First Monday December 2004

Dear Reader,


The December 2004 issue of First Monday (volume 9, number 12) is now available
at http://
firstmonday.org/issues/issue9_12/


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Table of Contents


Volume 9, Number 12 - December 6th 2004


Gifting technologies
by Kevin McGee and Jorgen Skageby
http://firstmonday.org/issues/issue9_12/mcgee/


Abstract:


File-sharing has become very popular in recent years, but for many this has
become synonymous
with file-getting. However, there is strong evidence to suggest that people
have strong giving (or
gifting) needs. This evidence suggests an opportunity for the development of
gifting technologies -
and it also suggests an important research question and challenge: what needs
and concerns do
gifters have and what technologies can be developed to help them? In this
paper, we discuss the
existing literature on gifting, report on an initial study of gifting in an
online sharing community, and
suggest some ways the study results can inform future research into gifting
desires - as well as the
design of specific gifting technologies.


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Open access to law in developing countries
by Daniel Poulin
http://firstmonday.org/issues/issue9_12/poulin/


Abstract:


Securing a widespread and, whenever possible, free, access to legal
information has become
important everywhere. Open access has higher stakes in developing countries
where access to law is
often difficult. In this particular context, free access to statutes and case
law could significantly
contribute to a better establishment of the rule of law and an overall
consolidation of national legal
institutions.


Never before have better conditions existed for a wider circulation of law.
The Internet and related
technologies have dramatically revolutionized the possibilities of cheaply
providing high-quality,
low-cost access to national legal documentation. In this article, elements of
a strategy aimed at
developing open access to law in developing countries are put forth.


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Pulling sense out of today's informational chaos: LiveJournal as a site of
knowledge creation and
sharing
by Kate Raynes-Goldie
http://firstmonday.org/issues/issue9_12/raynes/


Abstract:


The informational overload currently facing Western society is changing the
way we understand the
world as well as rendering obsolete our current ways of managing information
and creating
knowledge. With these changes in mind, I will examine the blogging service
LiveJournal as a new and
more applicable way of managing information and creating knowledge in today's
society.


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SDP-city against a vicious circle!
by Erzsebet Angster
http://firstmonday.org/issues/issue9_12/angster/


Abstract:


This paper characterizes the software development craft's vicious circle and
proposes the first steps
required to get out of it. As long as future software developers have no
exemplary software (with
patterns, design, and documentation) to study, the present software developers
will not produce
exemplary software. To overcome this, the first step is to make exemplary
software widely available,
and help developers to produce them. Despite most open source software being
accessible, finding
exemplary and qualified work is hard.


A software city is proposed for teaching and learning purposes, where (1) all
works are open; (2)
there is a pattern repository with the most important building elements and
principles; (3) the
patterns are underpinned by concrete, complete, running and documented
examples (Software
Development Pack or SDP); and, (4) experts help builders, and qualify the
works. Only quality works
are easy to use and easy to reuse. Let's build an SDP-city where, besides
cathedrals and bazaars, you
can also find a city hall, schools, and exhibitions!


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Libraries and university presses can collaborate to improve scholarly
communication or "Why can't we
all just get along?"
by Mary Alice Ball
http://firstmonday.org/issues/issue9_12/ball/


Abstract:


Scholarly communication is evolving to meet the challenges and opportunities
of the current
technological era. Research universities expect academic libraries and presses
to overcome cultural
differences and collaborate to improve the production and dissemination of
scholarship. This paper
examines the separate worlds of libraries and presses and explores the common
ground between the
two where collaborations occur, particularly those related to monographic
publications.


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Changing patterns of Internet usage and challenges at colleges and
universities
by Tena F. McQueen and Robert A. Fleck, Jr.
http://firstmonday.org/issues/issue9_12/mcqueen/


Abstract:


Increased enrollments, changing student expectations, and shifting patterns of
Internet access and
usage continue to generate resource and administrative challenges for colleges
and universities.
Computer center staff and college administrators must balance increased access
demands, changing
system loads, and system security within constrained resources.


To assess the changing academic computing environment, computer center
directors from several
geographic regions were asked to respond to an online questionnaire that
assessed patterns of
usage, resource allocation, policy formulation, and threats. Survey results
were compared with data
from a study conducted by the authors in 1999. The analysis includes changing
patterns in Internet
usage, access, and supervision. The paper also presents details of usage by
institutional type and
application as well as recommendations for more precise resource assessment by
college
administrators.


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Libraries and national security: An historical review
by Joan Starr
http://firstmonday.org/issues/issue9_12/starr/


Abstract:


The September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks launched the United States into a
new era of defensive
preparedness. The U.S. federal government's first legislative action in
October 2001 was the passage
of the Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools
Required to Intercept and
Obstruct Terrorism Act of 2001 (USA PATRIOT Act). The USA PATRIOT Act
introduced a greatly
heightened level of government intrusion into many aspects of ordinary life,
including library use.
When, in the past, authorities called upon the library profession to serve
national security interests in
these ways, individual librarians and the profession as a whole have
experienced an evolving tension
between their roles as guardians of public well-being and as protectors of
intellectual freedom. This
is a fundamental issue, one that reflects upon the profession's view of itself
and of its place in
American life. Librarians once again face this challenge. An inquiry into the
similarities and
differences with the past may aid in suggesting a response that is both
professionally sound and
individually appropriate.


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FM Interviews: McKenzie Wark
http://firstmonday.org/issues/issue9_12/wark/


McKenzie Wark teaches media and cultural studies at the New School University
in New York City. His
most recent book is "A Hacker Manifesto" (Harvard University Press, 2004). For
many years he was an
active participant in the nettime listserve, and also on fibreculture,
syndicate, and a few other
experiments in "collaborative filtering." "A Hacker Manifesto" grows out of
that experience, and
attempts to provide a theory to go with the practice of creating and sharing
free knowledge in a
digital gift economy. He is the author of a number of other books, including
"Dispositions" (Salt
Books, 2002) and "Virtual Geography" (Indiana University Press, 1994) and was
a co-editor of the
nettime anthology "Readme!" (Autonomedia).


This interview was conducted with First Monday's Chief Editor Ed Valauskas,
stimulated in part by "A
Hacker Manifesto."


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