1,720,955 research outputs found
An Evaluation of the Records Management Capacity of Gweru City Council (GCC), Zimbabwe
No full textLocal authorities (urban and rural councils as well as municipalities) in Zimbabwe are a sub-structure of local government given the responsibility to provide public services in particular areas such as cities and towns. In undertaking their work, local authorities create and use various types of records that include financial, personnel, health, and engineering records as well as council meeting minutes and housing plans, among other records. This study evaluates the records management capacity of the Gweru City Council (GCC) in Zimbabwe. This study employed qualitative research approaches. The study was grounded on the Records Management Capacity Assessment System (RMCAS) as conceptual framework. The RMCAS is a diagnostic model that assesses the records management capacity of organisations based on international standards. It is revealed that the GCC is in level 1 of the RMCAS, which means the council is less invested in records management issues and less equipped and resourced to effectively manage records. Thus, paper and electronic records at GCC are highly susceptible to loss and destruction
The Records Management (RM) Capabilities of Lecturers at Midlands State University (MSU), Zimbabwe
No full textRecords bear evidence of business transactions and decisions undertaken by an organisation. Good records management enables the smooth flow, efficient and effective conduct of university business. University lecturers create different types of records in the course of discharging their responsibilities. These include research and publications, student teaching, continuous assessment, and examination. However, very little is known about the extent to which lecturers are able to properly manage the records they create. There have been three recorded cases of lecturers at Midlands State University (MSU) who lost examination and continuous assessment records, and this led to their dismissal. This study examined the capabilities of university lecturers in managing the records they create. The objectives of the study were to ascertain the records management background of lecturers and to examine their capability to perform records management. This study was grounded on the interpretive paradigm and employed qualitative research approaches where convenience sampling was used. The sample of the study involved 23 lecturers and one staff member from the Central Records section at MSU. The study found that participating lecturers lacked records management knowledge, and all of them did not follow any records management system for paper-based records management. Lecturers managed coursework and examination records through the Changamire Marks Management System. Some electronic records were kept in lecturers’ e-mails and personal laptops. The study established that records were susceptible to loss due to lecturers’ lack of knowledge, negative attitudes, conflicts between non-teaching and teaching staff, and lack of suitable records management infrastructure. The study concluded that most lecturers who participated in the study were dismal performers of records management; hence, records are more susceptible to loss. This study provides a step by step systems approach that universities, such as MSU, can employ to effectively manage records created by academic staff
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Get PDFThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
Variations on the Author
Get PDF“Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship
Appropriate Similarity Measures for Author Cocitation Analysis
Get PDFWe provide a number of new insights into the methodological discussion about author cocitation analysis. We first argue that the use of the Pearson correlation for measuring the similarity between authors’ cocitation profiles is not very satisfactory. We then discuss what kind of similarity measures may be used as an alternative to the Pearson correlation. We consider three similarity measures in particular. One is the well-known cosine. The other two similarity measures have not been used before in the bibliometric literature. Finally, we show by means of an example that our findings have a high practical relevance.information science;Pearson correlation;cosine;similarity measure;author cocitation analysis
Dispelling the Myths Behind First-author Citation Counts
Get PDFWe conducted a full-scale evaluative citation analysis study of scholars in the XML research field to explore just how different from each other author rankings resulting from different citation counting methods actually are, and to demonstrate the capability of emerging data and tools on the Web in supporting more realistic citation counting methods. Our results contest some common arguments for the continued
use of first-author citation counts in the evaluation of scholars, such as high correlations between author rankings by first-author citation counts and other citation
counting methods, and high costs of using more realistic citation counting methods that are not well-supported by the ISI databases. It is argued that increasingly available digital full text research papers make it possible for citation analysis studies to go beyond what the ISI databases have directly supported and to employ more
sophisticated methods
Records and Information Management (RIM) Practices in Pentecostal Churches in Zimbabwe
No full textZimbabwe has, for the past five decades, experienced a proliferation of Pentecostal churches. Some Pentecostal churches or prophets own television channels and social media accounts, which they have used for communication and preaching. In some instances, Pentecostal churches run several projects and church activities. All these activities and operations have resulted in the creation of financial, personal, prophecy and project records, among others. Although Pentecostal churches are not archives or records centres, they stand to benefit if they engage in Records Information Management (RIM). The Apostolic Faith Mission in Zimbabwe (AFMZ) and the United International Apostolic Faith Church (UIAFC) both experienced splits in 2018, and this has contributed to information loss and the destruction of vital records. This study investigated the efficacy of RIM practices in the AFMZ and UIAFC and was grounded on qualitative and phenomenological research methods. The target population included pastors, secretaries and treasurers from the AFMZ and UIAFC who are part of the RIM chain. The study found that the lack of a RIM policy, trained personnel and physical as well as technological infrastructure contributed to records and information loss. Pentecostal churches are susceptible to splits. Records or information is usually managed by lay workers (volunteers) with less knowledge of RIM; hence this has attributed to information loss and records destruction. It is thus concluded that RIM in Pentecostal churches remains an afterthought. This study established critical RIM factors that Pentecostal churches may find useful, and which can increase their efficiency and effectiveness in operations and business
koamabayili/VECTRON-author-checklist: VECTRON author checklist
No full textWe have done our best to complete the author checklist relating to the use of animals in the hut study. Note that the objective for the hut study was to evaluate the IRS treatment applications for residual efficacy against Anopheles mosquitoes, including the local An. coluzzii mosquito population. Cows were only used to attract mosquitoes into the huts and no tests were carried out directly on the cows. The author checklist is intended for use with studies where experiments are carried out on animals, which is why we have had such difficulty in completing this for the hut study, as many of the questions do not relate to how the cows were used
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