font-weight: normal;">.</span></h4>
<h4>
<span style="font-weight: normal;">The workshop provided an excellent adjunct to the introduction to writing Python script earlier in the day, as the task involved writing a few lines of code that enabled a Raspberry Pi module to interact with an external object (a jelly baby) via two wire probes. Essentially, the jelly baby completed a circuit which triggered the playing of an audio file of someone singing. Charming, and slightly weird. </span></h4>
<h4>
<span style="font-weight: normal;">The team behind the <a href="http://www.ericatherhino.org/" target="_blank">Erica the Rhino</a> project were also on hand to provide some inspiration for projects that we have been asked to undertake later in the year. At the moment I'm trying to come up with a project that involves recording video in public places, but which doesn't compromise privacy.</span></h4>
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<span style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></span></div>
<h4>
Quantitative Research Methods (QRM) </h4>
This week I had my first experience of using <a href="http://www-01.ibm.com/software/uk/analytics/spss/" target="_blank">SPSS software</a> to explore datasets, and in class we moved on to consideration of two of the basic concepts covered by this module: Confidence Intervals (CI) and the Central Limit Theorum (CLT). CI is the range of values within which it is expected the true value of a population will lie (within a degree of confidence, e.g 95%). Because the mean varies depending on each sample that's taken from a given population, we need to construct a range of values to provide confidence. This is done by taking sample means from the population many times (e.g. 1000). The CLT states that regardless of distribution of the variable in the population, the results of these multiple samples will be normally distributed.<br />
There is no truly object way of defining confidence, but using this method we can show that the true value lies between two values. Confidence is based on the sample size - essentially the bigger the sample the better the confidence. However there are diminishing returns beyond sample sizes of around 1400 - at least I think so.<br />
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<h4>
Computational Thinking </h4>
In the lab we undertook some basic programming using the <a href="http://www.python.org/" target="_blank">Python</a> GUI. This is a very popular, informal, flexible, dynamical language used by Google, and others, to control their internal systems. It's also a useful stepping stone to <a href="http://www.oracle.com/us/technologies/java/overview/index.html" target="_blank">Java </a>programming.<br />
The programming exercise involved developing, in stages, a 'Hangman' program.<br />
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<h4>
Independent Interdisciplinary Review</h4>
A further discussion on what is required for this module included a recent MSc Web Science student, taking us through his experience of writing for this module. His IIR explored changes in how Intellectual Property is understood on the Web via the disciplines of Economics and Law.<br />
The task for this week was to choose a topic and disciplines, and add a blog post to the <a href="http://blog.soton.ac.uk/comp6044/wp-admin" target="_blank">COMP6044 blog site</a> - providing an outline, justification and bibliography. I have decided to look at corporate data sharing through Anthropology and Economics lenses.<br />
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<h4>
Hypertext and Web Text for Masters </h4>
This week we were introduced to HyperText Markup Language (HTML), Extensible Markup Language (XML), Cascading Stylesheets (CSS) and Extensible Stylesheet Language Transformations (XSLT) - all of which originate from Standard Generalized Markup Language (SGML). XML adds flexibility to HTML and contains elements (in hierarchy), attributes (label elements), entities (contain document fragments), and DTD (document type definitions).<br />
We also touched on the latest version of HTML, HTML5, which includes new more appropriate tags and recognises new structures that are useful for search engines and usability. Browser adoption of HTML5 is patchy, but it is gaining ground.<br />
Stylesheet languages (e.g. CSS and XSL) ‘separate concerns’ and allows users to concentrate on content, as layout and design are defined elsewhere. CSS attaches ‘missing’ semantics, complexity and processing instructions in XML. CSS decorates, but does not build - XSLT does both.<br />
From past exam papers it looks like there will be a question that requires a reasonably thorough understanding of XML.<br />
<br />
<h4>
Foundations of Web Science </h4>
This week we discussed the development of the Web from a social shaping perspective (as opposed to a technological determinist viewpoint). We were presented with a list of technology and social developments - from the discovery of electricity, wireless telegraphy, the Cold War, to the development of the social web - and asked to discuss them, and how we shape our technology, in small groups. A number of areas that have been overlooked so far include the failure of Soviet attempts at networking, the importance of Federal funding of the National Science Foundation to the development of the early Web, and the enduring fascination with celebrity which drives much of the social web. However, and possibly significantly, an early attempt to classify all the world's knowledge, the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mundaneum" target="_blank">Mundaneum</a>, was mentioned.<br />
We also continued to explore our personal use of the Web. Most of the class use mobile devices for traversing the Web, and start browsing early in the day.<br />
We were asked to examine our individual Web use and communicate our understanding of it via a diagram - and add this to the <a href="https://secure.ecs.soton.ac.uk/student/wiki/w/COMP6037">class wiki</a>. Many in our class produced interesting 'infographics' (some using the <a href="http://infogr.am/">infogr.am</a> online infographic tool) which classified their Web use by actvity (e.g. 'work', 'leisure', 'diy'). I found that my attempts to classify my own activity beyond family communication or personal interests seemed to be arbitrary and unhelpful. Does adding complexity to this area help? Probably not. Can my simplified Dial-e framework (stimulate, analyse, investigate, create) be used to categorise Web activity? I think so - but I need to explore this further.<br />
<br />
<h4>
Digital Literacy Student Champions</h4>
<div>
I met with Lisa Bernasek and arranged to run short 'Wordpress 101' sessions during three of her "The Arab World (in and) Beyond the Headlines" classes. The purpose is to get her 60 students publishing within days and with confidence. My aim is to run these sessions so that all participants will have started a draft of their first post by the end, and would have gained a clear appreciation of what they can do as authors within Wordpress.</div>
<div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14202310699301582381noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4143505073047959408.post-26622163319718482152013-10-04T13:42:00.001-07:002013-10-09T03:08:10.816-07:00MSc Web Science: Week 1 <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYjmsoCF5ZfL09fnS6Lbs4E8hrYIcL11MhI85ImFAdcKWKb2nVeEW7pSdVOETBafsHksEAdCOBoT5QWb-siJfpRhvzPdKmhs9JRmtEOPj-yZrG-Ck0hzNOcu83k9fXRFYFqy-YOtTuhxX6/s1600/FirstDayWS300913_small.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYjmsoCF5ZfL09fnS6Lbs4E8hrYIcL11MhI85ImFAdcKWKb2nVeEW7pSdVOETBafsHksEAdCOBoT5QWb-siJfpRhvzPdKmhs9JRmtEOPj-yZrG-Ck0hzNOcu83k9fXRFYFqy-YOtTuhxX6/s400/FirstDayWS300913_small.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">First day of Web Science/Tim O'Riordan 2013/<a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/uk/" target="_blank">CC BY 2.0 UK</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Some notes on my first week on the MSc Web Science course at Southampton.<br />
<br />
<h4>
Quantitative Research Methods (QRM) </h4>
The tutor, Nikolaos Tzavidis, posted the notes and slides for the first two lectures on Blackboard and emailed the class 4 days ahead to let us know. I like Nikos!<br />
As a dyed in the wool qualitative researcher I am a little suspicious of quantitative methods, but this module is very much geared towards the absolute beginner - and I am being won over.<br />
In the first class we were introduced to mean, modes and median scores; categorical (nominal and ordinal) and continuous sampling and the concepts of whole population and sample-based research (I may have got some of the terminology wrong there).<br />
The good news is that, although we are doing some maths at the start (exploring Normal Distribution Curves), we don't have to memorise it all. The bad news is that we have to learn a new program - SPSS - which will help us find the answer to everything.<br />
There are some problems in getting hold of the readings for this module. The text book on SPSS (<i>Discovering Statistics using SPSS</i>) is reference only and can't leave the library. We've been told to read chapters 1 to 4, but I haven't had time to spend in the library. I can photocopy one chapter to take away and have a whopping £26 on my photocopy credit - but my card has been locked out of the system! Also need to read chapters 1-7 of Diamond and Jefferies' <i>Beginning Statistics: an Introduction for Social Scientists</i>. Fortunately one of the readings (<i>Quantitative Data Analysis in Education</i>) is available online.<br />
I'm also reading up on some old school research methods as described in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin_Mayer" target="_blank">Martin Mayers'</a> 1958 publication: <i>Madison Avenue U.S.A.</i>. The book gives a very thorough account of the problems of selecting true samples, and of getting truthful responses from interviewees.<br />
<br />
<h4>
Computational Thinking </h4>
This module is run by Les Carr and Hugh Davis, and the early message is that they hope to stimulate our interest by teaching basic computer architecture, and through introducing us to Python programming using Raspberry Pi's. The assessed components are two group projects ( a presentation and a 6th Form teaching activity), and a blog-style article<br />
This module, along with the rest of the Electronics and Computer Science (ECS) modules is not supported by Blackboard - but by the ECS's own intranet.<br />
On Friday Hugh took us through 'computers 101' - on which we will not be assessed. He covered lots of useful stuff: transistors, logic gates, bit comparators, 1 bit algebraic logic units and memory.<br />
One of the readings for this module is Broadshears' <i><a href="http://en.tjcities.com/wp-content/uploads/Books/CS11.pdf" target="_blank">Computer Science Overview</a></i>, which is available online in pdf format (yay!).<br />
At the moment I'm considering using <a href="http://jiscdesignstudio.pbworks.com/w/page/33027381/OULDI%20-%20CompeniumLD" target="_blank">Compenium L D</a> as a tool for designing the learning activity.<br />
<br />
<h4>
Independent Interdisciplinary Review</h4>
The title is self explanatory. In this module I am required to study two disciplines that I have no previous experience of but which are relevant to my interests, and produce a 12 page report with accompanying poster that demonstrates my understanding of the primary concepts underlying both disciplines (the ontologies, basic theories and methodologies) and draw them together to tackle a problem. The idea is to use this exercise to "pilot interdisciplinary engagement".<br />
Starting with a description of the question (e.g. "How might corporations be encouraged to open their data?"), I will explain why I have chosen the two disciplines (e.g. Anthropology and Economics), describe each discipline and how they might approach the problem and conclude with a suggestion of how the two approaches could be brought together.<br />
I need to decide what my approach is by week 3, and a weekly blog outlining my study of each discipline is also required.<br />
<br />
<h4>
Hypertext and Web Text for Masters </h4>
This is the biggest class (about 120 students) containing some undergrads. Les undertook a straw poll on online usage, only 3 owned up blogging regularly, and 4 to uploading videos to YouTube.<br />
I learned that:<br />
<br />
<ul>
<li>The host address 86.2.3.1 is better known under its Domain Name System (DNS) name: www.google.com.</li>
<li>The meaning of status codes (e.g. 200 = OK)</li>
<li>Uniform Resource Identifiers (URIs) should be persistent.</li>
<li>There are <a href="http://www.w3.org/DesignIssues/LinkedData.html" target="_blank">5 stars of linked data</a>.</li>
<li>Web architecture is made up of 3 key parts: identification, interaction, and formats.</li>
<li>Les sang us a song about this, to the tune of <i>Mary, Mary, Quite Contrary</i>...</li>
</ul>
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
TimBL, TimBL, very nimble,<br />
How does your linked Web grow?<br />
With URLs and HTMLs,<br />
And GET and POSTS all in a row.</blockquote>
Nice.<br />
<br />
<a name="fws"><h4>
Foundations of Web Science </h4></a>
This is about the social impact of the web. In the first two classes we looked at the how we use the web, looked at categories of behaviour and interconnectedness (including an exploration of the <a href="http://www.openzoom.org/webtrendmap/" target="_blank">World Trend Map</a>).<br />
<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPBYtR5if8n1MGcRqC7aKCZcuIZ4kLJ_3UPB1NoHWZiCCqCN6CXIAWVxUW6pGewSSaWVaqi_FWNWYClhEYa7qIArUpkX5NG4TLe2TvXUifmeagJH30DrpXeJCkdHC_IKwpEv0k-prBgc1d/s1600/History+Visualiser2.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="272" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPBYtR5if8n1MGcRqC7aKCZcuIZ4kLJ_3UPB1NoHWZiCCqCN6CXIAWVxUW6pGewSSaWVaqi_FWNWYClhEYa7qIArUpkX5NG4TLe2TvXUifmeagJH30DrpXeJCkdHC_IKwpEv0k-prBgc1d/s640/History+Visualiser2.png" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">3 months personal browsing (produced by <a href="http://users.ecs.soton.ac.uk/rcg1v07/historyvis/public_html/" target="_blank">ECS History Visualiser</a>)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
In the last class on Friday Les asked us to consider what sites we visit a lot, what we value, and what is significant, and to use the History Visualiser to present out browsing activity over the previous 7 days. Grabbing browsing history in Chrome isn't straightforward and requires a third party application - <a href="http://www.nirsoft.net/utils/chrome_history_view.html" target="_blank">Chrome History View</a> - to export a list that's usable in History Visualiser.<br />
Unsurprisingly my visualisation shows a lot of activity on Google (I use Drive and search a lot), Facebook (I have two channels and use it to communicate with family, friends - and my new WS buddies), YouTube (I post a lot of videos), and the University site.<br />
What I value is the ability to find out things very quickly, and test validity through 'informal triangulation'. For example, on Friday I received a message from client with a problem DVD who needed a quick response from me. Using Google search, I was able to find other people who had the same problem, gauge the issues' importance and check - and double check - the solution, before getting back to my client within 30 minutes. This would not have been impossible without the web.<br />
There's quite a large reading list for this module, but I've started with a book from my collection: Ed Krol's 1992 ground-breaking, <i>The Whole Internet User's Guide and Catalog</i>. This book was published on the cusp of the development of the Web as we know it today, it does not mention HTTP or HTML, and refers to the Web as "the newest arrival from the Internet's toolshop" and "probably the most flexible tool for prowling around the Internet".<br />
While this has much arcane interest, the chapters on the development of the Internet, ownership and management are fascinating.<br />
The central argument presented in this module is that the Webs' success is based firmly on academic freedom and the willingness of the academics involved in the project to freely share their ideas. While this is undoubtedly true, my interest in finding ways to enhance sharing on the Web tells me that this altruistic motivation is not universally shared by all of academia.<br />
My thesis is that the central motivations for the Web's development stem from a particularly American attitude to the rights of government, a belief in the efficacy of free trade, and a freedom of capital which encouraged venture investors to give early support to current Web mainstays. The prevalent attitude to government in the US is one of "we've paid for it - we own it", which leads to the Federal government sharing data and artefacts that have been created through the application of taxpayers money. This is not a universally shared attitude - on the photo sharing site Flickr, compare <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/rdecom/" target="_blank">US military's</a> sharing of images with the British <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/defenceimages/" target="_blank">MOD</a>, or the <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/library_of_congress/" target="_blank">Library of Congress'</a> attitude to its collections with the UK's <a href="http://www.flickr.com/people/nationalarchives/" target="_blank">National Archive</a>. The position to government ownership exemplified by <a href="http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/information-management/our-services/crown-copyright.htm" target="_blank">Crown Copyright</a> in the UK does not exist in the US, and the attitude that sees a large amount of Federal government stuff "go back to the people" was I believe vital to the early stages of the Web's development. Although proposed and developed by Tim Berners-Lee, a Brit working on a European science project (<a href="http://first-website.web.cern.ch/blog/first-url-active-once-more" target="_blank">CERN</a>), the Web as we know it today could not have existed without this very American liberal mindset.<br />
I admit that I may have overstated my case here, but I'll see if it takes me somewhere useful over the next few weeks.<br />
<br />
<h4>
Digital Literacy Student Champions:</h4>
I've registered to run workshops about using online media to support teaching and learning, and have one booking already! To run a Wordpress blogging workshop in two weeks time.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14202310699301582381noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4143505073047959408.post-45901382209929469932013-09-27T10:32:00.003-07:002013-10-04T11:53:08.255-07:00MSc Web Science: Week 0<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhZBfcNNe2FeE73BqhqAy4PECe4kFX50CS0eEETnK7IEWfyWtW5tkC6_kGDkV3n7A3mLT5HPZOJauG2zfwmbN6JD6uetjddD7OQosvLMDr9w9bfIvnOKtCvV-E1qvvgZ9wNdL8cFw4bbjU/s1600/FacultyWelcome.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="206" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhZBfcNNe2FeE73BqhqAy4PECe4kFX50CS0eEETnK7IEWfyWtW5tkC6_kGDkV3n7A3mLT5HPZOJauG2zfwmbN6JD6uetjddD7OQosvLMDr9w9bfIvnOKtCvV-E1qvvgZ9wNdL8cFw4bbjU/s400/FacultyWelcome.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">FPSE Faculty Welcome 2013/Tim O'Riordan ©2013/<a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/uk/" target="_blank">CC BY 2.0 UK</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<h4>
Monday, 23 September</h4>
Faculty Welcome<br />
<ul>
<li>Electronics and Computer Science (Prof Neil White - Head of ECS) - "we're research-focused"</li>
<li>The Optical Research Centre (Prof Rob Eason - Deputy Head of ORC) - "we're dedicated to Photonics", "there's going to be an Internet 'capacity crunch' in 2020"</li>
<li>Jumpstart 2013 (Joyce Lewis) - "I will contact you by email"</li>
<li>Health and Safety (Mike Bartlett) - "the Mountbatten Building burned down in 2005 - and they're still talking about it"</li>
<li>Jumpstart Challenge (Trishia Poplawska) - "an opportunity to get to know each other"</li>
</ul>
<br />
<h4>
Tuesday, 24 September</h4>
MSc Welcome
<br />
<ul>
<li>Prof Kees De Groot, Prog Director</li>
<li>Practice past exams (available on sussed)</li>
<li>Use mentors.</li>
</ul>
<br />
<ul>
<li>Andy 'Biscuits' Newton</li>
<li>STACS (Student Teaching & Computing Support)</li>
<li>x24494 59/3207</li>
<li>Free software/hardware loans</li>
<li>Help with coursework, programming help, coding support, projects</li>
<li>They want to be given complicated programming questions</li>
<li>Free virtual machines for projects</li>
<li>"Learn Linux"</li>
<li>See: https://secure.ecs.soton.ac.uk</li>
</ul>
<br />
<ul>
<li>Academic Integrity</li>
<li>Mark Zwolinski, Deputy Head ECS Education</li>
<li>2 students were ejected for plagiarism in 2012/13</li>
<li>See: www.academicintegrity.soton.ac.uk</li>
</ul>
<br />
<ul>
<li>Faculty student office team</li>
<li>B59 reception.</li>
<li>fpse-student@soton.ac.uk, X22909</li>
</ul>
<br />
<ul>
<li>Eric Cooke, ECS Senior Tutors</li>
<li>email stutor (ask at zepler reception)</li>
<li>12 modules, 6 per semester = 120 credits</li>
<li>pass mark 40%, must average 50% to progress to dissertation</li>
</ul>
<br />
<ul>
<li>Fiona Nichols, Library</li>
<li>see: library.soton.ac.uk</li>
<li>subject guide>ecs>info skills>taught msc> </li>
<li>10 October - searching for pg’s</li>
<li>ECS books are on level 3 Hartley</li>
<li>Delphis - single search incls. journal articles</li>
</ul>
<br />
MSc Web Science Welcome
<br />
<ul>
<li>Met: <a href="http://www.ecs.soton.ac.uk/people/sc2" target="_blank">Dr Sepi Chakaveh</a> (ex <a href="http://www.fraunhofer.de/en.htm" target="_blank">Fraunhofer Society</a> - "reading data files changes the arrangement of bits in the file") and <a href="http://dtc.webscience.ecs.soton.ac.uk/people-and-partners/list-of-students/manuel-leon-urrutia/" target="_blank">Manuel León</a>, a researcher who is starting first year of PhD exploring the use and reception of MOOCs by academics.</li>
<li>Ice breaker:<br />Circle - toss ball of string around and give name, subject and 'fun fact' about yourself (my fun fact: I have no 'fun facts' - then immediately thought of several).</li>
<li>Team building:<br />- Support a tennis ball as close to the ceiling as possible using items measuring no more than 30cms.<br />- What extra curricula activities can WS do?<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiV_XbcZYOwa3Ud6DFl8Dnc4xTvOCO2BFzhLnXja5T4HiPXInMCzbNlD8Ur7CcfXcAdlPmy5fZjnUXAM1Ck1RiJmcGB6PMTlWBx8hSe1WGWvRg9JSpq8UWToiWpo4dVquQGZJZ-bLRhjsiq/s1600/BrainStormMSC.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="229" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiV_XbcZYOwa3Ud6DFl8Dnc4xTvOCO2BFzhLnXja5T4HiPXInMCzbNlD8Ur7CcfXcAdlPmy5fZjnUXAM1Ck1RiJmcGB6PMTlWBx8hSe1WGWvRg9JSpq8UWToiWpo4dVquQGZJZ-bLRhjsiq/s320/BrainStormMSC.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Team 4 ideas</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
</li>
<li>Les Carr: Don't have to attend all lectures (these will be pointed out); Claire Wyatt is the fount of all knowledge; "Conferences are work - not 'holidays'"</li>
<li>Not all WS MSc's are on Facebook</li>
</ul>
<br />
<h4>
Thursday, 26 September</h4>
Registration<br />
<br />
Introduction to Digital Literacies Champions<br />
<ul>
<li>Lisa Harris</li>
<li>Voluntary but some paid project work</li>
<li>Curation of archive for uni events</li>
<li>Media creation competition - winner goes to <a href="http://www.wan-ifra.org/events/digital-media-europe-2014" target="_blank">Digital Media Europe 2014</a></li>
<li>'Literacies’ viewed from marketing/business perspective. Reputation?</li>
<li>It should be more about reputation building - so use rss feeds, google scholar updates, scoop.it, twitter, facebook, linkedin, wordpress blog (week notes), google apps (video not.es, rss, screen capture). Think of it as building a portfolio...</li>
<li>Mozilla is collaborating with the world to develop an open badge ecosystem that makes it possible to recognize skills, literacies, and interests across the web. </li>
<li>Looking for project ideas that DCs can help with.</li>
<li>Volunteers to revamp website.</li>
<li>Meeting: 30 September. Practicalities of being a DC - with Fiona Harvey.</li>
<li>Workshop: 2 October. Use phones to create video - with Simon Morice.</li>
<li><a href="http://digitaleconomy.soton.ac.uk/events/creative-digifest-sxsc3-featuring-dragons-den" target="_blank">Creative Digifest</a>: 19 November at Grand Harbour Hotel</li>
</ul>
<br />
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14202310699301582381noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4143505073047959408.post-40277024415016445032013-09-21T13:41:00.000-07:002013-09-21T13:41:45.222-07:00Vint Cerf: "What's happening on the Internet?"<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">A few weeks ago I attended the launch of the <a href="http://www.fpse.soton.ac.uk/research/the_zepler_institute">Zepler Institute</a> at the University of Southampton, where Google Vice President and Internet Evangelist, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vint_Cerf">Vint Cerf</a> gave a talk on his contribution to, and the future of the 'net. I had my trusty little <a href="http://www.wired.com/reviews/2009/08/pr_kodak_zi8/">Kodak Zi8</a> camera with me and recorded his presentation from my seat near the front of the lecture theatre.
I've uploaded the first 10 minutes of the video in two parts. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">In the first part Cerf talks about his initial experiments with <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arpanet">ARPANET</a> with his colleague, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bob_Kahn">Bob Kahn</a> and the team at Stanford University in the early 70s - including sending video and audio over the network.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/En_Nbo65lEw?rel=0" width="420"></iframe></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">In part 2, Cerf talks about Internet connectivity, the significance of mobile devices, and current developments of the 'net - including security, scale and the 'smart grid'.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/ONlsBybi3Qg?rel=0" width="420"></iframe><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Please let me know if you would like to see some more of this talk.</span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14202310699301582381noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4143505073047959408.post-22679029449911475792013-09-20T04:18:00.001-07:002013-09-20T04:23:31.840-07:00A workflow to evaluate online tools for learning<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1o9xCbxXVmI9jOkni_DaC8lKU7a7ng53M8RA0k2potWVgwzS2Vxoal8poQTLh6RbhaxtXnTnU17ur4fk0MLPxZIQ8tBdAXoFU0qeaWqlv0-NfwzvX0tR0t5ASKUX4TNO2NZN6a5Ok9L72/s1600/Web2Tools.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="160" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1o9xCbxXVmI9jOkni_DaC8lKU7a7ng53M8RA0k2potWVgwzS2Vxoal8poQTLh6RbhaxtXnTnU17ur4fk0MLPxZIQ8tBdAXoFU0qeaWqlv0-NfwzvX0tR0t5ASKUX4TNO2NZN6a5Ok9L72/s1600/Web2Tools.jpg" width="400" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/10582760@N08/2439408911/in/photolist-4HyBhk-4HyK2P-4HyNpc-4HyQnv-4Hz4TB-4Hz9Rp-4HzcNT-4Hzdbz-4HCXxd-4HCYEA-4HCZi1-4HD3iA-4HD5D1-4HD6Hf-4HD71A-4HD7hs-4HDnxh-4HDomC-4HDp4f-4HRwdD-4HRwFR-4HRy5V-4HRyfR-4HRyPt-4HRz1a-4HRzRa-4HRANt-4HRBYp-4HRCgF-4HRCL2-4HRDkP-4HRDVg-4HRE8g-4HREgx-4HREEt-4HREWk-4HVKLE-4HVKUA-4HVLfo-4HVLTy-4HVM3j-4HVMbd-4HVMnJ-4HVMLj-4HVPoL-4HVPyw-4HVPW1-4HVQ73-4HVQhN-4HVQV1-4HVR4Y" target="_blank">Web 2.0 Expo Hall</a>/TopRank Online Marketing © 2008/<a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/deed.en" target="_blank">CC-BY 2.0</a></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Web-based technologies are changing the way we live, work and learn at an unprecedented rate and in many unpredictable ways. YouTube, Facebook, Scoop.it, Pinterest and many other tools, all seem to hold out quick, easy and inexpensive solutions – solutions that don’t appear to require an army of IT specialists to support, and which promise much in the way of improved and relevant interactions.<br />
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">As an individual, trying out a new online tool is reasonably straightforward, but, as educators, </span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">what </span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">should we be looking for? How should we start to evaluate these tools to see if they will work for us and our students? There are very many permutations to look at here. We all have our own approaches to teaching, and there are some areas of technology we may feel happier with than others. I think it’s fair to say that we are, each of us, unique in our approach to teaching and learning - and how we use these tools will reflect that uniqueness. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">However there are some key principles we can apply to evaluation that can help us begin to choose what’s best for us and our students, and in this blog post I propose a workflow as a guide to how we can go about this. </span><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I suggest that there are two key questions we need to ask ourselves when exploring a platform or tool for use in teaching and learning. First and foremost is “Will it work?” – for our institution, ourselves as educators and our learners - and secondly within what learning context can we place this tool? I suggest three main considerations:</span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"> </span><br />
<ol><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">
<li><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">A technical test – including a pragmatic and a usability review</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">A pedagogy test – based on Chickering and Gamson’s '7 Principles of Good Practice'.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">A learning design review – based on a modified Dial-e framework.</span></li>
</span></ol>
The technical test has two aspects - a usability review (which looks at how well the interface works), and a pragmatic review.
<br />
<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<h3>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Pragmatic review</span></h3>
</div>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">
The pragmatic review includes consideration of 5 interrelated areas:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br />
1. Does the service work equally well in the different browsers and mobile devices that you and your students use? <br />This is important as we want the opportunities for learning to be available in a timely manner and this means supporting the variety of devices that we and our students use on a daily basis.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br />
</span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">2. Are the outputs re-usable? This includes the ability to download videos, slideshows, essays, notes and other outputs – so that they can be used in other environments.<br />
</span>
<ul><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">
<li>Can the data that you and your students upload to a platform be downloaded for storage on your own servers? </li>
<li>What the implications are for using an online tool for assessment and students records (e.g. the <a href="http://www.hear.ac.uk/" target="_blank">Higher Education Achievement Report</a> or the <a href="http://www.theia.org.uk/ilr/" target="_blank">Individualised Learner Record</a> in Further Education)?</li>
</span></ul>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">
3. Many online tools can accommodate different ways of learning – for example using video to record achievement instead of or in addition to reflective writing. However not all tools allow access to learners with disabilities. So you should consider:<br />
</span>
<ul><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">
<li>Can you use it with a screen reader? </li>
<li>Can you easily add closed captions or transcripts to audio and video?</li>
</span></span></ul>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">
Consult your institutions' Disability Support Team or contact the experts at <a href="http://www.jisctechdis.ac.uk/" target="_blank">JISC TechDis </a>when considering new tools to support learning.</span><br /><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">4. How reliable is the service, including:</span><br />
</span>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Robustness of the service. Does the tool have a record of going off line? There have been instances of cloud services losing data – something that could be disastrous if you’re at the end of a module and have no fallback position.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Some free third party services have also been known to change to costly subscription services with little notice to users .</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Many tools are in a continual state of development and may change the way they work to a lesser or greater degree without notice. When running a busy module, this type of change will add to your and your learners work, and could have a demoralising effect.</span></li>
</ul>
</div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0.1pt; margin-top: 0.1pt;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">5. What are the terms of service?</span><br />
<ul><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">
<li><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">You and your institution need to be aware of your obligations under data protection legislation.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">You need to make your learners aware of the implications of sharing private data online and the risks associated with it. </span></li>
</span></ul>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">This is an important area that is best dealt with by experts. I recommend <a href="http://www.jisclegal.ac.uk/ManageContent/ViewDetail/ID/2114/Facing-up-to-Facebook-A-Guide-for-FE-and-HE-02-August-2011.aspx" target="_blank">JISC Legal’s advice</a> on this.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">
</span>
<br />
<h3>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Usability review</span></span></h3>
</div>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Alongside these 'pragmatic' considerations it’s important to look at how the tool actually works in practice. Although learning how to use online tools is important for developing digital literacy – some tools are easier to use than others and, when confronted with a new interface it’s worth spending some time exploring how easy it is to use.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">The key questions you need to ask are: </span>
</span><br />
<ul><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">
<li><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Does the interface support all the tasks expected by the user?
That’s in terms of help and support documentation, as well as the underlying functionality.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 1;">Are there conflicts in the functionality of interface?
Although most tool developers engage in beta testing, not all wrinkles are necessarily ironed out before a tool goes live. You should robustly test the tool to ensure that it does what you want it to do.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 1;">Does functionality change the nature of the underlying task?
If your students have to spend a significant amount of time learning the interface, are they going to have enough time on task? What can you do to reduce the cognitive load of learning how to use the tool?</span></li>
</span></ul>
<h3>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 1;">Pedagogy test</span></span></h3>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I think Chickering and Gamson’s '7 Principles of Good Practice in Undergraduate Education' provide a sound basis for evaluating the usefulness of a tool to support teaching and learning. The principles highlight the importance of:</span>
</span><br />
<ul><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">
<li><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 1;">Good communication channels between learners, and between learners and staff</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 1;">Opportunities for cooperation among students. </span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 1;">Time on task - ensuring that technology is employed to focus on tasks not on wrangling difficult and poorly designed tools. </span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 1;">Supporting diverse methods and means of learning. Online tools present opportunities to use digital media, video, images, sound, mapping and reflective activities that can enable a more diverse and richer approach to learning than has hitherto been possible</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 1;">Setting high expectations. The facility of online tools and web 2.0 technologies to readily share practice and reflection has the potential to improve learners' performance. The web affords access the best the world has to offer online and this can be used as a springboard for learning. But it’s equally true that digital technologies can be used for superficial activities that undermine academic standards. In Rethinking University Education, Diane Laurillard warns that:
<blockquote>
“...new technology easily supports a fragmented, informational view of knowledge…and is in danger of promulgating only that.” (Laurillard, 2002, p227).</blockquote>
We need to ensure that the elements that distinguish academic learning (the ability to analyse, evaluate, articulate and represent experience effectively) are made explicit when designing and delivering programmes of learning that incorporate these tools.</span></li>
</span></ul>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">While evaluating an online tool to ensure that it will work the way you want (and demonstrate a real benefit to your learners) you may also assess what type of learning can take place and explore approaches to learning design.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br /></span></span>
<h3>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 1;">Learning Design</span></span></h3>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">In this area I would like put forward the <a href="http://dial-e.net/" target="_blank">Dial-e Framework</a> as a good starting point for modeling your approach. This framework was developed by Simon Atkinson and Kevin Burden to support the use of digitized archive films held by the Newsfilm Online collection – now part of <a href="http://jiscmediahub.ac.uk/" target="_blank">JISC MediaHub</a>. They identified 10 discrete learning designs, which I have simplified to 4 main categories:</span></span><br />
<div>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Stimulus
<br />The use of tools and content to stimulate interest and engagement – something that quickly engages learners to consider a new concept or approach.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Investigation
<br />Which would typically involve using digital technology to research, understand and apply processes or concepts – for example watching and engaging with an online ‘how-to’ video.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Analysis
<br />Exploring textual qualities in, for example, film or media studies, where learners analyse editing, framing, lighting, sound design etc - as well as alternative perspectives, where tools and content are used to understand and empathise with others.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Creation
<br />Which involves the evaluation and application of tools, content and methods to create a project – either using original content or from re-usable sources or both.</span></li>
</ul>
</div>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">New technologies call for new approaches to pedagogy – and I think that this modified approach to the Dial-e framework provides a good starting point for considering the uses to which we can put both digital tools and content.</span></span><br /><br />
<h3>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">What's your approach?</span></span></h3>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">In this post I've attempted to provide a workflow which I hope you will find useful. This is important and evolving subject and I am very interested to hear how you approach evaluation. </span></span><br />
<ol><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">
</span></ol>
<h3>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">References:</span></h3>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Diana Laurillard (2002). Rethinking University Teaching: a conversational framework for the effective use of learning technologies, 2nd edition. Routledge, London.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"></span></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Arthur W. Chickering and Zelda F. Gamson (1987). Seven principles for good practice in undergraduate education. In <i>American Association of Higher Education Bulletin</i> vol.39 no.7 pp.3-7</span></span></div>
<br />
<h3>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Further reading:</span></h3>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><a href="http://c4lpt.co.uk/social-learning-handbook/" target="_blank">The Centre for Learning and Performance Teachnologies: The Social Learning Handbook</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.edudemic.com/facebook-guidelines-for-educators/" target="_blank">Edudemic: Facebook Guidelines for Educators</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.jisclegal.ac.uk/ManageContent/ViewDetail/ID/2115/Facing-up-to-Facebook-A-Guide-for-FE-and-HE-HTML.aspx" target="_blank">JISC Legal: Facing up to Facebook</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><a href="http://tosdr.org/" target="_blank">Terms of Service; Didn't Read</a> - A user rights initiative to rate and label website terms & privacy policies, from very good Class A to very bad Class E.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><a href="http://seek.cloud.gsic.tel.uva.es/weshare/" target="_blank">We-Share</a> - an infrastructure that collects descriptions of ICT tools available at the Web of Data and adapts them to be used for educational purposes.</span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14202310699301582381noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4143505073047959408.post-61923822280733732942013-09-10T02:07:00.003-07:002013-09-10T02:12:28.020-07:00Why am I doing Web Science?<div class="tr_bq" dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiy7ULp3Zzpe8cViYy-7BaQ_zEFMUB_7S_arsqUZJI1q_S3EWrvB0fvNgHu-HbF_BCHPDihIYcFQygSIj0EszaGcQl7XCzjd2bJZ_cNdSopfMmOd6YB9Ai8Qv8jwkd4jdetNMjHW88hGOX/s1600/Day1_079Diverse2012.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="157" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiy7ULp3Zzpe8cViYy-7BaQ_zEFMUB_7S_arsqUZJI1q_S3EWrvB0fvNgHu-HbF_BCHPDihIYcFQygSIj0EszaGcQl7XCzjd2bJZ_cNdSopfMmOd6YB9Ai8Qv8jwkd4jdetNMjHW88hGOX/s320/Day1_079Diverse2012.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/diverse2012/7629626500/" target="_blank">Day 1 - 079</a>/DIVERSE2012 ©2012/All rights reserved (permission granted)</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; line-height: 1.5; white-space: pre-wrap;">Last week I posted the "What is Web Science?" statement I submitted as part of my application to join the IPhD Web Science course at the University of Southampton. Along with this statement I was asked to provide a statement about my specific research interests - to indicate why I wanted to do Web Science.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; line-height: 1.5; white-space: pre-wrap;">My interests are primarily in finding ways to make it easier for teachers and learners to find useful video on the web to support their teaching and learning. This came about through 3 main influences: my experience of running a documentary film production module for Film Studies at the University of Southampton, the research I carried out for my Masters, and meeting researchers at the DIVERSE 2011 Conference in Dublin. Essentially, not only did I find it difficult to discover useful content to share with my students, I also found out (through carrying out a case study) that learners had similar discovery issues, and that actually it appeared to be a universal problem.</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; line-height: 1.5; white-space: pre-wrap;">This eventually led to my developing a prototype web platform (<a href="http://www.edmediashare.org/">www.edmediashare.org</a>) to try out a means of enabling teachers and learners to share the web-based video they found useful. Running this project gave me some insight into the issues around knowledge sharing and developing communities of practice, and has led to my interest in pursuing studies in Web Science.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; line-height: 1.5; white-space: pre-wrap;">Which brings us back to the research proposal I provided to support my application to join the Web Science IPhD course. This is what I said:</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; line-height: 22px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>The Evaluation of Knowledge Sharing Practices to Enhance Web-based Video Learning Resource Discovery</b></span></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 22px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Web-based video is a valuable resource in supporting teaching, learning and research. However, due to the large and growing amount of video available on the Web, searching for and finding useful content is extremely difficult and is restraining the use of these resources. The following aspects have crucial roles in aiding the discovery of relevant and useful content.</span> </span></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 22px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>Metadata:</b></span> </span></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 22px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Initiatives led by the Learning Resource Metadata Initiative (LRMI, 2013) and Schema.org (Schema.org, 2013) to extend metadata vocabularies that include educational terms are aimed at facilitating the discovery of learning resources via search engines and other services. Specifically, a newly adopted vocabulary includes the opportunity to align resources with an 'established educational framework'. This is a critical development that has the potential to significantly improve discovery by allowing users to refine searches based on how they intend to use the resource in teaching and learning. However, despite initiatives to develop frameworks that elucidate the pedagogical use web-based video (e.g. Burden and Atkinson, 2008 and Young and Moos, 2012), an ‘established’ means of describing this activity has yet to emerge.</span> </span></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; line-height: 22px; white-space: pre-wrap;">A more user-focussed approach may provide a better means of describing the pedagogic use of web-based video. Studies show that taxonomies developed from the collection, analysis and evaluation of vocabularies used in the social annotation of learning resources (referred to as ‘folksonomies’) have been shown to have the potential to improve resource discovery (Pirmann, 2012). </span></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 22px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>Knowledge sharing:</b></span> </span></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 22px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Although extremely useful in providing the means to facilitate the discovery of relevant digital content, creating useful metadata requires community involvement on a large scale in order to have a significant impact on improving learning resource discovery. In this context, the engagement of the academic community in using, rating, recommending, commenting on, and tagging relevant digital content is vital.</span> </span></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 22px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Studies of Web-based knowledge sharing within the academic community are rare (Ismail and Ashmiza, 2012), but those that have explored this area find that knowledge sharing is intrinsic within this group (Fullwood, Rowley, Delbridge, 2013) and that altruism, identification, and reciprocity have a significant and positive effect on knowledge sharing (Chang and Chuang, 2011), all of which present opportunities for motivating engagement. However, initiatives that attempt to build online communities to encourage educators to share their knowledge have not achieved the widespread adoption that would ensure long-term usefulness, and this is hindering the potential of the Web to effectively support learning, teaching and research.</span> </span></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 22px; white-space: pre-wrap;">My thesis is that online knowledge sharing practice related to the use of web-based video in academia is poorly understood. Because this engagement is crucial to the improvement of learning resource discovery, finding out what works in this area is vital to the future development of the Web for the benefit of education. Developing taxonomies that facilitate effective web-based learning resource discovery are dependent on the motivation of educational practitioners to share their knowledge and contribute to the trustworthiness and reliability of these resources. Further research in these areas can aid the development of effective and appropriate measures to enhance learning resource discovery.</span> </span></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 22px; white-space: pre-wrap;">The aim of this project is to design and implement a research strategy to find out the barriers and enablers that influence academics when engaging with online knowledge sharing communities, and to explore and evaluate the usefulness of emerging folksonomies in facilitating the discovery of web-based video learning resources.</span><span style="line-height: 22px; white-space: pre-wrap;">I anticipate spending part of the taught stage of the IPhD programme in exploring the potential for combining qualitative and quantitative research methodologies in this study. One area I am particularly interested in exploring is the use of paradata collection and other ‘data mining’ tools as a means of gaining insight into behaviour in online knowledge sharing environments.</span> </span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 22px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>References:</b></span> </span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 22px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Burden, K, and Atkinson, S (2008). Beyond Content: Developing Transferable Learning Designs with Digital Video Archives. University of Hull, UK. [pdf] Available at: http://www.sijen.com/reproduce/resource/beyond_content.pdf [Accessed 22 May 2013].</span> </span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 22px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Chang, H and Chuang, S (2011). Social capital and individual motivations on knowledge sharing: Participant involvement as a moderator. Information & Management, 48 (1), pp 9–18. [Online] Available at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.im.2010.11.001 [Accessed 22 May 2013].</span> </span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 22px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Fullwood, R, Rowley, J, and Delbridge, R (2013). Knowledge sharing amongst academics in UK universities. Journal of Knowledge Management, 17 (1), pp.123 – 136. [Online] Available at: 10.1108/13673271311300831 [Accessed 22 May 2013].</span> </span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 22px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Ismail, M and Ashmiza, N (2012) Key determinants of research-knowledge sharing in UK higher education institutions. PhD thesis, University of Portsmouth. [Online] Available at: http://eprints.port.ac.uk/8492/ [Accessed 20 May 2013].</span> </span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 22px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Learning Resource Metadata Initiative (2013). The Specification. [Online] Available at: http://www.lrmi.net/the-specification [Accessed 22 May 2013].</span> </span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 22px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Pirmann, C (2012). Tags in the Catalogue: Insights From a Usability Study of LibraryThing for Libraries. Library Trends 61(1), 234-247. The Johns Hopkins University Press.[Online] Available at: http://muse.jhu.edu/journals/library_trends/v061/61.1.pirmann.html [Accessed 20 May 2013].</span> </span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 22px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Schema.org (2013). Thing > Intangible > Alignment Object. [Online] Available at: http://schema.org/AlignmentObject [Accessed 22 May 2013].</span> </span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 22px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Young, C and Moes, S (2012). How to move beyond lecture capture: Pedagogy guide (Draft), Rec:all Partnership, University College London. [pdf] Available at: http://www.rec-all.info/profiles/blogs/rec-all-guides-draft-versions-ready-for-review [Accessed 22 May 2013].</span> </span></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">This is what I hope to work on over the next 4 years. It will evolve as I find out more about the subject, and gain a more thorough grounding in Web Science. I'll keep you posted...</span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14202310699301582381noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4143505073047959408.post-1808155860409479872013-09-02T11:42:00.001-07:002013-09-02T11:42:29.320-07:00What is Web Science?<div class="tr_bq">
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBn_UZdmuB_A1u16NdSVMPCdWAMAzL6yIWOCiV-1fvI3RJEHh3PosDX3rUVDGCXGyACSgDe2XSGdUdz52BSyzadGVyqH2C1gl0AU2BPahi2zkIf3Qb4H-ywBBBI16tdzZWEGn7ZpdV2Ef7/s1600/WWW_JMTosses.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBn_UZdmuB_A1u16NdSVMPCdWAMAzL6yIWOCiV-1fvI3RJEHh3PosDX3rUVDGCXGyACSgDe2XSGdUdz52BSyzadGVyqH2C1gl0AU2BPahi2zkIf3Qb4H-ywBBBI16tdzZWEGn7ZpdV2Ef7/s1600/WWW_JMTosses.jpg" title="Entrance to the Web, J M Tosses" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://flic.kr/p/6RdShg" target="_blank">"Entrance to the Web"</a>/© J M Tosses/<a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/2.0/deed.en" target="_blank">CC BY-NC 2.0</a></td></tr>
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I have recently enrolled on the 4 year Web Science <a href="http://dtc.webscience.ecs.soton.ac.uk/the-course/" target="_blank">integrated doctoral programme</a> at the University of Southampton. "What is Web Science?" you may well be thinking. As part of the application process I had to answer that question. This is what I said:</div>
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The interlinking of documents and data via the Internet facilitated by the World Wide Web has ushered in a new age of global communications. The reach of the Web, its sophistication and rate of adoption is unprecedented. It has enabled new ways of sharing ideas and working, and is rapidly transforming society in many, often unexpected, ways. Some of these changes are generally desirable (e.g. improved methods of academic collaboration), while others offer challenges (e.g. new opportunities for criminal activity) which may threaten the beneficial evolution of the Web.
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The success of the Web so far has been brought about by the interaction between Web technologies and policies, and the people who have adopted, used and developed them. However, while designing and building applications for the Web is relatively straightforward, our understanding of how people interact with applications, content and the rules that govern their use is poorly understood. In order to ensure that initiatives aimed at enhancing the desirable effects of the Web enjoy some success, it is vital to better understand human behaviour in this environment. It is this understanding, and with it the improved ability to predict the outcomes of Web-centred initiatives, that the study of Web Science aims to achieve. </blockquote>
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This exploration of the web as a co-created entity means that Web Science takes on more than a traditional Computer Science or Information Science approach and expands its reach across the academic disciplines.The need to improve trustworthiness, security and privacy; to enable commerce to continue to thrive, to encourage continued innovation and provide social structures that allow users to work creatively, collaborate, and to participate in solutions, requires the input of researchers from a broad range of subject areas. As the Web grows and becomes increasingly interlinked with society, our understanding of how the Web works and our ability to provide agile solutions is crucial to the development of a Web for the benefit of all.
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The programme starts with a one year MSc course which starts in a few weeks time. My plan is to write a little something about my experiences of the programme once a week over the next 4 years.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14202310699301582381noreply@blogger.com0Southampton, UK50.909700400000013 -1.40435090000005450.82961490000001 -1.565712400000054 50.989785900000015 -1.2429894000000541