McGill School of Information Studies

========== Consider the Source: In Whose Interests, and How, of Big, Small and Other Data? Exploring data science through wellth* scenarios Prof. m.c. schraefel ... Computer Science and Human Performance March 3, 2017 at 16:00 Room MC 603, McConnnell Engineering Building Abstract: We're not a particularly healthy culture. Our "normal" practices are not optimised for our wellbeing. From the morning commute to the number of hours we believe we need to put in to complete a task that may itself be unreasonable, to the choices we make about time to prepare food to fit into these constraints - all these operations tend to make us feel forced into treating ourselves as secondary to our jobs. How can data help improve our quality of life? FitBits and AppleWatches highlight the strengths and limits of Things that Count, not the least of which is the rather low uptake of things like FITBITS and apple watches. So once we ask the question about how data might improve quality of life, we may need to add the caveat: pervasively, ubiquitously, in the rich variety of contexts that isn't all about Counting. And once we think about such all seeing all knowing environments, we then need to think about privacy and anonymity. That is: does everything have to be connected to the internet to deliver on a vision of improved quality of life through data? And if there is a Big Ubiquity - should we think about inverting new norms, like how to make personal clouds and personal data stores far more easy to manage - rather than outsourcing so much data and computation? In this short talk, I'd like to consider three scenarios about 1) Going where too few humans have gone before to help others, 2) The challenges of qualitative data, and 3) Supporting privacy and content, to motivate thinking about data capture, re-use and re-presentation, and opportunities across ECS for machine learning, AI, infoviz and hci. Bio: m.c. schraefel, phd, ceng, cscs, fmcs, is a professor of computer science and human performance in electronics and computer science (ECS), u of southampton where she heads the agents, interaction and complexity group and is director for graduate studies in ECS. m.c. leads the WellthLab to consider how to design interactive technology to support health as an aspiration to support performance (rather than as mainly a preventative of illness) www.ecs.soton.ac.uk/~mc , https://www.youtube.com/begin2dig and follow on twitter @mcphoo *http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/372234/

3 October, 2016, at 12:30, 3661 Peel, Room 106 Scholarly Communication in the Digital Era Dr. Vincent Lariviere (UdeM)... This talk is free and open to all. Please arrive early to secure a seat https://www.mcgill.ca//channels/event/seminar-series-263078

SIS Alumni Reception Oct. 28, 2016 4:00 to 6:00 pm. Alumni and former staff of the School of Information Studies (formerly known as the Graduate School of Library and Information Studies, Graduate School of Library Science, and Library School) are welcome to this informal wine and cheese reception (3661 Peel, room 106). There is no charge, but we ask you to confirm your attendance by October 14, 2016 by email [email protected] or phone 514 398-4204. If you can’t attend but would like to share news for the School’s next alumni newsletter, we invite you to submit your updates through the SIS online news form (https://www.mcgill.ca/sis/alumni/newsform) or email us at [email protected]. We look forward to seeing you.

We're pleased to announce the latest edition of the McGill School of Information Studies newsletter, featuring updates about the School and achievements of our alumni, faculty, and students! Read the 2016 Spring Newsletter at https://www.mcgill.ca/sis/about/newsletters

Join us April 14 for a SIS Seminar Series talk with Visiting Professor Dr. William Cheung on discovering social interaction mechanisms and diffusion networks in online social networks. All are welcome!