Searching For Patterns in the Laws Governing Access to Records and Meetings in the Fifty States by Using Multiple Research Tools

Freedom of Information (FOI) advocates, mass communication scholars, journalists, and public policymakers often have asked which public access laws are the best in the country. The answer is elusive, even using a variety of research methodologies. Prior research has focused on studying only one aspect of these laws in the fifty states or by ranking every state on a limited number of criteria considered by a scholar to be necessary for an ideal law. No study thus far has effectively and systematically attempted to rank all state public records and open meeting laws in their entirety. Assuming that the best public access law means the law that at least facially creates the highest level of government transparency, scholars can use a variety of research approaches to better understand which laws are perceived as more open than others. Indeed, by using a combination of social science and legal research approaches, scholars can achieve not only an improved understanding of how state laws compare, but also what the concept of openness means in state public record and open meetings laws. To this end, the Marion Brechner Citizen Access Project (MBCAP) has implemented a long-term research project analyzing the access laws of all states by carefully combining social science methodology and traditional legal research techniques. Although in its early stages, the MBCAP has already produced a unique methodological approach and significant data. In this Essay, the authors explain how the combination of social science and legal methodologies can effectively answer complex questions involving public access laws. Discussing the project\u27s methodology could also be useful to legal and communication scholars wishing to develop and improve state law compilations in order to identify in greater detail public policy established by state legislatures and the courts. Furthermore, although the MBCAP so far has focused on aspects of state public records laws, the methodology presented here may be replicated or modified for other areas of law where ranking and comparison of multiple jurisdictions would be useful. Now, after an overview of the problem statement set out here, the Essay provides background by reviewing the relevant literature in Part II. Part III outlines the objectives of the project and the methodology used to meet those objectives. It will also provide solutions to complex problems that arise in a study of the laws of the fifty states and the District of Columbia. Part IV presents project results to demonstrate how state public records laws are being analyzed through use of the project. Part V concludes by discussing the practical and academic applications of the project as well as its limitations

Searching for Patterns in the Laws Governing Access to Records and Meetings in the Fifty States by Using Multiple Research Tools

Freedom of Information (FOI) advocates, mass communication scholars, journalists, and public policymakers often have asked which public access laws are the best in the country. The answer is elusive, even using a variety of research methodologies. Prior research has focused on studying only one aspect of these laws in the fifty states or by ranking every state on a limited number of criteria considered by a scholar to be necessary for an ideal law. No study thus far has effectively and systematically attempted to rank all state public records and open meeting laws in their entirety. Assuming that the best public access law means the law that at least facially creates the highest level of government transparency, scholars can use a variety of research approaches to better understand which laws are perceived as more open than others. Indeed, by using a combination of social science and legal research approaches, scholars can achieve not only an improved understanding of how state laws compare, but also what the concept of openness means in state public record and open meetings laws. To this end, the Marion Brechner Citizen Access Project (MBCAP) has implemented a long-term research project analyzing the access laws of all states by carefully combining social science methodology and traditional legal research techniques. Although in its early stages, the MBCAP has already produced a unique methodological approach and significant data. In this Essay, the authors explain how the combination of social science and legal methodologies can effectively answer complex questions involving public access laws. Discussing the project\u27s methodology could also be useful to legal and communication scholars wishing to develop and improve state law compilations in order to identify in greater detail public policy established by state legislatures and the courts. Furthermore, although the MBCAP so far has focused on aspects of state public records laws, the methodology presented here may be replicated or modified for other areas of law where ranking and comparison of multiple jurisdictions would be useful. Now, after an overview of the problem statement set out here, the Essay provides background by reviewing the relevant literature in Part II. Part III outlines the objectives of the project and the methodology used to meet those objectives. It will also provide solutions to complex problems that arise in a study of the laws of the fifty states and the District of Columbia. Part IV presents project results to demonstrate how state public records laws are being analyzed through use of the project. Part V concludes by discussing the practical and academic applications of the project as well as its limitations

Methodology to Determine Melt Pool Anomalies in Powder Bed Fusion of Metals Using a Laser Beam by Means of Process Monitoring and Sensor Data Fusion

Additive manufacturing, in particular the powder bed fusion of metals using a laser beam, has a wide range of possible technical applications. Especially for safety-critical applications, a quality assurance of the components is indispensable. However, time-consuming and costly quality assurance measures, such as computer tomography, represent a barrier for further industrial spreading. For this reason, alternative methods for process anomaly detection using process monitoring systems have been developed. However, the defect detection quality of current methods is limited, as single monitoring systems only detect specific process anomalies. Therefore, a new methodology to evaluate the data of multiple monitoring systems is derived using sensor data fusion. Focus was placed on the causes and the appearance of defects in different monitoring systems (photodiodes, on- and off-axis high-speed cameras, and thermography). Based on this, indicators representing characteristics of the process were developed to reduce the data. Finally, deterministic models for the data fusion within a monitoring system and between the monitoring systems were developed. The result was a defect detection of up to 92% of the melt track defects. The methodology was thus able to determine process anomalies and to evaluate the suitability of a specific process monitoring system for the defect detection

Essentials of Contemporary Advertising

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Contemporary Advertising and Integrated Marketing Communications

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