Getting to the Core of Role: Defining Interpreters' Role Space

This article describes a new model of interpreted interactions that will help students as well as experienced practitioners define and delineate the decisions that they make. By understanding the dimensions that comprise the concept we call role, interpreters can more effectively allow participants to have successful communicative interactions

The Eldercare Dialogues: A Grassroots Strategy to Transform Long-Term Care

This report is the culmination of observations of 11 Eldercare Dialogues, 15 in-depth interviews with Dialogue organizers and participants, and six focus groups, one with each participating organization. It explores the experiences of caregivers and care recipients in the movement to transform long-term care and ensure that caregivers and recipients have the support they need to age and work with dignity. The full report includes a toolkit so other communities can learn from and replicate the Dialogue process

Sharing Human-Generated Observations by Integrating HMI and the Semantic Sensor Web

Current “Internet of Things” concepts point to a future where connected objects gather meaningful information about their environment and share it with other objects and people. In particular, objects embedding Human Machine Interaction (HMI), such as mobile devices and, increasingly, connected vehicles, home appliances, urban interactive infrastructures, etc., may not only be conceived as sources of sensor information, but, through interaction with their users, they can also produce highly valuable context-aware human-generated observations. We believe that the great promise offered by combining and sharing all of the different sources of information available can be realized through the integration of HMI and Semantic Sensor Web technologies. This paper presents a technological framework that harmonizes two of the most influential HMI and Sensor Web initiatives: the W3C’s Multimodal Architecture and Interfaces (MMI) and the Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC) Sensor Web Enablement (SWE) with its semantic extension, respectively. Although the proposed framework is general enough to be applied in a variety of connected objects integrating HMI, a particular development is presented for a connected car scenario where drivers’ observations about the traffic or their environment are shared across the Semantic Sensor Web. For implementation and evaluation purposes an on-board OSGi (Open Services Gateway Initiative) architecture was built, integrating several available HMI, Sensor Web and Semantic Web technologies. A technical performance test and a conceptual validation of the scenario with potential users are reported, with results suggesting the approach is soun

Interpreting in Palliative Care: A Continuing Education Workshop

Offers a curriculum for a daylong course for interpreters about palliative care, including lesson plans, handouts, presentation slides, and videos

Conversational Sensing

Recent developments in sensing technologies, mobile devices and context-aware user interfaces have made it possible to represent information fusion and situational awareness as a conversational process among actors - human and machine agents - at or near the tactical edges of a network. Motivated by use cases in the domain of security, policing and emergency response, this paper presents an approach to information collection, fusion and sense-making based on the use of natural language (NL) and controlled natural language (CNL) to support richer forms of human-machine interaction. The approach uses a conversational protocol to facilitate a flow of collaborative messages from NL to CNL and back again in support of interactions such as: turning eyewitness reports from human observers into actionable information (from both trained and untrained sources); fusing information from humans and physical sensors (with associated quality metadata); and assisting human analysts to make the best use of available sensing assets in an area of interest (governed by management and security policies). CNL is used as a common formal knowledge representation for both machine and human agents to support reasoning, semantic information fusion and generation of rationale for inferences, in ways that remain transparent to human users. Examples are provided of various alternative styles for user feedback, including NL, CNL and graphical feedback. A pilot experiment with human subjects shows that a prototype conversational agent is able to gather usable CNL information from untrained human subjects

Kultivating Kultur: increasing arts research deposit

This paper presents research undertaken as part of the JISC-funded Kultivate project and discusses how it is encouraging arts research deposit in UK institutional repositories. It presents an overview of the current arts research repository landscape in the UK at time of writing (September 2011). Through community engagement with the Kultur II Group and technical enhancements to EPrints, Kultivate is sharing and supporting the application of best practice in the development of institutional repositories that are appropriate to the specific needs and behaviours of creative and visual arts researchers. The Kultur II Group is open to all specialist creative arts institutions, departments within larger multidisciplinary institutions, and researchers in the UK; members include repository managers and administrators, researchers, librarians, technical staff, academics, and research office staff

Report of the Global Strategy Task Force

The Global Strategy Task Force created a final report documenting its findings and recommendations. The intent of this report is to provide a framework through which the University can articulate and pursue an ambitious set of institutional goals that will increase its global connectivity and impact.To guide our work, the Task Force articulated a Global Vision for 2020:To establish Northwestern as one of the world's premier universities. To develop a culture and an infrastructure that link our intellectual communities to larger international idea and innovation networks and enable our faculty, students, and staff to lead and to learn from global advancements in research and teaching critical to human development and understanding.The Task Force identified three guiding principles for how we enact our vision.An ambitious intellectual agenda, not an economic one, must drive Northwestern's global investments. Northwestern should hire new faculty and staff, open new facilities, and initiate new dialogues and collaborations to the extent that it has a clear and compelling intellectual mission guiding each decision.Northwestern must focus on excellence to gain greater prominence in the world's leading innovation and idea networks, by identifying and investing deeply in select areas of strength and impact.Being global requires a bi-directional orientation. Northwestern must, with equal focus and vigor, expand its outward horizons while integrating global perspectives into the rich intellectual life of its US campuses and activities

Paving the Way for Consensus: Improving the Effectiveness of Multilateral Negotiation Management at the WTO

Reaching decisions on international trade by consensus amongst 164 governments is an extraordinarily difficult task. Social science research demonstrates that the management of the negotiation process by the host government and WTO Secretariat can play an important role in tipping the balance between deadlock and agreement. This requires close coordination between the representative of the host country and the Director General of the WTO. While effective process management alone will not solve the problems that the WTO faces, it can create more favourable conditions for reaching consensus. Conversely, poor process makes this already- difficult task practically impossible. Effective negotiation management consists of seven key elements: preparing well in advance; teamwork both within the host team and between the hosts and the Secretariat; transparent, consistent and realistic communication; selecting the right individuals for the job; breaking the process down into small-group negotiations and handling this with care; leveraging the legitimacy that non-party stakeholders can bring to the process; and increasing the likelihood of agreement through managing the agenda, draft texts, and the overall atmosphere of the negotiations. Both process and context determine negotiation outcomes. Comparing the 1999 Seattle Ministerial Con- ference with the 2001 Doha Ministerial Conference allows one to hold the context relatively constant, thus demonstrating the independent effect of process management. Variation in process management by the respective organisers of the two summits led to very different outcomes. The 2015 Paris Agreement on climate change was a notable success for multilateralism. Like WTO negotiations, climate negotiations also take place in the challenging environment of consensus decision- making. Process management by the French hosts is considered a model of best practice, and has been widely credited as a factor behind the successful outcome. Lessons can be learned from this case. Future hosts of Ministerial Conferences are specifically recommended to pay attention to the following: It is vital to consult with as many members as possible in advance of the Ministerial. If budget allows, it is preferable to travel to capitals to demonstrate respect. Toavoidconflictfurtherdowntheroad,clearlydefinetherespectiverolesoftheDirector-Gen- eral and the Conference Chair from the outset, with the Conference chair taking the political lead. Thehostgovernmentcannotmanagetheentireprocessaloneandwillneedtoappointfacilitators to chair issue-specific working groups. This critical role requires specific skills and experience. Organising a workshop for facilitators in advance of the Ministerial could increase their effective- ness. The format, attendees and timing of small-group negotiations at the Ministerial can all affect re- sults. Whatever form these meetings take, transparency is a key consideration. Seemingly trivial details such as room facilities, security and catering at the venue all matter to delegates and can cause unnecessary friction when mismanaged