ITV

Tag: Social sciences

  • Get set for an International Conference on Digital Libraries

    Get set for an International Conference on Digital Libraries

    MUMBAI: Wouldn’t it be really good if all the knowledge from across the world can be accessed from one place? That is what a recent initiative by The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) aims to do. TERI is organising the International Conference on Digital Libraries (ICDL) from 27-29 November 2013 at the India Habitat Centre, New Delhi.

     

    The ICDL 2013 is titled “Vision 2020: Looking back 10 years and Forging New Frontiers” and will review the developments in the past and chalk out a strategy for the future. In addition to conference sessions, thematic workshop-cum-panel discussions are planned to provide a deeper meaning to the theme of the conference.

     

    The objective of the conference is to focus on the creation, adoption, implementation, and utilisation of Digital Library (DL) and their future implications. It also aims to provide an international forum for sharing of experiences among researchers, educators, practitioners, and policy makers from a variety of disciplines such as library and information science, information and communication technology, archival and museum studies, knowledge management and many areas in the fields of Science, Social sciences and Humanities.

     

    Some of the eminent speakers who will be attending the conference include Ian Witten, Professor, Computer Science, University of Waikato, New Zealand; P Anandan, Managing Director, Microsoft Research India, India; Jagdish Arora, Director, INFLIBNET, India; Jean-Marc Comment, Chef d’unité, Département fédéral de l’Intérieur, Archives fédérales AF Unité des techniques de l’information Archivstrasse, Switzerland; Yan Quan Liu, Professor, Southern Connecticut State University, USA; A R D Prasad, Professor and Head, DRTC, Indian Statistical Institute, India; Chunxiao Xing, Professor & Director, WEB and Software Technology, R&D Center, RIIT, Tsinghua University, ChinaR&D Center, RIIT, Tsinghua University, China and A R D Prasad, Professor and Head, DRTC, Indian Statistical Institute, India among others.

  • Boredom and amusement lead most to use social media on Internet for cyberbullying

    Boredom and amusement lead most to use social media on Internet for cyberbullying

    NEW DELHI: Research shows that boredom and amusement are behind many incidents of cyberbullying and trolling on social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter.

    Lancaster University in the United Kingdom has said in its study that those who engage in trolling – Internet user behaviour that is meant to intentionally anger or frustrate someone else in order to provoke a response – do so for their own amusement and because they are bored.

    Dr Claire Hardaker, a linguistics expert from the University’s Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, studied almost 4,000 online cases involving claims of trolling.

    According to a report in The Independent newspaper, trolls operate out of a feeling of power, amusement, boredom and revenge and thrive on the anonymity which the internet provides, she found. The research identified seven tactics used by trolls to bombard their victims with insults and threats.

    The seven tactics include digressing from the topic at hand, especially onto sensitive topics, and hypocriticising – pedantic criticism of grammar, spelling or punctuation in a post which itself contains proof-reading errors. Antipathising, by taking up an alienating position, asking pseudo-naive questions is another tactic used by trolls besides giving dangerous advice and encouraging risky behaviour. Trolls also employ ‘shock strategy’ by being insensitive about sensitive topics, explicit about taboo topics, etc. They also provoke others by insulting or threatening them.

    They may cross-post – sending the same offensive or provocative message to multiple groups then waiting for the response. “Aggression, deception and manipulation are increasingly part of online interaction, yet many users are unaware not only that some of these behaviours exist, but of how destructive and insidious they can be,” Hardaker said. She also found that while trolling is associated with the young, trolls come from all ages and backgrounds.

    “An incredible amount of time and strategy can be involved in trolling, as my research into the techniques they use highlights,” she said. She warned that trolling can in some cases develop into more serious behaviour, including cyberharassment and cyberstalking.