Introducing Knowledge and Information in Society

In Fall 2009 the Faculty of Information welcomed the first cohort of students into its new Master of Information program. The Faculty greeted these students by plunging them into three huge ‘core’ courses designed to provide a common, integrative foundation in information studies that would serve them well in subsequent courses, regardless of specialization. We, Andrew and Adam, were the instructors for one of these core courses – INF1001 - Knowledge and Information in Society. With a curricular scope as wide as the backgrounds and aspirations of our students, we explored with them an array of contemporary information policy issues relating to information infrastructure development and use. These issues included: copyright; intellectual property; governance; media democracy; digital divides; surveillance; privacy; identity; access to information; intellectual freedom; and professional ethics. Most of these issues are long-standing, and in the case of intellectual freedom even ancient, but they all remain sites of lively debate, with resolutions at best temporary, and perpetually subject to re-opening with each shift in social or technological alignment. In addition to lectures on these subjects, a regular feature of the course was the weekly seminar debates that invited students to argue for or against specific controversial claims related to these policy issues. We were gratified by the many stimulating and insightful exchanges these debates engendered

The K-Net Development Process: A Model for First Nations Broadband Community Networks

Based on a paper originally prepared for and presented at the Telecommunications Policy Research Conference (TPRC) September 23 to 25, 2005, held at George Mason University School of Law in Arlington, Va.The Kuh-ke-nah Network (K-Net) is a community network that currently comprises 60 First Nations communities across Ontario, and Quebec, Canada. K-Net Services is the telecom and ICT arm of Keewaytinook Okimakanak Tribal Council (the Northern Chiefs), an organization located in northwestern Ontario that brought the original vision of K-Net to life amongst the Tribal Council’s six member communities in the mid 1990’s. This paper traces the evolutionary trajectory of K-Net development and examines the advantages and drawbacks to the emerging model of telecom service provision in which K-Net is a pioneering exemplar. First, it chronologically charts the expanding set of relationships among the heterogeneous key actors across the public, private and civil sectors. Then it reviews the contemporary situation of K-Net, how the combination of such vital factors as community ownership/control, bandwidth aggregation and dynamic allocation, local (ICT) skills development, and social-needs orientation interact with each other and are operationalized within this network of relations. Finally, the paper draws some preliminary conclusions about the principles and viability of this model, likely future development, and the prospect that it offers a workable model for other community networking initiatives, especially in traditionally underserved areas.Social Science and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) - Initiative on the New Economy Public Outreach Grant; Canadian Research Alliance for Community Innovation and Networking (CRACIN)

The K-Net Development Process: A Model for First Nations Broadband Community Networks

Based on a paper originally prepared for and presented at the Telecommunications Policy Research Conference (TPRC) September 23 to 25, 2005, held at George Mason University School of Law in Arlington, Va.The Kuh-ke-nah Network (K-Net) is a community network that currently comprises 60 First Nations communities across Ontario, and Quebec, Canada. K-Net Services is the telecom and ICT arm of Keewaytinook Okimakanak Tribal Council (the Northern Chiefs), an organization located in northwestern Ontario that brought the original vision of K-Net to life amongst the Tribal Council’s six member communities in the mid 1990’s. This paper traces the evolutionary trajectory of K-Net development and examines the advantages and drawbacks to the emerging model of telecom service provision in which K-Net is a pioneering exemplar. First, it chronologically charts the expanding set of relationships among the heterogeneous key actors across the public, private and civil sectors. Then it reviews the contemporary situation of K-Net, how the combination of such vital factors as community ownership/control, bandwidth aggregation and dynamic allocation, local (ICT) skills development, and social-needs orientation interact with each other and are operationalized within this network of relations. Finally, the paper draws some preliminary conclusions about the principles and viability of this model, likely future development, and the prospect that it offers a workable model for other community networking initiatives, especially in traditionally underserved areas.Social Science and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) - Initiative on the New Economy Public Outreach Grant; Canadian Research Alliance for Community Innovation and Networking (CRACIN)

Structure of Pleiotrophin- and Hepatocyte Growth Factor-binding Sulfated Hexasaccharide Determined by Biochemical and Computational Approaches*

Endogenous pleiotrophin and hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) mediate the neurite outgrowth-promoting activity of chondroitin sulfate (CS)/dermatan sulfate (DS) hybrid chains isolated from embryonic pig brain. CS/DS hybrid chains isolated from shark skin have a different disaccharide composition, but also display these activities. In this study, pleiotrophin- and HGF-binding domains in shark skin CS/DS were investigated. A high affinity CS/DS fraction was isolated using a pleiotrophin-immobilized column. It showed marked neurite outgrowth- promoting activity and strong inhibitory activity against the binding of pleiotrophin to immobilized CS/DS chains from embryonic pig brain. The inhibitory activity was abolished by chondroitinase ABC or B, and partially reduced by chondroitinase AC-I. A pentasulfated hexasaccharide with a novel structure was isolated from the chondroitinase AC-I digest using pleiotrophin affinity and anion exchange chromatographies. It displayed a potent inhibitory effect on the binding of HGF to immobilized shark skin CS/DS chains, suggesting that the pleiotrophin- and HGF-binding domains at least partially overlap in the CS/DS chains involved in the neuritogenic activity. Computational chemistry using molecular modeling and calculations of the electrostatic potential of the hexasaccharide and two pleiotrophin-binding octasaccharides previously isolated from CS/DS hybrid chains of embryonic pig brain identified an electronegative zone potentially involved in the molecular recognition of the oligosaccharides by pleiotrophin. Homology modeling of pleiotrophin based on a related midkine protein structure predicted the binding pocket of pleiotrophin for the oligosaccharides and provided new insights into the molecular mechanism of the interactions between the oligosaccharides and pleiotrophin

Courtship attention in sagebrush lizards varies with male identity and female reproductive state

Previous experiments suggest that males spend more time with the more receptive of 2 novel females or the one with the higher fitness potential. However, males often court individual females repeatedly over a season; for example, male lizards sequentially visit familiar females as they patrol territorial boundaries. It may benefit males to vary display intensity as they move between multiple females. In this study, we explored the factors influencing amount of male courtship to familiar females in the sagebrush lizard, Sceloporus graciosus. We tested whether males vary the amount of courtship exhibited due to individual differences among males, female reproductive state, or female fitness potential. Each male was allowed to interact separately, but repeatedly, with 2 females until both females laid eggs. Male courtship behavior with each of the 2 females was assayed at an intermediate point, after 3 weeks of interaction. We found that individual differences among males were considerable. The number of male courtship displays was also positively correlated with female latency to lay eggs, with males displaying more often toward females with eggs that had not yet been fertilized. Courtship behavior was not well predicted by the number of eggs laid or by female width, both measures of female quality. Thus, male S. graciosus appear to alter courtship intensity more in response to signals of female reproductive state than in response to variation in potential female fitness. Copyright 2008, Oxford University Press.