Content repositories and social networking : can there be synergies?

This paper details the novel application of Web 2.0 concepts to current services offered to Social Scientists by the ReDReSS project, carried out by the Centre for e-Science at Lancaster University. We detail plans to introduce Social Bookmarking and Social Networking concepts into the repository software developed by the project. This will result in the improved discovery of e-Science concepts and training to Social Scientists and allow for much improved linking of resources in the repository. We describe plans that use Social Networking and Social Bookmarking concepts, using Open Standards, which will promote collaboration between researchers by using information gathered on user’s use of the repository and information about the user. This will spark collaborations that would not normally be possible in the academic repository context

Practical aspects of mobilising property tax: experience in Sierra Leone and Malawi

Much literature has been written about the appeal of property tax as a stable source of revenue for subnational governments in developing countries. Building on this significant background of literature is the author’s practical experience working in local government institutions within both Sierra Leone and Malawi. This article relates to the development and testing of a process of mobilizing the internally generated property tax revenues of local governments, and reports on the results of that process, and the challenges and lessons learned

DATA ON ARTS ORGANIZATIONS: A REVIEW AND NEEDS ASSESSMENT, WITH DESIGN IMPLICATIONS

This project describes the data resources on arts organizations that are currently available to inform the efforts of policy makers, arts managers, and researchers working in the arts field. It assesses the adequacy of different data sources for identifying the population of arts and cultural organizations in a community. The report is based on a review of more than a dozen sources of information about arts and cultural organizations, interviews with researchers and data specialists, and an empirical study of arts organizations in three metropolitan areas - Philadelphia, Dallas-Fort Worth, and Minneapolis-St. Paul. The report concludes with recommendations for improving data quality and for establishing an ongoing national database on the arts sector.

Property valuation

Improving processes for valuing properties lies at the heart of efforts to improve the overall effectiveness of property taxation. Effective property taxation is impossible without efficient property valuation. In practice, however, valuation rolls across most of Africa are incomplete and severely out-of-date, thus dramatically reducing potential property tax yield. This is, at least in part, a function of history: many of the valuation models being used on the continent do not reflect best practices and local learning, but are inherited vestiges of colonial systems that no longer respond adequately to local needs. The need to modernise is urgent, but progress has been slow. Effective reform needs to consider two broad questions: (i) the extent to which market value or physical attributes of the property should be the basis for valuation; and (ii) which organ of government should be responsible for valuation, and how should it be organised? Answers to these questions may vary across countries. There is, however, growing agreement that the central need in most countries is to simplify existing valuation processes, to better align them with the realities of undeveloped local property markets and constrained administrative capacity.L’amélioration des procédures d’évaluation des biens immobiliers est au coeur des efforts de perfectionnement de l’efficacité globale de la fiscalité foncière. La fiscalité foncière efficace est impossible sans évaluation foncière efficace. En pratique, cependant, les listes d’évaluation à travers la grande partie de l’Afrique sont incomplètes et sont largement dépassées. Par conséquent, elles réduisent de façon drastique les recettes potentielles de l’impôt foncier. Ceci s’explique, au moins en partie, par la fonction de l’histoire: la plupart des modèles d’évaluation en usage sur le continent ne reflète pas les meilleures pratiques et apprentissages à l’échelle locale, mais sont des vestiges hérités des systèmes coloniaux qui ne répondent plus convenablement aux besoins locaux. Le besoin de modernisation est urgent, mais le progrès est lent. Une réforme efficace doit considérer deux vastes questions: (i) dans quelle mesure la valeur marchande ou les caractéristiques physiques du bien immobilier devraient- elles être la base de l’évaluation ? et (ii) quel organe gouvernemental devrait être responsable de l’évaluation et comment devrait-elle être organisée ? Les réponses à ces questions peuvent varier d’un pays à l’autre. Cependant, on s’accorde de plus en plus à reconnaître que le besoin principal dans la plupart des pays est de simplifier les procédures d’évaluation existantes, de mieux les aligner aux réalités de marchés immobiliers locaux sous-développés et à la capacité administrative limitée.Department for International DevelopmentBill and Melinda Gates Foundatio

Supervising a Struggling Student Teacher: A Midterm Action Plan

A large shortage of qualified special education teachers is one of the most serious and pervasive problems facing students disabilities. With both the quality and the quantity of special educators requiring improvement, teacher educators are becoming more aware of the necessity to train better-prepared special education teachers. In response to the problems, the Clemson University undergraduate program in Special Education has developed rigorous curricula and performance standards to prepare highly trained special educators. In addition to the standard program requirements, a systematic plan was developed to facilitate the improvement of struggling student teachers who are not meeting expected performance competencies. The purpose of this article is to describe Clemson University’s special education teacher preparation program’s field experience requirements and the systematic procedures used to provide additional support to struggling student teachers

Note d’orientation pratique: Manuel de formation sur la mise en oeuvre de la réforme de la taxe foncière avec une estimation par points

The paper shares the author’s on-going experience in supporting the implementation of property tax reform programmes in smaller urban centres and rural districts in Sub-Saharan Africa, covering more than 12 local governments over a period of more than 10 years. The paper presents a generic training manual, designed to offer practical guidance for property tax reformers on the process of mobilising revenue. The guidance details the process stepby- step together with supporting materials, schedules and examples of survey instruments. Some results, lessons learned, and next steps have previously been published.Dans cette publication, l’auteur partage plus de 10 ans d’expérience dans le soutien à la mise en œuvre de programmes de réformes de la taxe foncière qu’il a apporté à plus de 12 gouvernements locaux dans de petits centres urbains et zones rurales d’Afrique subsaharienne. Ce document présente un manuel de formation générique, conçu pour offrir des conseils pratiques aux réformateurs de l'impôt foncier ayant pour objectif de mobiliser les recettes. Ce guide détaille le processus étape par étape, accompagné des supports, des calendriers et d’exemples d'instruments d'enquête. Certains résultats, conclusions et étapes ultérieures ont déjà été publiées.DFIDBill and Melinda Gates Foundatio

Measurement of hydrodynamic force generation by swimming dolphins using bubble DPIV

Attempts to measure the propulsive forces produced by swimming dolphins have been limited. Previous uses of computational hydrodynamic models and gliding experiments have provided estimates of thrust production by dolphins, but these were indirect tests that relied on various assumptions. The thrust produced by two actively swimming bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) was directly measured using digital particle image velocimetry (DPIV). For dolphins swimming in a large outdoor pool, the DPIV method used illuminated microbubbles that were generated in a narrow sheet from a finely porous hose and a compressed air source. The movement of the bubbles was tracked with a high-speed video camera. Dolphins swam at speeds of 0.7 to 3.4 m s−1 within the bubble sheet oriented along the midsagittal plane of the animal. The wake of the dolphin was visualized as the microbubbles were displaced because of the action of the propulsive flukes and jet flow. The oscillations of the dolphin flukes were shown to generate strong vortices in the wake. Thrust production was measured from the vortex strength through the Kutta–Joukowski theorem of aerodynamics. The dolphins generated up to 700 N during small amplitude swimming and up to 1468 N during large amplitude starts. The results of this study demonstrated that bubble DPIV can be used effectively to measure the thrust produced by large-bodied dolphins

Renforcer les systèmes informatiques en vue de la réforme de la Taxe Foncière

The introduction of improved IT systems has long been hailed as a powerful – potentially transformative – tool for strengthening local property taxes. Yet in practice this promise has rarely been achieved on a sustainable basis in Africa, despite significant investment. The challenge lies in understanding why new IT systems have failed to deliver promised benefits, and in devising more effective systems and strategies moving forward.L’introduction de systèmes informatiques TIC améliorés a longtemps été saluée comme un outil puissant – potentiellement transformateur – pour le renforcement de la collecte des taxes foncières locales. Cependant, en pratique, cette promesse a rarement été concrétisée de façon durable en Afrique, malgré des investissements de taille. Le défi réside dans la compréhensiondes raisons pour lesquelles les nouveaux systèmes informatiques n’ont pas été capables d’apporter les avantages promis et de concevoir à l’avenir des systèmes et des stratégies plus efficaces.Department for International DevelopmentBill and Melinda Gates Foundatio

Incremental events in the construction of sambaquis, southeastern Santa Catarina.

Moundbuilding is a cross-cultural phenomenon of nearly world-wide scope. In this article some of the moundbuilding processes related to the sambaquis (shellmounds) from the coast of Santa Catarina State, Brasil, are examined, focusing on field research at the sambaqui Jaboticabeira II. By means of analysing the mounding up processes at that site, attention is drawn to its social and demographic corollaries, which speak of considerable social elaboration and territorial permanence in time.A construção de cômoros artificiais (mounds) é um fenômeno de amplo alcance em termos globais. Neste artigo são examinados alguns dos processos responsáveis pela construção destas estruturas no litoral sul de Santa Catarina, tomando-se como referência os trabalhos realizados no sambaqui Jaboticabeira II, município de Jaguaruna. Além da análise dos processos envolvidos na construção daquele sambaqui, procura-se chamar a atenção para os aspectos sociais e demográficos destes mesmos processos, evidenciando um sistema regional de considerável complexidade social e duração cronológica

Generative Social Choice

Traditionally, social choice theory has only been applicable to choices among a few predetermined alternatives but not to more complex decisions such as collectively selecting a textual statement. We introduce generative social choice, a framework that combines the mathematical rigor of social choice theory with large language models' capability to generate text and extrapolate preferences. This framework divides the design of AI-augmented democratic processes into two components: first, proving that the process satisfies rigorous representation guarantees when given access to oracle queries; second, empirically validating that these queries can be approximately implemented using a large language model. We illustrate this framework by applying it to the problem of generating a slate of statements that is representative of opinions expressed as free-form text, for instance in an online deliberative process