[Air-l] Re: CFP - Social Software in the Academy Workshop

[elijah wright]

if anything, "social software" needs to find a better/more descriptive 
name for itself.  generally, it seems to describe a fairly tightly 
constrained/circumscribed subset of the available socia[b]l[e] media.

were i to submit a paper on some aspect of IRC, a *very* sociable (and 
fairly popular) software medium, would it likely be rejected?  it is hard 
to tell from the text of this announcement.

[to some extent i'm trolling/stirring-the-pot, here, danah - but i do 
notice an unusual prevalence of purely *web-based* media among the terms 
used below to describe the workshop.  that's kind of ... unsettling. 
and, i think, something that we should all be thinking / talking about.]


--elijah wright

school of library and information science
indiana university, bloomington


On Fri, 25 Feb 2005, danah boyd wrote:

> Date: Fri, 25 Feb 2005 17:30:24 -0800 (PST)
> From: danah boyd <dmb at sims.berkeley.edu>
> To: citasa at mit.edu
> Subject: [CITASA] CFP - Social Software in the Academy Workshop 
> 
>
> Social Software in the Academy Workshop
> May 13-14, 2005
> Annenberg Center, University of Southern California, Los Angeles
> http://www.annenberg.edu/ssaw/
>
> Call for Participation
> (Submission Deadline: March 31, 2005)
>
> Tools for collaboration and communication have proliferated in academia. 
> Students and professors regularly communicate via email and mailing 
> lists and course materials are commonly made available via the web. 
> Students regularly use instant messaging and cell phones to communicate 
> with each other, enhancing relationships and building support networks 
> for college life. A new wave of tools for communication and 
> collaboration has surfaced under the name 'social software' including 
> tools like weblogs, wikis, del.cio.us, Flickr, tagging, etc. Researchers 
> are exploring how these tools fit into everyday life and how they can be 
> employed in professional contexts.
>
> The goal of the conference is to bring together researchers working in a 
> variety of academic disciplines to understand current and possible uses 
> of social software in the academic context. We invite submissions for 
> papers, panels and demonstrations of relevant research tools.
>
> Possible topics might include:
>
> - The social/learning issues of using backchannels in the classroom
> - How weblogs and wikis can be employed in support of teaching and learning
> - The possibilities and challenges of using folksonomies for organizing 
>   academic knowledge
> - Wikipedia as an encyclopedic tool
> - Designing better social software tools for the classroom
> - The use of social software as assistive technology
> - The role of instant messaging in learning
> - Models for using social software to collaborate across disciplines and 
>   universities
> - Using social networking tools to create and/or enhance campus community
> - Methodologies for researching the use and impact of social software tools 
> on various aspects of campus academic and non-academic life
>
> We are looking for three different types of submissions: papers, 
> discussion panels and demonstrations. Papers are 10-20 pages, and cover 
> new research and development projects. Discussion panels consist of 3-5 
> participants who will collectively discuss and explore key questions or 
> issues in the field. Discussion panels should be constructed before 
> submission and are not connected with paper submissions. Demonstrations 
> offer an alternative format in which to present posters or media or 
> technology simulations in a setting that encourages interaction between 
> presenters and participants. Please note: demonstrations are meant to 
> highlight research developments, not promote products. If you have an 
> idea for an alternate format for presenting your research, please 
> contact us.
>
> Individuals interested in participating in the conference can apply by 
> submitting the following: the author's bio (name, email, affiliation, 
> relevant publications), a brief description of current research, and a 
> 500 word abstract describing the paper, discussion panel or 
> demonstration. Video, sketches or other relevant media are welcome as 
> additional material if appropriate. Each member of a panel should 
> prepare a brief position statement in addition to the 500 word panel 
> abstract.
>
> Submissions for consideration should be mailed to danah boyd 
> (dmb at sims.berkeley.edu) and Sarah Lohnes (scl2103 at columbia.edu) by no 
> later than March 31, 2005. Some travel support is available for student 
> and underemployed speakers. Please indicate in your submission if you 
> need sponsorship to attend.
>
> Papers presented at the conference will be considered for publication in 
> either a journal special issue or a book on this topic. Please indicate 
> in your proposal if you are interested in submitting your presentation 
> as a formal document for publication. Full and short papers will be 
> considered. Panels and demonstrations may also be publishable in some 
> form.
>
> This conference is being sponsored by Annenberg Center for Communication 
> at the University of Southern California. If you have any questions, 
> feel free to contact the conference chairs.
>
> CONFERENCE CHAIRS:
> danah boyd - University of California, Berkeley - dmb at sims.berkeley.edu
> Sarah Lohnes - Columbia University - scl2103 at columbia.edu
>
> CONFERENCE COMMITTEE:
> Todd Richmond - University of Southern California
> Mimi Ito - University of Southern California
> Justin Hall - University of Southern California
> _______________________________________________
> CITASA Email List
> citasa at mit.edu
> On the Web at: www.citasa.org