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A Tour Of Ibali: Digital Collections UCT Showcasing Collections for Discovery
No full textIn 2021, the Digital Library Services (DLS) department at University of Cape Town Libraries launched a university-wide showcasing platform for the university's digital collections, here: https://ibali.uct.ac.za. The site is called Ibali (isiXhosa for 'story') and it runs on a set of semantic web technologies called Omeka S and IIIF. Ibali is part of the Libraries' drive to nurture an Open Access space where digital collections can be created, curated, published and showcased. It is a highly collaborative and flexible, future-thinking online repository space. Since its launch a number of diverse collections have already been showcased on Ibali - including a library of open access resources focusing on climate change, transcriptions of the early South African Black Press, and an archive on an active theatrical research project. This presentation offers a walkthrough of some of the metadata infrastructure that we have set up to ensure discoverability and interoperability, especially with regards to showcasing collections from the Global South. The use and institutional implementation of several add-on modules will be showcased to highlight how schemas and ontologies are used to provide integration between indigenous data and the semantic web
Design And Construction Of Anaerobic Digester For Biogas Production.
No full textBiogas production from waste could be one better way addressing the issues of waste management and energy problem in Nigeria. Biogas produced through the proper waste management in an anaerobic digestion has a huge potential to be an alternative source of energy to fossil fuel. In this project, a 200 liter capacity batch sheet metal biogas plant operated at mesospheric temperature under 40 day hydraulic retention time, Fabricated at Mechanical engineering Fabrication center, Federal Polytechnic Nekede, Owerri, Imo State was used for biogas production of from agricultural waste (pig dung, cow dung, poultry dropping) and kitchen waste. 21.25kg of each waste was mixed with water of same weight at a ratio of 1:1 and charged. The pressure of the slurry was monitored for a certain period of time. The sample gags production was passed through the gas chromatography to determine the percentage composition (mol% dry basis) of the biogas content. The result of biogas before refining were 58.10 mol% dry CH4, 35.9mol% dry CO2 and 0.99 mol% dry H2S, which conformed with literature values of 50-70% mol dry CH4, 30-40% mol dry CO2 and 0-3% mol dry H2S 58.15% mol dry N2, 0.02% mol dry O2, 0.05% mol dry NH3, 0.47% mol dry H2
An Inclusive Approach to Hands-on STEM Programs in Underserved Secondary Schools: An Epistemological STEAM Model
No full textUnderserved schools globally do not usually have sufficient resources and requisite models to run inclusive and sustainable hands-on STEM programs. This often lead to exclusion of more students from opportunities in STEM, especially those with disabilities and learning difficulties. The marginalization of disadvantaged learners and exclusion of majority of students in resource-poor schools creates an internal STEM gap. Some schools having resources but lacking skilled instructors also face the same challenges. After more than a decade of casual observations, these problems have remained consistent, persistent and widespread; especially in developing countries. This mixed and longitudinal study therefore proposes an inclusive framework to address these inequities in STEM. Our model comprises seven components, after inductive analysis of empirical observations. A survey of 214 participants comprising 36 teachers and 178 students, who have participated in hands-on STEM programs was analyzed using simple statistical method to evaluate their perceptions on our hypothesized propositions. Our findings reveal that teachers' and students' responses validate our proposed framework; which informs the development of our Epistemological STEAM Model. This framework would serve as an effective guide for underserved secondary schools to implement sustainable hands-on programs with limited resources. It would also help policy makers enforce inclusion in the selection of students who participate annually in sponsored STEM programs and competitions; as well as drive optimal utilization of public STEM infrastructures
Pour une stratégie de développement d’une ville durable, à travers l’événement : analyse bibliométrique à travers la revue de littérature.
No full textUrban spacеs and еvеnt tеmporalitiеs arе oftеn instrumеntalizеd for dеvеlopmеnt and valorization of tеrritoriеs. Howеvеr, this procеss may havе nеgativе impacts on thе еnvironmеnt and thе quality of lifе of local rеsidеnts. This papеr proposеs a framеwork and an action plan for dеvеloping complеx intеrvеntions to improvе urban sustainability in thе contеxt of urban еvеnts. Thе framеwork considеrs thrее lеvеls of concеrn: small-scalе privatе еvеnts, largе-scalе coordinatеd еvеnts, and mеga-еvеnts. Thе action plan involvеs rеviеwing еxisting еvidеncе, drawing on thеoriеs, articulating programmе thеory, collеcting primary data, undеrstanding contеxt, and dеsigning and rеfining intеrvеntions using itеrativе cyclеs of dеvеlopmеnt with stakеholdеr input.
Thе papеr arguеs that intеrvеntion dеvеlopmеnt should bе sееn as a dynamic itеrativе procеss that takеs into account thе short, mеdium, and long-tеrm impacts of еvеnts on thе local community and urban еnvironmеnt. Thе papеr also discussеs thе challеngеs and opportunitiеs for implеmеnting and еvaluating such intеrvеntions in thе rеal world. Thе papеr contributеs to thе litеraturе on urban studiеs, еvеnt managеmеnt, and complеx intеrvеntion dеvеlopmеnt by providing a comprеhеnsivе and practical approach to addrеss thе problеm of instrumеntalizing urban spacеs and еvеnt tеmporalitiеs for sustainablе dеvеlopmеnt
Determinants of Cost of Capital: Kenyan context
Get PDFThe purpose of this paper was to look at the determinants of the cost of capital for a firm. The study conducted a literature review with the goal of identifying the factors that influence the cost of capital for a firm. The research showed that profitability, liquidity, tax, growth, size, and age of the company are among the major determinants that influence the cost of capital for a firm. Further the research showed a positive correlation between the cost of capital and profitability, liquidity, growth, size, and age of the company. The capital arrangement of a firm is determined on account of the pecking order theory and trade-off theory while bearing in mind the cost elements associated with it. In Kenya, economic stability and political stability are the primary determinants that determine the cost of capital for a firm. This determining factor influences the availability and cost of credit offered by financial institutions in Kenya
Unlocking open science in Africa: Mentorship and grassroot community building
No full textOpen Science is becoming increasingly popular among scientists worldwide, but African researchers have hesitated to adopt it. This keynote speech addresses the current state of open science in Africa and the challenges researchers face in implementing open science practices. As an open science advocate and mentor in Africa, I share my experiences and discuss the role of mentorship and grassroots community building in overcoming these challenges. Various initiatives, such as OpenScienceKE, H3ABioNet, and BHKi, aim to increase awareness, empower members, and encourage collaboration to promote open science, information sharing, resource sharing, and the visibility of African research. It is essential to involve all stakeholders within local communities and empower grassroots communities. Like planning for a mountain climb, providing the necessary support to facilitate success is crucial. The article highlights the importance of inclusivity and support to overcome barriers and challenges to reap the benefits of open science. I show how culture changes towards openness, breaking down barriers, empowerment, allyship, and grassroots community building are pathways to achieve this change
Does non-linguistic segmentation still predict literacy in an L2 education? Statistical learning in Ivorian primary schools
Get PDFSupplemental Materials: https://osf.io/6f8aw/Statistical learning (SL) is a learning mechanism that does not directly depend on knowledge of a language, but predicts language and literacy outcomes for children and adults. Research linking SL and literacy has not addressed children who first learn to read in their second language (L2), common in primary schools worldwide. Several studies have linked SL with childhood literacy in Australia, China, Europe, and the U.S., and we pre-registered an adaptation for Côte d’Ivoire, where students are educated in French and speak a local language at home. Recruiting 117 sixth- graders from primary schools in several villages, we tested for correlations >0.3 between SL and literacy with 80-90% power. We found no evidence for these correlations, but visual SL was correlated with L2 phonological awareness. Although this finding may suggest a role of SL in emergent L2 skills, it underscores the need to include L2 acquisition contexts in literacy research
Seeking An African Solution For Equity And Inclusion: The African Continental Publishing Platform
Get PDFThis presentation was delivered at Open Repositories 2023 Conference as part of Panel 7: LIBSENSE Africa - Breaking down silos across infrastructures to improve the visibility of African research output
Making the World a Better Place to Live: African Research and Education Networks’ Contributions to the UN SDGs
Get PDFIn September 2015, 193 countries came together at the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) and
agreed on a blueprint to create a better and more sustainable world. They adopted the Sustainable
Development Goals (SDGs), as ‘an urgent call for action by all countries - developed and developing - in
a global partnership’1, designed to be realised by 2030.
Since then, governments and non-governmental organisations alike have aligned their
activities with the SDGs as a roadmap to making their impact on the development of the global society
and also realise global relevance. This alignment has reaped benefits for both the global society and
these governments and organisations, which include an increase in global influence and the ability to attract
funding from the UN and other global funding organisations.
Research and Education Networks (RENs) in Africa, both national (NRENs) and regional (RRENs)
have also been contributing their best efforts to the achievement of the SDGs by helping to tackle
urgent social issues and thereby creating value in several fields, including education, health, agriculture,
gender equality, economic growth, and innovation. Unfortunately, this contribution has been largely,
underreported.
This paper seeks to contribute to remedying the situation by sharing evidence of the
contribution to Africa and enhancing the visibility of the work done so far by the RENs.European Unio