In the notes on project-based Honours research in labsome AM in his discussion on this type of research as an introduction for examiners, sums up what is expected in the exegesis. There are two approaches to this type of research, The first is production focused with the objective to produce media objects. The second is research on “professional or industry practice”. In the summary on production focused research he states:
The exegesis would contextualise the project in terms of what it sought to explore, how successful its realisation has been, and what the student has learnt, through the project, about their practice. It should orientate the work in relation to contemporary media practice.
Also, he points out that the exegesis needs to show and explain what was done as in things that may not be evident in the actual end result. Often with blog reflection, I find the processes that went into creating a work as relevant to understanding the research as the media object itself. Finally, in regards to context, “asethetics” is also covered where connections are made between the production logistics and the research approach.
Nate just sent me Lev’s latest book Software Takes Command which you can downoad as pdf or doc. It is licensed under CC and the book takes on some of the characteristics of software (from the opening page):
One of the advantages of online distribution which I can control is that I don’t have to permanently fix the book’s contents. Like contemporary software and web services, the book can change as often as I like, with new “features” and “big fixes” added periodically. I plan to take advantage of these possibilities. From time to time, I will be adding new material and making changes and corrections to the text.
So, like an rss feed I will need to go back for updates.
Lisa Gye posted this open book example ‘The Googlization of Everything’ by Siva Vaidhyanathanto to the fc list. The author Siva Vaidhyanathan uses the open book process (Institute for the Future of the Book) to critique Google. The book is a “book blog” and Vaidhyanathanto lays out some major research questions in the summary:
This blog, the result of a collaboration between myself and the Institute for the Future of the Book, is dedicated to exploring the process of writing a critical interpretation of the actions and intentions behind the cultural behemoth that is Google, Inc. The book will answer three key questions: What does the world look like through the lens of Google?; How is Google’s ubiquity affecting the production and dissemination of knowledge?; and how has the corporation altered the rules and practices that govern other companies, institutions, and states?
Vaidhyanathanto’s other books - Copyrights and Copywrongs: The Rise of Intellectual Property and How it Threatens Creativity (New York University Press, 2001) and The Anarchist in the Library: How the Clash between Freedom and Control is Hacking the Real World and Crashing the System (Basic Books, 2004). The about on the Institute for the Future of the Book:
We’re a small think-and-do tank investigating the evolution of intellectual discourse as it shifts from printed pages to networked screens.