148,215 research outputs found
Digistylus - An Online Information System For Palaeography Teaching and Research
This paper starts by describing the experiences the authors recently had with online information systems for teaching and research in palaeography. The study also considers the differences in the students' access to the site "Teaching Materials for Latin Palaeography" when they attended the palaeography courses, as it was usually used in the lectures by one of the authors. With the increase in the quantity of plates (reproducing pages or parts of them from medieval manuscripts) and texts (concerning the analysis of the writing styles, the cataloguing, the history of manuscripts, the codicology and other important topics in the palaeography's scientific debate), it became clear that there was a difference in the way students approached those materials: when students first used the systems in the academic year 2001/2002, they read all the documents and used all the plates; more recently, with the quantity of materials on the site considerably increased, the students wait for the professor's suggestions and evidence uncertainties and difficulties when autonomously looking for a document or a plate. As a consequence, the online information system Digistylus has been planned and is going to be created for the management of the data in the site "Teaching Materials". The main consequence of the above observations has been the detection of a new knowledge construction paradigm and the development of new research procedures in palaeography
Forest ecosystem research in Hainich National Park (Thuringia) : first results on flora and vegetation in stands with contrasting tree species diversity
A floristic description is presented of the study sites of the Research Training Group âThe role of biodi-versity for biogeochemical cycles and biotic interactions in temperate deciduous forestsâ. To investi-gate different aspects of plant biodiversity in Hainich National Park (Thuringia), deciduous forest stands with low, medium and high canopy tree species diversity were compared. The results of species richness and forest communities show that the research sites are characterised by a typical central European forest flora. Greater vascular plant species richness occurs with higher diversity of tree species. Six of altogether twelve research sites are assigned to the beech forest alliance (Galioodorati-Fagion), the second half belongs to the oak-hornbeam forest alliance (Carpinionbetuli). Suballiances within the Galioodorati-Fagion in the study area include the Galio-Fagetum and the Hordelymo-Fagetum. All Carpinionbetuli relevĂ©es are assigned to the suballiance Stellario-Carpinetum
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Fostering Public Good Contributions with Symbolic Awards: A Large-Scale Natural Field Experiment at Wikipedia
This natural field experiment tests the effects of purely symbolic awards on volunteer retention in a public goods context. The experiment is conducted at Wikipedia, which faces declining editor retention rates, particularly among newcomers. Randomization assures that award receipt is orthogonal to previous performance. The analysis reveals that awards have a sizeable effect on newcomer retention, which persists over the four quarters following the initial intervention. This is noteworthy for indicating that awards for volunteers can be effective even if they have no impact on the volunteersâ future career opportunities. The awards are purely symbolic, and the status increment they produce is limited to the recipientsâ pseudonymous online identities in a community they have just recently joined. The results can be explained by enhanced self-identification with the community, but they are also in line with recent findings on the role of status and reputation, recognition, and evaluation potential in online communities. Data, as supplemental material, are available at http://dx.doi.org/10.1287/mnsc.2016.2540 . This paper was accepted by John List, behavioral economics
Urwaldrelikt-Arten - Xylobionte KĂ€fer als Indikatoren fĂŒr StrukturqualitĂ€t und Habitattradition
On the basis of the list of saproxylic beetles of Germany, the authors present a definition and list of âUrwald relict speciesâ, comprising 115 beetles that are considered to be associated with primeval forest (âUrwaldâ) structures and features. We use the term âhabitat traditionâ to describe a continuity in supply of old growth dead wood and forest structures. The selection of species is made on behalf of the following criteria: relict records in Central Europe; attachment to continuity of deadwood resources and habitat tradition; continuity of old growth stand features like tree and deadwood maturity and di-versity; absence from cultivated Central European forest.Urwaldrelikt-Arten - Xylobionte KĂ€fer als Indikatoren fĂŒr StrukturqualitĂ€t und Habitattradition Auf der Basis der Liste xylobionter KĂ€fer Deutschlands legen die Autoren eine Definition und Liste von 115 KĂ€ferarten vor, die in Deutschland als Urwaldreliktarten bezeichnet werden können. Wir definieren die KontinuitĂ€t eines Bestandes hinsichtlich Totholzangebot und Bestandsstruktur als âHabitattraditionâ. Die Auswahl der Arten erfolgt anhand folgender Kriterien: ReliktĂ€res Vorkommen in Mitteleuropa; Bindung an StrukturkontinuitĂ€t bzw. Habitattradition sowie KontinuitĂ€t der Alters- und Zerfallsphase; hohe AnsprĂŒche an TotholzqualitĂ€ten und âquantitĂ€ten; aus den kultivierten WĂ€ldern Mitteleuropas verschwindend oder schon verschwunden
Accurator: Nichesourcing for Cultural Heritage
With more and more cultural heritage data being published online, their
usefulness in this open context depends on the quality and diversity of
descriptive metadata for collection objects. In many cases, existing metadata
is not adequate for a variety of retrieval and research tasks and more specific
annotations are necessary. However, eliciting such annotations is a challenge
since it often requires domain-specific knowledge. Where crowdsourcing can be
successfully used for eliciting simple annotations, identifying people with the
required expertise might prove troublesome for tasks requiring more complex or
domain-specific knowledge. Nichesourcing addresses this problem, by tapping
into the expert knowledge available in niche communities. This paper presents
Accurator, a methodology for conducting nichesourcing campaigns for cultural
heritage institutions, by addressing communities, organizing events and
tailoring a web-based annotation tool to a domain of choice. The contribution
of this paper is threefold: 1) a nichesourcing methodology, 2) an annotation
tool for experts and 3) validation of the methodology and tool in three case
studies. The three domains of the case studies are birds on art, bible prints
and fashion images. We compare the quality and quantity of obtained annotations
in the three case studies, showing that the nichesourcing methodology in
combination with the image annotation tool can be used to collect high quality
annotations in a variety of domains and annotation tasks. A user evaluation
indicates the tool is suited and usable for domain specific annotation tasks
The impact of brand communication on brand equity through Facebook
Purpose: The purpose of this study is to fill the gap in the discussion of the ways in which firm-created and user-generated social media brand communication impacts consumer-based brand equity metrics through Facebook. Design/methodology/approach: We evaluated 302 data sets that were generated through a standardized online-survey to investigate the impact of firm-created and user-generated social media brand communication on brand awareness/associations, perceived quality, and brand loyalty across 60 brands within three different industries: non-alcoholic beverages, clothing, and mobile network providers. We applied structural equation modeling techniques (SEM) to investigate the effects of social media brand communication on consumersâ perception of brand equity metrics, as well as in an examination of industry-specific differences. Findings: The results of our empirical studies showed that both firm-created and user-generated social media brand communication influence brand awareness/associations; whereas, user-generated social media brand communication had a positive impact on brand loyalty and perceived brand quality. Additionally, there are significant differences between the industries being investigated. Originality/value: This article is pioneering in that it exposes the effects of two different types of social media brand communication (i.e., firm-created and user-generated social media communication) on consumer-based brand equity metrics, a topic of relevance for both marketers and scholars in the era of social media. Additionally, it differentiates the effects of social media brand communication across industries, which indicate that practitioners should implement social media strategies according to industry specifics to lever consumer-based brand equity metrics
Building communities for the exchange of learning objects: theoretical foundations and requirements
In order to reduce overall costs of developing high-quality digital courses (including both the content, and the learning and teaching activities), the exchange of learning objects has been recognized as a promising solution. This article makes an inventory of the issues involved in the exchange of learning objects within a community. It explores some basic theories, models and specifications and provides a theoretical framework containing the functional and non-functional requirements to establish an exchange system in the educational field. Three levels of requirements are discussed. First, the non-functional requirements that deal with the technical conditions to make learning objects interoperable. Second, some basic use cases (activities) are identified that must be facilitated to enable the technical exchange of learning objects, e.g. searching and adapting the objects. Third, some basic use cases are identified that are required to establish the exchange of learning objects in a community, e.g. policy management, information and training. The implications of this framework are then discussed, including recommendations concerning the identification of reward systems, role changes and evaluation instruments
Innovation is created by humans, not by systems: an exploration of user involvement in living labs: user motivation versus lead user criteria
The past few years companies have become more interested in involving users during the production process of their products. On the other hand, a group of users started to innovate on their own. Users also became interested in becoming part of the production processes themselves. Certain users experience certain needs earlier than others and they enjoy finding solutions for these needs. They are called Lead Users (von Hippel, 2005). Living Labs are one possibility for users to realize this interest to innovate. iLab.o, the Living Lab division of iMinds, has been organizing Living Lab research since 2009. To get a better view on the motivations of this panel, we analyzed the behavior of the involved users from September 2009 to December 2013. We tried to detect Lead Users, but it is not obvious to define people as Lead Users because of the different used definitions. Instead, we divided this panel into three types of users based on the intensity of their involvement: passive, sleeping and active users. A small group of users is extremely active and are been defined as âalpha usersâ. Based on interviews with these alpha users in November and December 2013, a better view on their motivations to keep participating in Living Lab research was made. In this paper we focus on the participation of these different user types in one research phase type within Living Lab research, more specifically co-creation sessions. By means of a comparative case study, we tried to get a better understanding of the behavior of the different user types. It became clear that in order to keep the panel involved it is important to focus on community building
Municipal wastewater treatment with pond technology : historical review and future outlook
Facing an unprecedented population growth, it is difficult to overstress the assets for wastewater treatment of waste stabilization ponds (WSPs), i.e. high removal efficiency, simplicity, and low cost, which have been recognized by numerous scientists and operators. However, stricter discharge standards, changes in wastewater compounds, high emissions of greenhouse gases, and elevated land prices have led to their replacements in many places. This review aims at delivering a comprehensive overview of the historical development and current state of WSPs, and providing further insights to deal with their limitations in the future. The 21st century is witnessing changes in the way of approaching conventional problems in pond technology, in which WSPs should no longer be considered as a low treatment technology. Advanced models and technologies have been integrated for better design, control, and management. The roles of algae, which have been crucial as solar-powered aeration, will continue being a key solution. Yet, the separation of suspended algae to avoid deterioration of the effluent remains a major challenge in WSPs while in the case of high algal rate pond, further research is needed to maximize algal growth yield, select proper strains, and optimize harvesting methods to put algal biomass production in practice. Significant gaps need to be filled in understanding mechanisms of greenhouse gas emission, climate change mitigation, pond ecosystem services, and the fate and toxicity of emerging contaminants. From these insights, adaptation strategies are developed to deal with new opportunities and future challenges
Social Interactions vs Revisions, What is important for Promotion in Wikipedia?
In epistemic community, people are said to be selected on their knowledge
contribution to the project (articles, codes, etc.) However, the socialization
process is an important factor for inclusion, sustainability as a contributor,
and promotion. Finally, what does matter to be promoted? being a good
contributor? being a good animator? knowing the boss? We explore this question
looking at the process of election for administrator in the English Wikipedia
community. We modeled the candidates according to their revisions and/or social
attributes. These attributes are used to construct a predictive model of
promotion success, based on the candidates's past behavior, computed thanks to
a random forest algorithm.
Our model combining knowledge contribution variables and social networking
variables successfully explain 78% of the results which is better than the
former models. It also helps to refine the criterion for election. If the
number of knowledge contributions is the most important element, social
interactions come close second to explain the election. But being connected
with the future peers (the admins) can make the difference between success and
failure, making this epistemic community a very social community too
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