Information sources cited and relayed in political conversations on Twitter

Using the Twitter data collected prior to the Presidential Election in Korea in 2012, we ask questions regarding influential sources of information in public political discourse. The frequently cited sources, being included as URLs in political tweet messages, are identified and categorized. The result shows that people rely on various sources of information beyond the traditional news media, but the pattern of sharing differ by sources

Loss of flight and associated neuronal rhythmicity in inositol 1, 4, 5-trisphosphate receptor mutants of Drosophila

Coordinated flight in winged insects requires rhythmic activity of the underlying neural circuit. Here, we show that Drosophila mutants for the inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate (InsP3) receptor gene (itpr) are flightless. Electrophysiological recordings from thoracic indirect flight muscles show increased spontaneous firing accompanied by a loss of rhythmic flight activity patterns normally generated in response to a gentle puff of air. In contrast, climbing speed, the jump response, and electrical properties of the giant fiber pathway are normal, indicating that general motor coordination and neuronal excitability are much less sensitive to itpr mutations. All mutant phenotypes are rescued by expression of an itpr+ transgene in serotonin and dopamine neurons. Pharmacological and immunohistochemical experiments support the idea that the InsP3 receptor functions to modulate flight specifically through serotonergic interneurons. InsP3 receptor action appears to be important for normal development of the flight circuit and its central pattern generator

Mysterious Influential Users in Political Communication on Twitter: Users' Occupation Information and Its Impact on Retweetability

This study attempts to examine the effect of user’s self-disclosed identification to measure his influence and activity on Twitter. By looking at the most frequently shared top 1076 tweets written by 250 users during the 2012 presidential election campaign South Korea, we particularly examine the relation between user’s occupation information and the measures of his ‘influence’: the number of followers and number of retweets by others. Influential users in South Korean political communication network on Twitter are classified as one group with self-disclosed occupation information and the other group without that information. User’s occupation information clearly shows the impact on the number of followers for both groups. On the other hand, user group without self-disclosed occupation information has a higher level of producing influential political tweets and wide retweetability over the other group, regardless the small number of followers. It suggests that further study needs to identify other variables that may influence particular user or tweet’s retweetability as an indicator of influence.ye

Meeting the Needs of IT Stakeholders in a Northwest Florida State College

Many studies support the important role that two and four-year college programs can play in certification training and as a gateway to the four-year IT degree. In an effort to determine if one Florida Panhandle community college was delivering its intended IT education goals and meeting the needs of local employers, the researchers performed five comparative analyses that stemmed from the overarching research question, “How do IT program learning outcomes compare to the requirements of IT job postings as well as to IT student and faculty perceptions of what is learned and what is taught?” The results of this study, when contextualized with extant literature, suggest that schools are challenged in aligning curricula with IT employers needs especially in clarifying the value of certifications and obtaining meaningful experiential learning opportunities for students as they manage their education and career pathways.ye

Twitter and the Virtual Branch: the Public Library in Social Space

This poster presents a study that examines online profiles of 300 U.S. public libraries on Twitter to analyze how public libraries are constructing online identity and creating a visibility and voice in social space through photographs, images, biographical text on profiles, and public postings. The study also examines library activity levels, followers, Peerindex scores and other metrics in exploring the influence and impact of public library presence within social space, and the impression management and information sharing activities of influential public libraries on Twitter to better understand how libraries can integrate information services into new and emerging online social spaces.publishedye

iMapLibraries: Mapping opportunities for lifelong learning

The iMapLibraries project combines social media with online mapping to help users find free lifelong learning classes available at local public libraries. Data on classes is solicited through a social media campaign which invites public libraries to “put themselves on the map.” Libraries can add data about classes directly into the iMapLibraries tool through an online registration page. Data is collected into a Google Fusion Table which produces a Google Map of the libraries with five categories of classes offered plus clickable links for more information via the library’s web site, Facebook, Twitter, and calendar page. iMapLibraries offers potential for improving public access to lifelong learning classes in libraries, and demonstrates new ways for libraries to collect and share data on available lifelong learning programs and services through social media and online mapping. Future possibilities include mapping other library use data such as meeting spaces, book groups, and tutoring services offered in different languages, which could be found on interactive maps accessible on the web, through social media, and via mobile apps.published or submitted for publicationis peer reviewe

Information Value Across Cultures and Communities

ABSTRACT The value of information within and across communities varies; however, even slight variations in this value may define boundaries between different worlds. The Theory of Information Worlds offers a framework for understanding social information behaviors in these settings. This poster reports on the operationalization of the concept of Information Value and its implications for an ongoing project focusing on the development of codebooks intended to be effective across diverse research contexts and methodologies. Specifically, the concept of Information Value is operationalized and discussed through the lenses of three different dissertation projects focusing on South Korean political discourse on Twitter, Ernestine Rose and the Harlem Library, and the digital literacy practices of role-players in a new Massively Multiplayer Online RolePlaying Game. Implications of Information Value on research on communities and cultures are also briefly discussed before describing the project's next steps

INFORMATION WORLDS: BOUNDARIES AND INTERSECTIONS IN THREE ONLINE SETTINGS

This paper reports on a collaborative endeavor that applies a single theoretical framework, the Theory of Information Worlds (Jaeger and Burnett, 2010), to three independent research projects investigating three online environments. In its broadest outlines, this endeavor aims to develop a qualitative codebook rooted in the theory that can be applied equally in all three projects, and to identify situations where coding must be more specific to individual projects.The projects investigate discursive and information sharing practices in three settings:1. The use of Twitter for political interaction and information sharing during election cycles in South Korea.2. The use of visual “memes” on Facebook pages related to the Occupy and Tea Party movements in the United States, and the extensive discussions in response to those memes. And3. The intersection of information behavior and digital literacies in Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Games (MMORPGs).In particular, this paper examines political discourse in these three settings in light of one of the core concepts of the Theory of Information Worlds and the ways in which politics function both as a point of intersection and a boundary between the online settings and the outside world

Citizens' use of Twitter in political information sharing in South Korea

This study examined citizens’ use of social networking site Twitter in political information sharing in South Korea. Content analysis was used in classifying message types and sentiments from the most frequently re-tweeted (RT) messages including the names of three top political leaders running for general elections in 2012. Correlation analysis comparing citizens’ use of Twitter in political information sharing online with results of public opinion polls offline indicated: 1) the volume and magnitude of re-tweeted messages are significantly correlated with results of public opinion polls; 2) types of messages are not correlated with the public opinion polling results; 3) positive and negative sentiment revealed in Twitter messages are highly correlated with the results of public opinion polls. Findings from this case study provide insights into citizens’ use of Twitter in political communication.published or submitted for publicationis peer reviewe