Minutes 6/28/12

At the first meeting of the Internet Research Team (IRT) on Thursday, June 28, we had a robust discussion covering a multitude of ideas for what to do with such a group at the GC. Following is a summary:

• 17 people were in attendance
• Initial introductions allowed each present participant an opportunity to share a bit of what they’re working on in their research, as well as what they might be interested in getting out of the group over the coming academic year
• A discussion of the purpose of the group followed, including where to house the group digitally, or what purpose such a ‘housing’ would serve. OpenCUNY and the Academic Commons were raised as viable places/platforms, and the consensus was to go with the Commons, given the social-networking aspect and ease of communication between members. Amanda Licastro offered to create the group (stay tuned for notifications from her regarding logistics of said group; if you are not already a member of the Commons, please sign up here so that you may be added)
• The following topics were discussed as possible themes for future discussions/meetings:
  • Research methods
  • Ethics
  • Resources/Tools
  • Research
  • We broke down into three smaller groups to have more thorough discussions of the above themes. The following were reported back as possible suggestions for next steps:
    • Developing a manifesto: ’13 ways of developing research’
    • Looking at journals: taking a meta-look at what is currently being published around internet research
    • Failing forward: sharing lessons learned
    • Long-distance internet research: how to deal with the loneliness of research with a screen (in contrast to researching with humans)
    • Privacy in posting: how do we decide what goes public, and why
    • Harnessing the energy of interpersonal communication: monthly brown-bag presentations
    • Research in process: presenting on both pre- and post-research processes
    • Openness: Using language of inclusivity to cast the net broadly and make sure no one feels excluded due to tech-heavy verbiage
    • Thinking about pedagogy: how do we, as educators, incorporate what we learn and discuss in the IRT in our teaching practices
    • Snowballing: rather than recreating the multitude of technology tools out there, let’s start small and build on the momentum we’ve got going, as opposed to reinventing the wheel
    • Other notes:
      • We decided to change the name of the group to IRT (as opposed to IRMG)
      • The next meeting will be held at the end of August – date TBD