[Air-l] Researching Australian moderation

[Marg Emerton]

Hi,

I am researching Australian experiences of moderating online discussion 
groups as part of an undergraduate honours degree at the University of 
Wollongong, Australia.

I’m interested in how moderators manage their tasks and how they think 
managing discussion has changed as the Internet has become more popular. 
Moderators working in global environments but subject to Australian law 
and cultural expectations may encounter different challenges than their 
peers in other countries. If there are differences, knowing about them 
may be useful to future moderators and members of discussion groups.

I’d like to invite anyone who has moderated an online discussion group 
or mailing list with some connection to Australia to take part in the 
research by participating with other moderators in an online discussion 
forum. You might also be asked to participate in an interview via email.

The research is based on moderators of groups where all involvement is 
voluntary, so some groups, for example: online learning classes and 
workplace communities, are not included. A possible benefit of getting 
involved in the research will be the opportunity to share experiences 
and strategies with the moderators of other groups.

The discussion forum will be open for three weeks, from 21 / 11 /2003 to 
7/ 12 /2003. A new set of questions will be posted each week.

If you would like to find out more about this research, follow this link 
to: http://www.acr.net.au/marg99/Research

If you are not able to participate, but know someone who might be 
interested, I’d be very grateful if you forwarded this email to them. 
Feel free to contact me at: me21 at uow.edu.au if you have any questions 
about this project.

Regards,
Margaret Emerton
University of Wollongong
Australia