[Air-L] Let's talk about AoIR.
Unsworth,Kristene
ku26 at drexel.edu
Thu May 30 11:49:15 PDT 2013
Mia, Terri and all,
I think this is really a great idea. I hesitate to add too much since I wasn't able to participate as a reviewer this time around.
I think that recognizing our work as reviewers for conferences would do a lot toward giving the process more weight. Good reviews do take time and often there is the feeling that no one else can step up to do the work. If we have a sort of "Editorial Committee" people that volunteer to be on it could make and plan for the time the review will take. In some institutions this may even "count" during annual review - which for those of us on the tenure track treadmill always appreciate.
Last year was my first Aoir Conference and I have to say it was a fantastic experience; so much so that I volunteered to be on the Ethics Committee!
Kristene Unsworth, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
The iSchool, College of
Information Science and Technology
Drexel University
3141 Chestnut Street
Philadelphia, PA 19104
Tel: 215.895.6274 | Fax: 215.895.2494
ischool.drexel.edu
-----Original Message-----
From: air-l-bounces at listserv.aoir.org [mailto:air-l-bounces at listserv.aoir.org] On Behalf Of Terri Senft
Sent: Thursday, May 30, 2013 2:39 PM
To: Mia Consalvo
Cc: air-l at listserv.aoir.org; jhunsinger at wlu.ca
Subject: Re: [Air-L] Let's talk about AoIR.
Mia,
I love the idea of substantially honoring the work serious reviewers do by rewarding them at least with a solid line on their CV.
Could we have something like an AoIR Conference Editorial Committee, just like we have an Ethics Committee? Where we could elect or appoint, say, six folks (grad students would be great) who would be "point people" for respective areas (say, identities and representation, communities and blah blah, interface and blah blah ) who could take on the heavy lifting of reviewing in their areas? Not instead of the blind reviews, but as a overseer over processes and someone to turn to when a reviewer says, "I'm really the wrong person to look at this.")
Then, on a CV, under professional affiliations, a grad student could say, Association of Internet Researchers, Conference Committee Editorial Member--Race & Gender Area.
Or like that....
T
in areas where they have ?
On Thu, May 30, 2013 at 2:20 PM, Mia Consalvo <consalvo at mit.edu> wrote:
> hi all,
>
> To weigh in on the template and reviewing:
>
> Template:
> 1. I am not a fan of templates generally, so having one at all is
> always a bit of trouble. I don't think it's really that hard to find
> author names on a paper or to have folks use different fonts or page widths.
> 2. The call this year said "Please note that your submissions must
> adhere to the template to be accepted". This is a bit off-putting,
> right off the bat. It immediately felt antagonistic, and made me feel
> that I was being judged first on how well I conformed to guidelines,
> and then only second on my ideas.
> 3. The template has guidelines for font choice, font size, an abstract
> (for an abstract!), headings, subheadings, charts, diagrams,
> references, images, and so on. Much of my time was spent deleting all
> of the stuff I didn't need to use. It also created an expectation in
> my mind (true or not) that this is what submissions are supposed to
> look like, that this is what they are supposed to include. I was
> trying to propose a roundtable and it didn't fit at all with the
> template. Somewhere else on the submission page (I forget where) I
> realized that roundtables didn't have to follow these guidelines, but
> I had already been put off by the formal structures. It wasn't about
> APA or MLA- it was the enforcement of a rigid structure that felt so anti-aoir.
>
> Reviewing: AoIR is not the only organization and/or conference to
> suffer from bad reviewing. The question is, if we are reviewing
> ourselves, why are we doing such a bad job at it? Are we overworked?
> Are we getting too many reviews? Are we having collective bad days?
> Are we being asked to review out of our depth? We really need to have
> a good discussion about this, because WE are the ones doing this to ourselves.
>
> Finally, I'd point out that reviewing scores me/us little or NO
> credits either in our university jobs, our daily life, or in general
> recognition other than a formal thank you somewhere in a program. I'm
> not suggesting reviewers be paid for their work, but maybe thinking
> about offering other kinds of recognitions (best review? best
> reviewer? top review mentors?) might help improve quality by encouraging us to spend more time on them.
>
> Mia
>
>
> On Thu, May 30, 2013 at 2:00 PM, Alexander Halavais
> <halavais at gmail.com
> >wrote:
>
> > OK, so I want to separate the word-count issue from the template
> > issue, because they are divisible and too easily conflated.
> >
> > TEMPLATE
> >
> > On the template issue: we've been through this once before, but the
> > reason the template exists is to give some structure for proceedings.
> > I made the argument--and have made the argument since I ran for
> > VP--that I wanted what goes on at AoIR to reach a wider audience,
> > and to spread beyond those who can attend the conference each year.
> > Many of you running for Exec have expressed a similar interest, and
> > have proposed various mechanisms for accomplishing this. For me,
> > getting our work out in some form so that it was findable on the web
> > was important.
> >
> > The template exists because to be able to find and use stuff in a
> > collection, it is easier if there is some structural similarity--you
> > know where to find the title, the author, etc. There is nothing, at
> > least to my mind, that says "hard science" in that. Yes, there was a
> > format for subtitles (in case it's not obvious from this email, I
> > quite like subtitles), and tables, etc., but none of this required
> > their use.
> >
> > Maybe the issue is APA for the citation style? I frankly couldn't
> > care less about citation styles, and didn't pick it. This seemed to
> > be the most common style used in most previous IR conferences, but
> > that doesn't mean it should predominate. I don't see why it can't be
> > "use whatever you want as long as it is findable"--APA was arbitrary.
> > Perhaps that is what signals "hard science"? Would, by contrast, MLA
> > or Chicago then signal "Humanities"?
> >
> > I think there is value in getting our work out there. I think asking
> > people to share what they do at AoIR is valuable. I suspect that a
> > number of others do too. But I think there should also be options
> > for not sharing. It may be (with deep apologies to Suely and Andrew,
> > who have invested a lot of time and effort here) that SPIR just
> > isn't worthy of ongoing support.
> >
> > WORD COUNT
> >
> > On the word count issue: One of the reason I've separated these is
> > that I've heard largely support for the longer limits, with a few
> > grumblings about 1,200 being too short. We've had a number of
> > restrictions in the past, ranging from 250 to 1000. What I've heard
> > consistently during my 8 years on Exec is people saying that it's
> > hard to judge work based on two or three paragraphs alone, and that
> > this results a bad refereeing process. I think the 500 word limit
> > favors those who can write good abstracts. I count myself in that
> > number--my longer work may not be that great, but I write an awesome
> > 500 word abstract. That said, there were no such limits on
> > roundtables, and some of the proposals were quite short.
> >
> > We have allowed full papers for the last couple (three?) years, but
> > the number of papers submitted was vanishingly small, and a
> > nine-thousand word paper requires a disproportionate amount of
> > reviewer time.
> >
> > REVIEWING
> >
> > Finally, on the issue of reviews, I want to thank those who
> > volunteered to review this year. I'll note that many of you did not,
> > meaning that (a) your expertise was missing when it came to assign
> > reviews and (b) the reviewers who were assigned often had more
> > reviews than we have assigned in the past. I agree we need to
> > provide better guidance to reviewers, and some of you (reviewers and
> > authors) will hear from me soon about helping shape that process.
> > But the first step is to be willing to put time into reviewing.
> >
> > I just want to be very clear that there was a range of excellent
> > reviewing and reviewing that could have been much better, from a
> > range of early-career scholars and more experienced reviewers.
> > Regardless of this, I think our reviewers deserve a significant
> > amount of praise and respect for volunteering to review.
> >
> > Alex
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > On Thu, May 30, 2013 at 10:35 AM, Jeremy hunsinger
> > <jhunsinger at wlu.ca>
> > wrote:
> > > I think the problem in part is that it was a template that said it
> > > was
> > for a
> > > paper, and not a template that said it was for a proposal or abstract.
> > > This combined with the required length, added considerably to the
> > > lack
> of
> > > clarity. I think we need to go back to the 'those that need to
> > > submit
> > full
> > > papers for them to count, can submit full papers' but those papers
> > > are
> > not
> > > automatically submitted for publication, and the other track
> > > should be
> a
> > > simple 500 word abstract, or longer panel abstract. the clarity
> > > of the
> > two
> > > track system was again slightly problematic, but it was inclusive
> > > in
> ways
> > > that this system is not
> > >
> > >
> > > On Thu, May 30, 2013 at 1:19 PM, Alexander Halavais <
> halavais at gmail.com>
> > > wrote:
> > >>
> > >> It would be helpful, at least to me, if folks could be more
> > >> explicit about *what* they objected to in the template. There
> > >> were no content restrictions. Yes, there were spaces for
> > >> citations, subtitles, and for a title, but if these were omitted, they were omitted.
> > >>
> > >> I am well aware of the power of defaults, but I'm missing what it
> > >> was about this particular template that makes it difficult. (Yes,
> > >> I've heard from folks that the word-count was restrictive, but
> > >> that isn't directly a template issue.)
> > >>
> > >> Best,
> > >>
> > >> Alex
> > >>
> > >>
> > >> On Thu, May 30, 2013 at 9:35 AM, Feona Attwood
> > >> <f.attwood at mdx.ac.uk>
> > >> wrote:
> > >> > Thanks for bringing this up Terri. I know lots of people have
> > >> > had similar feelings and feel awkward about how to express it.
> > >> >
> > >> > My feeling is that the new format for submitting proposals
> > >> > seems to signal a real shift in style. I haven't come across
> > >> > anything like
> that
> > >> > before, not even for really dull conferences and I didn't put a
> > proposal in
> > >> > this year because I couldn't work out a way to fit what I do
> > >> > into
> > that kind
> > >> > of format. It seems designed to filter out anything
> > >> > imaginative, innovative, speculative or original. The papers I
> > >> > reviewed in that
> > format
> > >> > were really difficult to read; the format had squashed all the
> > >> > life
> > out of
> > >> > them. I had felt very enthused after last year's conference
> > >> > which
> > seemed
> > >> > very lively and friendly - and then really deflated by the
> submission
> > >> > process this year. I'm hoping it was an experiment that won't
> > >> > be
> > continued.
> > >> > I'm still planning to attend this year but I can't imagine
> submitting
> > >> > anything again if this is the new direction AoIR is taking.
> > >> > Feona
> > >> >
> > >> >
> > >> >
> > >> > On 30 May 2013, at 15:27, Terri Senft wrote:
> > >> >
> > >> >> Hi Pals,
> > >> >>
> > >> >> With the encouragement of Andrew and Alex, I wanted to
> > >> >> approach the list regarding some questions I have about
> > >> >> culture of the Association of Internet Researchers today.
> > >> >>
> > >> >> I'm asking because after this round of conference proposal
> reviews, I
> > >> >> feel
> > >> >> personally and professionally a bit disconnected from this
> > >> >> group
> > these
> > >> >> days. This freaks me out a bit, because I've always thought of
> > >> >> AoIR
> > as
> > >> >> my
> > >> >> intellectual home. I am wondering if this is just me (which
> > >> >> would
> be
> > >> >> fine!), or if others are in struggle as well.
> > >> >>
> > >> >> Some Big Questions I Have:
> > >> >>
> > >> >> 1. Who are we, personally and professionally? What makes us
> > >> >> the
> same
> > as
> > >> >> organizations like ICA or ACM? What makes us different from
> > >> >> these organizations?
> > >> >>
> > >> >> 2. How do we perform our identity at our annual conference?
> > >> >> How is
> it
> > >> >> reflected in the way we phrase our calls for submissions? How
> > >> >> is it reflected in submission procedures?
> > >> >>
> > >> >> 3. How do we want to define "rigorous scholarship" in our
> > organization?
> > >> >> How
> > >> >> do we want to deal with scholarship that strikes us as urgent,
> > >> >> necessary or fresh, but not sufficiently rigorous?
> > >> >>
> > >> >> 4. Is there even an "us" anymore? Can positivists, activists,
> > >> >> and artists really sit in the same room and discuss 'internet
> > >> >> studies'? My
> answer
> > >> >> used
> > >> >> to be affirmative, but that was before internet studies was as
> > >> >> ubiquitous as literature studies.
> > >> >>
> > >> >> 5. Should the desire for a conference that showcases
> > >> >> professionalization trump a desire for a conference that
> > >> >> encourages its youngest
> scholars
> > >> >> and
> > >> >> its most senior ones to take risks, make mistakes and push the
> > >> >> boundaries of the field?
> > >> >>
> > >> >> Okay, that's plenty to start. As they say in AA, take what you
> > >> >> want
> > and
> > >> >> leave the rest.
> > >> >>
> > >> >>
> > >> >> Fondly,
> > >> >> T
> > >> >>
> > >> >> --
> > >> >> <http://goog_689013053>
> > >> >>
> > >> >> <http://goog_689013053>
> > >> >>
> > >> >> Dr. Theresa M. Senft
> > >> >> Global Liberal Studies Program School of Arts & Sciences New
> > >> >> York University
> > >> >> 726 Broadway NY NY 10003
> > >> >>
> > >> >> home: *www.terrisenft.net <http://goog_689013053>** *(needs a
> > >> >> serious updating)
> > >> >> facebook: www.facebook.com/theresa.senft
> > >> >> twitter: @terrisenft
> > >> >> _______________________________________________
> > >> >> The Air-L at listserv.aoir.org mailing list is provided by the
> > >> >> Association of Internet Researchers
> > http://aoir.org
> > >> >> Subscribe, change options or unsubscribe at:
> > >> >> http://listserv.aoir.org/listinfo.cgi/air-l-aoir.org
> > >> >>
> > >> >> Join the Association of Internet Researchers:
> > >> >> http://www.aoir.org/
> > >> >
> > >> >
> > >> >
> > >> >
> > >> >
> > >> >
> >
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> > >> // This email is
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> > >> //
> > >> // Alexander C. Halavais, ciberflâneur //
> > >> http://alex.halavais.net // // Please attribute any stupid errors
> > >> above to autocorrect on my
> phone.
> > >> // (But I probably was typing on a keyboard.)
> > >> _______________________________________________
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> > >>
> > >> Join the Association of Internet Researchers:
> > >> http://www.aoir.org/
> > >
> > >
> >
> >
> >
> > --
> > --
> > //
> > // This email is
> > // [ ] assumed public and may be blogged / forwarded.
> > // [x] assumed to be private, please ask before redistributing.
> > //
> > // Alexander C. Halavais, ciberflâneur // http://alex.halavais.net
> > // // Please attribute any stupid errors above to autocorrect on my
> > phone.
> > // (But I probably was typing on a keyboard.)
> > _______________________________________________
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> >
> > Join the Association of Internet Researchers:
> > http://www.aoir.org/
> >
>
>
>
> --
> Mia Consalvo, Ph.D.
> Visiting Associate Professor
> Comparative Media Studies
> Massachusetts Institute of Technology
> 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Building 14N-226 Cambridge, MA 02139-4307
> USA consalvo at mit.edu
> 617.324.1868
> _______________________________________________
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--
<http://goog_689013053>
<http://goog_689013053>
Dr. Theresa M. Senft
Global Liberal Studies Program
School of Arts & Sciences
New York University
726 Broadway NY NY 10003
home: *www.terrisenft.net <http://goog_689013053>** *(needs a serious updating)
facebook: www.facebook.com/theresa.senft
twitter: @terrisenft
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