A Tale of Two Colleges

This story of two community colleges tells how they have dealt with the demands for data that state-mandated accountability requires. The story is based on research conducted at a large community college district in California. On the surface, the story might seem straightforward: accountability mandates led to the expansion of the Institutional Research Department, causing the schools to try to replace an outdated Student Information System in order to improve the district's overall access to data. However, the underlying story is more complicated. If it had a headline, it might be one of these: Why can't we get the data we need? A new system? What system? Is access to data really that important? This story looks at the community college district on multiple levels, weaving together anecdotes and experiences along with the underlying themes and tensions. It is an attempt to look at one component of the educational environment -- the one that links state policy-makers to the schools they oversee -- tracing the drive toward accountability through to its consequences in practice

"All data is credit data"; or, on Close Reading as a Reciprocal Process in Digital Knowledge Environments

 This paper argues that the reciprocal nature of digital networks means (1) that the privacy issues that we face online are not radically different from those of the pre-internet era and (2) that we need to reconceive close reading as an activity of which both humans and computer algorithms are capable

Re-thinking feminism and democratic politics: the potential of online networks for social change and gender equality in Brazil

The relationship between women and new technologies has been an important area of research for feminist sociologists and others working with gender and cultural studies (i.e. Gill, 2012; Sassen, 2002), as well as for scholars within the GAD (Gender and Development) empowerment framework (Gajjala, 2003). A significant body of international scholarship on gender and the Internet has also developed in the last decades throughout the world (i.e. Haraway, 1991, 2000; Plant, 1995; Harcourt, 2000; Sandoval, 2000; Sutton and Pollock, 2000), including emerging research in Brazil (i.e. Ferreira, 2015; Natansohn, 2013; Matos, 2017). Many Brazilian women, who do not feel represented in the mainstream media and who struggle to have a voice, have increasingly made use of new technologies for self-expression, civic engagement and political mobilization. This article provides a critical summary of feminist theoretical perspectives on the potential of online communications for women's rights, further sketching a brief case study of contemporary Brazilian feminism and the mobilization around women's rights, particularly in the year 2015. This is done through a discussion of the discursive online practices of websites like Blogueiras Feministas and the NGO Think Olga, part of a wider project (Matos, 2017). Questions asked include how the media can better contribute to assist in gender development, and how online platforms can make a difference. I argue that despite constraints and setbacks, the seeds of a wider transformative influence in the offline world are slowly being planted in a highly fragmented, heterogenous and erratic blogosphere

Indigenous knowledge, methodology and mayhem: What is the role of methodology in producing indigenous insights? A discussion from Mātauranga Māori

The emergence of an academic discourse called Indigenous knowledge internationally, and mātauranga Māori in Aotearoa New Zealand, presents some substantive challenges to concepts of knowing and being, of knowledge creation, knowledge work and the making of meaning. These challenges engage us across philosophical, disciplinary, institutional, inter-generational, territorial and community boundaries, presenting an opportunity to imagine this field anew, and the theories and methodologies that inform contemporary Māori or Indigenous Studies. This article raises some discussion about ‘research methodologies’ being used when discussing mātauranga Māori and Indigenous knowledge (hereafter referred to as IK mātauranga). Research methodologies are often associated with specific disciplines of knowledge and viewed as the primary if not singular way in which knowledge is generated. Arguably, IK mātauranga occupies a different knowledge space from traditional academic disciplines, including their transdisciplinary interstices. This article speaks to a gnawing sense that mayhem is at play, as the academic work around IK mātauranga begins to consolidate and become institutionalised away from its indigenous communities and contexts, where it began and where it still informs identities, ways of living and being

Strategies for Sustaining Digital Libraries

This collection of essays is a report of early findings from pioneers who have worked to establishdigital libraries, not merely as experimental projects, but as ongoing services and collectionsintended to be sustained over time in ways consistent with the long-held practices of print-basedlibraries. Particularly during this period of extreme technological transition, it is imperative thatprograms across the nation – and indeed the world – actively share their innovations,experiences, and techniques in order to begin cultivating new isomorphic, or commonly held,practices. The collective sentiment of the field is that we must begin to transition from apunctuated, project-based mode of advancing innovative information services to an ongoingprogrammatic mode of sustaining digital libraries for the long haul

Linked Data - the story so far

The term “Linked Data” refers to a set of best practices for publishing and connecting structured data on the Web. These best practices have been adopted by an increasing number of data providers over the last three years, leading to the creation of a global data space containing billions of assertions— the Web of Data. In this article, the authors present the concept and technical principles of Linked Data, and situate these within the broader context of related technological developments. They describe progress to date in publishing Linked Data on the Web, review applications that have been developed to exploit the Web of Data, and map out a research agenda for the Linked Data community as it moves forward

Research Review: Death Online - Alive and Kicking!

In recent years, the physical death, the related grief, and the ensuing memorials has become visible in the digital arena. As every other aspect of life is to be found online, so are death and the surrounding issues. The research into the area is not far behind, and using the approach of a timeline with different stakeholders, this research review offers a systematic way of keeping track. The rather simple timeline relates to the death of a person, there is before, just around, and after death, appropriately named in a dead language: Ante Mortem, Peri Mortem, and Post Mortem. This review deals exclusively with the digital context of the physical death of existing human beings, as opposed to, e.g., in-game death experience or memorials for fictional characters. These are no doubt interesting issues that deserve their own review, although we might need to put citation marks around "death"

Textile Society of America Newsletter — Fall 2005

Collections Management and Preservation Project for the Kala Raksha Trust, Kutch, IndiaSymposium 2006From the PresidentTSA NewsTSA Study ToursCollections NewsConservation NewsTSA Member NewsCorrections ResearchConference ReviewsExhibition ReviewsBook ReviewsResourcesCalendar-Exhibitions, Lectures, Seminars, Workshops, Tours, ResidenciesConferences and SymposiaGrants and AwardsOpportunitie

The Faculty Notebook, April 2018

The Faculty Notebook is published periodically by the Office of the Provost at Gettysburg College to bring to the attention of the campus community accomplishments and activities of academic interest. Faculty are encouraged to submit materials for consideration for publication to the Associate Provost for Faculty Development. Copies of this publication are available at the Office of the Provost