Making Hypermedia
Live: Shaping Participatory Hypermedia
A workshop to be held at ACM Hypertext 2008, June 19, 2008
Albert M. Selvin
Knowledge Media Institute
/ Open University and Verizon
Simon Buckingham Shum
Knowledge Media Institute
/ Open University
Email
Call for Participation
Abstract
You are invited to participate in a full-day workshop at Hypertext 2008 on the theme of developing theory and practice in real-time participatory hypermedia.
The Social Web
The social
web of user generated 'indigenous' content operates largely through
the asynchronous creation of a participatory web such as the blogosphere
and media sharing sites. However, the synchronous dimension to this
construction process is growing, driven by technical developments (eg. location-aware
mobile devices) and an emerging culture of real time sharing of one's
current activities and thoughts at an increasingly fine granularity
(moving from reflective blog posts, to what one is working on, media
fragments, 1-line status notes, and tags). We now see the emergence of
research and hands-on websites around "new media literacy",
designed to help newcomers participate in the social web. Efforts like
Howard Rheingold's
Participatory Media Literacy wiki [1],
the New Media Literacies project [2], and others provide concepts
and resources describing this phenomenon and evangelizing for expanded
participation from diverse communities. Sensemaking as Participatory
Media Construction
The social
web can refer simply to individuals posting their work with little concern
for how it may fit into a bigger picture. We might contrast this with
participants who work to maintain the coherence of the emerging hypermedia
through careful tagging, mutually subscribing webfeeds, embedded content,
etc. and through reflective discourse. We are particularly interested
in the latter case where emergent coherence is of central concern, which
might fall under the heading of the Pragmatic Web. These recent
developments are of interest to us, since our focus for the last 15
years, as hypermedia researchers and practitioners, has been to understand
the distinctive properties of participatory media construction in support
of collective sensemaking, with a particular interest in synchronous
working, both physical and virtual. Collective sensemaking in complex
socio-technical situations is a constant feature of organizational life
in science, government, business, and other institutions. Supporting
sensemaking calls for both sophisticated tools and human expertise in
their use. Examples include group decision support, process modeling,
requirements analysis, argument mapping, strategic planning, and problem
exploration. Such activities are increasingly widespread, and there
are professional consultancies devoted to providing these kinds of services.
The need for the kind of integrative, participatory thinking necessary
to use these tools effectively is increasingly required by more than
just specialists. However there has been surprisingly little research
devoted to understanding and improving the quality of practice in this
area. The absence of substantive analysis of the nature of human expertise
in supporting this kind of work is striking, and ripe for further exploration. (Hyper)Media Literacy
As an extension
of new media literacy initiatives, we have been developing a language
for researchers and practitioners to describe phenomena as a group engages
in the intentional construction of a coherent media artifact, with particular
in interest in how hypermedia functionality can scaffold the discourse,
and the skillset of a practitioner who serves the group with a mix of
technical, facilitative, improvisational and aesthetic acts [3]. In this workshop
we look at a special case of participatory media: creating and shaping
a hypermedia artifact in real-time, live group sessions. We believe actively
shaped participatory hypermedia can be a major force within the larger
participatory media movement. We invite you to explore this area, contribute
your insights and research perspectives, and help expand this promising
avenue of inquiry. Constructing
participatory hypermedia artifacts on the fly requires a special set
of concepts, structures, and skills. This workshop will collect and
share experiences, frameworks, and technologies centered on the phenomenon
of synchronous participatory hypermedia construction. We are interested
in identifying theoretical and practical considerations unique to shared,
real-time construction of hypermedia artifacts. Workshop Structure
We will start
the workshop by involving all participants in planning and conducting
a hands-on participatory hypermedia authoring session. This will then
be used as a basis for reflection on the issues and considerations involved
in such activities, which include (but are not limited to) the following: Following the
hands-on experience, we will spend the remainder of the day analyzing
the event from the research and theoretical perspectives of the attendees. Submissions
We invite 2-5
page position papers from people interested in this phenomenon. Participation
is especially sought from those concerned with researching, planning,
facilitating, participating in, or constructing tools for participatory
(hyper)media events. Participants welcomed from artistic, entertainment,
business, academic, government and other contexts where live shared
hypermedia events have been carried out, are planned, or are being considered. Authors must
submit an electronic copy (in Word or pdf) of their position paper directly
to the organizing committee via email before
March 22, 2008, and will be notified about acceptance by April 15, 2008.
Camera-ready copy of accepted papers will be due by April 30, 2008. Papers
should be minimum of 2 pages, maximum 5 pages when printed using the
official ACM templates (http://www.acm.org/sigs/pubs About the Organizers
Al Selvin and Simon Buckingham Shum
have been involved in facilitating participatory hypermedia creation
and developing software to support such work since the early 1990s.
For this workshop, they will draw on their experience with such approaches
as Compendium [4], Cohere [5], and the research areas grouped under
the Hypermedia Discourse program [6] as well as broad experience in
community, business, academic, and government venues to involve workshop
attendees in exploring participatory hypermedia and helping to define
the research agenda. The proposed workshop extends the Hypertext Augmented
Collaborative Modeling workshop held at Hypertext 2002 [7] as well as
numerous Compendium Institute workshops, such as the 2007 workshop held
at NASA Ames [8]. References
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