Runaway Objects: Preserving our Digital Belongings

by Dr Catherine Howell

Overview

As digital and networked technologies increasingly permeate every dimension of social and personal life, we acquire more and more personal 'digital belongings', or artifacts. Such digital belongings may operate as part of our identity in complex ways. They can include discrete digital objects or content (such as images or audio), networked objects (such as online profiles, avatars, and blogs), and identity management tools (such as account names and passwords).

This workshop will invite participants to consider key questions pertaining to personal digital belongings and personal archiving practices, and their relationship to wider technological, cultural, and social issues.

How do we manage our digital belongings, on- and offline? What are the stakes involved? How do we balance the practice of 'risky' behaviours with factors such as convenience and ease of use?

Participants will be introduced to a repertoire of relevant research techniques and will develop scalable research plans to further investigate this area.

Aims and Objectives

This workshop is aimed particularly at new researchers. Participants will be introduced to a set of advanced research techniques, and will be invited to consider how they might apply these to the conduct of a small-scale action research project within their own institution. The wider intended outcome is to contribute towards research capacity building within the professional community.

Workshop participants will gain:

* An overview of issues pertaining to personal digital belongings and personal archiving practices;
* Understanding of relevant technological developments and issues, including password management systems, user authentication, and OpenID;
* Hands-on experience with innovative research instruments and tools designed to elicit user requirements in this area;
* Feedback on how to develop their ideas into concrete action research projects.

Structure

1. Welcome
Informal welcome and brief ice-breaker activity.

2. Introduction
The workshop will commence with a brief overview of the field and relevant issues. This will lead directly to an introduction to relevant research techniques, including think-alouds, photo elicitation, and time analysis.

3. Discussion
Participants will be invited to form small groups (of approx. 4 - 8), choose a topic for discussion, and then to consider how they might start to investigate their area of interest using one or more of the research techniques described.

Topics will include:

- 'De-Flickring': When, and how, do individuals decide to restrict access to their personal digital belongings?
- Online Identities and Proprietary Spaces: What are some of the implications of institutions choosing to outsource key systems for the management of personal information?
- Public Discourse and Moral Panic: How does the media (including online media) impact on our perceptions of risk?

4. Reporting and Feedback
Each group will then report on their findings, with opportunities to give and receive feedback. Collectively, the reports will form a set of informal outlines or guidelines for a series of complementary, innovative action research projects. This resource will subsequently be made available online to all conference participants.

5. Summary and Close
After a brief summary from the convenor, the workshop will close, with thanks to all participants.

ID Number: 1227

Date: Wednesday, 5th September 2007

Time: 0900

Location: Law and Social Sciences Building, Room A4

Theme: Learning technology for the social network generation