Research

This unfinished page provides links to my research, both published and unpublished.

I’ll add more links as I update this when I have time. My work can also be found on ResearchGate.

Research areas

• Virtual Communities
• Communication Design
• New Media, Social Media

PRESENTATIONS

Here are a few of my recent presentations. I will link to, and upload more when I get a chance.

“Citizenship in Online Worlds“, Australia and New Zealand Communication Association (ANZCA), Hamilton, New Zealand,  6-8 July 2011

The link above takes you to a recording of the 14-minute conference presentation (video and slides) that was captured during the presentation (67 more presentations that were recorded during the conference can be found here).

Abstract

In the early days of the Internet, many online activists believed that it would help to break down borders and facilitate a sense of global citizenship. However, the Internet has developed into a largely commercial space in which virtual gated communities provide a limited form of online citizenship to paying members. In an examination of three American-based sites, Cybertown, Active Worlds, and Second Life, I show how these immersive, privately owned environments allow individuals to enjoy rights and freedoms that reflect a particularly American concept of citizenship. I also describe how many community minded members encourage an awareness and responsibility for others, despite the focus on the individual in these online spaces.

Click the links below to download the presentation slides (5.7 MB PDF) and the conference paper (98 KB PDF).

McGuire, Mark – Citizenship in Online Worlds (Presentation Slides) ANZCA 6-8 July 2011

McGuire, Mark – Citizenship in Online Worlds (Paper) ANZCA 6-8 July 2011

“Collaborative, Conversational Networks” NZCA Presentation: Dunedin, NZ, 10 Dec. 2009

I gave this keynote address at the annual conference of the New Zealand Communication Association, which met in Dunedin 9-10 December 2009. Your can read the abstract on this post. You can download the slides by clicking here (6.5 MB, PDF). You can also hear and download an  audio recording of the presentation here (56.5 MB, MP3, 62 Min.). If you download both files, and play the audio while clicking through the slides, it’s almost like being there.

“Open Educational Resources: Formal and informal approaches”. Distance Education Symposium, University of Otago, 27 November 2009

I discussed examples of the dominant models that universities have developed to create Open Educational Resources (OER), and I contrasted this with the widespread practice of sharing information and media in more informal contexts. I highlighted the importance of the Creative Commons licensing scheme for both approaches. A PDF version of the slides (15.2 MB) and an MP3 audio recording (45 min., 41.2 MB) can be accessed from the University of Otago’s digital repository. While  researching the topic, I found four useful presentations that were delivered at Athabasca Univerity during Open Access Week (October 19-23 2009), and “Open Educational Resources – Opportunities and Challenges for Higher Education,” a 2008 briefing paper  by Li Yuan, Sheila MacNeil and Wilbert Kraan that provides an excellent overview.

RECENT PUBLICATIONS

I’ll link to documents as I upload them.

• McGuire, M. ‘Designing Physical and Virtual Communities’ International Conference on Computer Mediated Social Networking (ICCMSN 2008), University of Otago, 11–13 June 2008. Conference proceedings edited by Maryam Purvis and Tony Savarimuthu and published on CD-ROM. Also forthcoming in ICCMSN 2008 Revised Papers published by Springer-Verlag (Springer LNAI – volume 5322) edited by Maryam Purvis and Tony Savarimuthu
• McGuire, M. ‘Virtual Communities and Podcasting: the emergence and transformation of public electronic space’. In Proceedings of Perth DAC 2007 The 7th International Digital Arts and Culture Conference: The Future of Digital Media Culture. 15–18 September 2007. Perth, Australia. Hutchison, A., Editor. Published by Curtin University of Technology. P. 255–267. ISBN 1 74067 537 1
• McGuire, M. ‘World Wide Soundscapes: Listening to the Local’ (2007). In Proceedings of CADE: Computers in Art and Design Education Conference 12–14 September 2007, Perth, Western Australia. p. 131–136 published online at Also published on CD-ROM (2007) ISBN 1 74067 530 4.
• McGuire, M. ‘Community and Consumption: The Transformation of Social Space Online’ (2007). In Computing in the Humanities Working Papers. The Networked Citizen: New Contributions of the Digital Humanities. COCH/COSH Conference, May 29–31, 2005, University of Western Ontario. Conference Proceedings published 2007 online at http://www2.arts.ubc.ca/chwp/CHC2005/index.htm
• McGuire, M. and Simmons, R. ‘Using Multimedia Technology to Teach Literature’. In Technology in the College Classroom: Humanities. Girod, M. and Steed, J. P. Editors. Stillwater, Oklahoma. New Forums Press, 2007. p. 71–88. (with Rochelle Simmons) ISBN 10: 1-58107-129-9, ISBN 13: 978-1-581071-29-0
• McGuire, M. (2006). ‘New Zealand Communities Online: From Local to National to Global’. In Living Together: Towards Inclusive Communities. Thompson-Fawcett, M., and Freeman, C. Editors. Dunedin, University of Otago Press. 2006 p. 123–134, ISBN: 10: 1 877372 29 3, ISBN: 13: 978 1 877372 29 2
• McGuire, M. ‘Ordered Communities’. M/C Journal 7.6 (2005). 07 Feb. 2005.
• McGuire, M. ‘PlayStation 2: Selling the Third Place’. Fine Art Forum Vol. 17, No. 8. 2003