Infrastructuring for cultural commons

In this doctoral dissertation, I inquire into the ways in which Participatory Design (PD) and digital design endeavors can contribute to wider public access to, and use of, digital cultural heritage. I advocate for an approach according to which digital cultural heritage is arranged and understood as cultural commons, and for more collaborative modes of social care for and governance of the commons. In addition to the empirically grounded findings and proposals contained in six individual research articles, I develop a theoretical framework that combines scholarship on Information Infrastructures, Commons and PD. Against this framework I interrogate how the information infrastructures and conditions that surround digital cultural heritage can be active in constructing and contributing to cultural commons. While doing this, I draw attention to the gap that exists between on the one hand official institutional digital cultural heritage collections, systems and practices, and on the other hand the digital platforms and practices through which everyday people create, curate and share digital cultural works. In order to understand how to critically and productively bridge this gap, I present insights gained from conducting three design research cases that engage both cultural heritage institutions and everyday media users. Building upon this empirical work, and latching on to scholarship on the notion of infrastructuring, I propose four infrastructuring strategies for cultural commons: probing and building upon the installed base, stimulating and simulating design and use through gateways, producing and pooling shared resources, and, lastly, fostering and shaping a commons culture that supports commoning. In exploring these strategies, I map the territory between commons and infrastructuring, and connect these notions to the PD tradition. I do so to sketch the design principles for a design orientation, commons design. I assert that these principles can be useful for advancing PD, and can inform future initiatives, aid in identifying infrastructural challenges, and in finding and confirming an orientation to participatory design activities. Drawing on my practical design work, I discuss requirements for professional designers operating on commons frameworks and with collective action. By doing this, my dissertation not only breaks new theoretical ground through advancing theoretical considerations relevant to contemporary design research, especially the field of PD, but also contributes practical implications useful for professional digital media design practice, especially for designers working in the fields of digital culture and cultural heritage

Human factors aspects of control room design: Guidelines and annotated bibliography

A human factors analysis of the workstation design for the Earth Radiation Budget Satellite mission operation room is discussed. The relevance of anthropometry, design rules, environmental design goals, and the social-psychological environment are discussed

Union Catalogs at the Crossroad

The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and the National Library of Estonia organized a Conference on Union Catalogs which took place in Tallinn, in the National Library of Estonia on October 17-19, 2002. The Conference presented and discussed analytical papers dealing with various aspects of designing and implementing union catalogs and shared cataloging systems as revealed through the experiences of Eastern European, Baltic and South African research libraries. Here you can find the texts of the conference papers and the list of contributors and participants

Rethinking the risk matrix

So far risk has been mostly defined as the expected value of a loss, mathematically PL (being P the probability of an adverse event and L the loss incurred as a consequence of the adverse event). The so called risk matrix follows from such definition. This definition of risk is justified in a long term “managerial” perspective, in which it is conceivable to distribute the effects of an adverse event on a large number of subjects or a large number of recurrences. In other words, this definition is mostly justified on frequentist terms. Moreover, according to this definition, in two extreme situations (high-probability/low-consequence and low-probability/high-consequence), the estimated risk is low. This logic is against the principles of sustainability and continuous improvement, which should impose instead both a continuous search for lower probabilities of adverse events (higher and higher reliability) and a continuous search for lower impact of adverse events (in accordance with the fail-safe principle). In this work a different definition of risk is proposed, which stems from the idea of safeguard: (1Risk)=(1P)(1L). According to this definition, the risk levels can be considered low only when both the probability of the adverse event and the loss are small. Such perspective, in which the calculation of safeguard is privileged to the calculation of risk, would possibly avoid exposing the Society to catastrophic consequences, sometimes due to wrong or oversimplified use of probabilistic models. Therefore, it can be seen as the citizen’s perspective to the definition of risk

Advanced Digital Auditing

This open access book discusses the most modern approach to auditing complex digital systems and technologies. It combines proven auditing approaches, advanced programming techniques and complex application areas, and covers the latest findings on theory and practice in this rapidly developing field. Especially for those who want to learn more about novel approaches to testing complex information systems and related technologies, such as blockchain and self-learning systems, the book will be a valuable resource. It is aimed at students and practitioners who are interested in contemporary technology and managerial implications

중국 지방정부의 환경관리능력에 관한 연구

The year 2016 marks the start of the implementation of the "Thirteenth Five-Year Plan”(十三五規劃) and a new phase of development which will see the formulation of a well-off society. It marks a profound change in China's overall development strategy which focuses on innovative, coordinated, green/eco-friendly, open and shared development. Green development, as one of the new philosophy, is a prerequisite for sustainable development. To achieve sustainable development as a guiding strategy for national or regional economic and social development, it is essential to adhere to the basic state policy of resource conservation as well as environmental protection. Since the entry of the new century, as China's rapid economic growth has deteriorated environment, environmental management plans has come to the fore as a new breakthrough. It has become a significant part of national macro strategies to raise the strategic position of environmental protection. As an important means of environmental management, environmental policy has become one of the core issues at all levels of decision-makings of the party and governments. To construct "a resource-saving and environmental-friendly” society, China's central and local governments have adopted a variety of environmental policy measures to strengthen environmental management. Focusing on Qinghai(靑海) Three Rivers Source Region(三江源區) and Shandong Peninsula as the research objects, this thesis examines the currents status of environmental management and suggests prescriptions to address the problems related to environmental management of the regions. The Three Rivers Source Region of Qinghai province is the largest area of water supply and ecological conservation in China. Known as the “Chinese Water Tower”(中華水塔), it is not only the place where China's three major rivers(Changjiang River/Yangtze River, Yellow River and Lancang River/Mekong River) originate, but also a significant ecological barrier and natural resource reserve of China. In recent years, owing to the global climate change and irrational use of resources, the Three Rivers Source Region has suffered from serious degradation of ecosystems as well as deterioration of ecological environments. To protect the "Chinese Water Tower” and reverse the trend of ecological environmental deterioration, the central and local governments and relevant departments have done lots of work in Qinghai Province. All the policies aim to protect "Three Rivers Source Region” and "Chinese Water Tower” in a way to ensure "A River of Water Flow to the East”(一江淸水向東流), to construct "Lucid Waters and Lush Mountains”(綠水靑山) of Qinghai, and to establish the concept of ecological conservation priority. Shandong Province is a big marine city with a large sea area and a long coastline. With a continuous production expansion and population growth in coastal areas, the economy in Shandong Peninsula has been increased rapidly. However, due to the unreasonable aspect of the policy actions during the development process, more and more problems concerning the marine environment have emerged in this place, which severely restricts the Peninsula's economic and social sustainable development and destroys the coordinated relationship between human and nature. Improving the integrated management system of marine environment can not only promote the development of marine economy and marine ecological sustainability, but also safeguard the national marine rights and interests. Marine environment management should adhere to the theory of sustainable development, which is in accordance with the contemporary needs and while securing the well-being of future generations. Under the guidance of the "Thirteenth Five-Year Plan”, this thesis analyzes the present situation of the environmental management of Qinghai Three Rivers Source Region and Shandong Peninsula in terms of system and the human resources construction. Through analyses, this thesis found that the current environmental management systems of the local governments in the regions have the various problems including lags in relevant laws and regulations, conflicts among environmental laws and regulations, and deficiency in environmental management systems, etc. As countermeasures against these problems of environmental management, this thesis suggests the followings: modification of related laws and regulations, completing the cooperation mechanism of "Belt and Road”(一帶一路), application of the lessons drawn from foreign successful experience, and reinforcement of human resources management construction.Contents List of Tables ⅳ List of Figures ⅴ Abstract ⅶ Chapter 1 Introduction 1 1.1 Research Purposes 1 1.1.1 Research Background 1 1.1.2 Research Purposes 10 1.2 Research Contents and Techniques 12 1.2.1 Research Contents 12 1.2.2 Research Techniques 15 1.3 Research Methods 17 1.3.1 Literature Analysis 18 1.3.2 Qualitative Analysis 19 1.3.3 Case Study 19 1.3.4 Comparative Analysis 20 Chapter 2 Literature Review on Environmental Management 21 2.1 Environmental Policy 21 2.1.1 Environment and Policy 21 2.1.2 Development and Principles of Environmental Policy 26 2.1.3 Research Status of Environmental Policy 30 2.2 Qinghai Rivers Source Region Environmental Management 34 2.2.1 Changjiang River/Yangtze River 37 2.2.2 Yellow River 42 2.2.3 Lancang River/Mekong River 45 2.3 Shandong Peninsula Marine Environmental Management 48 2.3.1 Shandong Peninsula 48 2.3.2 Shandong Peninsula Blue Economic Zone 52 2.3.3 Shandong Peninsula Marine Environmental Management 60 Chapter 3 Analysis of Two Case's Local Government Environmental Management Capacity 62 3.1 Analysis Frame of Environmental Management apacity 62 3.2 Case Analyses 66 3.2.1 Qinghai Rivers Source Region Environmental Management Capacity Analysis 66 3.2.2 Shandong Peninsula Marine Environmental Management Capacity Analysis 77 3.3 The Problems of Environmental Management in Qinghai River Sources Region 88 3.3.1 Problems of System Construction in Qinghai River Sources Region 88 3.3.2 Problems of Human Resources Construction in Qinghai River Sources Region 94 3.4 The Problems of Marine Environmental Management in Shandong Peninsula 96 3.4.1 Problems of System Construction in Shandong Peninsula 96 3.4.2 Problems of Human Resources Construction in Shandong Peninsula 101 3.5 The Policy Comparison of Two Cases 103 Chapter 4 Improvement Ways of Environmental Management System in China's Local Governments 105 4.1 Improving Environmental Management System Construction 105 4.1.1 Modifying Related Laws and Regulations 108 4.1.2 Completing the Cooperation Mechanism of "Belt and Road” 113 4.1.3 Applying Lessons Drawn from Successful Foreign Experience 118 4.2 Reinforcing Human Resources Management Construction 122 Chapter 5 Conclusions 125 5.1 Summary 125 5.2 Limitations 128 5.3 Further Research Tasks 129 References 131 Acknowledgement 14

A survey and evaluation of microbased computer aided design systems for design education and practice in Scotland primarily in the area of product design: their application, problems and potential solutions

The initial premise of the research centred around the relatively new adoption by the Product Design sector of Computer Aided Design technology. Problems were expected to occur in applying the hardware and understanding the terminology of the software by this sector which prides itself In its artisan skills. The aim of the work was to determine the extent of the adoption of Computer Aided Design and to clarify the problem areas. The research determined, by study of more experienced but similar Computer Aided Design users, that the expected problems Were not insurmountable and were being overcome by the constant improvements of computer hardware and software. However, the problems that were pinpointed actually involved the human issues encountered In working with a Computer Aided Design system and involved issues such as the management skills required, working conditions and understanding of the advantages and disadvantages of Computer Aided Design. The research focused on what had to be considered and what should be known about Computer Aided Design so that it could be effectively used in Product Design. The research was undertaken to establish general solutions to the introduction of Computer Aided Design into companies. These solutions are intended to provide a guide to potential and current users on how to improve the effectiveness of the use of Computer Aided Design systems in Product Design. The research has identified the themes and topics that should be covered in training staff on the use and potential of Computer Aided Design systems

Gender Equality in Context

Gender Equality has not yet been achieved in many western countries. Switzerland in particular has failed as a forerunner in integrating women in politics and economy. Taking Switzerland as a case study, the authors critically reflect the state of gender equality in different policy areas such as education, family and labour. The collection of articles reveals how gender policies and cultural contexts interact with social practices of gender (in)equality. They also outline the gender(ed) effects of recent changes and reform strategies for scientists, politicians and practitioners