harrypotter

Hello! azurelunatic's given me permission to post this here, so I hope it's ok with all of you. I'm actually hoping for a favour: I'm writing a paper on Pottermore, which I'll be presenting at the Magic is Might conference in July. I'm specifically looking at Pottermore and participatory culture and was hoping to conduct some email interviews with Harry Potter fans who are also on Pottermore. I thought I'd give you a bit of information about my research and how the interviews will be conducted, and if anyone is interested in taking part you could PM me to let me know. Thanks in advance!

About the project
In June 2011, a website appeared containing J.K. Rowling’s signature and the words ‘Pottermore: Coming Soon.’ As new details came to light, Pottermore was revealed to be a free, collaborative website in which fans would be able to find extra-textual information on characters and places, upload artwork, be sorted into houses, buy ebooks and connect with the series on a much more interactive level. Yet not everyone is convinced of the benefits the site may have.

The purpose of the study is to examine the role that Pottermore might play in shaping canon, fans’ relationships with the text, and participatory culture itself. This paper seeks to examine the impact that Pottermore may have on Harry Potter fandom by addressing existing notions of what participatory culture means, conducting an analysis of the site’s content and questioning fans on their fan activities on and outside of Pottermore. The interview questions will concentrate on your involvement in the Harry Potter fandom and your experience of Pottermore. The interview will take place via email and will comprise of approximately ten main questions, with the potential for further questions to be asked based on your initial answers.

Email responses to question will be stored in a password-protected folder on a password-protected computer belong to myself. Any hard copies or electronic copies on CD, external drive or USB stick will be stored in a locked filing cabinet in my home office. The data will be kept for five years on completion of the project (estimated to be by July 2012).

Participation in this research project is voluntary. You may decline to answer any of the questions and you may withdraw at any time during the data collection period. No physical or psychological risks are anticipated as a result of participating in this project.

Your name and any identifying information will be held confidential, except when legislation or a professional code of conduct requires that the information you provide be reported. Your identity will only be known to myself, unless you consent for your name to be used to refer to you and attribute direct quotes in all conference papers and publications based on this research. You may chose a pseudonym at any time during the data collection process should you prefer for your identity to be withheld. Keep in mind that full anonymity cannot be guaranteed. It is possible that friends, acquaintances or members of the same fan community who read a publication or attend a conference presentation could identify you based on contextual information.

If you have any questions regarding this study, or would like additional information to assist you in reaching a decision about taking part in the interview, please contact me by PM.