Digital Communication Environment Research Articles

The glorious jubilee of Rujero Sergeevich Gilyarevsky

The author offers the brief biographical information on Rujero Sergeevich Gilyarevsky whose 90-th anniversary is celebrated. She reviews the main stages of his academic and pedagogical career, in particular, his scholarly works, his two theses studies (candidate’s and doctoral), numerous publications that have been contributing to the librarianship, library and information sciences. The author emphasizes the scope of Gilyarevsky’s professional interests and retraces expanding of the subject scope of his publications – from catalog structuring (1954) to cloud technologies, information management and scientometrics. Rujero Gilyarevsky analyzes the problems of the libraries (and e-libraries, in particular), their future, professional values of the librarians within the digital communication environment, bibliography as an element of information culture. R. Gilyarevsky has complete mastery of several foreign languages. The selected bibliography of R. Gilarevsky’s publications, including those co-authored by his colleagues, is appended.

Влияние технологий интернет-коммуникаций на современные общественно-политические процессы: сценарии, вызовы и акторы

В статье рассматривается влияние технологических трансформаций в сфере интернет-коммуникаций на общественно-политические процессы. Автор обосновывает положение, что технологические изменения в цифровой информационно-коммуникационной среде имеют ярко выраженные социальные и общественно-политические эффекты, а также непосредственным образом влияют на форматы взаимодействия государственных институтов власти и общественных групп. В работе показано, что сетевые сообщества в ряде случаев могут превращаться в виртуальные институты воздействия на власть, которые за счет своей информационно-коммуникационной активности в интернет-пространстве способны успешно агрегировать и артикулировать интересы своих сторонников, а также влиять на общественно-политическую повестку в целом. Автор делает вывод о существенных различиях традиционного пространства массовых коммуникаций и пространства социальных медиа, что позволяет констатировать переход от традиционного феномена массы к феномену множества социально дифференцированных сетевых сообществ, а также возникающих на их основе локальных гиперсообществ. Также в статье поднимается проблема формирования общества цифрового паноптикума, в рамках которого политический контроль над гражданами осуществляется со стороны политических элит на основе использования сбора и анализа цифровых следов пользователей в сетевом пространстве, а также создания персональных информационных капсул, учитывающих субъективные особенности конечных реципиентов, что позволяет формировать значительный манипулятивный потенциал в сфере общественно-политических коммуникаций. По итогам проведенного исследования в работе делается заключение о возможных рисках существенной дифференциации различных общественных групп в разрезе структуры их информационного потребления и формирования принципиально различных по своему смысловому наполнению моделей социально-политической реальности.
 Благодарность. Исследование выполнено при финансовой поддержке РФФИ и АНО ЭИСИ в рамках научного проекта № 19-011-31335

Joint Data Hiding and Compression Scheme Based on Modified BTC and Image Inpainting

Seamlessly integrating image compression technique and secret data hiding technique into a single procedure for security and efficient data transmission is a novel research issue in modern, decentralized digital communication environments. The first joint data hiding and compression (JDHC) scheme on block truncation coding (BTC) compression domain is presented in this paper. In the compressing and embedding procedure, for the complex blocks, modified block truncation coding (MBTC) is utilized to embed secret data and compress blocks simultaneously, while further controlling the visual distortion that is caused during data embedding. For the smooth blocks, according to the current embedding bit, either image inpainting or block search order coding (BSOC) is used to embed secret data and compress blocks simultaneously with maintaining acceptable compression performance. According to the image compression codes that are provided as output, image decompression and secret bits extraction procedures can be conducted simultaneously. Experimental results indicate that outstanding compression bit rate can be achieved by the proposed JDHC scheme with satisfactory visual quality and hiding capacity.

Race, ethnicity, and telecommunications policy issues of access and representation: Centering communities of color and their concerns

This paper examines how and why activist groups representing marginalized communities of color are increasingly engaging in communications technology policy issues, particularly in relation to issues of digital access and representation. It explores three distinct but related case studies to disentangle the issues and concerns of a range of communities of color, and the challenges and opportunities for their advocates in navigating the highly technical communications technology policy arena: the first case study, which centers on the NAACP's original opposition to net neutrality, reveals the primacy of issues surrounding the “digital divide” to populations of color, and the difficulties of engaging in technical conversations surrounding Internet governance when issues of access persist. Meanwhile, the second case reviews the campaign by Free Press to promote set-top box liberalization as an issue of representation and diversity to both policymakers and citizens. The final case, which examines the work of the Tribal International Carrier to build an alternative internet service network for Native populations, highlights the precarity which organizations must strategically navigate in order to mitigate the influence of both the state and large corporations over Internet policy issues in order to both serve and represent their constituents. In all, this paper presents and extends upon a novel approach to communications policy research, foregrounding the need to integrate critical race frameworks and, relatedly, to center the breadth, depth, and lived experiences of communities of color, which can therein facilitate more inclusive digital media and communication environments and policy structures.

Achieving Strategic Digital Integration: Views From Experienced New York City Advertising Agency Professionals

The advertising agency environment is changing and requires agencies to deal with many communications opportunities in emerging platforms. Many concepts from IMC (e.g., the importance of data-driven targeting and integrated communication across disciplinary boundaries) have carried forward to the digital era. While academic literature has begun to examine the impact of digital technology on communication practice, the function of traditional full-service advertising agencies within the digital, social, and experiential communication environment remains under-examined. This study employs a qualitative paradigmatic perspective to address the following research question: What are experiences with and perceptions of strategic digital integration among veteran advertising professionals who work in New York City full-service agencies? Eighteen advertising agency professionals who held supervisory positions were interviewed to gain a longer-term perspective on experiences with strategic digital integration. All participants were employees of major, full-service NYC advertising agencies as they would likely work with sophisticated national and multi-national marketers. Three key insights emerged from data collection: (1) planning departments are changing, (2) there are many opportunities and threats to strategic digital integration, and (3) the continued importance of the “big idea” as the heart of the advertising business. Overall, participants from the NYC agencies do not suggest that advertising is dying, rather they portray it as an evolving industry leveraging the new promises of digital platforms through better strategic integration.

Digital media and cultural institutions in Russia: online magazines as aggregates of cultural services

ABSTRACTFocusing on online magazines, this article sheds light on Russian cultural institutions from the perspective of digital media. My analysis concentrates on urban lifestyle magazines, a sub-category of consumer magazines and a media genre, which emerged in Russia in the glossy magazine format and is now experiencing a powerful ‘second rising’ on the internet. My article asks how the adaptation to the digital communication environment by lifestyle publications re-defines the very concept of a magazine and reorganizes the institutional ties between media and cultural industries. This focus enables me to analyse lifestyle magazines as a dynamic field of interaction in which cultural meanings are produced and negotiated. Based on new media studies, I see the cultural transcoding (Manovich 2002) of the networked and automatized information transmission into the magazines’ content as being a significant factor in the development of contemporary culture and media. Ultimately, my article introduces an attempt to analyse new media titles combining qualitative media analysis with the developing theory of ‘algorithmic culture’ (Striphas 2015). My argumentation is based on two case publications: Afisha, established in 1999 as a weekly glossy magazine introducing all cultural events in Moscow, and Inde, a digital-born regional lifestyle magazine focusing on urban culture in the Republic of Tatarstan. Urban lifestyle magazines are important for the institutional organization of Russian culture, as they direct their readers’ attention to a broad selection of arts, products and events; strengthen the link between consumers and cultural entrepreneurs and build on a long tradition of print journalism, thereby transmitting the values of reading and literacy to a popular public. Moreover, my analysis shows that, through their multi-platform publication strategy, online magazines (re)organize as aggregates of digital resources helping to manage cultural decision-making in a consumerist setting.

Geographies of media and communication III: Academic communications and the digital communication environment

This third report on geographies of media and communication explores the risks associated with scholarly communications in the digital communication environment. It offers a critical interpretation...

How to Smile When They Can't See Your Face:

This article suggests IM instant message and SMS short message service reference strategies based on the stance of rhetorical listening in an attempt to create in digital communication environments in which both patrons and reference librarians can utilize similar affordances that they might encounter in a face-to-face interactions, for instance, especially nonverbal communication. Drawing upon research in computer-mediated communication, the social sciences, and library studies, the author suggests four specific strategies for beginning implementation of rhetorical listening into IM and SMS reference: material sensitivity, syntactic mirroring, emoticon use, and professional ethos awareness.

Phenomenon of identification

This paper considers the phenomenon of identification in its development. Some mathematical models and approaches to identification are shown. The adequacy of Kolmogorov’s programmed technology and digital communication environment is shown.

Mapping 'Diversity of Participation' in Networked Media Environments

In the United States the transition to an increasingly digital communication environment under pro-market policies has challenged traditional formulations of media diversity and localism regulation centered on content origination requirements and media ownership. Building on an overview of the participatory development and media policy literatures, this paper argues for a participatory community development approach to the redefinition of these public interest policies in networked scenarios. Asking who is participating in what, and for whose benefit, I propose a diversity matrix of various modalities of community participation in key public service functions of digital information organizations. The paper discusses the advantages of this approach in response to policy concerns about cultural diversity, digital inclusion and democratic governance of local information ecosystems.

Educational technology in medical imaging education

AbstractPurpose: The emergence of digital technologies has created enthusiasm for their application to student learning. An evolving issue in medical imaging is how these technologies might be implemented within programs. Methods: A review of the literature was performed to explore applications and issues of educational technology in medical imaging Results: There are a range of applications for educational technology within medical imaging education however limitations do exist. Learners must be supported by the development of skills to utilise education technologies. The digital picture archival and communication environment presents an ideal opportunity to enhance student learning through interaction and engagement with images. Implementation of education technologies to support student placement activities is an area for future development provided equity of access is addressed. Conclusion: Education technologies have specific application to medical imaging education as part of a blended curriculum.

Ética de la participación ciudadana en los discursos periodísticos digitales

The journalism profession is facing a new digital communication environment in which traditional information flows, emanating from the media to the general public unidirectionally, are reversed under the new channels of participation and influence that audiences, which are active and dynamic on the network, use to take part in shaping public opinion. In this paperwe describe and analyze some of the citizens’ information practices and the ethical dilemmas posed about journalism and the right to information.

A Study on the Makeup Trend of Digital Communication Environment

The purpose of this study is to make theoretical examinations into the makeup trend shown in digital communication environment and thereby determine potential associations of makeup trend with digital communication environment and characterize said trend, so that it can provide reference materials required for follow-up studies. This study comes to the following findings: First, it is found that there are sociocultural characteristics of digital communication environment, such as interactivity, technology-orientedness, sentiment-orientedness and mixture of time and space. Secondly, it is found that trends developed in makeup fall categorically into interactivity, virtuality, amusement and mobility. Thirdly, it is found that each type of digital communication adopts a mixture and juxtaposition of contemporary styles or categories with traditional ones through eclectic combination based on open-minded and horizontal ideas. Fourthly, it is found that a trend from digital communication environment doesn't coincide perfectly with any makeup trend, but the former trend works interactively and organically with the latter trend on the basis of homogeneity and similarity within a general framework that represents external esthetics of human being. With the creation of digital communication environment, our contemporary society forms as the complex phenomena of digital society in a combination and destruction of different categories beyond any certain international boundary, so that a hybrid tendency appears in contemporary makeup trend as well. Based on these findings, this study has its implications in the sense that it gives a new viewpoint based on design, formative characteristics and expression styles of makeup, and also provides useful reference materials for related industrial sectors.

Shrek Meets Vygotsky: Rethinking Adolescents' Multimodal Literacy Practices in Schools

Recent research has emphasized the multimodal and digital nature of adolescent literacy practices. These practices cross multiple social spaces, particularly settings outside of schools. This article re‐examines current research to yield three caveats that counter assumptions about the pervasiveness, relevance, and spontaneity of youths' multimodal practices in the digital communications environment: (1) It is incorrect to assume that today's adolescents are all “digital natives” (2) Engaging adolescents in multimodal textual practices must involve more than conforming the curriculum to their interests and practices—it should extend students' repertoire of skills and genres; and (3) Although some new multimodal practices are taken up by adolescents with minimal instruction in informal contexts, greater emphasis should be placed on expert scaffolding of these literacies in school settings.

Digital Cities and Open MANs: A New Communications Paradigm

Digital cities can be defined as a highly interactive digital communication environment built to mimic the behavior of real cities. Open access metropolitan area networks (Open MANs) are communication networks built to allow universal access of city's population to a single digital multimedia communication network. The goal of this paper is to discuss the impact in the community when delivering digital cities solutions upon the universal access scenario of the Open MANs. We also present results obtained of deployment of such solutions in some Brazilian cities and the perspectives for this project in Brasil in the coming years.

The Electronic Landscape of Journal Editing:Computers and Compositionas a Scholarly Collective

In their introduction to the collection Multimodal Composition, Pamela Takayoshi and Cynthia Selfe assert that “[i]f composition instruction is to remain relevant, the definition of ‘composition’ and ‘texts’ needs to grow and change to reflect people’s literacy practices in new digital communication environments” (3). Although Takayoshi and Selfe are emphasizing undergraduate instruction, a parallel argument applies to journal editors in English studies and beyond: as scholars heed the call, they require contexts that enable rather than constrain scholarship about teaching and researching in digital environments. Certainly, the desire to create such an intellectual community was behind the development of Computers and Composition in 1983, originally edited by Cynthia Selfe and Kate Kiefer and since 1988 by Gail Hawisher and Selfe. Twenty-some years later, Computers and Composition is an international journal with both print and online components, supported by a strong cohort of digital literacy and composition scholars

감성캐릭터의 감정표현 기술의 사례분석

오늘날 디지털 기반 커뮤니케이션 환경 속의 사용자들은 상호작용이 가능한 커뮤니케이션을 원하게 되면서, 사용자 중심의 감정표현 도구를 개발할 필요성이 대두되고 있다. 본 연구는 실시간으로 변화하는 개인화된 감정표현이 가능한 감성캐릭터를 개발하기 위한 목적을 가진 기초연구이다. 이를 위해 현재 얼굴표정을 중심으로 감정을 표현하는 기술이 어떻게 구현되고 있는지 국내외 연구동향 및 감성캐릭터를 사용한 다양한 서비스 사례분석을 통해 향후 감성캐릭터의 개발 방향을 제시해보고자 한다. As interactivity is becoming one of the key success factors in today's digital communication environment, increasing emphasis is being placed on technologies for user-oriented emotion expression. We aim for development of enabling technologies for creation of emotional characters who can express personalized emotions in real-time. In this paper, we conduct a survey on domestic and international researches and case studies for emotional characters with a focus on facial expression. The survey result is believed to have its meaning as a guideline for future research direction.

When a Talking-Face Computer Agent is Half-Human and Half-Humanoid: Human Identity and Consistency Preference

Computer-generated anthropomorphic characters are a growing type of communicator that is deployed in digital communication environments. An essential theoretical question is how people identify humanlike but clearly artificial, hence humanoid, entities in comparison to natural human ones. This identity categorization inquiry was approached under the framework of consistency and tested through examining inconsistency effects from mismatching categories. Study 1 (N = 80), incorporating a self-disclosure task, tested participants’ responses to a talking-face agent, which varied in four combinations of human versus humanoid faces and voices. In line with the literature on inconsistency, the pairing of a human face with a humanoid voice or a humanoid face with a human voice led to longer processing time in making judgment of the agent and less trust than the pairing of a face and a voice from either the human or the humanoid category. Female users particularly showed negative attitudes toward inconsistently paired talking faces. Study 2 (N = 80), using a task that stressed comprehension demand, replicated the inconsistency effects on judging time and females’ negative attitudes but not for comprehension-related outcomes. Voice clarity overshadowed the consistency concern for comprehension-related responses. The overall inconsistency effects suggest that people treat humanoid entities in a different category from natural human ones.

Interactive Health Communication Technologies in the Public Health Sector: Positive Perceptions Still Outpace Actual Utilization

ABSTRACT Effective population-based and patient-centered public health care is highly dependent on timely and reliable health-related information. The continuous growth and availability of health-related information brought about by the emergence of a new digital communications environment offers a range of opportunities that facilitate access to useful health information for the public health sector–for providers as well as patients. Such advancements, however, can only be realized if public health professionals are knowledgeable about existing sources of online health information, have the ability to successfully judge the reliability of online health information, and are able to acquire the information in a timely and efficient manner. This research follows on the heels of a survey of public health professionals in New York State that concluded that limited access and knowledge negatively impacted utilization of interactive health communication technologies. In this study, a survey was administered to providers at a large county health department located in central Michigan. Results indicate that perceptions regarding the advantages of online health information still far outweigh actual utilization. Barriers to actual utilization include lack of easy access to computers with high-speed connections, trusted and timely online information, training and staff development issues, and organizational policies concerning computer access and usage.

The poetics of computers: Composing relationships with technology

This article describes a course with three primary goals: (1) to help students reflect on the complex relationship between humans and technology (developed within the cultural and historical context of the twentieth century) as portrayed in fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and films that focuses on technology topics; (2) to reflect—broadly, deeply, and from humanistic perspectives—on their own responsibility for shaping this relationship in contemporary contexts; and (3) to provide opportunities within which to practice composing this relationship in personal terms—expressing a personal understanding of humans and computers in language and images, poetry and prose, print and new-media contexts. In such an instructional context—while acquiring facility in making meaning within digital communication environment—students from different academic majors developed a critical perspective on the tools they used and became increasingly conscious about their power, as social agents, to shape the relationship between humans and computers.