Background
The USC Annenberg Center for Communication is an independent organized research unit focused on interdisciplinary work in the field of digital communications, broadly defined. Over the past few years the Center has focused a significant amount of work in the area of social software and is now recognized as a leader in the application of those technologies in academia. In addition, the Center’s other associated projects including the NetPublics research cohort, Institute for Multimedia Literacy, and Labyrinth Project provide considerable breadth and depth in the areas of digital content creation and dissemination. As managing director for the past five years, the PI has been involved in varying degrees on all of these endeavors, but particularly in social software (having presented at major conferences on the work) and NetPublics (as co-founder of the effort).
Perhaps most notable are two projects at the Center under the direction of Bob Stein. The first is a software development effort funded by the Mellon Foundation ($1.4M) to create next-generation digital document creation tools. The PI has been active throughout this project as a collaborator helping with conception, design, and execution of the software, particularly in areas of network/social use and interface design. The second is the Institute for the Future of the Book, funded by the MacArthur Foundation ($0.5M). This project is looking at digital content, particularly the evolution of books. The PI has been involved in various aspect of this work as well. In addition, the new executive director of the Center has indicated that the “future of content” and the “future of the delivery of content” are two growing areas of interest for the Center.