1,720,970 research outputs found
Australian Survey on Legal Issues Facing e-Research
Full text linkThe Legal Framework for e-Research Project lead by Professor Brian Fitzgerald and hosted by the Queensland University of Technology (QUT) is funded by the Australian Commonwealth Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations (DEEWR), formerly Education, Science and Training (DEST), under the Systemic Infrastructure Initiative (SII), Research Information Infrastructure Framework for Australian Higher Education, as part of the Commonwealth Government’s Backing Australia’s Ability – An Innovation Action Plan for the Future (BAA). The Project involves mapping out a sophisticated legal framework for e- Research and collaborative innovation. As we transition into the National Collaborative Research Infrastructure Strategy (NCRIS)2 era it is vitally important that social and legal aspects of the e-Research framework are developed in step with the rapid advances in technology. Only little work has been done in this area worldwide. This project is linking with key international actors to provide an internationally significant project. While the Open Access to Knowledge (OAK) Law Project3 aims to examine the role of open access to all in an Internet world, this project also focuses on open innovation within secure knowledge communities – both are vital aspects of the e-Research framework. The critical issue is working out legal models for e-Research that reflect the capacity of the technologies involved and can be implemented quickly, effectively and (in many instances) in an automated way
Where is it and why is it there? : GIS and its potential use in the human services sector
No full textThe purpose of the present paper is to present the results of a study examining stakeholder perceptions of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) in a Human Services environment. Policy shifts are increasingly requiring human service agencies to work collaboratively within and across geographic regions and funding boundaries, yet little is offered to assist agencies to both plan and provide for these integrated services. The present study uses a case study approach to examine the perceptions of service providers currently engaged in integration efforts regarding the potential of GIS to assist their agencies and sectors in service planning and provision. A series of GIS visualisations were produced and presented, in the context of a feedback session and four semi-structured interviews, to representatives of an inter-agency group specifically initiated to improve the integration of services for young people with complex needs. The data sets included demographic, social disadvantage and housing\ud
information related to the group’s target population. The results suggest that stakeholders perceive that there could be advantages associated with utilising a GIS to present data at a regional scale, including the ability to: facilitate\ud
communication across organisational boundaries, provide justification for decisions made at the regional level, and to potentially construct boundaries in alignment with the characteristics of people and place. The stakeholders also perceived potential disadvantages, including: that individual services could be found to be incongruent with the needs of the region, that data could be misinterpreted and potentially constructed in a way that was unreliable, and finally that problems arising from the construction of artificial bureaucratic boundaries could be re-enforced. From the results, it is possible to identify a number of key issues associated with the potential utilisation of GIS in the human services arena. It is recommended that a crucial topic for future investigation is how to develop a GIS appropriate for the human services sector in light of the opportunities and constraints identified by this research
"I think you are doing a good job, but…"\ud Initial Thoughts on First Year - Responses from Students and Implications for the University
No full textThe first year experience (FYE) is both exciting and daunting for university students.\ud
Ensuring that this experience is positive and enjoyable is increasingly important for\ud
universities, with research indicating that students’ initial experiences will determine\ud
whether they complete their degree (McInnes, James and Hartley 2000).\ud
This paper analyses student responses to one open-ended question in a survey that\ud
considered students’ initial experiences of university at the Carseldine and Caboolture\ud
Campuses of Queensland University of Technology (QUT) in 2005. The question was\ud
How could QUT and the campus improve your experience as a first-year student?\ud
Please describe both positive and negative aspects of your experience. The responses\ud
were classified into five categories: Enrolment/Orientation Issues, Socio-cultural\ud
Issues, Academic Support, Access to Information and General Comments.\ud
Some students did not comment (n=109) but those that did respond (n=155) identified\ud
some key challenges and possible solutions. These included: the provision of social\ud
activities for first year students, the need for improved clarity in enrolment processes,\ud
and more information and pre-commencement sessions on course\ud
structures/requirements/choices and career pathways.\ud
Two major implications for the initial phases of first year can be discerned from the\ud
challenges identified by the students. Firstly, improvements are required in\ud
orientation/induction programs and, secondly, the information provided to students, as\ud
well as the means for accessing that information, need to be clear and consistent
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Full text linkThe 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
Women And Homelessness: Innovative Practice And Exit Pathways
No full textThe face of women now appears as a significant feature of the ‘new homelessness’. According to\ud
the Wesley Mission report the ‘faces of homelessness’ have changed significantly over the last two\ud
decades:\ud
‘The old, derelict wino on the park bench has been joined by younger men, unemployed and\ud
hopeless; by the confused and mentally ill, frightened by the pace of activity surrounding\ud
them; by women and children, desperate to escape violent and destructive domestic\ud
situations; by young people, cast off by families who can’t cope or don’t care’ (Hoogland,\ud
2001).\ud
This paper reports on recently completed research on women’s transitions out of homelessness and\ud
the role of housing and associated support services in offering ‘independence’. This paper will\ud
provide an overview of the research and the outcomes in the final report.\ud
The research sought to answer the following questions:\ud
a. What kinds of housing and support services do homeless women utilize?\ud
b. How does access to housing and associated support services affect women’s transitions out\ud
of homelessness?\ud
c. How do different forms of housing provision and associated support services affect\ud
women’s transitions out of homelessness?\ud
The research project was funded by the Commonwealth Office of the Status of Women (OSW),\ud
who sought to further its evidence based policy development through examination of the ‘exit\ud
pathways’ for women from homelessnessii
Variations on the Author
Full text link“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
How Communities Can Better Support Parents: Findings from an Effective Parenting Expo
No full textThis article focuses on identifying how communities can better support parents, families and young people. Participants at an Effective Parenting Expo (n=57) were surveyed about the value of the event, the challenges facing them as parents, and the changes that would significantly improve life for their family. This paper focuses on responses to one open-ended question, "Thinking of your community, what ONE change could be made to significantly improve life for your family?" Responses were coded into three key categories: Improved Sense of Community, Increased Support for Families and Safer Communities. These responses clearly demonstrate the importance that parents place on having a safe, cohesive and friendly community in which to raise their children. Unfortunately, with social capital, community interactions and connectedness declining, the challenge is how to reverse this trend and foster a stronger sense of community. Participants identified several changes they believed would build better communities, believing that free community activities, meeting places and practical parenting courses would better connect them with families in their own community. This research highlights the importance of community for family well-being, with parents identifying changes they believe will significantly improve life in their community for their family
Appropriate Similarity Measures for Author Cocitation Analysis
Full text linkWe 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
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