Saturday, May 5, 2018

Thank goodness for internet archives part two

The host for a conference I attended about four years ago changed its name, its URL, and to a certain degree its mission and staff not long after that conference concluded. Its program could have gone down the proverbial memory hole had it not been for the Wayback Machine. Fortunately, before the program was erased from the Budapest Metropolitan University's website, an archive of that program was stored on the Wayback Machine. I like to make sure I have not only hard copies or downloadable copies of my conference participation, but have access to a website. The latter will become increasingly valuable as my university moves to a more electronic based portfolio format. In addition, this document describes what appears to be the final George Gerbner Conference on Communication, Conflict and Aggression held at Budapest Metro. I liked that particular conference because it was cross-disciplinary (although definitely dominated by Communication researchers) and relatively intimate. It's a setting that enables me to learn from people who are studying some of the same phenomena that interest me, albeit using somewhat different methodologies and theoretical models. That is highly valuable, and we could use more such opportunities. In the meantime, Gerbner's hundredth birthday is next year. I don't know if there are plans to hold a conference there given next year's significance - after all, the host institution and the individuals who spearheaded that conference have all experienced tremendous changes over the last few years. If not, there are always the memories.

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