Academic Aesthetics in the Present Databases CONTEMPORARY AESTHETICS

Academic Aesthetics in the Present Databases CONTEMPORARY AESTHETICS 16 MARCH 2016

The original idea behind the article was very simple: create a visual presentation, based on the central academic databases and online sources, of where (academic) aesthetics is presently studied and researched. Find actors and their locations and put them on the world map. Next step: A) categorize the cases and analyze relations (using categories such as analytic, pragmatis and phenomenological aesthetics, languages such as English, French, Finnish, etc. ) B) compare that map with the one of non-academic aesthetics (to be created, too…) Why? To see volumes, relations, actors, geographical and cultural locations with ”one glance”.

http: //mentalfloss. com/article/59989/ha mburger-chain-locations-across-us

http: //blog. physicsworld. com/2009/03/1 2/the-atlas-of-science/

But… There is no (manegable set of) database that would have provided with the data needed. The core issues to solve is how to decide which cases belong to the ”field” of aesthetics (even within a single database). What would count as data in the analysis? The next problem is how to sub-categorize to analyze connections and differences.

So… At this point, we ended up testing some ideas within the Web of Science – which opened up some other interesting issues.

Web of Science Wo. S belongs to Thomson Reuters that is a global multibusiness company: Financial, Risk Management Solutions, Intellectual Property, Legal, Pharma & Life Sciences, Reuters News Agency, Scholarly & Scientific Research, Tax & Accounting. Another big one is Elsevier (Scopus). Highly selective: “Journal evaluation is ongoing with journals added to and deleted from the Web of Science Core Collection throughout the year. Each year, the Editorial Development staff reviews over 3, 500 journal titles for inclusion in SCIE, SSCI and AHCI. Only around 10% of these journals are accepted for coverage. Moreover, existing journal coverage in the Web of Science Core Collection is constantly under review. Journals now covered are monitored to ensure that they are maintaining high standards and a clear relevance to the products in which they are covered. ” See: http: //wokinfo. com/essays/journal-selection-process/

Leiden Ranking 2015 is based on Web of Science indexed publications from the period 2010– 2013. See more at: http: //www. leidenranking. com/#sthash. Dc 0 wh 0 UC. dpuf The so called Crown Indicator in based on Wo. S, too. It is used in assessing, e. g. , performance of Aalto’s schools. It counts field-normalized citations: “The crown indicator, which has also been proposed by the Center for Science and Technologies Studies at Leiden University, measures the scientific impact of a researcher or a research group. This indicator is calculated by dividing the average number of received citations (from a researcher or a research group) by the average number that could be expected for publications of the same type, during the same year, and published in journals within the same field. The crown indicator is written as a decimal number showing the relation to the normalized world (where 1 is the average). For example, a crown indicator of 0. 9 indicates that the publications from this researcher or this research group are cited 10% less than the world average in their particular field; a crown indicator of 1. 2 indicates that the publications from this researcher or research group are cited 20% more than the world average in that field. ” See http: //pubs. rsna. org/doi/full/10. 1148/radiol. 09090626 and http: //www. cwts. nl/Tv. R/documents/Av. R -2011 Jo. ICrown. Theor. pdf

Research database ACRIS = Aalto Current Research Information System (e-mail on Monday March 14) Information from old databases Reseda and TKKjulkaisee will be transferred to the new database at the end of this month. Information will cover the years 2010 -2015. (Older data will be transferred in May. ) Academic faculty and doctoral students will automatically have a profile in ACRIS. Data is based on HR-systems and Oodi. Tutoring is arranged in April in the departments and in other meetings of the School. There are two main themes: 1. Updating one’s own profile (cv, publications, artistic activities) and 2. Open access publishing and ACRIS portal for the general public will be published in June. As of July, process ownership of ACRIS will be in the hands of Aalto Research and Innovation Services – RIS. The system should be in full use before the SAAB (Scientific and Artistic Advisory Board) visits ARTS in early October 2016. Organising the data collection is still somewhat open. But it looks like that: 1. The researchers and other staff are responsible for updating their own information. 2. Publication information comes also straight from Wo. S and Scopus databases. Library will validate this information. 3. The departments should have a contact person who will add information on projects and also help the faculty to fill in correct information. 4. Pia Sivenius and Iina Ekholm will be the main users in ARTS. They will especially try to solve problems dealing with artistic activities. Library will help with matters concerning scientific publications and open access publishing and open data.

Who and what is included in databases? Databases always have limitations (police, hegemony…) – cf. Rancière’s inclusion vs. exclusion. Yet, is seems that nowadays one has to be present and visible in some central digital environments (not necessarily databases) and create buzz. Often, numbers are used to indicate that this happens: article metrics in the Journal of Aesthetics and Culture, Crown-index, rankings… Without some numerical success one cannot, for example, even apply for an academic job. Outsiders remain outsiders. In such environments, however, you don’t necessarily face direct confrontation (cf. Rancière and Mouffe) because you are connected with like-minded, similar, easily related ”others”. (Which doesn’t mean that hate speech didn’t exist in the net… but you don’t have to face it. ) On the other hand, you don’t really know how exactly you are connected (Facebook algorithms etc. are not open).

Contemporary Aesthetics in the Net Academic aesthetics: make it visible in the central (commercial) databases. (Or stay outside; see also The Institutional Margins of Aesthetics: A Study Proposal by Jozef Kovalčik & Max Ryynänen at http: //www. contempaesthetics. org/newvolume/pages/article. php? article. ID=744 Non-academic aesthetics (arts, fashion, sports…): their digital environments are different but they do have them. There, too, one is expected to create ”formations” that create ”buzz” (cf. Joselit). It is a fact that we use laptops, cell phones, tablets, etc. more and more all the time. That necessarily has a strong impact on how we experience the aesthetics aspects of the world. Now, what is the relation between non-digital and digital instantiations of aesthetics? In some cases, the digital is the only level there is. But how about paintings, landscapes, other human beings…? What kind of ”blended being” are we creating? Do artist still have a possibility to create political art in the sense Rancière sees it – or do algorithms dictate what we face? What happens outside such digital networks – aesthetics of that?