Bringing Special Collections to Life: Open-Source Tools for Digital Exhibit Creation

In 2014, Butler University Libraries received an institutional Innovation Fund grant to implement a large-scale digitization project to facilitate access and discovery of unique institutional holdings. Today, the Butler Digital History Initiative [digitalhistory.butlerlibraryservices.org] is comprised of several digital collections and interactive digital exhibits providing additional context and accessibility to archival materials to external and internal stakeholders. This program will highlight the open-source tools, procedures, and partnerships that enabled Butler University Libraries to bring their special collections to life

Beyond Utopian and Dystopian approaches to democratic innovation

This paper discusses the myths regarding both the conceptualization and the expected effects that are implicitly or explicitly presented in analyses of the so-called ‘democratic innovations’, that is, the new institutions that aim to increase public participation beyond regular elections. It is argued that these myths, together with the (fictitious) confrontation between direct and indirect politics, have generated false oppositions and reductionisms that mask the debate and limit empirical approximations to democratic innovation. A research agenda based on the concept of ‘participatory ecologies’ is suggested as a way to gain an understanding of the mechanisms of participation in a systematic way.Este artículo analiza los mitos que se han construido, tanto en un plano conceptual como de efectos esperados, en torno a las denominadas innovaciones democráticas, entendidas como instituciones destinadas a incrementar la participación ciudadana más allá de las elecciones. Argumentamos que tanto estos mitos como la (ficticia) confrontación entre política directa e indirecta ha generado falsas oposiciones y reduccionismos que enmascaran el debate y limitan el estudio empírico de la innovación democrática. Una agenda de investigación basada en el concepto de ecologías participativas se sugiere para el entendimiento de los mecanismos de participación en forma sistemática.This paper discusses the myths regarding both the conceptualization and the expected effects that are implicitly or explicitly presented in analyses of the so-called ‘democratic innovations’, that is, the new institutions that aim to increase public participation beyond regular elections. It is argued that these myths, together with the (fictitious) confrontation between direct and indirect politics, have generated false oppositions and reductionisms that mask the debate and limit empirical approximations to democratic innovation. A research agenda based on the concept of ‘participatory ecologies’ is suggested as a way to gain an understanding of the mechanisms of participation in a systematic way

Reloaded municipalism: will, politics and institutions

Este breve ensayo confronta la experiencia de promoción de instituciones de participación ciudadana en América Latina con la desarrollada recientemente en los ayuntamiento del cambio en España, particularmente en Madrid y Barcelona

Anisotropic magnetotransport of superconducting and normal state in an electron-doped Nd_{1.85}Ce_{0.15}CuO_{4-\delta} single crystal

The anisotropic properties of an optimally doped Nd_{1.85}Ce_{0.15}CuO_{4-\delta} single crystal have been studied both below and above the critical temperature Tc via the resistivity measurement in magnetic field H up to 12 T. By scaling the conductivity fluctuation around the superconducting transition, the upper critical field H_{c2}(T) has been determined for field parallel to the c-axis or to the basal ab-plane. The anisotropy factor \gamma={H_c2||ab}/{H_c2||c} is estimated to be about 8. In the normal state (50=<T=<180 K), the magnetoresistance (MR) basically follows an H^2 dependence and for H||c it is almost 10 times larger than that for H||ab. Comparing with hole-doped cuprates it suggests that the optimally doped Nd_{1.85}Ce_{0.15}CuO_{4-\delta} cuprate superconductor has a moderate anisotropy.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figure

La participación ciudadana como compromiso democrático

La promoción de mecanismos de par- ticipación ciudadana no necesaria- mente conlleva una apuesta decidida por democratizar a la sociedad. Por ejemplo, en ocasiones, los mecanismos de participación pueden ser introducidos con nes meramente electorales o para responder a crisis institucionales en apariencia, sin producir cambios de fondo. Sin embargo, las malas prácti- cas no deben ocultar que la participa- ción es un componente fundamental de la democracia. Más aún, el buen funcionamiento y la ampliación de la participación ciudadana — del ámbito electoral a los procesos de rendición de cuentas y toma de decisiones — pueden jugar un papel destacado al mejorar el desempeño del gobierno y la satisfacción ciudadana con el sistema político. Pero, ¿qué condiciones permiten que los mecanismos de participación contribuyan a profundizar la democracia? Para dar respuesta a esta pregunta, el trabajo procede inductivamente al analizar una selección de institucio- nes en funcionamiento en el nivel lo- cal de gobierno — el concejo vecinal en Montevideo, el consejo comunal en Venezuela, la silla vacía en Ecuador, el presupuesto participativo en la Ciudad de México, la consulta popular en Argentina y la revocatoria del mandato en Perú— del que deriva la identi cación de elementos explicativos de mayor o menor contribución al fortalecimiento de la democracia. To promote mechanisms of citizen’s participation does not necessarily imply a rm commitment to democratize society. For example, sometimes mechanisms of participation can be introduced for electoralist purposes or to resolve institutional crisis in appearance without producing substantial changes. However, bad practices should not hide the fact that participation is an essential component of democracy. Furthermore, well designed and exercised channels of citizen participation can play an important role in improving government performance and citizen’s satisfaction with the political system. But what conditions allow mechanisms of participation to deepen democracy? To answer this question, this work proceeds inductively, analyzing a selection of institutions operating at the local level of government — neighborhood councils in Montevideo, the communal councils in Venezuela, Empty Chair in Ecuador, participatory budgeting in Mexico city, the referendum in Argentina and the recall referenda in Peru —, which resulted in the identi cation of explanatory elements of their degree of contribution to the strengthening of democracy

From Bureaucratic Administration to Network Administration? An Empirical Study on E-Government Focus on Catalonia

This article aims to (1) analyse the extent to which there is a movement from a Weberian bureaucratic administration towards a new organisational model that we call network-administration and (2) consider whether the premises of New Public Management (NPM) theory are present in this process of transformation. The study centres on the analysis of the channels for citizen attention and the processes of technological innovation around these channels carried out by the Catalonian Government. Our initial conclusions indicate that while there is a change in Public Administration (PA), this change is incremental and has several nuances: a slight evolution towards network-administration is observed as currently existing alongside the traditional hierarchical and compartmentalised bureaucracy. In parallel, the private sector is increasingly involved in a relationship that tends to be more controlled by the public sector. We should add that there is also a new emphasis being placed on the relationship with the citizen as a service-use