[re-search] Initiative "Society of the Query" / YOUR projects on search

[astrid mager]

dear rené, dear list,

it's great to hear that the "society of the query" will be revived!!! & 
i'm happy to share my project via this mailing list/ the blog :)
i'm looking forward to hearing more about other projects/ work in the 
field of search! - especially from a european perspective!

all the best from vienna, astrid


*project title & summary : *

Glocal Search. Search technology at the intersection of global 
capitalism and local socio-political cultures

Just recently, Google was heavily debated in public discourses due to 
its modified Privacy Policy and Terms of Service. If that was a result 
of increased transparency or PR should be left open at this point. What 
consequences these changes, effective from March 2012 onwards, trigger 
on a global and on a local level is a central part of the project 
"Glocal Search".

As the title of the project indicates, the central goal of the study is 
a critical analysis of universal search engines at the intersection of 
the globalinformation economy and localsocio-political structures. 
Google's changes of its Privacy Policy and Terms of Service, 
communicated to users via email, perfectly exemplify these tensions. 
Since March 1, 2012, Google officially aggregates and combines all user 
data, generated through different Google services including Google 
Search, Google Maps, Google Mail, YouTube, the social network Google+, 
etc. The interlinking of data from such heterogeneous services enables 
Google to generate comprehensive user profiles, which trigger a range of 
"glocal" implications, such as enhanced personalization and localization 
of search results, optimization of user-targeted advertising, as well as 
violations of data protection and questions of regulation. Concretely, 
these tensions are analyzed on a political (data collection, law, 
regulation etc.), on an economic (monopoly formation, IT industry, 
advertising networks etc.), and on a cultural level (privacy, identity, 
informational self-determination etc.). Google is at the center of the 
project due to its wide distribution and use, not least in Austria, but 
other search engines are also dealt with.

Conducting media- and policy-analyses, as well as qualitative expert 
interviews the project examines how Google & co. are negotiated in the 
Austrian context, and what role media, politics, law, economy, net 
activists, data protectionists, civil society, and users can/ should 
play. Moreover, EU directives and German initiatives like the Enquete 
Commission "Internet and Digital Society" of the German Bundestag, are 
examined since they heavily influence Austrian developments. 
Theoretically, the project combines concepts from Science and Technology 
Studies, Critical Theory, and Technology Assessment. Project results 
will be presented to the international academic community in form of 
publications and presentations, but will also serve as a basis for 
specific options for action directed at various stakeholders.

The research project is funded bytheJubiläumsfonds of the 
Oesterreichische Nationalbank (OeNB, project number 14702).

*disciplines:* science & technology studies, technology assessment, 
critical new media studies, critical theory, political economy of search 
engines

*involved researchers:* dr. astrid mager

*time frame:* 01.03.2012 - 30.06.2015

*websites: *

http://www.astridmager.net
http://www.oeaw.ac.at/ita/ebene3/e2-4a.htm#AM

Am 12.09.12 17:02, schrieb René König:
> Dear list,
>
> Geert Lovink and I are currently reviving the initiative "Society of 
> the Query" at the Institute of Network Cultures (read more here: 
> http://networkcultures.org/wpmu/re-search/2012/09/10/society-of-the-query-returns/). 
>
> In the first phase, we simply want to find out what´s "hot" in the 
> field of search engine research. Therefore we´d love to learn more 
> about your work in this field. I was thinking about a blog post which 
> lists relevant projects, e.g. in the format:
>
> Project name
>
> Time frame
>
> Disciplines
>
> Involved researchers
>
> Website
>
> Description
>
>
> Even if you don´t have an entire project on search engines, we´d be 
> interested in your relation to the topic and what you personally 
> regard as an important topic to discuss. Feel free to write to the 
> entire list (I think it would be good for all of us to get to know 
> each others work) or just to me.
> Hope to hear from you soon!
>
> Best,
>
> René
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> re-search mailing list
> re-search at listcultures.org
> http://listcultures.org/mailman/listinfo/re-search_listcultures.org

-- 
Dr. Astrid Mager

Institute of Technology Assessment (ITA)
Austrian Academy of Sciences
A-1030 Vienna, Strohgasse 45/5
astrid.mager at oeaw.ac.at

http://www.oeaw.ac.at/ita/ebene3/d2-4a.htm#AM
http://www.astridmager.net

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