Browse by Course code: COMP6037

An introduction to the "Foundations of Web Science" module that overviews the module itself, plus the context of web science at Southampton in terms of WSRI and the new Doctoral Training Centre.

Professor Nigel Shadbolt describes the emergence of Web Science Research Initiative and discusses the themes and topics that contribute to an understanding of Web Science.

Social Networking explained by an economic model of cost and benefit.

A psychologist's description of the Web as an effective channel for inducing and promoting changes of behaviour in individuals. Demonstrates an experimental system called "LifeGuide".

The first International Conference on Web Science is taking place in Athens, concurrently with this course. The material here will allow you to get familiar with the conference presentations and posters so that you can write a summary of the conference from a particular topical perspective. (Both the attached HTML summaries are currently in draft form and need to have the preview images and metadata checked.)

Web Science lecture about the impact of law on the web and vice versa.

It is received wisdom that Tim Berners-Lee invented the Web; but there is a lot more technology and historical context that plays a part.

Society is catching up with the implications of the Web; its use is not straightforward and well-understood. Web Scientists will need to be able to handle arguments about equivocal perspectives on the Web's impact.

Sociology of the Internet and the Sociology of the Web

A discussion about Actor Network Theory

In 'Privacy and Politics', Kieron O'Hara discusses the relation of the political philosophy of privacy to technical aspects in Web development. Despite a vigorous debate, the concept remains ambiguous, and a series of types of privacy is defined: epistemological, spatial, ideological, decisional and economic. Each of these has a different meaning in the online environment, and will be defended by different measures. The question of whether privacy is a right is raised, and generational differences in attitude discussed, alongside the issue of whether privacy should be protected in advance, via a consent model, or retrospectively via increased transparency and accountability. Finally, reasons both theoretical and practical for ranking privacy below other values (such as security, efficiency or benefits for the wider community) are discussed.

Different attempts to 'map' different aspects of the web. How do you impose some sort of high level understanding onto the Web Graph?

These slides describe the use of a coursework wiki and the proposed information architecture to support the goals of the coursework.

What is a social network? How does an online community differ from a real world community? See also: Anne Hornsby, 'Surfing the net for community: a Durkheimian analysis of electronic gatherings' ch.3 in Peter Kivisto (ed.) Illuminating Social Life (3rd ed 2005). Libr ref HM51KIV. Graham Crow and Catherine Maclean, 'Community' in Geoff Payne (ed.) Social Divisions (2nd ed. 2006) HM821PAY.

A brief look at the post-industrial, network society, freed from manual labour and liberated from place.

In what ways does the web change the ways we interact with government and change the ways we engage in politics?

A sociologist's description of the Web as a socially constructed/discovered/encountered piece of technology.