THE RIGHT TOOLS FOR THE JOB: THE RIGHT JOB FOR OUR TOOLS

This article ponders the questions of why so many literary scholars want to bring literary and economic issues together now, and why it seems so difficult to establish a genuinely cross-disciplinary con-versation.1 Offering two examples of approaches to the intersec-tion of literary and economic issues that privilege methodology over themes, history, or theory—a very brief genealogy of the concept of a national economy and an equally brief analysis of derivatives—the article calls for an ongoing reflection on whether literary and cultural scholars have the right tools for the job and, conversely, the right job for our tools

The right tool for the job: Five collaborative writing tools for academics.

Research collaboration now involves significant online communication. But sending files back and forth between collaborators creates redundancy of effort, causes unnecessary delays and, many times, leaves people frustrated with the whole idea of collaboration. Luckily, there are many web-based collaborative writing tools aimed at the general public or specifically at academic writers to help. Christof Schöch looks at the different tools out there and presents some helpful tips on finding the right tool for the job

The Right Tools for the Job: The Case for Spatial Science Tool-Building

This paper was presented as the 8th annual Transactions in GIS plenary address at the American Association of Geographers annual meeting in Washington, DC. The spatial sciences have recently seen growing calls for more accessible software and tools that better embody geographic science and theory. Urban spatial network science offers one clear opportunity: from multiple perspectives, tools to model and analyze nonplanar urban spatial networks have traditionally been inaccessible, atheoretical, or otherwise limiting. This paper reflects on this state of the field. Then it discusses the motivation, experience, and outcomes of developing OSMnx, a tool intended to help address this. Next it reviews this tool's use in the recent multidisciplinary spatial network science literature to highlight upstream and downstream benefits of open-source software development. Tool-building is an essential but poorly incentivized component of academic geography and social science more broadly. To conduct better science, we need to build better tools. The paper concludes with paths forward, emphasizing open-source software and reusable computational data science beyond mere reproducibility and replicability

The Right Tool for the Right Job: The Past, Present and Future of GHG Management Tools

Greenhouse gas accounting tools specific to local governments have proliferated in recent years. In addition to calculators for inventorying emissions, we now have tools for forecasting emissions, calculating the GHG savings potential of proposed actions, and tracking actual emissions against anticipated levels. These solutions range from no-cost to high-cost, Excel-based to cloud-based, and off-the-shelf to tailor-made. This session will educate participants on how to best navigate the waters and choose the tool that is right for your organization. Please come prepared with questions, ideas, and new tools to share with the group. Moderator: Jillian Rich, Expert Program Manager, Government and Community Partnerships, Pacific Gas & Electric Compan

Tools and methods in participatory modeling: Selecting the right tool for the job

© 2018 Elsevier Ltd Various tools and methods are used in participatory modelling, at different stages of the process and for different purposes. The diversity of tools and methods can create challenges for stakeholders and modelers when selecting the ones most appropriate for their projects. We offer a systematic overview, assessment, and categorization of methods to assist modelers and stakeholders with their choices and decisions. Most available literature provides little justification or information on the reasons for the use of particular methods or tools in a given study. In most of the cases, it seems that the prior experience and skills of the modelers had a dominant effect on the selection of the methods used. While we have not found any real evidence of this approach being wrong, we do think that putting more thought into the method selection process and choosing the most appropriate method for the project can produce better results. Based on expert opinion and a survey of modelers engaged in participatory processes, we offer practical guidelines to improve decisions about method selection at different stages of the participatory modeling process

What are Benefits and Pitfalls of Using Technical Selection Tests During the Hiring Process?

[Excerpt] Talent Acquisition departments are the frontline soldiers in the war for talent. Selection tests and simulations are common mechanisms by which firm’s filter through potential job candidates. Nevertheless, a 2017 Deloitte survey reported that 71% of firms believed they were weak in their ability to use these tools effectively. Using assessments is a balancing act between false positives (hiring the wrong candidate) and false negatives (rejecting the right candidate). As such it is important to understand the benefits and pitfalls. This is especially true with technical assessments for coders and programmers

Invisible geography on the internet

You do not need to have time to go surfing to use the Internet. With the right tools for the job and some useful addresses, even the busiest geographer can explore