Norway chronicles, Day 13
It is quite amazing what can happen by way of electronic media. Not long ago my colleague Charlie Breindahl suggested me for a position in the executive commitee of A.o.I.R (Association of Internet Researchers). Out of courtesy and interest, I agreed and uploaded a short bio to their webpage through which also the election of the commitee took place. And most unexpectedly, last Friday I was informed that I had been elected for the commitee (i.e. the open seat for graduates). So I am now member of a commitee of which I have only seen very few faces in RL. Still, I feel I know most of them from the postings of the A.i.R. list...so they are, however, not "unfamiliar" faces. The commitee had a physical meeting this Saturday at the Internet Research 2.0 conference in Minneapolis - both I and another researcher could not participate - he in Asia and I here - but still we contributed to the agenda by sending mails with comments to it. It is occasions like this which still makes me stand back and marvel at what the Internet can actually do for you in terms of academic co-operation and development across borders. I think of my father, who in his own field (he was a vet) also co-operated a lot with colleagues outside of Denmark. But he could only do it by phone or written letters - or the occasional live conference. If he was alive today, I know he would be envious :), but also happily embracing these new opportunities himself. It is strange to think how far we have come in less than one generation.
# posted by Lisbeth at: 13:28