[Air-L] Second CFP, Web_site Histories: Theories, Methods, Analysis

[Brügger Niels]

*Please distribute widely. Apologies for cross-posting*


Second Call for Papers


Conference title: Web_site Histories: Theories, Methods, Analysis

One-day conference, October 14th 2008. The main purpose of Web_site  
Histories is to place the new and emerging field of Web History on the  
research agenda and to map the field of historical website studies.

Organizer: The Centre for Internet Research, University of Aarhus,  
Denmark.

The conference is associated the AoIR 9.0 conference "Rethinking  
Communities, Rethinking Place" in Copenhagen (http://conferences.aoir.org 
)

Confirmed keynote speakers:
Kirsten Foot, Associate Professor, University of Washington
Steven Schneider, Professor, State University of New York
Title: Object-Oriented Web Historiography.
Abstract: Foot & Schneider will present a keynote address that focuses  
on their proposal of an “object-oriented” approach to researching and  
writing Web history. They will consider the various meanings of object  
entailed within the notion of object-oriented Web historiography in  
order to advance both the theoretical foundation and methodological  
rigor of developmental analyses of Web artifacts in their hyperlinked  
contexts. Developmental analyses of any aspect of the Web, whether  
engaged in contemporaneously or retrospectively, entail dynamics  
within and between the (co)producers of Web artifacts, production  
practices and techniques, and Web artifacts themselves. These dynamics  
make it difficult but very important for scholars to identify and  
situate their object(s) of analysis historically and theoretically.  
See extended description at http://www.cfi.au.dk/en/events/conferences/wsh08/keynote 
.
Kirsten Foot and Steven Schneider are the authors of Web Campaigning  
(MIT Press 2006) as well as a number of articles about Web Sphere  
Analysis.

A panel will round off the conference by discussing the future  
directions of studies of Web History. Besides Kirsten Foot and Steven  
Schneider panel participant will be Niels Brügger, Associate  
Professor, the Centre for Internet Research, University of Aarhus.

The main purpose of Web_site Histories is to place the new and  
emerging field of Web History on the research agenda and to map the  
field of historical website studies. The focus on the Web can be seen  
as a specialization within the larger field of Internet History, but  
with another subset of questions and challenges. The underscore in the  
title reflects the uncertainty and variability of the object of study  
– are we talking about the Web in general, Web Spheres, individual  
websites, or web pages? The conference welcomes papers on any of these  
approaches or any other theme, topic or idea connected to the  
theories, methods or analysis of Web History. Theoretical approaches  
could be discussions of the object of study or reflections on doing  
historical research on this particular subject. Methodological  
approaches may include abstract or more specific considerations of the  
range of applicable methods, both old and new, to Web History.  
Finally, the analytical approach welcomes contributions exploring the  
practical hazards and possibilities of this special kind of empirical  
material, as well as papers on concrete empirical studies.

Papers are also welcome on a wide array of historically-grounded  
themes. The topics below are examples of the kinds of issues paper  
presenters are invited to address — but are not intended to limit  
topics suitable for paper submissions:
·      General as well as more specific histories of the development  
of the Web, focusing on, for instance, technology, graphic design,  
culture etc.
·      The history of the Web as a subset of the history of the  
Internet, with emphasis on, for instance, the development of hardware,  
software and protocols
·      The organizational architecture of the Web in a global,  
national, transnational or local perspective
·      Defining moments and events on the Web, either in terms of how  
the Web was conceived and built, or in terms of how it is or was  
perceived and used
·      Demographical, social, cultural, or other factors influencing  
Web use and uptake
·      Political, economic, institutional or personal histories of the  
Web
·      The growing popularity of social networking sites in a  
historical perspective
·      Interactivity, genre and media discussions in relation to the Web
·      The histories of expectations in pre-web time meeting the  
reality of the Web
·      Source availability and validity – the archiving of the Web
·      The history of the Web in the larger framework of media history

Please send abstracts of no more than 300 words by April 15th 2008  
(further instructions at http://www.cfi.au.dk/en/wsh08). After a  
process of double-blind peer review, authors will be notified of  
accepted papers by May 15th. Full papers will be due by August 31st  
2008. Please note that there is a maximum of 30 participants, and  
priority will be given to paper presenters. Paper presentations will  
consist of short presentations with opponents/discussants and  
roundtable-style discussions. Presenters are therefore also expected  
to act as opponents/discussants.

Participation in the conference is free, and coffee and lunch is  
included (yes, there is such a thing as a free lunch). Following the  
conference, papers will be considered for inclusion in an edited  
volume on Web Histories.

The conference takes place at the University of Aarhus, two days  
before the start of the AoIR 9.0 conference in Copenhagen (http://conferences.aoir.org 
). Aarhus is situated west of Copenhagen and is the second largest  
city in Denmark with a population of approximately 300,000. It is  
accessible by train or by air via the Aarhus or Billund airports. Read  
more about Aarhus and the university:http://www.au.dk/en/why and http://www.au.dk/en/aarhus.htm 
.

The Centre for Internet Research is located at the Institute of  
Information and Media Studies, and was established in September 2000  
in order to promote research into the social and cultural implications  
and functions of the internet. Read more about the Centre:http://www.cfi.au.dk/en/about/profile

Conference website: http://www.cfi.au.dk/en/wsh08.

The conference is sponsored by:
·      'The Knowledge Society', a joint research priority area at the  
Faculty of Humanities, University of Aarhus,
·      the Institute of Information and Media Studies, University of  
Aarhus
·      the Centre for Internet Research, University of Aarhus.

About the organisers:
Niels Brügger (PhD, MA) is Associate Professor at the Institute of  
Information and Media Studies, University of Aarhus, and co-founder of  
the Centre for Internet Research. His primary research interests are  
website history, web archiving, and the internet and media theory, and  
he recently started the research project "The history of www.dr.dk,  
1996-2006" (read more at http://imv.au.dk/~nb).

Vidar Falkenberg (MSc) is a PhD fellow at the Institute of Information  
and Media Studies, University of Aarhus, and a member of the Centre  
for Internet Research. His research is on the development of online  
newspapers in Denmark (read more at http://www.internetaviser.dk).



------------------------------------------------------------

LATEST PUBLICATIONS AND PAPERS

Website History: Theoretical and Methodological Problems in an  
Emerging Field, Internet Research 8.0: Let's Play, The 8th annual  
conference of the Association of Internet Researchers, Vancouver 2007,  
25 pages
Abstract: http://conferences.aoir.org/viewabstract.php?id=930&cf=6

A Critical Textual Philology of the Website: Why and How?, The pre- 
AoIR 8.0 Workshop 'Internet Histories', Vancouver 2007, 22 pages
Abstract: http://wiki.aoir.org/index.php?title=IR8_Pre-conference_workshops

The website as unit of analysis? Bolter and Manovich revisited,  
Digital Aesthetics and Communication (Northern Lights: Film and Media  
Studies Yearbook, vol. 5) (red. A. Fetveit, G.B. Stald), Intellect,  
Bristol 2007, 75-88
About the publication: http://www.intellectbooks.co.uk/journals.appx.php?issn=1601829X

-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: segln2b.gif
Type: image/gif
Size: 2606 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <http://listserv.aoir.org/pipermail/air-l-aoir.org/attachments/20080319/718f1b14/attachment-0002.gif>
-------------- next part --------------




NIELS BRÜGGER, Associate Professor, PhD
Dept. of Information and Media Studies
University of Aarhus
Helsingforsgade 14
8200 Aarhus N
Denmark

Phone (switchboard)   +45 8942 1111
Phone (direct)               +45 8942 9226
Telefax                           + 45 8942 5950
E-mail                             nb at imv.au.dk
Webpage                       http://imv.au.dk/~nb

Profile at LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/pub/1/50a/555
Profile at Kommunikationsforum [in Danish]: www.kommunikationsforum.dk/Niels-Brugger

The Centre for Internet Research               http://cfi.imv.au.dk
Theories of Media and Communication    http://www.medieteori.dk
Internet Archive in Denmark                        http://www.netarkivet.dk