openwebb: sustainable web ecosystem design

PROJECT (BOOK, eBOOK)
SUSTAINABLE WEB ECOSYSTEM DESIGN
This book works toward a unified theory of front end Web-human interface engineering

TECHNOLOGIES / METHODS
A new, currently available book by Greg O'Toole and Springer's SpringerBriefs in Computer Science Series features an uncomplicated approach to a rather complicated condition.

ROLE
Author, SME, Theorist

PURCHASE THE BOOK
$39.99 USD, Springer (Available in paperback and e-formats)
Also available at Amazon.com

PROJECT DESCRIPTION
ISBN 978-1-4614-7713-6 - In a new book from Springer and part of the SpringerBriefs in Computer Science Series: In our current media-rich environment a Web site is more than a collection of relative html documents of text and images on a static desktop computer monitor. We now have an unlimited combination of screens, devices, platforms, browsers, locations, versions, users, and exabytes of data with which to interact. Our mediated atmosphere surrounds us all of the time, and in nearly every place. It is an ecosystem that is part human, part hardware, and part software. A unique condition is upon us. This book is about a process of creating Web-based systems (ie, Web sites, content, etc.) that consider each of the parts, the modules, the organisms – binary or otherwise – that make up a balanced, sustainable Web ecosystem. Written in a highly approachable, practical style, this book is useful for stakeholders, system administrators, developers, designers, content managers, and the anonymous Web user in industry and the same plus faculty, staff, and students of all levels involved in teaching and learning in information technology.

Sustainable Web Ecosystem Design is a methodology, a development model, and a theory of creating digital and electronic interactive screen media interfaces. The model emphasizes an attempt at a unified theory of front-end Web-human interface engineering. The model considers not only all of the requirements of building a successful digital media application, but it also considers the human user interface, and ideals of sustainability in all stages of the product's development.The development model exists out of necessity due to the current, media-rich environment where Web sites are becoming increasingly complex and in many cases are more than a collection of relative html documents of text and images on a static desktop computer monitor. The contemporary Web designer and Web developer need to consider an nearly unlimited combination of screen sizes and resolutions, devices, platforms, browsers, locations, versions, users, and exabytes of data with which their applications and users can interact.On this side of the access digital divide, this informational-mediated atmosphere surrounds us nearly all of the time, and in nearly every place. It is an ecosystem that is part human, part hardware, and part software. This model is about a process of creating Web-based systems (i.e. Web sites, content, etc.) that consider each of the parts, the modules, the organisms – binary or organic – that make up a balanced, sustainable Web ecosystem. 

The Anatomy of Sustainable Web Ecosystem Design by Gregory O'Toole is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License. Based on a work at http://www.otoole.info.

Keywords: Web, Meaning, Mediated, Messages.
My Doctoral Dissertation titled "Media, Meaning, and the Legitimation Problem: From the Eradication of the Metanarrative to the Present: From the Eradication of the Metanarrative to the Present," is a qualitative analysis on the current state of extracting meaning from mediated message since Lyotard largely diminished the role of the metanarrative. The work started at the University of Denver and continued on in Media & Communication at the European Graduate School, Saas-fee, Switzerland (www.egs.edu). The philosophy and research degree culminates with the oral dissertation defense in Berlin, Germany in May 2013. The ways in which we extract meaning and understand the world around us as well as the workings of the semantic Web are key nodes of the sustainable Web ecosystem.

The late Jean-Francois Lyotard wrote that metanarratives, that is, the big stories we live by, legitimate our lives both as individuals and collectively, living within societal groups. Lyotard also explained that the metanarrative has been eradicated from Western culture and that efficiency (i.e. a fast-track to profit) is the only model left which leaves the current state of legitimation in a curious position of asking the question “What legitimates?” The fact that this question needs to be asked is enough to know that there is a legitimation problem, but that is not the whole problem. In order to understand the process leading to legitimation, this analysis works to establish the necessary workflow toward the metanarrative: the flow of the message from knowledge, to establishing meaning, to legitimation. To compound the legitimation problem, in our current information technology condition, there is a growing imbalance within this process. In the mass media (i.e. networked, connected, Internet) world, it is arguably true that most of what a population knows, discusses, and concerns itself with on a daily basis is narrative knowledge. At the very least, there is much more narrative knowledge to sift through with the advent of the active audience among other factors. Examples of this can be seen in the current state of American commercialism, foreign and corporate policy, news, and the political economy of the mass media. This analysis goes further to explore the possibility of whether there is a link from legitimation to accountability. The conclusion is that, perhaps, the remaining entities for legitimation are created, synthetic options and that contemporary media consumer must consider the author’s concept of a “post-legitimation” model as a plan for the individual to participate as a critical and informed member of society.

BOOK ORDER & PUBLICATION INFO:

•   The paperback book will be published in late 2013 by EGS/Atropos Press.
•   Book orders will be possible in late 2013/4 from the publisher.
•   The unrevised e-manuscript is available now strictly for academic-education: Free Download (PDF, 1.4MB)