6,806 research outputs found
OP35 - Goddard, George; Griffith, Beverley; Procope, Don; Liverpool, Hollis; Williams, Anthony
No full text5 audio cassettesThis resource is available for research. It is the property of the West Indiana and Special Collections Division, The Alma Jordan Library, The University of the West Indies, St. Augustine Campus.George Goddard was involved with the steelband since 1941. Beverley Griffith was a former co-arranger of Starland steelband and WITCO Desperadoes. Don Procope served as Public Relations Officer for the Pan Am North Stars Steelband from 1961. Hollis Liverpool, teacher, calypsonians and historian, has been conducting research on Carnival and the related art forms. Anthony Williams, pan tuner, revolutionized steelband, steelband music and Carnival with his innovations in the steelband. These interviews were conducted as part of the research for a Caribbean Study Project on "Steelband: The innovations of Anthony Williams" in the Faculty of Arts and if General Studies, St Augustine, submitted by Robert Saldena in April 1984
Knowledge Renewal and Knowledge Creation in Export Trading
No full textThis thesis examines how tacit knowledge about export trading is tapped and
collectively used in a web portal by a community of practice. Working with a design for
application software, such as a web portal, requires an understanding of the application
software domain. This research focuses on an export trading knowledge portal for use
by an export trading community. The community comprises members involved in
export activities. The research adopts three theories useful in the design of the portal.
First, theory of domain analysis specifies an application software knowledge domain
and explores the thoughts and discourse of the user community. Second, activity theory
is used to understand the inherent knowledge in human interactions and the resultant
human activity system in relation to the portal use. Third, the theory of organisational
knowledge creation is used to explore how knowledge conversion processes take place
in the human interactions in the portal.
The knowledge captured and collectively used in the portal is beneficial to members for
their work purposes. It is argued that tacit export knowledge is exchanged through
human interactions. Thus, it is critical to understand what tacit knowledge can be
captured and managed in the portal and how this can be done. It is argued that
effectively managed knowledge can help members and their organisation to achieve
export success. This research is important, as export creates revenues and stimulates
economic growth in both the exporting firms and the exporting country. It is particularly
important for members involved in export activities who make use of the captured tacit
knowledge at work.
The principal research questions of this thesis are: what constitutes export knowledge,
and how does portal technology help members use and exchange knowledge? From
these main questions, the sub-questions are: (1) what portal features can help export
trading members interact; (2) what portal features can help export trading members seek
and use important useful resources; and (3) how can members’ previous version of
knowledge be renewed and new knowledge created when the collective knowledge in
the portal is used?Thesis (PhD Doctorate)Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)Griffith Business SchoolGriffith Business SchoolFull Tex
My Life as a Musician: Designing a Vocational Preparation Strand to Create Industry-Prepared Musicians
No full textFor the last two decades, the discourse surrounding the education of the
professional musician has increased as traditional forms of music employment become
more competitive and the portfolio career has returned as an accepted mode of working
for musicians. Criticism of the nineteenth-century conservatoire model, which in turn
has led to the recommendation to embed an employability focus within degree programs
that fosters the development of industry-prepared musicians. To date, however, there
are few successful examples of this. This study investigates the design, development
and delivery of the My Life as a Musician (MLaaM) vocational preparation strand of
undergraduate courses that assist student musicians to prepare for their likely
employment, both before and after graduation. The thesis makes an original
contribution to higher education teaching and learning by documenting the processes
involved in developing employability education within an undergraduate music
curriculum.
Data collection involved a suite of research methods based on a grounded
theoretical approach that included autoethnography, practitioner action research, focus
groups of 44 Queensland Conservatorium Griffith University (QCGU) students, and
interviews with 12 faculty plus three Australian arts leaders, three Australian higher
education leaders and three Australian music industry lecturers. Further to this,
interviews with 15 South-East Queensland portfolio career musicians informed the
design of a 75-question survey to which 261 Australian portfolio musicians responded.
The findings revealed a shrinking and territorial music industry that has been
affected by macro-environmental forces, an increased professional musician population,
a lack of respect for the portfolio careerist, and cannibalistic employment practices. The
musicians indicated that opportunities exist to provide formal and informal vocational
preparation in the form of experiential learning for the acquisition of an extensive set of
hard and soft skills that support career sustainability. However, the research revealed 11
barriers to the success of this employment education. These involved students’
romanticised career aspirations, varying degree approaches, and professional identity
development from music student to student musician. In addition, the influence of a
master-apprentice model largely subscribing to an art for art’s sake approach to career development, rather than acknowledging the realities of the changing profession, further affected students’ acceptance of formalised vocational learning.
Combined with this qualitative and quantitative inquiry, an extensive literature
review of the music industry, musician identity, career theory and educational practice
has contributed to the development of a Conservatoire Student Lifecycle Model as the
foundation of the MLaaM strand. Implications for the further development of these
courses, ethical extracurricular programme activities, curriculum restructure and the call
for industry reform are discussed. The results of this study may hold relevance for those
wishing to instigate similar vocational preparation courses within undergraduate tertiary music programmes.Thesis (PhD Doctorate)Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)Queensland ConservatoriumArts, Education and LawFull Tex
Experimental Development of Automated Search Techniques for Discrete Combinatorial Optimisation
No full textA suite of techniques for finding the optimal solutions for a set of discrete combinatorial problems was developed. An experimental approach was used, with a suitable test-bed found in a class of word-puzzles.
The crux of such research is that seeking optimal solutions to discrete combinatorial problems requires the use of deterministic algorithms. Attention was focused on the development of new techniques capable of exhausting the search space more efficiently. Although research was restricted to tractable problems, exhaustion of the search space was recognised to be practically infeasible for all but small problem instances. Thus the size and complexity of the problems examined was necessarily restricted.
On these grounds the selection of an appropriate test-bed was fundamental to the research. Complex word problems were used because they encompass a wide range of discrete combinatorial problems, but have only a small literature. The specific puzzle examples employed as test-beds had all been used in public competitions with solutions submitted by thousands of humans, with the winning solutions and scores published. This allowed a simple and independent initial benchmark of success. The techniques developed could be judged to be at least partially successful in that they were able to at least equal and in some cases beat the highest recorded scores. The general problem of benchmarking is discussed.
It was observed that small changes to the test bed puzzles or to the techniques would often impact dramatically on the results. In an attempt to isolate the reasons for this, a focused view of the search algorithms was adopted. Complex holistic algorithms were broken into smaller sub-algorithmic categories, such as: node selection, domain maintenance, forward tracking, backtracking, branch-and-bound, primary slot selection, variable ordering, value ordering, and constraint ordering. Within each of these categories a range of variations is presented.
Techniques for removing inconsistencies prior to search were also experimented with. These consistency pre-processors were found to have a minimal and at times detrimental effect on search times when a good selection of search techniques was used. However, they were found to offer considerable benefits in instances where a poor selection of search techniques was chosen. As such these consistency pre-processors may be viewed as useful in terms of a risk management strategy for solving these problems.
Whilst not the primary focus of this research experimentation with stochastic techniques within a deterministic framework was performed. The purpose of which was to gauge the impact of generating good solutions prior to an exhaustive search. A technique developed was observed to frequently improve the time taken to form an optimal solution, and improve the total time taken to exhaust the search space.
While the major effort in the research was necessarily spent in developing and testing these algorithms and their implementations, specific attention was paid to the methodological problems inherent in experimental approaches to program development.Thesis (PhD Doctorate)Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)Griffith Business SchoolGriffith Business SchoolFull Tex
Women as Farm Partners: Agricultural Decision Support Systems in the Australian Cotton Industry
No full textAustralian farmers are supplementing traditional practices with innovative strategies in an effort to survive recent economic, environmental, and social crises in the rural sector. These innovative strategies include moving towards a technology-based farm management style. A review of past literature determines that, despite a growing awareness of the usefulness of computers for farm management, there is concern over the limited demand for computer-based agricultural decision support systems (DSS). Recent literature indicates that women are the dominant users of computers on family farms yet are hesitant to use computers for decision support, and it is also unclear what decision-making roles women assume on family farms. While past research has investigated the roles of women in the Australian rural sector, there is a dearth of research into the interaction of women cotton growers with computers. Therefore, this dissertation is an ontological study and aims to contribute to scholarly knowledge in the research domain of Australian women cotton growers, agricultural DSS, and cotton farm management. This dissertation belongs in the Information Systems (IS) stream and describes an interpretive single case study which explores the lives of Australian women cotton growers on family farms and the association of an agricultural DSS with their farm management roles. Data collection was predominantly through semi-structured interviews with women cotton growers and cotton industry professionals such as DSS developers, rural extension officers, researchers and educators, rural experimental scientists, and agronomists and consultants, all of whom advise cotton growers. The study was informed by multiple sociological theories with opposing paradigmatic assumptions: Giddens' (1984) structuration theory as a metatheory to explore the recursiveness of farm life and technology usage; Rogers' (1995) diffusion of innovations theory with a functionalist approach to objectively examine the features of the software and user, as well as the processes of technology adoption; and Connell's (2002) theory of gender relations with its radical humanist perspective to subjectively investigate the relationships between farm partners through critical enquiry. The study was enriched further by drawing on other writings of these authors (Connell 1987; Giddens 2001; Rogers 2003) as well as complementary theories by authors (Orlikowski 1992; Orlikowski 2000; Trauth 2002; Vanclay & Lawrence 1995). These theories in combination have not been used before, which is a theoretical contribution of the study. The agricultural DSS for the study was CottonLOGIC, an advanced farm management tool to aid the management of cotton production. It was developed in the late 1990s by the CSIRO and the Australian Cotton Cooperative Research Centre (CRC), with support from the Cotton Research and Development Corporation (CRDC). CottonLOGIC is a software package of decision support and record-keeping modules to assist cotton growers and their advisors in the management of cotton pests, soil nutrition, and farm operations. It enables the recording and reporting of crop inputs and yields, insect populations (heliothis, tipworm, mirids and so on), weather data, and field operations such as fertiliser and pesticide applications, as well as the running of insect density prediction (heliothis and mites) and soil nutrition models. The study found that innovative practices and sustainable solutions are an imperative in cotton farm management for generating an improved triple bottom line of economic, environmental and social outcomes. CottonLOGIC is an industry benchmark for supporting these values through the incorporation of Best Management Practices (BMP) and Integrated Pest Management (IPM) principles, although there were indications that the software is in need of restructuring as could be expected of software over five years old. The evidence from the study was that women growers are participants in strategic farm decisions but less so in operational decisions, partly due to their lack of relevant agronomic knowledge. This hindered their use of CottonLOGIC, despite creative attempts to modify it. The study endorsed the existence of gender differences and inequalities in rural Australia. Nevertheless, the study also found that the women are valued for their roles as business partners in the multidisciplinary nature of farm management. All the same, there was evidence that greater collaboration and cooperation by farm partners and advisors would improve business outcomes. On the whole, however, women cotton growers are not passive agents but take responsibility for their own futures. In particular, DSS tools such as CottonLOGIC are instrumental in enabling women cotton growers to adapt to, challenge, and influence farm management practices in the family farm enterprise, just as CottonLOGIC is itself shaped and reshaped. Hence, a practical contribution of this study is to provide non-prescriptive guidelines for the improved adoption of agricultural DSS, particularly by rural women, as well as increasing awareness of the worth of their roles as family farm business partners.Thesis (PhD Doctorate)Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)Griffith Business SchoolGriffith Business SchoolFull Tex
The Italo-Australian Press: Media and Mass Communication in the Emigration World 1900-1940
No full textL'idea di questa tesi nasce da una serie di circostanze, prima tra tutte la professione dell'autore che per quindici anni ha svolto in Italia l'attività di giornalista, lavorando prima al Messaggero di Roma, come cronista, e successivamente alla Rai - Radiotelevisione Italiana in qualità di redattore di 'giudiziaria' . Inoltre, l'autore di questa tesi, ha fatto una interessantissima esperienza professionale sia come critico cinematografico e sia come 'pastonista politico' presso la redazione romana del Giornale Nuovo - coordinata in quegli anni da Cesare Zappulli - quando era direttore il grande e indimenticabile Indro Montanelli, prima cioè che quell'arruffapopoli di Berlusconi affondasse completamente il giornale, trasformandolo nel bollettino parrocchiale di quel guazzabuglio politico che è 'Forza Italia' Questo non è il nostro primo cimento nel campo della storia del giornalismo in quanto segue una tesi di Master, conseguita al dipartimento di Storia dell'University of Queensland e che ha avuto come relatore il Dr. Don Dignan, dal titolo 'Press and Consensus in Fascist Italy'. In questa prima tesi è stata affrontata la fascistizzazione della stampa italiana tra il 1922 ed il 1940 e il modo in cui Mussolini, che capì esattamente l'importanza dei media e del controllo dell'informazione, creò quella corrente di consenso che permise al fascismo di governare indisturbato per tutto il 'ventennio'. In quella tesi di Master è stato anche affrontato e studiato il modo in cui i giornalisti (gli sceneggiatori del regime) ed i giornali, sia essi 'indipendenti' e di partito, manipolarono le notizie per darle in pasto ai propri lettori, con tutte quelle interpolazioni, ridondanze ed ombre che identificano il modo tuttora esistenze di concepire e fare un giornale. Nella nostra tesi di Ph.D. seguiremo una traccia similare, cercando di vedere e di analizzare se anche la stampa etnica ha usato, direttamente o indirettamente, forme di manipolazioni, di interferenze o di ridondanze nel creare e porgere le notizie al lettore italo-australiano. Inoltre è nostro intento accertare fino a che punto questa stampa ha creato un consenso verso particolari scelte politiche, sociali e di costume e se questo consenso è stato accettato dai lettori etnici, e in che misura. In altre parole il quesito che in linea di massima ci poniamo è identificare che influenza ha avuto la stampa etnica sulla comunità italiana. I problemi che questo tipo di ricerca implica sono stati numerosi, soprattutto dovuti al fatto che non esiste una letteratura specifica e non vi sono studi, nel campo del giornalismo italo-australiano, dei primi quaranta anni del novecento. Inoltre la maggior parte dei giornali pubblicati in quegli anni sono andati distrutti. Si è cercato inoltre di delineare una immagine dei problemi e delle aspirazioni della comunità italo-australiana attraverso l'analisi della stampa etnica, visto che la maggior parte degli autori hanno affrontato, fino ad oggi, questo tema usando documenti ufficiali o racconti e testimonianze di persone vissute nel periodo analizzato dalla nostra tesi. Abbiamo cercato, quindi, di dare una nuova luce e, quando è stato possibile, di dare la giusta dimensione agli avvenimenti accaduti dato che quanto veniva pubblicato sulle colonne dei giornali era scritto a 'caldo', senza influenze burocratiche e senza il filtro del tempo e delle memorie che spesso distorcono la realtà creando affabulazioni lontane dalla realtà.Thesis (PhD Doctorate)Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)School of HumanitiesFull Tex
8.07.001: "The Pink, White and Green" dedicated to Don Walsh by Al Pittman, February 1999
No full textSigned by the author. While this copy is dedicated to Don Walsh, the original poem was dedicated to his brother Des, as indicated below the title
Texas Cleaver
No full textA journalist, author, and politician, Biggers was born September 27, 1868, in Meridian, Texas, and grew up in a ranching environment. He edited and wrote for several West Texas newspapers, served in the Texas Legislature, and was active in land promotion in West Texas and Eastern New Mexico. He authored several books, including History That Will Never Be Repeated (1901), Pictures Of The Past (1902) [both under the pen name Lan Franks], Cattle Range To Cotton Patch (1905), Shackelford County Sketches (1908), and Our Sacred Monkeys (1933). Don Hampton Biggers died at a rest home in Stephenville on December 11, 1957, a month after his wife's death, Nettie.Volume 3. Number 11
A Mediating Tradition: The Anglican Vocation in Australian Society
No full textThe Anglican Church of Australia agreed to a national constitution in 1962. Yet at a national level it is hardly a cohesive body with a sense of unity and common purpose. Historically, Australian Anglicanism developed along regional lines, with the result that diocesan separateness rather than national unity became enshrined as a foundational principle of Anglicanism in Australia. This study questions this fundamental premise of the Anglican tradition in Australia. It argues (1) that it is not a true reflection of the Anglican ethos, both in its English origins and worldwide, and (2) that it prevents Anglicanism in Australia from embracing its national vocation.
An alternative tradition has been present, in fact, within Australian Anglicanism from the beginning, although it has not been considered to be part of the mainstream. Bishop Broughton, the first Anglican bishop in Australia, was deeply sensitive to the colonial context in which the Anglican tradition was being planted, and he adapted it accordingly. So too, a century later, Bishop Burgmann of Canberra and Goulburn argued for Anglicanism to embrace its national vocation. The views of both these pioneering bishops were consistent with the national principle that lay at the heart of the Anglican ethos from as far back as the English Reformation. The central part of this study explores this national emphasis in Anglican thought, which is present in the thought of Richard Hooker and received renewed emphasis in the writings of Broad Church Anglicans like Coleridge, Arnold and Maurice in nineteenth century England. The national principle did not disappear with the birth of global Anglicanism. The principle of inculturation, always implicit in the Anglican tradition in England, now became an Anglican imperative. The American Revolution indicated that the vocation of each cultural expression of Anglicanism is intricately bound up with the life of the particular society to which it belongs. A study of Lambeth documents demonstrates this growing cultural awareness within global Anglicanism. The present crisis of authority in the Anglican Communion should not be allowed to divert attention away from the national vocation of each particular or national church, in keeping with one of the central tenets of the English Reformation.
Important theological and ecclesial issues are at stake. It is very easy for Anglicanism to lapse into an in-house conversation, forgetting that doctrine is part of a human and not just an ecclesiastical conversation. At the heart of the Anglican ethos is a ‘reconciling method’. In a fragmented world, Anglicanism is called to be a mediating presence, engaging with the differences that threaten to divide nations and communities. The Anglican via media needs to be released from ecclesiastical confinement to do its proper work within national life. So too, the notion of ‘comprehensiveness’, long considered to be a central aspect of the Anglican ethos, needs to be placed at the service of the national and international community, especially in a post-colonial world. Conversation and community need to take precedence over fragmentation and hostility. The Anglican tradition was made for such a time, and needs to apply its theological and ecclesial resources to broader issues than its own survival. Ultimately it is a question of integrity: whether Anglicanism is prepared to embody its vision of unity within its own life, and to share it with the wider human community; whether it is willing to live with the risks of engagement, accepting that the ongoing tension between gospel and culture is part of its vocation.
The final section of the study will seek to apply these insights to the Australian context. Anglicanism has, in fact, been part of the Australian story from the beginning of European settlement. It must not retreat into a private religious world, or assume a comfortable establishment status as it tended to do in the decades after Federation. It needs to be part of the ongoing debate about Australia – what Australia is and what it stands for. The Anglican tradition must both engage in the conversation about Australia and act as a prophetic and mediating presence, especially at the points of tension which cause fractures in national life. Particular attention will be paid to three key themes in Australian life: the Anzac tradition, race, and land. Each of these presents Anglicanism with both a challenge and an opportunity. Australia needs the insights and resources that the Anglican tradition brings, and Anglicanism needs to grasp that it is both Anglican and Australian. It must therefore get its own house in order for the sake of the nation.Thesis (PhD Doctorate)Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)School of ArtsFaculty of ArtsFull Tex
The Strengths and Resources Young Women and their Family Members use during Treatment for Breast Cancer
No full textBreast cancer is the leading cancer in women worldwide; one in eight will be diagnosed before the age of 75 years. Of those diagnosed 25% are under the age of 50 years and likely to be premenopausal and have family responsibilities (Coyne & Borbasi, 2006; Sammarco, 2001). Although all women regardless of age experience difficulties, younger women face significant difficulties after their diagnosis related to their phase of life (Bloom, Stewart, Chang, & Banks, 2004). The diagnosis and treatment of breast cancer is a time of intense physical and emotional disturbance. The women rarely go through this alone. They are supported by their family members who are distressed and lost in the situation. During this time families experience a range of responses including changes to communication, role and sense of control as they respond to the diagnosis and treatment for breast cancer. While family is the mainstay of support for young women with breast cancer there is little research that has addressed the family response to breast cancer. The aim of this research was to explore the strengths and resources young women and their family members use during treatment for breast cancer. The use of a family framework allowed the unique nature of the family response to breast cancer to be explored. A two phase mixed method approach informed by the Resiliency Model of Family Stress, Adjustment and Adaptation (McCubbin & McCubbin, 1993) was used, to investigate the strengths and resources used by the family in response to breast cancer treatment. A total of 111 participants, women with breast cancer and their family members completed the composite questionnaire. A non-parametric analysis of the quantitative data included descriptive statistics, correlations between variables and changes over time. Personal interviews with 14 women with breast cancer and nine family members added richness to the research data. A family case study analysis of the 36 families provided information on the family as a group’s response to breast cancer treatment.Thesis (PhD Doctorate)Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)School of Nursing and MidwiferyGriffith HealthFull Tex
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