Electronic Mailing Lists & Discussion Groups

1995 ◽  
Vol 29 (2) ◽  
pp. 171-171
Author(s):  
Milica Stojmenovic

This article studies social networks on the Internet created by popular applications such as e-mails, Web, chat, file sharing via peer-to-peer interaction, and online gaming. The Internet has its roots in military and academia. Connections are available around the world at academic institutions, military installations, government agencies, commercial enterprises, commercial information providers (AOL, CompuServe, and MSN), and Internet service providers. The Internet offers the following services: sending and receiving e-mail (electronic mail), transferring files between computers, participating in discussion groups through newsgroups and mailing lists, searching and retrieving information, chat, Internet relay chat, instant messaging, Internet telephony (voice chat), and on-line shopping. Newsgroups contain databases of messages on topics. They are similar to mailing lists, except that e-mail messages are posted to newsgroup sites. Bulletin boards and discussion groups offer similar services. People “surf the net” to find information and download files and connect directly to other computers. Web pages are used to communicate with customers and suppliers, describe organizations and products, tender documents, and provide services (banking, stocks, and software).


2010 ◽  
Vol 39 (1) ◽  
pp. 12-17
Author(s):  
Rebekka King

My ethnographic project constitutes two years of participant observation at five churches that have self-identified as progressives and which regularly study popular texts that challenge traditional theological assertions. The research in which I am engaged most closely locates itself within the division of the anthropology of Christianity that focuses upon the language or ideology through which the Christian subject is constructed, maintained, and legitimized (Stromberg 1993; Harding 2000; Keane 2007). More specifically I look at study and discussion groups featuring popular theological texts and seek to delineate the identity constructed through the interplay between the texts and their readers in a group setting.


Author(s):  
Tamara Vázquez-Barrio ◽  
Teresa Torrecillas-Lacave ◽  
Rebeca Suárez-Álvarez

Traditional television coexists with formats that originated on the internet, as well as on-demand consumption, paid television, and other audio-visual content distribution platforms. Audience data reveal a steady decline in television viewership, and digital technologies now allow any citizen to produce audio-visual content and distribute it for mass consumption through the internet. Given this new audio-visual ecosystem, the aim of this research is to ascertain whether there are any signs of a crisis regarding the dominance of television as a means of disseminating the products of the culture industry. Disinterest or indifference toward conventional programming by users would reveal a danger to the broadcast industry. In contrast, the consumption of television products through other channels would imply the retention of television audiences through the internet. This study analyzes perceptions regarding television through five online discussion groups. Three conclusions can be drawn: Firstly, television holds a prominent place in the daily lives of those who use it, including the youngest participants, despite the fact that audiences have declined in recent years. The second conclusion states that the perception of television is positive and associated with disengagement, relaxation, and family gatherings, which can be combined with individual consumption at other times of the day. As a third conclusion, this study reveals the high degree of compatibility between the internet and television screens, as new forms of consumption are emerging, yet there is still a predominant interest in content on television and from the mass culture industry. Resumen La televisión tradicional convive con formatos originados en internet, con el consumo bajo demanda, con la televisión de pago y con otras plataformas de distribución de contenido audiovisual. Los datos de audiencias muestran un descenso continuado de telespectadores y las tecnologías digitales permiten a cualquier ciudadano producir contenidos audiovisuales y distribuirlos para el consumo masivo a través de la Red. Ante este nuevo ecosistema audiovisual, el objetivo de esta investigación es comprobar si se pueden advertir signos de una crisis de la supremacía del televisor como medio de difusión de industria cultural. El desapego o indiferencia de los usuarios hacia la programación convencional evidenciaría un peligro para la televisión. Al contrario, el consumo de productos televisivos a través de otras pantallas implicaría el mantenimiento de las audiencias televisivas a través de internet. La investigación analiza las percepciones sobre la televisión mediante cinco grupos de discusión online. Se extraen tres conclusiones. La primera, que la televisión ocupa una posición relevante en la cotidianeidad de los participantes, incluidos los más jóvenes, a pesar de que las audiencias han descendido en los últimos años. La segunda, que la percepción sobre la televisión es positiva y se asocia a la desconexión, el relax y a un momento de reunión familiar compaginable con consumos individualizados en otros momentos del día. Tercera, el estudio demuestra el alto grado de compatibilidad entre internet y la pantalla del televisor porque surgen nuevas formas de consumo, pero se mantiene un interés predominante por los contenidos televisivos y de la gran industria cultural.


Religions ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
pp. 189
Author(s):  
Roger Campdepadrós-Cullell ◽  
Miguel Ángel Pulido-Rodríguez ◽  
Jesús Marauri ◽  
Sandra Racionero-Plaza

Evidence has shown that interreligious dialogue is one of the paths to build bridges among diverse cultural and religious communities that otherwise would be in conflict. Some literature reflects, from a normative standpoint, on how interreligious dialogue should be authentic and meaningful. However, there is scarce literature on what conditions contribute to this dialogue achieving its desirable goals. Thus, our aim was to examine such conditions and provide evidence of how interreligious dialogue enables human agency. By analyzing the activity of interreligious dialogue groups, we document the human agency they generate, and we gather evidence about the features of the conditions. For this purpose, we studied four interreligious dialogue groups, all affiliated with the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization’s (UNESCO) Association for Interreligious Dialogue (AUDIR), employing in-depth interviews and discussion groups. In these groups, which operate in diverse and multicultural neighborhoods, local actors and neighbors hold dialogues about diversity issues. In so doing, social coexistence, friendship ties, and advocacy initiatives arise. After analyzing the collected data, we conclude that for interreligious dialogue to result in positive and promising outputs, it must meet some principles of dialogic learning, namely equality of differences, egalitarian dialogue, cultural intelligence, solidarity, and transformation.


2008 ◽  
Vol 3 (3) ◽  
pp. 57 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carol Perryman

A Review of: Brown, Cecilia M. and Ortega, Lina. “Information-Seeking Behavior of Physical Science Librarians: Does Research Inform Practice?” College & Research Libraries (2005). 66:231-47. Objective – As part of a larger study exploring the information environments of physical science librarians (Ortega & Brown), the authors’ overall objective for this study is to profile physical science librarians’ information behaviours. The authors’ two-part hypothesis was that first, peer-reviewed journals would be preferred over all other sources for research dissemination, resembling the preferences of scientists, and second, that peer-to-peer consultation would predominate for practice-oriented decisions. Design – Mixed methods: survey questionnaire followed by citation and content analysis. Setting – Five internationally disseminated professional association electronic mailing lists whose readership comprised those with interests in science librarianship: the American Library Association (ALA) Science and Technology Section; the American Society for Information Science & Technology (ASIST) Science and Technology Information Special Interest Group; the Special Library Association (SLA) Chemistry Division and its Physics-Astronomy-Mathematics Division; and the American Geological Institute Geoscience Information Society. Subjects – Seventy-two physical science librarians voluntarily responding to an online survey. Methods – A questionnaire was distributed to inquire about physical science librarians’ professional reading practices as well as their perceptions about the applicability of research to their work. Participants were asked to rank preferences among 11 resource types as sources supporting daily business, including personal communication, conference attendance, electronic mailing lists, and scholarly journals. Differences between the mean rankings of preferences were tested for significance by applying the Friedman test with p>0.0005. Journals identified most frequently were analyzed using the Institute for Scientific Information’s (ISI) Web of Science index and Ulrich’s Periodical Index to measure proportions of research and non-research citations, as well as the general topic areas covered by the journals. Next, content analysis was performed for the years 1995, 1997, and 2000 in order to characterize research methodologies used in the previously identified journals according to a previously tested schema (Buscha & Harter). Results from this portion of the study were compared with participants’ responses about journal usage. Main Results – Librarians reported using personal communication (both face-to-face and electronic mailing lists) more frequently as a means of information gathering than professional journals, Web sites, conferences, trade publications, monographs, or ‘other’ resources. Variations in responses appeared to correlate with years in the profession and in the respondents’ time in their current positions, although there are indications that the importance of all information resources to practice and research declines over time. The relative importance of resources is also shown in time spent reading journal literature, less than 5 hours per week for 86% of participants. Conclusion – For the first hypothesis, the authors found that unlike scientists, survey participants did not prefer research publications as vehicles for dissemination of their research results. For the second, librarians ranked peer-reviewed journals third in preference after personal communication and electronic mailing lists as sources of information supporting daily practice, supporting the second hypothesis that respondents would emulate the information use practices of mathematicians.


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