Affordable Digital Signage with Raspberry Pi

Digital Signage is a great way to inform library users about programs, events, services, and other library news. Unfortunately, digital signage can be difficult to implement and come with pricey monthly charges. When looking for ways to implement versatile digital signage, Fort Hays State University’s Forsyth Library and Learning Commons discovered an affordable and easy to manage solution - the Raspberry Pi. In this paper, you will discover what Raspberry Pis are and how to purchase and install them. You’ll also learn about several methods for creating messages

Representation: the position of women in the media industries

SUMMARY Watching or listening to a news broadcast might give the impression that there are plenty of women involved in news and current affairs broadcasting. On the surface women appear to be well represented. However, a closer look at the statistics shows that, despite making up 51 per cent of the population and a larger proportion of the TV and radio audience, women are severely underrepresented both on and off air in news and current affairs broadcasting. A recent study showed that, in the UK, there were three male reporters on flagship news programmes for every female one. The situation is even worse for women as experts: in a 2010 study, women made up only 26 per cent of experts or commentators. We are particularly concerned about the representation of women in news and current affairs broadcasting because of the genre’s wide reach and role in shaping public perceptions about society. In our view, news and current affairs broadcasters have a particular responsibility to reflect society by ensuring a gender balance. This is especially incumbent on the BBC and other Public Service Broadcasters which receive statutory benefits. There are a number of obstacles to the progression of female employees in the industry. The fast-paced, responsive nature of news and current affairs broadcasting presents difficulties for those with caring responsibilities, largely women. Broadcasters could address this by doing more to promote flexible working. We were also told that sexist bullying still exists in the industry, and that older women in the sector have experienced particular discrimination. We have not been able to test fully all of these allegations, but condemn any such attitudes and practices. We urge broadcasters to take further steps to ensure they are eradicated. We also recommend that job and promotion opportunities are awarded on the basis of fair and open competition. We believe the current situation is unsatisfactory, and needs to be addressed. This cannot be done without a robust body of data. The current monitoring system, where data are not collected routinely or in comparable formats, is insufficient. Ofcom should require broadcasters to collect annual, comparable gender equality data on permanent and freelance staff, categorised by age, role and genre. Ofcom should also require broadcasters to set their own short, medium and long term targets for the use of experts, which should be monitored. This proactive use of Ofcom’s powers should be reviewed in one year. If the situation has not improved, Ofcom should consider delegating its powers to promote gender equality to a new body with this as its focus. Gone are the days when women were seldom heard or seen in news and current affairs broadcasts. Nevertheless, in this era of equality we were surprised and disappointed at how much further broadcasters, Ofcom and the Government have to go to achieve genuine gender balance

Connecting the Past to the Present: The Tiger Tales Oral Histories Digital Exhibit

The Tiger Tales Oral History Digital Exhibit began in 2018 as an effort to promote Forsyth Library’s self-service video studio and Special Collections. The project is a marriage of the creative technologies of the library’s Learning Commons Media Lab paired with images from its archives to capture the stories of Tiger alumni, students, faculty, and staff spanning generations about their time at Fort Hays State. Forsyth’s Outreach Team adds their talents to the project recruiting interview subjects, often in collaboration with the FHSU Foundation and Alumni Office. Over its five-year history, these connections have served to gather first-hand stories from as early as the mid-1930s, and the collection continues to grow. These oral histories serve as unique primary sources complementing the research materials available to our community. Several of the interview subjects have since passed, but we are proud to have their stories preserved for Tigers of the future

Beyond the Traditional Retention Data: A Qualitative Study of the Social Benefits of Living Learning Communities

Living Learning Communities (LLCs) have been shown to increase student retention rates and academic performance (Hotchkiss, Moore, & Pitts, 2006), as well as increase overall satisfaction with college (Baker & Pomerantz, 2000) and increase cognitive skills (Walker, 2003). These benefits have been demonstrated in a variety of institutions with diverse students (Andrade, 2007). However, these studies have relied on quantitative measures of assessment. As suggested by Taylor, Moore, MacGregor, and Lindblad (2003) and Ward and Commander (2011), more qualitative data is needed to really understand why LLCs are linked to positive outcomes. This qualitative study collected focus group data from both LLC students and non-LLC students to determine what possible social and psychological benefits students reported about their LLC or university experiences. Themes emerged from the qualitative data to reveal that LLC students do experience some of the same university life experiences that non-LLC students experience. However, LLC students reported richer connections to faculty and students, as well as additional social and academic opportunities

Tragic blondes, Hollywood, and the “radical sixties’ myth: Seberg and once upon a time in Hollywood as revisionist and reparative biopic

In this essay I explore two recent ‘reparative biopics,’ Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (Quentin Tarantino, 2019) and Seberg (Benedict Andrews, 2019), which share features found in the resurgent cycle of 1960s-set ‘back studio’ films that have appeared in the wake of feminist criticism of mainstream Hollywood. Although positioned very differently in terms of genre (as biopic and counterfactual history respectively) and in their creative engagement with the cultural and political history of the late 1960s, both are notable for the way they deal with the real female stars at the centre of their stories, Sharon Tate and Jean Seberg. While each film seems to be seeking reparation for the past, their approach ultimately recuperates the women into a mythic discourse of the ‘radical sixties’ in which masculine agency and homosocial bonds are privileged. I argue that these films rehearse familiar biopic conventions to depict the blonde female star as tragic victim, not only of history but also of her own inherent frailty

Representation: the position of women in the media industries

SUMMARY Watching or listening to a news broadcast might give the impression that there are plenty of women involved in news and current affairs broadcasting. On the surface women appear to be well represented. However, a closer look at the statistics shows that, despite making up 51 per cent of the population and a larger proportion of the TV and radio audience, women are severely underrepresented both on and off air in news and current affairs broadcasting. A recent study showed that, in the UK, there were three male reporters on flagship news programmes for every female one. The situation is even worse for women as experts: in a 2010 study, women made up only 26 per cent of experts or commentators. We are particularly concerned about the representation of women in news and current affairs broadcasting because of the genre’s wide reach and role in shaping public perceptions about society. In our view, news and current affairs broadcasters have a particular responsibility to reflect society by ensuring a gender balance. This is especially incumbent on the BBC and other Public Service Broadcasters which receive statutory benefits. There are a number of obstacles to the progression of female employees in the industry. The fast-paced, responsive nature of news and current affairs broadcasting presents difficulties for those with caring responsibilities, largely women. Broadcasters could address this by doing more to promote flexible working. We were also told that sexist bullying still exists in the industry, and that older women in the sector have experienced particular discrimination. We have not been able to test fully all of these allegations, but condemn any such attitudes and practices. We urge broadcasters to take further steps to ensure they are eradicated. We also recommend that job and promotion opportunities are awarded on the basis of fair and open competition. We believe the current situation is unsatisfactory, and needs to be addressed. This cannot be done without a robust body of data. The current monitoring system, where data are not collected routinely or in comparable formats, is insufficient. Ofcom should require broadcasters to collect annual, comparable gender equality data on permanent and freelance staff, categorised by age, role and genre. Ofcom should also require broadcasters to set their own short, medium and long term targets for the use of experts, which should be monitored. This proactive use of Ofcom’s powers should be reviewed in one year. If the situation has not improved, Ofcom should consider delegating its powers to promote gender equality to a new body with this as its focus. Gone are the days when women were seldom heard or seen in news and current affairs broadcasts. Nevertheless, in this era of equality we were surprised and disappointed at how much further broadcasters, Ofcom and the Government have to go to achieve genuine gender balance