-------- Original-Nachricht -------- Betreff: [isworld] TOC: Latest Issue of the International Journal of Virtual Communities and Social Networking (IJVCSN) Datum: Thu, 10 Sep 2009 10:48:54 -0400 Von: Subhasish Dasgupta dasgupta@gwu.edu Antwort an: Subhasish Dasgupta dasgupta@gwu.edu An: AISWORLD Information Systems World Network isworld@lyris.isworld.org

Here are the contents of the latest issue of: International Journal of Virtual Communities and Social Networking (IJVCSN) Official Publication of the Information Resources Management Association Volume 1, Issue 3, July-September 2009 Published: Quarterly in Print and Electronically ISSN: 1942-9010 EISSN: 1942-9029 Published by IGI Publishing, Hershey-New York, USA http://www.igi-global.com/ijvscn

Editor-in-Chief: Subhasish Dasgupta, George Washington University, USA

Special issue: Formation and Dynamics of Virtual Communities Special Issue Editor: Krzysztof Juszczyszyn, Wrocław University of Technology, Poland

GUEST EDITORIAL PREFACE

Formation and Dynamics of Virtual Communities Krzysztof Juszczyszyn, Wrocław University of Technology, Poland

This special issue of IJVCSN is devoted to computational technologies boosting the creation of Internet-based social networks and communities. In recent years, we have experienced rapid development in the area of advanced groupware and social software frameworks. It has become obvious the impact dynamic changes in virtual communities have on performance, service quality, and function properties of information systems and cannot be neglected. The structure and internal organization of virtual communities determines the resource consumption patterns, their temporal changes, and predicts future behavior. Cooperation between community members appears to be a key factor in various knowledge management and problem-solving tasks. In this issue, the authors focus on dynamic processes, which underline wide spectrum of phenomena emerging in virtual networks–from knowledge and resources management issues, formation of trust networks to practical applications in real-life business s cenarios. Six interesting papers discuss the above issues and attack different, formal, and practical challenges met in virtual communities of different sizes and origins.

To read the guest editorial preface, please consult this issue of IJVCSN in your library.

PAPER ONE Measuring Similarity of Interests for Clustering Taggers and Resources

Christo Dichev, Winston-Salem State University, USA Jinsheng Xu, NC A&T, USA Darina Dicheva, Winston-Salem State University, USA Jinghua Zhang, Winston-Salem State University, USA

Collaborative tagging systems demonstrate the potential to generate collectively built organization structures forming the basis for social navigation and shared knowledge. The effectiveness of these systems for finding and re-finding information depends not only on the created tag structures but also on the ability to identify similar users. In this article, the authors present a study on measuring user similarity, based on shared interests and utilizing data from del.icio.us. This article proposes several methods for measuring similarities aimed at clustering tags and users and reports initial results related to implicit grouping of tags and users.

To obtain a copy of the entire article, click on the link below. http://www.infosci-on-demand.com/content/details.asp?ID=34156

PAPER TWO Social Support for Ontological Mediation and Data Integration

Gianluca Correndo, University of Southampton, UK Harith Alani, University of Southampton, UK Manuel Salvadores, University of Southampton, UK

Most organizations store their data in several databases with no flexible mechanism for integration and access and with no common vocabulary in place. Maintaining local vocabularies while realizing distributed access is a challenge that most organizations face regularly. For several years, the Semantic Web community has been developing algorithms for mapping data models (ontologies). Nevertheless, ontology mapping remains to be a great challenge, and humans are always expected to verify the results of existing automatic mapping tools. The spread of social Web demonstrate the possibility of using collaborative techniques for reaching consensus and fostering user participation. In this article, the authors describe an approach that combines off-the-shelf ontology mapping tools with social software techniques to enable users to collaborate on mapping ontologies.

To obtain a copy of the entire article, click on the link below. http://www.infosci-on-demand.com/content/details.asp?ID=34157

PAPER THREE An Abstract Framework for Modeling Argumentation in Virtual Communities

Tudor Groza, National University of Ireland, Ireland Siegfried Handschuh, National University of Ireland, Ireland John G. Breslin, National University of Ireland, Ireland Stefan Decker, National University of Ireland, Ireland

Classic argumentative discussions can be found in a variety of domains from traditional scientific publishing to today’s modern social software. An interactive argumentative discussion usually consists of an initial proposition stated by a single creator and followed by supporting propositions or counter-propositions from other contributors, usually part of the same virtual community. Thus, the actual argumentation semantics is hidden in the content created by the contributors. In this article, the authors describe an abstract model for argumentation, which captures the semantics independently of the domain. Following a modularized approach, the authors also take into account additional important aspects of the argumentation and present a possible use of the framework in the context of virtual communities.

To obtain a copy of the entire article, click on the link below. http://www.infosci-on-demand.com/content/details.asp?ID=34158

PAPER FOUR Trust Modeling in a Virtual Organization Using Social Network Metrics

Grzegorz Kołaczek, Wrocław University of Technology, Poland

One of the most important factors in human interaction and communication is trust. Each organization performing its quotidian tasks use involuntary established trust relations to estimate the probability of achieving the expected results or level of confidentiality. As in societies that evolve from real world relationship (e.g. school, office, sport activity, etc.) to virtual communities (e.g. chat rooms, Web boards, mailing lists, etc.), trust is one of the most fundamental types of binding among the group members. In this article, the author investigates the trust relation establishment and evolution in virtual communities and presents a model using some typical parameters like node degree and centrality coefficient related to social network description and analysis.

To obtain a copy of the entire article, click on the link below. http://www.infosci-on-demand.com/content/details.asp?ID=34159

PAPER FIVE The Impact of Customer Churn on Social Value Dynamics

Przemysław Kazienko, Wrocław University of Technology, Poland and BT Innovate, British Telecom Group, Intelligent Systems Research Centre (ISRC), UK Dymitr Ruta, BT Innovate, British Telecom Group, Intelligent Systems Research Centre (ISRC), UK Piotr Bródka, Wrocław University of Technology, Poland

Modern telecommunication service providers implicitly create interactive social networks of individuals that both depend on and influence each other through complex social relationships grown on friendship, shared interests, locality, and so forth. While delivering services on the individual basis, the network effects exerted from customer-to-customer interactions remain virtually unexplored and unexploited. The focus of this article is on customer churn, where social network effects are widely ignored yet may play a vital role in revenue protection. The authors evaluate the direction and strength of this impact by direct measurements of the total neighborhood value of the churning customer along with other standard social network measures taken before and after the churn event.

To obtain a copy of the entire article, click on the link below. http://www.infosci-on-demand.com/content/details.asp?ID=34160

PAPER SIX Digital Energy: Clustering Micro Grids for Social Networking

Mikhail Simonov, Politecnico di Milano, Italy, and ISMB, Italy Marco Mussetta, Politecnico di Milano and Politecnico di Torino, Italy Riccardo Zich, Politecnico di Milano, Italy

Since energy use is a type of consumer behavior reflecting the interests to maximize an objective function, human being activities seen in energy terms might be used to create the social aggregations or groups. Electric energy generated from ecologic sources brings some unpredictability. The authors model the unpredictability of the distributed generation in order to create a tool for minimization. This article proposes a novel method to build real-life smart micro grids in the distributed generation context characterized by zero emissions. The proposed tool becomes an instrument to create the social aggregation of users and negotiate locally the “social” energy in real time.

To obtain a copy of the entire article, click on the link below. http://www.infosci-on-demand.com/content/details.asp?ID=34161

****************************************************

For full copies of the above articles, check for this issue of the International Journal of Virtual Communities and Social Networking (IJVCSN) in your institution's library. This journal is also included in the IGI Global aggregated "InfoSci-Journals" database: www.infosci-journals.com.

*****************************************************

CALL FOR PAPERS

Mission of IJVCSN:

The primary objective of the International Journal of Virtual Communities and Social Networking (IJVCSN) is to provide comprehensive coverage and understanding of the social, cultural, organizational, human, and cognitive issues related to the virtual communities and social networking. These issues include design, implementation, participation, and use of virtual communities and social networks. The secondary objective of this journal is to broaden the overall body of knowledge regarding participation of individuals, groups, and organizations in these communities and networks by providing an outlet for scholarly research in the area.

Coverage of IJVCSN:

IJVCSN covers research in all areas of virtual communities and social networking. Research on the technical, social, legal, and cross-cultural issues are appropriate for the journal. Among topics to be included (but not limited to) are the following: Cross-cultural issues in virtual communities and social networks: Cross-cultural studies Culture in virtual communities and social networks Design issues Multi-cultural environments

Human computer interfaces, virtual communities, and social networks: Design of peer-to-peer networks Design of virtual communities Mobile technologies and HCI User friendly interfaces

Models for virtual communities: Business models E-learning models Knowledge management models Social models Technology-based models

Privacy and security: Business implications Copyright issues Privacy issues Trust issues

Social issues in virtual communities: Economic impact of virtual communities Individual behavior and group dynamics in virtual communities Political impact of virtual communities Social impact of virtual communities Trust in communities

Social networking: Culture in social networks Social network analysis Social relationships Social structures

Success of virtual environments and social networks: Collaborative work in virtual environments Effectiveness of virtual environments and social networks ROI in business-oriented virtual communities Service quality of virtual community and social networking sites

Technology in virtual environments and social networks: Hardware and software Peer-to-peer networks Platforms Web services, SOA, and Web 2.0 Wiki's and blogs

Virtual communities for gaming: Cultural issues Game design Social issues

Virtual worlds Computer-based simulated environments: Social and cultural issues Technological issues

Interested authors should consult the journal's manuscript submission guidelines at http://www.igi-global.com/ijvcsn.

All inquiries and submissions should be sent to: Editor-in-Chief: Subhasish Dasgupta at dasgupta@gwu.edu