Expanding perspective on open science: communities, cultures and diversity in concepts and practices

Twenty-one years ago, the term ‘electronic publishing’ promised all manner of potential that the Web and network technologies could bring to scholarly communication, scientific research and technical innovation. Over the last two decades, tremendous developments have indeed taken place across all of these domains. One of the most important of these has been Open Science; perhaps the most widely discussed topic in research communications today. This book presents the proceedings of Elpub 2017, the 21st edition of the International Conference on Electronic Publishing, held in Limassol, Cyprus, in June 2017. Continuing the tradition of bringing together academics, publishers, lecturers, librarians, developers, entrepreneurs, users and all other stakeholders interested in the issues surrounding electronic publishing, this edition of the conference focuses on Open Science, and the 27 research and practitioner papers and 1 poster included here reflect the results and ideas of researchers and practitioners with diverse backgrounds from all around the world with regard to this important subject. Intended to generate discussion and debate on the potential and limitations of openness, the book addresses the current challenges and opportunities in the ecosystem of Open Science, and explores how to move forward in developing an inclusive system that will work for a much broader range of participants. It will be of interest to all those concerned with electronic publishing, and Open Science in particular

Imparting Knowledge in Humanities. About Some Practices of Scientific Blogging on Hypothèses

peer reviewedMy contribution aims to explain how a platform of electronic publishing such as OpenEdition might reach a larger public outside the academic sphere, and contribute to the revealing of research in the Humanities to civil society. Practices of academic blogging have expanded since the 2000's. Its potential as a vulgarization tool was acknowledged early. However, most initiatives in scientific blogging are concerned with the field of STM (Science, Technology, and Medicine). A quick overview of the classical literature about vulgarization shows that a great deal of attention is being paid to STM. As such, I propose to examine what the practices of communication are towards civil society in Humanities through Hypothèses, the blogging platform of OpenEdition

Factors Influencing Customer Satisfaction towards E-shopping in Malaysia

Online shopping or e-shopping has changed the world of business and quite a few people have decided to work with these features. What their primary concerns precisely and the responses from the globalisation are the competency of incorporation while doing their businesses. E-shopping has also increased substantially in Malaysia in recent years. The rapid increase in the e-commerce industry in Malaysia has created the demand to emphasize on how to increase customer satisfaction while operating in the e-retailing environment. It is very important that customers are satisfied with the website, or else, they would not return. Therefore, a crucial fact to look into is that companies must ensure that their customers are satisfied with their purchases that are really essential from the ecommerce’s point of view. With is in mind, this study aimed at investigating customer satisfaction towards e-shopping in Malaysia. A total of 400 questionnaires were distributed among students randomly selected from various public and private universities located within Klang valley area. Total 369 questionnaires were returned, out of which 341 questionnaires were found usable for further analysis. Finally, SEM was employed to test the hypotheses. This study found that customer satisfaction towards e-shopping in Malaysia is to a great extent influenced by ease of use, trust, design of the website, online security and e-service quality. Finally, recommendations and future study direction is provided. Keywords: E-shopping, Customer satisfaction, Trust, Online security, E-service quality, Malaysia

Self-Directed Learning in the Age of Digital Networks: The Learning Patterns of Knowledge Workers in the Knowledge Economy

This dissertation presents a qualitative analysis of the self-directed learning patterns of knowledge workers within the context of digital networks. The study seeks to address some tensions that exist among educational perspectives on the use of digital networks for learning. Namely that digital networks provide more ‘authentic’ learning experiences by virtue of its quasi immediate access to information for problem solving as well as its more tailored information gathering affordances. On the opposite spectrum, digital networks are said to be diluting critical instincts, ‘herding’ users into like-minded groups and even impairing certain crucial cognitive features. In order to shed light on the debate, this study interviewed eight individuals of the knowledge working community who perform an occupation for which they have no formally recognized certification—therefore creating a natural context for self-directed learning. The assumption was that these individuals may possess tacit skills to harness and/or mediate the features of digital learning. The participants of the study were asked to provide a ‘recipe’ or a list of ‘ingredients’ for effective self-teaching as well as describe, in general, their learning journeys. The interviews were then analyzed using a qualitative methodology to let emerge a dialectal account of the themes that surrounded this experience. These themes were classified using Bouchard’s (2009) four-dimensional framework of learning autonomy. The model aims to characterize the elements of autonomy through the conative (motivational), algorithmic (mechanic), semantic (interpretive) and economic dimensions. While recognizing that motivation and mechanics have been the main focus of most educational research of a learning account, the Bouchard model also includes the role of “meaning making” or the new interpretive implications of rich media as well as the mediating role of economics as a new dimensions that emerged due to digital networks. The results yielded a more comprehensive portrait of the issues that surround learner autonomy as well as a nuanced characterization of the notion of ‘value’ of learning

Studies on Arabic Dialectology and Sociolinguistics

This volume contains over fifty articles related to various fields of modern Arabic dialectology. All the articles are revised and enhanced versions of papers read on the 12th Conference of the Association Internationale de Dialectologie Arabe (AIDA) held in Marseille in June 2017. Since its first conference in Paris in 1993, AIDA members gather every two years in different country. The collection of the AIDA proceedings offer an updated insight of the development of the field. During the past few decadesthe the study of Arabic dialects has become an important branch of research covering a wide range of subjects from phonological analyses, morphosyntax, semantics to pragmatics, sociolinguistics, folk linguistics, studies on literacy and writings, cultural and artistic practices, etc. As many articles of this volume illustrate, the study of Arabic dialects explores different aspects of the languages and cultures of the contemporary Arab world. A remarkable feature is the growing and constant participation of young scholars from all around the globe