it's been almost a year since i posted this link, which means i probably haven't updated any of the lists in the folder, and there may be some new meta writers that i haven't gotten around to including. But the idea is, here's a place to get started exploring series 4 meta (and yes, i still dream of doing earlier "semesters", but it gets harder when people leave fandom/tumblr).
My focus is more on reading the subtext, than trying to sort out "what really happened" in the surface story.
if i can figure out how to do it, i would love to make this a pinned post, since the clicky in my header stopped working last year.
ETA sept 2021, if google's new security measures interferes with the link, message me and i will see if i can get you in.
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They've put my thesis in the institutional repository
Oh my god oh my god oh my god. Guys. This is so exciting. I am a ball of hype.
Okay – so – ahem. There is this academic field called fan studies. I've just finished a master's degree and my final thesis was in that field. (Technically, my field is LIS, library and information science. Don't worry, it overlaps.) Today, my university uploaded my thesis to the institutional repository, so now everyone can read it! It's right there! Look! LOOK AT IT I'm so proud!
TL;DR:
This study looks into a group of Good Omens fans' opinions about AO3's search and tagging systems, and also talks about their thoughts about fandom overall. Specifically, I wanted to figure out whether things like amount of time using AO3, experience using other fanfiction sites, level of comfort with AO3's tagging system, or experience in LIS/librarianship or IT make any difference to a person's opinions about search and tagging on AO3. (There were no strong correlations in my data, but there were plenty of interesting qualitative observations to talk about.) I also looked at how, exactly, people go about searching AO3 in practice, what features they like to use, what things trip them up, and so on, using a fun method from the computer science field of human–computer interaction.
If you're a long-time user of AO3, the results of this study might not surprise you, but you might still be interested in the background and previous research chapters (a bit of background on the field of fan studies, a little AO3 history, what's so special about AO3's tagging system, and a tiny little bit of nitty-gritty about how its search and browse features work, for example). There's also a section in the discussion chapter about the social and community aspects of fandom (section 6.6), which I find pretty heart-warming.
By the way: All the data collection – the survey and interviews this study is based on – was done before the Good Omens finale came out. There is absolutely nothing in here about the finale. You are safe from that debate.
Abstract for the academics:
Several studies within the field of fan studies have examined fans’ attitudes to the curated folksonomy (tagging system) and search features of fanfiction archive Archive of Our Own (AO3). However, factors affecting these attitudes have not been studied extensively, and despite the conceptual proximity to the field of human–computer interaction (HCI), existing research employing HCI methods in fan studies is limited.
Using a mixed-methods approach, this exploratory study collects its data from a survey, two interviews, and three condensed contextual inquiry sessions. The survey uses a modified end-user satisfaction instrument to determine attitudes to AO3 search, comparing this to certain types of academic, professional, and fandom-related experience. Weak correlations are found between search satisfaction and familiarity with the tagging system, search satisfaction and experience using other fanwork platforms, and academic or professional experience in IT or LIS and confidence using the tagging system. Contextual and qualitative content analysis suggest fans both appreciate and are confused by AO3’s interface and that AO3 performs well on exploratory searches but falls short on specific lookups. Previous findings on fans’ attitudes to AO3’s tagging system and its effects on search are also corroborated.
This study adds to the literature about attitudes to searching and tagging on AO3 and demonstrates how HCI methods can benefit the fan studies field. Future research might use contextual inquiry or the search satisfaction scale developed here to study AO3 usage, or consider the meaning of these findings for questions in LIS more broadly.
Keywords: Information practices, fan studies, folksonomies, information retrieval, surveys, condensed contextual inquiry, end-user satisfaction, Archive of Our Own
(Can I tag @transformativeworks here? Is that okay? Hello OTW! This is (kind of) research about you! You can look at it if you like!)
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So there's a Bill Bryson book called The Mother Tongue: English and How It Got That Way, which is a fun accessible book about English and etymology.
Are there any books/blog/documentaries kinda like that about non-English languages written in English for English speakers?
Because I really like learning fun trivia about languages but I don't want a textbook, you know? I like knowing that Chinese calls a penguin a business-goose, but I'm never going to learn Chinese. I know that English's history is unique, being three languages stacked on top of each other in a trench coat, but I want to know more about history and etymology in other languages. Like if there's something like "101 weird facts about Welsh" that'd be great.
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A new study from Tulane University researchers has found that after decades of loss from deforestation and coastal development, mangroves ar
Mangrove forests used to be considered one of the world's most threatened ecosystems. However, recent analysis of satellite data shows that mangrove forests are no longer in decline and in fact the global coverage of mangrove forests has been increasing over the last 16 years due to restoration and natural habitat expansion.
The health of mangrove ecosystems is particularly relevant in the era of climate change, since they place a crucial role in protecting coastlines from storms and erosion in addition to storing carbon.
