Semantic browsing of digital collections

Visiting museums is an increasingly popular pastime. Studies have shown that visitors can draw on their museum experience, long after their visit, to learn new things in practical situations. Rather than viewing a visit as a single learning event, we are interested in ways of extending the experience to allow visitors to access online resources tailored to their interests. Museums typically have extensive archives that can be made available online, the challenge is to match these resources to the visitor’s interests and present them in a manner that facilitates exploration and engages the visitor. We propose the use of knowledge level resource descriptions to identify relevant resources and create structured presentations. A system that embodies this approach, which is in use in a UK museum, is presented and the applicability of the approach to the broader semantic web is discussed

Invisible Law, Visible

Come on a journey with me; put aside prejudices that Original Peoples have had to contend with from other cultures, and strip away the layers of descriptions projected upon Original Peoples, and especially those self-descriptions misapplied to their own identities, communities and fundamental understandings of their arrival in this “distant land of laws,” known by its foreign control. Ask yourselves about the “Fundamental” law that governs how we have all come to understand our “rights.” What governs the responsibilities we have to each other, our environment and our inherent right to continue our traditions that has preserved peoples for thousands of years? This is not a debate between imperialism and its colonial practices; rather it is a debate between free minds and colonized minds. Original Peoples have lived under the assumption that their prison door is forever locked, I challenge that status by declaring that Original Peoples have the key to open the prison door which separates them from their traditional laws, rights, and freedom

La Web Victoriana y el Curso Victoriano Wiki: comparación de la eficacia educativa de tareas idénticas en la Web 1.0 y la Web 2.0

El autor del presente texto pronunció un discurso en Porto, Portugal, para el WikiSym 2008, realizado en septiembre del mismo año, titulado ‘’Cuando una Wiki no es una Wiki: veinte años de la Web Victoriana’’, en el que argumentó que los 45.000 documentos que conforman la www.victorianweb.org funcionan como una Wiki moderada y que, por lo tanto, la Web 1.0 puede funcionar para propósitos educativos tan bien como la Web 2.0, además, afirmó que ha sido así durante muchos años.Con esto en mente, Landow asumió el reto de emplear una Wiki real y para hacerlo enseñó el mismo curso, con las mismas tareas estudiantiles semanales, durante los siguientes dos años (2009, 2010); en 2009 utilizó el sitio Web antes mencionado, mientras que en 2010 empleó una Wiki cerrada, protegida con contraseña. En el presente artículo se realiza una breve descripción de la composición, historia y autoría de la Web Victoriana y de los componentes claves que han existido en múltiples ambientes hipermedia desde su creación en 1988, para el proyecto de Intermedia de la Universidad de Brown. Además, se presenta la tarea realizada, explicando sus metas, para finalmente establecer los resultados de esta experiencia haciendo un listado de las ventajas y desventajas del uso de la Wiki para los docentes, estudiantes y el sitioWeb correspondiente

Harriet Landow to Mrs. R. E. Aldrich, 29 November 1872

https://egrove.olemiss.edu/aldrichcorr_e/1025/thumbnail.jp

Rendering an Account: An Open-State Archive in Postgraduate Supervision

The paper begins with a brief account of the transformation of research degree studies under the pressures of global capitalism and neo-liberal governmentality. A parallel transformation is occurring in the conduct of research through the use of information and communication technologies. Yet the potential of ICTs to shape practices of surveillance or to produce new student-supervisor relations and enhance the processes of developing the dissertation has received almost no critical attention. As doctoral supervisor and student, we then describe the features and uses of a web-based open state archive of the student's work-in-progress, developed by the student and accessible to his supervisor. Our intention was to encourage more open conversations between data and theorising, student and supervisor, and ultimately between the student and professional community. However, we recognise that relations of accountability, as these have developed within a contemporary "audit revolution" (Power, 1994, 1997) in universities, create particular "lines of visibility" (Munro, 1996). Thus while the open-state archive may help to redefine in less managerial terms notions of quality, transparency, flexibility and accountability, it might also make possible greater supervisory surveillance. How should we think about the panoptical potential of this archive? We argue that the diverse kinds of interactional patterns and pedagogical intervention it encourages help to create shifting subjectivities. Moreover, the archive itself is multiple, in bringing together an array of diverse materials that can be read in various ways, by following multiple paths. It therefore constitutes a collage, which we identify as a mode of cognition and of accounting distinct from but related to argument and narrative. As a more "open" text (Iser, 1978) it has an indeterminacy which may render it less open to abuse for the technologies of managerial accountability

Cost-effectiveness of Skin Cancer Referral and Consultation Using Teledermoscopy in Australia

Importance: International literature has shown that teledermoscopy referral may be a viable method for skin cancer referral, however no economic investigations have occurred in Australia. Objective: To assess the cost-effectiveness of teledermoscopy as a referral mechanism for skin cancer diagnosis and management in Australia. Design: Cost-effectiveness analysis using a decision-analytic model. Setting: Primary care. Participants: Australian general population (modelled). Intervention: We compared the costs of teledermoscopy referral (electronic referral containing digital dermoscopic images) versus usual care (a written referral letter) for specialist dermatologist review of a suspected skin cancer. Main outcome measures: Cost and time in ‘days to clinical resolution’, where clinical resolution was defined as diagnosis by a dermatologist or excision by a general practitioner. Probabilistic sensitivity analysis was performed to examine the uncertainty of the main results. Results: Time to clinical resolution was 26 days earlier with teledermoscopy referral compared with usual care alone (95%Credible interval (CrI) 13 to 38). The estimated mean cost difference between teledermoscopy referral ($318.39) versus usual care ($263.75) was $54.64 (95$22.69 to $97.35) per person. The incremental cost per day saved to clinical resolution was$2.10 (95%CrI $0.87 to$5.29). Conclusion and Relevance: Using teledermoscopy for skin cancer referral and triage in Australia will cost $54.64 extra per case on average, but will result in clinical resolution 26 days sooner than usual care. Implementation recommendations depend on the preferences of the Australian health system decision makers for either lower cost or expedited clinical resolution. Further research around the clinical significance of expedited clinical resolution and its importance for patients could inform implementation recommendations for the Australian setting

Judge Consistency in Criminal Sentencing

The United States’ Constitution provides certain protections for those accused of a crime, including proportionate punishment and the right to an attorney. There are sentencing guidelines in place, as well as appointed-counsel systems to ensure that everyone receives these protections when accused of a crime. Some research has shown that the type of counsel present at sentencing may affect the outcome of sentencing, although, the research on the topic is conflicting. Race is another variable that has been found to play into the role of sentencing, as well as gender and age. Other studies have suggested that the differences in sentencing may come from the judge’s mood, their gender, or if they are given a food break. The current study looked at how the variables of race, gender, age, counsel type, crime, week, day of the week, and time affected sentencing. All the variables, aside from the variables of race, gender, and age, were found to have a significant effect on sentencing. These variables did not pass tests of homogeneity or normality, so their effects on sentencing cannot be considered conclusive. While this study cannot be considered conclusive, it continues the research on criminal sentencing outcomes

Examining increased flexibility in assessment formats

There have been calls in the literature for changes to assessment practices in higher education, to increase flexibility and give learners more control over the assessment process (Boud and Falchikov 2006; Nicol and MacFarlane-Dick 2006; Taras 2002). This article explores the possibilities of allowing student choice in the format used to present their work, as a starting point for changing assessment, based on recent studies and current examples of flexible assessment practice in Higher Education. The benefits of this flexible assessment format approach are highlighted, along with a discussion of classic assessment considerations such as validity, reliability and marking concerns. The role of technology in facilitating assessment method choice is considered, in terms of new opportunities for providing student choice in the way they evidence their learning and present their work. Considerations for implementing flexible assessment choices into the curriculum are presented, along with a call that further research into such practice is needed to develop a comprehensive set of practical recommendations and best practice for implementation of flexible assessment choice into the curriculum. The article should be of interest to curriculum developers and academics considering implementing changes to the assessment process to increase student ownership and control

Fandom and Coercive Empowerment: The commissioned production of Chinese online literature

This article examines how the relationship between consumers and producers of cultural products is shaped by the proprietary nature of digital platforms. Drawing on 4 years of online observation and analysis, we examine the relationship between the producers of online Chinese fiction, amateur writers, and their consumers, that is, the fan communities of readers who respond to their work. Enabled by Chinese literary websites, readers act like sponsors who provide emotional and financial incentives for writers to produce online fictions by commenting, voting, and sending money. Readers become actively involved not just because of the content of the stories but because they form strong commitments to stories and their writers, and gain reciprocity and a sense of self-determination during the interactional process. We argue that although writers are freer from state control online, they are still beholden to the whims of their fans because of what we call the commissioned production of fictions. We contribute to fan community studies by analyzing how commercialized website settings structure the strategies available to participants, how these settings affect the content of the cultural products, and how the Chinese historical and cultural contexts impact the dynamics of the online community.postprin