What is a book? : Redefining the book in the digitally social age

This article focuses on what is meant by the term ‘book’. Here, there is a consideration of how the definition of the book has altered over time as technology has improved and as writers themselves began to have different relationships to the book and industry. It further explores the ways the book itself has altered in format, from printed to digital, with audio editions, and socially in relation to the rise of social media and a new form of author who chooses to write and share their works directly within social platforms. In this context, book must be redefined to incorporate the context of new social technology

What is Community Informatics in Japan? A look at 12 cases

In this paper, we are concerned with the applicability of the concept of Community Informatics (CI) rooted in North American studies to a different context, Japan. Despite the fact that CI is a relatively new filed of study, and Japan???s intensive use of mobile information and communication technologies (ICT) are a common area to find in articles, Japanese CI practices are little known. Among major academic journals that CI scholars appear, there have none of CI articles by Japanese scholars published so far. These draw our attention. We review cases in Japan that apply and adapt information and communications technology (ICT) to local community settings. Applying Williams and Durrance???s framework encompassing community informatics practices, twelve community projects and groups were identified in the study (2007). The projects are categorized into four types based on different conceptions of ICT use in fulfilling community needs and objectives (Williams and Durrance, 2007). These are community groups, organizations, and projects that rely on (1) actual places, i.e., public computing places and cyber cafes, (2) virtual spaces, i.e. , community networks and online resources, (3) some combination of those two, and (4) organic, that is, borne out of community efforts not particularly concerned with technology but which now involve ICT. We chose an opportunistic sampling technique in order to find cases that fit in those four types of CI models. For the very first step, we draw on a small number of articles by Japanese scholars on the utilization of social network service developed by municipal offices using open source software for community development (Toyama, 2007; Shoji, 2007)

What is orthopaedic triage? A systematic review

RATIONALE, AIMS AND OBJECTIVES: Complex and chronic disease is placing significant pressure on hospital outpatient departments. Novel ways of delivering care have been developed recently and are often described as ‘triage’ services. This paper reviews the literature pertaining to definitions and descriptions of orthopaedic/musculoskeletal triage processes, in order to provide information on ‘best practice’ to assist health care facilities. METHOD: A comprehensive open-ended search was conducted using electronic databases to identify studies describing models of triage clinics for patients with a musculoskeletal/orthopaedic complaint, who have been referred to hospital outpatient clinics for a surgical consultation. Studies were critically appraised using the McMaster quality appraisal tool and ranked using the National Health and Medical Research Council hierarchy of evidence. A thematic analysis of the definitions, processes and procedures of triage described within the literature was undertaken. RESULTS: 1930 studies were identified and 45 were included in the review (including diagnostic and evaluative research). The hierarchy of evidence ranged from I to IV; however, the majority were at low levels of evidence and scored poorly on the critical appraisal tool. Three broad themes of triage were identified: presence of a referral, configuration of the triage (who, how and where) and the aim of triage. However, there were significant inconsistencies across these themes. CONCLUSIONS: This systematic review highlighted the need for standardization of the definition of triage, the procedures of assessment and management and measures of outcome used in orthopaedic/musculoskeletal triage to ensure best-practice processes, procedures and outcomes for triage clinics

What is a Lien? Lessons from Municipal Bankruptcy

From the outset of Detroit’s bankruptcy, an unlikely set of issues kept coming up: What exactly is a lien? Who has a property interest or its equivalent in bankruptcy? Did general obligation bondholders have special status, due to Detroit’s promise to use its “full faith and credit” for repayment? What about Detroit’s pension beneficiaries, who could point to a provision in the Michigan Constitution stating that accrued pension benefits cannot be diminished or impaired. In this Article, I explore these and related issues that have arisen in Detroit and other recent municipal bankruptcy cases. Part I of the Article briefly compares liens and a variety of lien substitutes. In Part II, I recount the history of bankruptcy’s statutory lien provision, which honors state liens but not state priorities, and requires that the lien be good both in bankruptcy and outside of bankruptcy. My focus in Part III is the status of general obligation bonds in Detroit, a question which has turned out to have different answers for the two different types of Detroit GO bonds. In Part IV, I explore Rhode Island’s remarkable statute purporting to give a sweeping lien to GO bondholders. I then discuss the question whether pensions can be restructured in bankruptcy in Part V. I conclude that they can, and that the precise status of pension claims turns in large part on bankruptcy’s treatment of trusts

What is a Lien? Lessons from Municipal Bankruptcy

From the outset of Detroit’s bankruptcy, an unlikely set of issues kept coming up: What exactly is a lien? Who has a property interest or its equivalent in bankruptcy? Did general obligation bondholders have special status, due to Detroit’s promise to use its “full faith and credit” for repayment? What about Detroit’s pension beneficiaries, who could point to a provision in the Michigan Constitution stating that accrued pension benefits cannot be diminished or impaired. In this Article, I explore these and related issues that have arisen in Detroit and other recent municipal bankruptcy cases. Part I of the Article briefly compares liens and a variety of lien substitutes. In Part II, I recount the history of bankruptcy’s statutory lien provision, which honors state liens but not state priorities, and requires that the lien be good both in bankruptcy and outside of bankruptcy. My focus in Part III is the status of general obligation bonds in Detroit, a question which has turned out to have different answers for the two different types of Detroit GO bonds. In Part IV, I explore Rhode Island’s remarkable statute purporting to give a sweeping lien to GO bondholders. I then discuss the question whether pensions can be restructured in bankruptcy in Part V. I conclude that they can, and that the precise status of pension claims turns in large part on bankruptcy’s treatment of trusts

What is it like to be a (digital) bat?

Could a person ever transcend what it is like to experience and understand the world as a human being? Could humans ever know what it is like to be another entity? In the last century, similar questions about human subjectivity have often been raised within the context of post-metaphysical thinking. In particular, the ones presented at the beginning of this paragraph were tackled from the perspective of philosophy of mind by Thomas Nagel in his 1974 essay What is it Like to Be a Bat? Nagel’s reflections and answers to those interrogatives were elaborated before the diffusion of computers and could not anticipate the cultural impact of a technology capable of disclosing interactive and persistent experiences of virtual worlds as well as virtual alternatives to the ‘self’. This paper utilizes the observations, the theoretical insights and hypothetical suggestions offered in What is it Like to Be a Bat? and Martin Heidegger’s framework for a philosophical understanding of technology as its theoretical springboards. The scope of my reflection is precisely that of assessing the potential of interactive digital media for transcending human subjectivity. The chosen theoretical perspectives lead to the preliminary conclusion that, even if there is no way of either mapping or reproducing the consciousness of a real bat, interactive digital technology can grant access to experiences and even systems of perception that were inaccessible to humans prior to the advent of computers. In this context, Heidegger’s analysis of Dasein is employed in order to define in which specific ways the experience of virtual worlds enables humans to experience and understand previously unattainable aspects of reality. What is it Like to Be a (Digital) Bat? proposes a modal realist perspective, where digital media content is recognized as having an expanding and fragmenting influence on ontology. At a higher level of abstraction, this paper advocates the use of digital technology as a medium for testing, developing and disseminating philosophical notions which is alternative to the traditional textual one. Presented as virtual experiences, philosophical concepts cannot only be accessed without the mediation of subjective imagination, but take an entirely new projective dimension which I propose to call ‘augmented ontology’.peer-reviewe

Auditing Knowledge

{Excerpt} A knowledge audit can have multiple purposes, but the most common is to provide tangible evidence of what knowledge an organization needs, where that knowledge is, how it is being used, what problems and difficulties exist, and what improvements can be made. Although there can be no blueprint, a typical knowledge audit will—not necessarily at the same time or level of detail—query the following: • What are an organization’s knowledge needs? • What tacit and explicit knowledge assets does it have and where are they? • How does knowledge flow within the organization, formally and informally, and to and from clients and relevant organizations? • How is that knowledge identified, created, stored, shared, and used? • What obstacles are there to knowledge flows, e.g., to what extent do its people, business processes, and technology currently support or hamper the effective movement of knowledge? • What gaps and duplications exist in the organization’s knowledge

WHAT IS A COAST GUARD?: DEVELOPING A NOMENCLATURE MODEL FOR COAST GUARD

“Coast Guards” or “Coastguards” (CG) have played a vital role in the maritime security systems of nations. The diversified utility of CGs by nations and the lack of an internationally accepted nomenclature for agencies bearing the name CG have given rise to complex issues related to these agencies. In this study, the rationales for developing a CG nomenclature model include enhancing maritime security cooperation, distinguishing CGs from naval classifications, fostering CG norms, and identifying the role of a CG in an armed conflict. To achieve this goal, the study performed a qualitative analysis of 15 CG agencies. Findings from the analysis revealed that key elements of the CG roles are civil maritime emergency response (MER) and maritime law enforcement (MLE). Based on the findings, a CG was defined as a maritime organization, assigned with the primary authority to undertake constabulary and emergency response operations within the maritime jurisdiction of a state. From this, the modeling process devised a CG hierarchical taxonomy to obtain a CG nomenclature, which includes military CGs (“Gray” model), civil-constabulary CGs (“Blue” model), and civil emergency response CGs (“White” model). The study achieved its objective of developing a practical CG nomenclature, which also fulfills the rationale behind developing a CG classification.Lieutenant Colonel, Maldivian Coast GuardApproved for public release. Distribution is unlimited