[Air-l] May 2002 executive committee report

[Steve Jones]

May 15, 2002
Report of the a(o).i.r. executive committee
Prepared by Steve Jones



AoIR Executive Committee
President: Steve Jones
Vice-President: Nancy Baym
Secretary: Ulla Bunz
Treasurer: Benjamin Bates
Open Seats: David Silver and Barry Wellman
Appointed Seats: Matthew Allen and Leslie Shade
Student Seat: Lisbeth Klastrup
Publications Officers: Jeremy Hunsinger and Charlie Breindahl
2002 Conference Coordinator: Monica Murero
2002 Conference Program Chair: Klaus Bruhn Jensen
Ethics Working Group Chair: Charles Ess


1.  Introduction & General (Jones)

Below is the monthly report from AoIR executive committee members.


2.  Executive Officers' Reports

2.1 President (Jones)

2.1.1 As mentioned in last month's report we have implemented a 
couple of new working groups - one to assist with Internet resources 
via the aoir.org site, and another to evaluate AoIR's election 
procedures. I wish to thank Charlie Breindahl and Nancy Baym for 
agreeing to be executive committee liaisons with those working 
groups, and to thank those members who volunteered to serve on the 
working groups. More opportunities for members to volunteer will 
undoubtedly arise in the future, and I greatly appreciate the 
willingness of people to assist AoIR in its early, formative years.


2.2 Vice President (Baym)

2.2.1 I have been organizing the elections working group for which 
I'll be the executive committee liaison. And I've been participating 
in ongoing discussions, with particular focus on the issue of 
association publication (to do? not to do? what to do? how to do? 
stay tuned for opportunities to give your input).


2.3 Secretary (Bunz)

2.3.1 The listserve project (David Silver, Matt Allen, Ulla Bunz) is almost
completed. After feedback from the exec, Jeremy is now providing technical
support. We anticipate publicizing the final result within the next few
weeks. The list is extensive (more than 80 reviewed entries) and we are
trying to find a compromise between printer friendly, simplistic, yet usable
layout. Also, I am organizing an editors roundtable for Maastricht, and have
actively participated in the discussions of the executive committee list.
I've wanted to say this for a couple of months, so here it goes. Whenever I
write the short summaries (below), I'm amazed at how cut and dry they sound.
I can assure you that your EC has passion, fire, enthusiasm and callused
finger tips from writing (sometimes quite a bit) more than a hundred email
messages each month.

Summary April 12 - May 13, 2002
This month on the executive list:
* Publication of the Internet resource working group charge and the Election
working group charge to air-l; Charlie and Nancy (the liaisons to the
executive committee respectively) have reported back and work will begin
soon.
* Discussion of eprints services, and the pro and cons of a possible AoIR
journal (print, online, or both)
* Decision to accept Routledge's Cyberstudies Catalog discount offer
* Discussion of conference issues, including keynote speakers for
Maastricht, reviewing issues in general, possible formation of a conference
work group, suggestions for the editors roundtable at Maastricht, and long
term planning for future conferences (call for papers for Toronto, call for
host for AoIR 5.0)
* The EC provided feedback on an advanced draft of the listserve project
which will be completed in the upcoming month
* Discussion on whether to publicize AoIR more aggressively and to which
audiences, or not
* The EC provided feedback on the ethics work group's draft


2.4 Treasurer (Bates)

2.4.1 No report (w/o Net access for a short time).


2.5 Open Seats (Silver, Wellman)

2.5.1 Silver: As Ulla noted (see above), Matt, Ulla, and myself and 
putting the final
touches on the list project and have benefited greatly from Jeremy's help.
Helped Jeremy organize an AIR reception at the recent Critical
Cyberculture Studies conference at the University of Maryland.  Ideas were
shared, drinks were dranked, and friendships were begun and/or
solidified. Been keeping up with the heavy email activity taking place on the
executive list.

2.5.2 Wellman: Initiated discussion of desirability for reporting 
back of referees'
comments to conference paper submitters, especially, but not exclusively,
rejectees. Initiated discussion about desirability for reaching out to expand
AOIR's active membership, especially at leading research institutions.


2.6 Appointed Seats (Allen, Shade)

2.6.1 Allen: No report.

2.6.2 Shade: Participated in a few conferences:
--seminar on Digital Divide for Canadian Heritage, Ottawa
--panel presentation on Dot Force at Bugs: Globalism and Pluralism,
Montreal
--panel on power and inequality at Globalization and Social Justice,
Chicago
Met with Sj in Chicago, and talked about What I Should Do For AOIR, among
other things



2.7 Student Seat (Klastrup)

2.7.1 On leave.


2.8 Publications Officers (Hunsinger, Breindahl)

2.8.1 Hunsinger: I helped charlie with the lists because we have been 
getting an inordinate amount of attempts to send virus's and spam of 
late.  I am researching a solution to implement soon.
Covered some of the Treasurer job while Ben is away.
Fixed some minor problems on the server.
Updated server software.
Advised Klaus and Monica when they asked for advice.
Helped the List group a bit.
Created/implemented the working group lists.
Created/implemented the members announcement system.
Discussed at length several things on the exec list.
Helped with some membership problems.
Did some things for the Ethics working group.
There are probably other things:)

2.8.2 Breindahl: I have been appointed liaison between the "Internet 
Resources Working Group" and the Executive Committee. Nine volunteers 
have come forward and the working group is now starting its work.
Otherwise I have taken part in most of the discussions of the 
executive committee and tended to our mailing-lists.


2.9 2002 Conference (Monica Murero, Coordinator; Klaus Bruhn Jensen,
Program Chair)

2.9.1 Murero:  The organization of A(o)IR conference is quite 
advanced at this time, and
is progressing well. It was an intense month!
We have now 4 confirmed keynote speakers. Announcements will follow soon.
The conference website has been updated with new information, particularly
about registrations, accommodations, transportations, program and home page.

Registrations are now open and messages will be sent out soon to boost
registrations. Steve and I are working on it at the present time.
The organization of the 2 pre-conference workshops is completed. Klaus and I
have taken care of sending this information online together with an
"appetizer" of the program. I have worked on a frame for the conference
program (time-schedule). Building on previous conferences, time for lunch
(we missed it last year), coffee breaks, and early departures are all taken
into considerations this year.  I have answered a lot of e-mails and
processed requests from unwaged participants. I did some intermediation
between local proposals and AoIR executive committee's vision. I'd like to
address a particular thank to Steve for his constant help and quick
feedbacks.

2.9.2 Jensen: Following notification of submitters for AoIR 3.0, I 
have been working with Monica Murero to adjust the program and 
getting it as well as information on preconference workshops online. 
Confirmations from participants are due June 1; reminders are being 
sent out, and the resulting preliminary program will be put online in 
June.


2.10  AoIR Ethics Working Group (Charles Ess, Chair)

2.10.1 The working group has continued to revise and refine its draft 
statement on
Internet research ethics, in preparation for making it available to the
aoir-list for comment.  We have reviewed additional scholarly resources
(print and web-based), including those suggested by recent discussion on the
aoir-list; these are incorporated in the draft.  We are also considering a
case study submitted by an aoir member, which may be notable for its being
relatively non-problematic in ethical terms!


------------------------------------end of executive committee 
report------------------------------

The Association of Internet Researchers is a scholarly association 
dedicated to the advancement of the cross-disciplinary field of 
Internet studies. It is a resource and support network promoting 
critical and scholarly Internet research independent from traditional 
disciplines and existing across academic borders. The association is 
international in scope.

The association's web site is at http://www.aoir.org. Membership 
information is available at http://aoir.org/airjoin.html