First Monday October 2005

Dear Reader,

The October 2005 issue of First Monday (volume 10, number 10) is now
available at http://firstmonday.org/issues/issue10_10/

-------

Table of Contents

Volume 10, Number 10 - October 3rd 2005

Geography matters: Mapping human development and digital access
Stephanie A. Birdsall and William F. Birdsall
http://www.firstmonday.org/issues/issue10_10/birdsall/

Abstract:
Policy circles have long made the assumption that information and
communications technologies promote human development. In mapping the
Human Development Index (HDI) against the Digital Access Index (DAI) we
explore the statistical and spatial relationship between human development
and digital access. The results suggest information and communications
technologies may not play as strong a role in promoting human development
as is usually asserted and that public policies might need to be centered
more on human rather than digital capital.

-------

Descriptive metadata for copyright status
by Karen Coyle
http://firstmonday.org/issues/issue10_10/coyle/

Abstract:
The need to express the intellectual property rights of digital materials
has focused on access and usage permissions which must be granted by the
rights holder. A key set of permissions not acknowledged by these rights
expressions is inherent in the legal copyright status of the item. Digital
libraries can hold and provide access to many items for which copyright
status is the sole governor of use. This article proposes a small set of
descriptive data elements that should accompany digital materials to
inform potential users of the copyright status of the item.

-------

Evaluation of Web access to historical sheet music collections and
music-related iconography
by Maurice B. Wheeler and Mary Jo Venetis
http://firstmonday.org/issues/issue10_10/wheeler/

Abstract:
Previous research within Music Information Retrieval (MIR) has examined
audio and textual facets in attempts to retrieve information about the
music itself, including humming melodies, encoding of audio for
transmission, extracting bibliographic data as well as melodies and
harmonies. An area lacking within MIR relates to the retrieval of images
and illustrations that often accompany printed music. Addressing that
deficiency, this paper will briefly discuss historical American sheet
music and report results from research indicating whether researchers can
retrieve sheet music imagery from digital music collections, using basic
Internet search engines. The findings are expected to advance our
understanding of the complexities of retrieving digital music collections
and music–related iconography.

-------

Open source software development: Some historical perspectives
by Alessandro Nuvolari
http://firstmonday.org/issues/issue10_10/nuvolari/

Abstract:
In this paper we suggest that historical studies of technology can help us
to account for some, perplexing (at least for traditional economic
reasoning) features of open source software development. From a historical
perspective, open source software seems to be a particular case of what
Robert C. Allen has termed "collective invention." We explore the
interpretive value of this historical parallel in detail, comparing open
source software with two remarkable episodes of nineteenth century
technical advances.

-------

"Information society" development in Thailand: Information workforce and
information and communication technology perspectives
by Joy Aswalap
http://firstmonday.org/issues/issue10_10/aswalap/

Abstract:
Recent developments of information and communication technologies (ICTs)
have changed nations and their citizens across the world regardless of
their political or socioeconomic systems. To position Thailand - a
constitutional monarchy with a predominantly rural agricultural economy -
in a technology-driven and interconnected world, a framework is needed.
This article explores the concept of "information society," a concept
that, while imperfect, is used to describe the complex global impacts of
ICTs. This article discusses Thailand's successes and failures in trying
to achieve the status of information society.

-------

Is the digital divide between young and elderly people increasing?
by Gerd Paul and Christian Stegbauer
http://firstmonday.org/issues/issue10_10/paul/

Abstract:
Elderly people still play a minor role in research on information needs
and usage patterns of Internet users. Online research and advocacy groups
look optimistically at the (economic and social) potential of the active
and technology-skilled elderly; other approaches dealing with the social
appropriation of technology see obstacles and stress the dangers of an
increasing digital divide between generations. Our objective is to refer
to taken for granted normative assumptions of the digital divide
discourse, highlighting different requirements for the appropriation of
the Internet. Using the concept of technological generations we look at
formal and informal learning of young and elderly people in the German
context. We use survey material and field impressions we gained in various
technology related studies. The results show that the "two worlds apart"
assumption (young vs. elderly people) is too simplistic. Factors like
gender, education and socio-economic status still play an important role
for acceptance and diffusion of a technology. The diffusion rate among the
elderly is increasing, but will continue to lag behind the figures of the
young users. Cultural preparations and easy access modes are essential for
the elderly, who could make use of latecomer advantages. Informal learning
and peer group support will be crucial for the diffusion of the Internet
among the elderly. In our conclusions we look at the specific social
status of the elderly cohort, which makes a comparison with other social
groups very difficult.

-------

Deconstructing Google bombs: A breach of symbolic power or just a goofy
prank?
by Clifford Tatum
http://firstmonday.org/issues/issue10_10/tatum/

Abstract:
In this study I compare two Google bombs using Melluci's (1996) social
movement framework. Viewing the Google bombing practice as a social
movement provides an informative lens from which to analyze the nature and
goals as well as the results of this form of online collective action. The
empirical basis for this research relies on analysis of the content and
context of Google bomb hyperlinking using an approach informed by
Beaulieu's (2005) notion of sociable hyperlinks. From this study I
conclude that the Google bombing practice is an online protest technique
not unlike the "media mind bomb" developed by the late Bob Hunter of
Greenpeace (2004) fame. In the case of Hunter's mind bombs, sounds and
images were used to form alternate constructions of reality in the news
media. Similarly, Google bombs are constructed by manipulating the
relative ranking of an Internet search term and thereby creating alternate
constructions of reality through collective action online.

-------

Book reviews
http://firstmonday.org/issues/issue10_10/reviews/

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

Special issue number 2: Open source
edited by Sandeep Krishnamurthy

http://www.firstmonday.org/issues/special10_10/

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

You've received this message because you're registered to First Monday's
Table of Contents service. You can unsubscribe to this service by sending a
reply containing the word unsubscribe in the body of the message or use the
form at http://firstmonday.org/join.html

First Monday Editorial Group