A disciplinary analysis of Internet Science

Internet Science is an interdisciplinary field. Motivated by the unforeseen scale and impact of the Internet, it addresses Internet-related research questions in a holistic manner, incorporating epistemologies from a broad set of disciplines. Nonetheless, there is little empirical evidence of the levels of disciplinary representation within this field.This paper describes an analysis of the presence of different disciplines in Internet Science based on techniques from Natural Language Processing and network analysis. Key terms from Internet Science are identified, as are nine application contexts. The results are compared with a disciplinary analysis of Web Science, showing a surprisingly low amount of overlap between these two related fields. A practical use of the results within Internet Science is described. Finally, next steps are presented that will consolidate the analysis regarding representation of less technologically-oriented disciplines within Internet Science

E-LIS : a step towards redefining Open Access

The past few years have seen tremendous developments in information production, acquisition, and dissemination. Providing access to information free of charge in electronic formats is a concept that is gaining momentum. Open Access is one step ahead of Free Access. Open Access holds promise to remove both price and permission barriers to the scientific communication by using Internet. Creation of open access archives is a step towards redefining open access. E-LIS is a famous international disciplinary archive in Library and Information Science. The present paper describes creation and maintenance of E-LIS. It also includes content analysis of this archive

Built environment assessment: Multidisciplinary perspectives.

Context:As obesity has become increasingly widespread, scientists seek better ways to assess and modify built and social environments to positively impact health. The applicable methods and concepts draw on multiple disciplines and require collaboration and cross-learning. This paper describes the results of an expert team׳s analysis of how key disciplinary perspectives contribute to environmental context-based assessment related to obesity, identifies gaps, and suggests opportunities to encourage effective advances in this arena. Evidence acquisition:A team of experts representing diverse disciplines convened in 2013 to discuss the contributions of their respective disciplines to assessing built environments relevant to obesity prevention. The disciplines include urban planning, public health nutrition, exercise science, physical activity research, public health and epidemiology, behavioral and social sciences, and economics. Each expert identified key concepts and measures from their discipline, and applications to built environment assessment and action. A selective review of published literature and internet-based information was conducted in 2013 and 2014. Evidence synthesis:The key points that are highlighted in this article were identified in 2014-2015 through discussion, debate and consensus-building among the team of experts. Results focus on the various disciplines׳ perspectives and tools, recommendations, progress and gaps. Conclusions:There has been significant progress in collaboration across key disciplines that contribute to studies of built environments and obesity, but important gaps remain. Using lessons from interprofessional education and team science, along with appreciation of and attention to other disciplines׳ contributions, can promote more effective cross-disciplinary collaboration in obesity prevention

Statistical Analysis of Bus Networks in India

Through the past decade the field of network science has established itself as a common ground for the cross-fertilization of exciting inter-disciplinary studies which has motivated researchers to model almost every physical system as an interacting network consisting of nodes and links. Although public transport networks such as airline and railway networks have been extensively studied, the status of bus networks still remains in obscurity. In developing countries like India, where bus networks play an important role in day-to-day commutation, it is of significant interest to analyze its topological structure and answer some of the basic questions on its evolution, growth, robustness and resiliency. In this paper, we model the bus networks of major Indian cities as graphs in \textit{L}-space, and evaluate their various statistical properties using concepts from network science. Our analysis reveals a wide spectrum of network topology with the common underlying feature of small-world property. We observe that the networks although, robust and resilient to random attacks are particularly degree-sensitive. Unlike real-world networks, like Internet, WWW and airline, which are virtual, bus networks are physically constrained. The presence of various geographical and economic constraints allow these networks to evolve over time. Our findings therefore, throw light on the evolution of such geographically and socio-economically constrained networks which will help us in designing more efficient networks in the future.Comment: Submitted to PLOS ON

Dark Patterns and the Legal Requirements of Consent Banners: An Interaction Criticism Perspective

User engagement with data privacy and security through consent banners has become a ubiquitous part of interacting with internet services. While previous work has addressed consent banners from either interaction design, legal, and ethics-focused perspectives, little research addresses the connections among multiple disciplinary approaches, including tensions and opportunities that transcend disciplinary boundaries. In this paper, we draw together perspectives and commentary from HCI, design, privacy and data protection, and legal research communities, using the language and strategies of "dark patterns" to perform an interaction criticism reading of three different types of consent banners. Our analysis builds upon designer, interface, user, and social context lenses to raise tensions and synergies that arise together in complex, contingent, and conflicting ways in the act of designing consent banners. We conclude with opportunities for transdisciplinary dialogue across legal, ethical, computer science, and interactive systems scholarship to translate matters of ethical concern into public policy.Comment: 18 page

An investigation of digital scholarship and disciplinary culture in Oman

The purpose of this study is to investigate disciplinary differences in the use of networked information for research and scholarly communication at Sultan Qaboos University, Oman. The study produced quantitative data on how and why academics within different disciplines utilise networked information either made available internally through the university library, or externally through services accessed by the Internet. A questionnaire survey was conducted with academic staff at Sultan Qaboos University. Statistical analysis found a number of significant differences between respondents in the science disciplines and those in the social sciences and humanities with regard to their use of, and attitudes towards, digital information services. While respondents from science disciplines show overall longer and more frequent use of networked information, respondents from humanities and social sciences indicated more positive attitudes toward library networked services.The Arab country context presents a challenge in determining the degree to which results can be extrapolated to other environments, in that disciplines are also divided by language. Science disciplines teach in English, and the social science and humanities in Arabic.While similar studies have been undertaken in developed countries, this study is an attempt to establish some data for a developing Arab country

Untangling the Web of E-Research: Towards a Sociology of Online Knowledge

e-Research is a rapidly growing research area, both in terms of publications and in terms of funding. In this article we argue that it is necessary to reconceptualize the ways in which we seek to measure and understand e-Research by developing a sociology of knowledge based on our understanding of how science has been transformed historically and shifted into online forms. Next, we report data which allows the examination of e-Research through a variety of traces in order to begin to understand how the knowledge in the realm of e-Research has been and is being constructed. These data indicate that e-Research has had a variable impact in different fields of research. We argue that only an overall account of the scale and scope of e-Research within and between different fields makes it possible to identify the organizational coherence and diffuseness of e-Research in terms of its socio-technical networks, and thus to identify the contributions of e-Research to various research fronts in the online production of knowledge

ICT Research, the New Economy, and the Evolving Discipline of Economics: Back to the Future?

Economics-related ICT research has moved from the fringes of the discipline to penetrate all of its branches. It is, therefore, not a separate economics sub-discipline. It is also unlikely to become part of an 'ICT or Internet Research' proto-discipline. Instead, it should be seen as only one part of a bigger agenda toward a proper 'information and knowledge economics' and possibly a future proto-discipline of a 'unified theory of information and knowledge' or a meta-discipline of information sciences. This is the post-print version of a short article for the Special Issue: ICT Research and Disciplinary Boundaries: Is “Internet Research” a Virtual Field, a Proto-Discipline, or Something Else?”(Guest Editor: Nancy K. Baym), Information Society, Volume 21, No. 4, 2005, pp. 317-320. See: http://www.indiana.edu/~tisj

Design Fiction Diegetic Prototyping: A Research Framework for Visualizing Service Innovations

The file attached to this record is the author's final peer reviewed version. The Publisher's final version can be found by following the DOI link.Purpose: This paper presents a design fiction diegetic prototyping methodology and research framework for investigating service innovations that reflect future uses of new and emerging technologies. Design/methodology/approach: Drawing on speculative fiction, we propose a methodology that positions service innovations within a six-stage research development framework. We begin by reviewing and critiquing designerly approaches that have traditionally been associated with service innovations and futures literature. In presenting our framework, we provide an example of its application to the Internet of Things (IoT), illustrating the central tenets proposed and key issues identified. Findings: The research framework advances a methodology for visualizing future experiential service innovations, considering how realism may be integrated into a designerly approach. Research limitations/implications: Design fiction diegetic prototyping enables researchers to express a range of ‘what if’ or ‘what can it be’ research questions within service innovation contexts. However, the process encompasses degrees of subjectivity and relies on knowledge, judgment and projection. Practical implications: The paper presents an approach to devising future service scenarios incorporating new and emergent technologies in service contexts. The proposed framework may be used as part of a range of research designs, including qualitative, quantitative and mixed method investigations. Originality: Operationalizing an approach that generates and visualizes service futures from an experiential perspective contributes to the advancement of techniques that enables the exploration of new possibilities for service innovation research