Goodchild, M.F. 2007. "Citizens as Sensors: The World of Volunteered Geography" Geo Journal 69:211-221.

The article discusses a recent phenomenon: explosion of interest in using Internet technologies to collect and analyse geographic information. Goodchild introduces and describes the term, volunteered geographic information (VGI), talks about its compoments. The author also seeks to explain the driving factors behind VGI and citizen scientist movement. Goodchild argues that humans are best sensors of biological and ecological change. The author concludes that although with some limitations, VGI is a valuable source of geographical data.

world. Nature 439: 776–778.

The stage for the discussion is set by the description of a project that allows visitors to track movement of walruses though the Google Earth technology. The ability to of Google Earth to zoom and move though the imagery of the planet with ease is the main source of curiocity for the lay public (p 777). The ease of creating spacial data is the main reason why scientists are increasingly embrassing this technology (p 777). It is also become a tool for generating and testing scientific hyotheses. Finally, it is a powerful tool for public engagement. The author argues that easy visualization tools like Google Earth may change the balance of power in public debates on climate change (p. 778).

Kanellis, P., & Papadopoulos, T. (2009). Conducting research in information systems: An epistemological journey. US: doi:10.4018/9781605660400.ch001

in http://www.infosci-books.com/downloadPDF/encyclopedias/IGR26383_dDMEOWb5D9.pdf

http://www.springerlink.com/content/7t07k21718668265/fulltext.pdf

Argument: clicking is not strongly correlated with relevance of original search (p38).

Anderson, P. (Feb 2007) What is Web 2.0? Ideas, technologies and implications in education. JISC Technology and Standards Watch.  Retrieved January 22, 2010 from, http://www.jisc.ac.uk/media/documents/techwatch/tsw0701b.pdf 

The author defines Web 2.0 as a set of technologies characterized by user-generated content, power of the crowd, data on epic scale, architecture of participation, network effects and openness. The new features of Web 2.0 have implications on the Internet topologies, such as rise rise of niche applications (e.g NL Nature-RL). The article concludes with the discussion of the influnces of teh new technology on the British education system.

Network Effect and its Applications.

Network effect is a social and economic concept of added value from a new user [Anderson, 2007, p.21]. It is based on the assumption that existing members benefit from the new member joining, because a marginal member creates new point of contact for every existing one. If the site has 100 new members, a 101st will produce 100 potential connection points. Every new user reenergizes the remaining ones. This explains exponential growth of both Internet as well as Web 2.0.

NL Nature project is designed to harness and use Network Effect to maximize its growth potential. The primary application of Network Effect is in emphasizing the appearance of a new member on the front page of the website. This lets other members know that new points of contact are avaliable.

Briscoe, B., Odlyzko, A., Tilly, B. 2006. Metcalfe’s Law is wrong. IEEE Spectrum. July 2006.
Retrieved January 25, 2010 from: http://spectrum.ieee.org/jul06/4109

Authors examines the famous Metcalfe's Law of theoretical Internet growth. The law states that Internet and Internet-based projects will be growing exponentially at the rate of n^2. The article argues that the observed rates are more moderate due to the fundamental principle of any human communication regardless of the media. This principle was summarized by Walden in 1854: "We are in great haste to construct a magnetic telegraph from Maine to Texas; but Maine and Texas, it may be, have nothing important to communicate." In other words, not all new connections are of equal value to the existing members of the group. The article proposes a new growth rate of approximately n*log(n), which, as it argues better reflects the imperical reality.

O'Brien, R. (2001). Um exame da abordagem metodológica da pesquisa ação [An Overview of the Methodological Approach of Action Research]. In  Roberto Richardson (Ed.), Teoria e Prática da Pesquisa Ação [Theory and Practice of Action Research]. João Pessoa, Brazil: Universidade Federal da Paraíba. (English version) Retrieved January 22, 2010 from  http://www.web.ca/~robrien/papers/arfinal.html

Article gives an overview and discusses principles of action research, - a research methodology that emphasises actionable learning. The author argues the potential for this research methodology in the field of information systems is promising.

Komarkova J., Ondrej V., Martin N. (2007). Heuristic Evaluation of Usability of GeoWeb Sites. Web and Wireless Geographical Information Systems: 7th International Symposium, W2GIS 2007, Cardiff, UK, November 28-29, 2007, Proceedings (Lecture Notes ... Applications, incl. Internet/Web, and HCI) (1 ed., pp. 264-278). New York: Springer. Retrieved January 22, 2010 from  http://www.springerlink.com/content/b3177r34j105v281/fulltext.pdf

Article argues that customized geoweb projects are filling the gap produced by GIS software due to its complicated user interface, expensive licencing, limitation to desktop environment and proprietary data formats (p. 265). The geoweb interface should be designed with a strong focus on the target user, and should be "visually balanced, enough contrast,typographically correct, readable, and using familiar presentations" (p. 266). The authors also recommend placing visual attention on the actual map as well as clearly show the scale and the pole arrows (p. 271). The article recommends periodic usibility testing and usibility inquiries.

Hudson-Smith, A. and Crooks, A. (2008). The Renaissance of Geographic Information: Neogeography, Gaming and Second Life. UCL Working papers series. Paper 142 – Aug 08. Retrieved January 22, 2010 from http://www.casa.ucl.ac.uk/working_papers/paper142.pdf

The article examine the causes for the recent increased popularity of Google Earth and similar Web 2.0 projects. These initiatives gave birth to a new field, neogeography, a term coined by Eisnor in 2006. Data visualization is a component of neogeography which aims at representing geo data for easier comprehension and analysis. The article points out several notable geovisualization projects, and concludes that the new approach to datacollection and representation opens a "cornucopia of possibilities."

The article discussed methods of assigning textual names to geocoordinates. The problem can be stated as "Given a set of diverse geographic coordi- nates, find a textual name that describes them best" (p. 419). It is often nessesary or useful to present geocoordinates as text data. Text is easier to read and analyse for both humans and computers. The article suggests creating a NameSet, a set of names which are tagged to areas of the map, which is within the scope of the project (p. 412). Once a photo is being uploaded by users, the algorythm will attempt to tag it's coordinates to the nearest area (city, national park, river), and assign tag names to it. The article concludes that a NameSet system can have a broad range of industrial applications.   

Naaman, M., Song, Y. J., Paepcke, A., & Garcia-Molina, H. (2006). Assigning textual names to sets of geographic coordinates. Computers, Environment and Urban Systems, 30(4), 418-435. doi:DOI: 10.1016/j.compenvurbsys.2006.02.001