Welcome to the first of the regular publication of a newsletter about Institute for New Media Studies
activities, sponsored events, and other news items of interest to the INMS community. In an INMS Advisory Board meeting in July one of the suggestions was more routine distribution of information about the Institute – this is our answer to that. The INMS Update will be distributed to our email list on the last workday of each month. In it we will review the events of the month and preview upcoming events. We will provide status reports on INMS projects and announcements of new initiatives. We hope this will help keep you “in the loop” about the Institute.

AUGUST REPORT
We finished publication of the Institute’s Three-Year Review. The 36 page document details the activities and accomplishments of the Institute’s first three years. We will be distributing copies to the INMS community but if you would like to make sure you receive a copy, please contact Brandy Lietz Chaffee at blietz@umn.edu. A .pdf version is available on the INMS website.

Work on the Game Research and Virtual Environment Laboratory project progressed. Digital Technology Center Director Andrew Odlyzko, INMS Director Nora Paul, and GRAVEL inspirer Larry Lamb went on a fund-raising mission to engineers and leaders at Imation. CompSci graduate Gary Dahl was hired to develop resources for the GRAVEL website. GRAVEL coordinating committee members Pete Border, from Physics, and Sue Chu, from Design, Housing and Apparel, will be meeting with Paul to develop the GRAVEL grant guidelines. Project ideas and new initiatives for building up interest and support of the Game Research and Virtual Environment Lab are coming in and will increase as the new school year starts. For more information about GRAVEL – go to www.inms.umn.edu/gravel

Graduate Administrative Assistant Amy Lauters was kept busy putting the finishing touches on the New Research for New Media Symposium which will be on Sept. 4-6. She worked closely with INMS Director Nora Paul and Program Associate Brandy Lietz Chaffee in finalizing the program, communicating with presenters and participants, compiling bios, and coordinating the meeting spaces and nourishment for attendees.

INMS Director Nora Paul spent two days in Denver judging the Society for News Design’s SND.ies award for online journalism. On September 6, the day the SND awards are announced, look for the Poynter.org column by Steve Outing on the judges’ reactions to the entries.

Say goodbye to: and hello to:

As part of the School of Journalism and Mass Communication's new branding campaign, the Institute has a new logo, made from elements combined out of the SJMC new logo:



The school’s effort to provide consistent branding across all its centers and activities is a good one. We hope you will soon recognize the INMS mating kiosks symbol on all our materials.

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UPCOMING SEPTEMBER EVENTS

New Research for New Media Symposium: September 4-6, 2003
How can traditional research methods be applied to the examination of new communication and new media questions? How can new technologies and new communication techniques be used as methods for traditional research areas? On September 4-6, the Institute for New Media Studies is hosting 50 researchers from 33 institutions representing 11different academic disciplines to address those questions. Nine invited presenters will give papers detailing a research method they have recently employed and discuss the questions raised in application of the method. The symposium participants will discuss, in small groups, the implications and opportunities for researchers in using these methods. The outcome will be a set of questions, issues, and next steps needed for further examination of emerging research methods. In addition to the presentations, there will be a poster session by participants wishing to discuss their own research, and a panel by research equipment vendors to get feedback on improving their products. Laura Gurak, director of the UM Department of Rhetoric and co-director of the Internet Studies Center, will give the keynote at the opening reception at the Weisman Art Museum. New and returning SJMC graduate students are invited to meet and mingle with the researchers at the dinner event on September 5. Information about the seminar, speakers, and attendees can be found at http://www.inms.umn.edu/convenings/newresearch/main.htm

New Media Research Breakfast: September 10, 8-9:30 a.m.
(yes, a.m.) Murphy Hall
The New Media Research Breakfast series will kickoff its 2003-2004 series with the hot topic of blogs. The Research Breakfast series is a bi-monthly lecture and discussion of an interesting new research project by UM students or faculty, practitioners, or, in the case of our first of the 2003-2004 school year, an outside scholar. Christine Boese has her Ph.D. in Rhetoric from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and she is currently a researcher at CNN in Atlanta. She will be discussing: “Weblogs: The Spirit of Paulo Friere in Klogland..." Join us on Wednesday, September 10, 8– 9:30 A.M. at SJMC Conference Center for a hot breakfast and interesting discussion. Future Research Breakfasts will be held in November, January, March, and May. For more information about the New Media Research Breakfast series go to: http://www.inms.umn.edu/convenings/researchbreakfast/breakfasts.html
If you would like to attend, please RSVP by Sept. 8 to Brandy Lietz Chaffee blietz@umn.edu

Emerging Digerati – The Movie: September 22, 6:00 – 7:30 p.m.,
Weisman Art Museum

Emerging Digerati – The Series: October 6, 6:00 – 7:30 p.m.,
Weisman Art Museum
All over campus there are faculty and students exploring new ways of using new media and new technologies in their work. Emerging Digerati showcases that work in monthly demonstrations and discussions. Come see what last year’s Digerati did in a showing of Cheryl Wilgren Clyne’s documentary on September 22 and then join us for the first of the 2003-2004 Digerati Series on October 6. All of the sessions are held with the support of the Weisman Art Musuem. This year’s series will be co-coordinated with Lynn Lukkas of the UM Art Department. Digerati sessions are the First Monday of the Months of October, November, December, February, March, and April. For more information and links to previous presentations, see http://www.inms.umn.edu/digerati/
We hope to see you on Sept. 22 and/or Oct. 6!

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NEWS AND UPDATES

INMS to Co-sponsor Dayparting Survey with MORI Research
The INMS will be co-sponsoring a follow-up study to MORI’s groundbreaking dayparting survey. The original dayparting work (http://www.moriresearch.com/news/articles/dayparts_0103.html) has resulted in changes in some online news organizations’ production and design to take advantage of the better understanding of online media behavior the study provided. This partnership with MORI will reap a variety of benefits for the Institute for New Media Studies:

• Branding as the underwriter of the Daypart 2.0 study on all presentation materials, public speeches, and published materials.
• Access to all national data and aggregate proprietary data to share with students and colleagues for use in additional projects and studies.
• Availability of MORI’s senior staff for presentations at INMS events concerning the study.

Initial findings should be available by the end of the year.

INMS Grants Program
The INMS will be offering two different grant programs this Fall. The INMS grants will be awarded to projects that explore new media and new communications issues in a cross-disciplinary approach. The GRAVEL grants will be for projects involving exploration of the digital game environment that can, through the seed grant funds, grow into a larger proposal to an outside funding agency. Guidelines for both grant programs are being developed and information about them will be available on the INMS website. In addition, look for announcements about grant deadlines. If you would like to discuss a proposal idea, please contact Nora Paul, INMS Director, at npaul@umn.edu or 612-624-8593.

Norwegian Trade Press Editors to Visit
In early October, a group of Norwegian Trade Press Editors will visit the University of Minnesota campus for a three day long INMS workshop on challenges in this era of multi-channel delivery of publications. They will do an assessment of their current, and desired, situations; hear from regional trade press publishers on their multi-channel delivery strategies; see a presentation of a digital data management system and discuss methods for better understanding of their audience’s media consumption with Rusty Coats, MORI Research new media director. Field trips to MSP Communications, Popular Front, and the Utne Reader will provide on-site examination and discussion of new techniques for the publications. The group’s coordinator, Bjorn Ottersen, is a media consultant and former co-director of the Norwegian Journalism Institute. Last year he brought over a group of newspaper editors from Norway and we look forward to this next “Norwegian Invasion.”

INMS Welcomes Our New Graduate Assistant, Julie Jones
Julie Jones made the bold move from Phoenix, Arizona to Minneapolis to join the School of Journalism and Mass Communication’s Ph.D. program. And we’re glad she did. Julie will be the INMS Graduate Assistant this fall. Her work in studying alternative ways to present video information online and better understand the effects of different presentation methods fits in well with the Institute’s research into digital storytelling. Her background as a television photojournalist gives her a practical foundation to the academic research she will be doing here. For the Institute, she will be working on a booklet about the Elements of Digital Storytelling as well as research into story forms. Please join us in welcoming Julie.

SJMC Welcomes a New Class of Masters and Ph.D. Candidates
This year’s incoming class of Masters and Ph.D. candidates includes both native Minnesotans and students from a wide variety of countries. Their interests reflect this diversity of backgrounds. In even the brief opportunity to meet the new students during orientation it was clear that interest in new media was high. Lunchtime discussions with new Ph.D. students Itai Himelboim, from Israel, and William Yimbo, from Kenya, showed not only their deep understanding of new media issues, but the kind of inquiring mind that is the hallmark of a great student body. We in the INMS are looking forward to working with the incoming class, and returning, graduate students.

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Save These Dates:

New Media Research Breakfast:
Sept. 10, 8:00-9:30
SJMC Conference Center

Upcoming Breakfasts will be held in November, January, March and May

Emerging Digerati – the Movie:
Sept. 22, 6:00-7:30
Weisman Art Museum

Emerging Digerati – the Series:
Oct. 6, 6:00-7:30
Weisman Art Museum

Upcoming Digerati Dates:
Nov.3, 6:00-7:30
Weisman Art Museum

Dec.1, 6:00-7:30
Weisman Art Museum

Feb.2, 6:00-7:30
Weisman Art Museum

Mar.1, 6:00-7:30
Weisman Art Museum

Apr.5, 6:00-7:30
Weisman Art Museum

UM Web Links:

Institute for New Media Studies

School of Journalism
and Mass Communication

College of Liberal Arts

University of Minnesota

Links Mentioned:

Emerging Digerati

New Research for New Media

New Media Research Breakfasts

Poynter.org

GRAVEL

MORI Research Dayparting Project

INMS Grants

Weisman Art Museum

Society for News Design

Internet Studies Center

Digital Technology Center

Elements of Digital Storytelling