Interview with Emre Hasan Akbayrak, Library Director, Atılım University

Atilim University (AU) was founded in 1996 with the mission to “provide quality education, produces science and technology, conducts research and enlightens the future of Turkey.” AU currently ranks 4th among the Turkish Universities in Times Higher Education (THE) World Universities on the basis of research, education, internationalization and industrial income

Information for inspiration: understanding information-seeking behaviour and library usage of students at the Hong Kong Design Institute

The process of information- and inspiration-seeking behaviour amongst artists and designers often involve direct observation, note-taking, collecting materials and image samples, recognising styles, analysing movements, patterns, textures, as well as experimenting with different materials and techniques. They also rely heavily on having access to a variety of visual resources, both physical and digital, during the process of inspiration-seeking. However, there have been few studies on how art and design students look for and use information in the digital age, especially in the context of the library. This paper reports on an empirical study of the inspiration-seeking process and other information-related behaviour of students at the Hong Kong Design Institute (HKDI). An online questionnaire was created to ask the HKDI students specific questions: the types of library preferred; students\u27 comfort level with the HKDI Library; student respondents\u27 information needs; and their preferred sources for inspiration. They were also asked which media and venues they looked to for information that was important to their creative process. A total of 327 current students at the HKDI completed the survey. The research findings suggest that information-seeking behaviour of the art and design students was reflective of the fluid and creative nature of the art and design domain. They were regular users of traditional printed resources as well as the physical libraries. They also placed heavy reliance on the Internet and a variety of social networks when it came to inspiration-seeking. Inspiration was found from a very diverse and ‘idiosyncratic’ set of sources; often via accidental discovery. The students\u27 status as emergent practitioners also suggested a strong need for career advice and interactions with peers practicing in the art and design field

The Metropolitan Opera’s 50th Anniversary Gala: A Conversation with Robert Sutherland, Chief Librarian

In an interview with Patrick Lo, Robert Sutherland, Chief Librarian of the Metropolitan Opera, describes the work carried out by the organization's library staff in preparation for the Met's 50th Anniversary Gala.

Coinvolgimento dei giovani attraverso l'utilizzo di biblioteche carcerarie: studio dei casi della Biblioteca del Centro di detenzione giovanile di Tangerang e della Biblioteca del centro di detenzione di Salemba in Indonesia

It is widely acknowledged that libraries play a positive and important role in the lives of prisoners, just as they do with other people.  They do not only provide resources to support various educational, recreational and welfare programs, but they also create opportunities for prisoners to acquire new skills, skills that they may need once they leave prison.  In addition, prison libraries also help address various psychological issues, attitude problems, as well as other difficulties in coping with prison life.  According to the Ministry of Law and Human Rights of Indonesia, as of 2013, there are 4,622 children in 16 different prisons in Indonesia.  Such statistics show that there is a great need for well-resourced and well-staffed libraries inside these prisons in order to support the educational, recreational, and psychological needs of imprisoned children.  It is evident that the existence of prison libraries and its library collections, facilities, as well as other services could serve as effective rehabilitation for the prisoners and the detainees – to help them develop awareness of their own actions, as well as associated risks and consequences.The purpose of this study is to examine the practical, social, recreational, educational, psychological, and spiritual needs of detained juvenile delinquents in regards to using the collections, facilities and services at the Tangerang Juvenile Detention Center Library and the Salemba Detention Center Library.This study is based on informational interviews conducted with the Head Librarians at the Tangerang Juvenile Detention Center Library (JDC) and the Salemba Detention Center Library.  During these interviews, various problems and challenges related to ethics, professionalism, and other professional issues associated to working as a prison librarian, were discussed.  Other issues related to staffing, organizational structure, facilities and the resource situation of the Tangerang Juvenile Detention Center Library and the Salemba Detention Center Library were also addressed.    È ampiamente riconosciuto che le bibliteche giocano un ruolo positivo e importante nella vita dei prigionieri, così come con altre persone. Le biblioteche non forniscono solo risorse per il supporto dei vari programmi educazionali, ricreativi e di assistenza sociale, ma creano anche opportunità per i prigionieri di acquisire nuove competenze di cui possono aver bisogno una volta lasciata la prigione. Secondo il Ministro della Giustizia e dei Diritti Umani dell'Indonesia, a partire dal 2013, ci sono 4.622 bambini in 16 diverse prigioni indonesiane. Tali statistiche mostrano come ci sia un grande bisogno all'interno di queste prigioni di biblioteche fornite e con buon personale, al fine di supportare i bisogni educazionali, ricreazionali e psicologici dei bambini imprigionati. Lo scopo di questo studio consiste nell'esaminare i bisogni pratici, sociali, ricreazionali, educazionali, psicologici e spirituali dei giovani detenuti in merito all'uso delle collezioni, attrezzature e servizi della Tangerang Juvenile Detention Center Library (JDC) e della Salemba Detention Center Library

Cultural Anthropology Through the Lens of Wikipedia - A Comparison of Historical Leadership Networks in the English, Chinese, Japanese and German Wikipedia

In this paper we study the differences in historical worldview between Western and Eastern cultures, represented through the English, Chinese, Japanese, and German Wikipedia. In particular, we analyze the historical networks of the World's leaders since the beginning of written history, comparing them in the four different Wikipedias.Comment: Proceedings of the 5th International Conference on Collaborative Innovation Networks COINs15, Tokyo, Japan March 12-14, 2015 (arXiv:1502.01142

RCDPT: Radar-Camera fusion Dense Prediction Transformer

Recently, transformer networks have outperformed traditional deep neural networks in natural language processing and show a large potential in many computer vision tasks compared to convolutional backbones. In the original transformer, readout tokens are used as designated vectors for aggregating information from other tokens. However, the performance of using readout tokens in a vision transformer is limited. Therefore, we propose a novel fusion strategy to integrate radar data into a dense prediction transformer network by reassembling camera representations with radar representations. Instead of using readout tokens, radar representations contribute additional depth information to a monocular depth estimation model and improve performance. We further investigate different fusion approaches that are commonly used for integrating additional modality in a dense prediction transformer network. The experiments are conducted on the nuScenes dataset, which includes camera images, lidar, and radar data. The results show that our proposed method yields better performance than the commonly used fusion strategies and outperforms existing convolutional depth estimation models that fuse camera images and radar.Comment: 5 pages, 2 figures and 1 tabl

Connessioni tra biblioteche e musei: il caso di studio della collaborazione biblioteca-museo all'Hong Kong Maritime Museum

Established in 2005, the Hong Kong Maritime Museum (HKMM) is a relatively new private museum that aims to collect all forms of materials related to the development of boats, ships, maritime exploration and trade, and naval warfare on the South China coast, as well as its adjacent seas.  The Museum not only serves as a unique platform for teaching and learning of the local heritage in Hong Kong, it also contributes greatly to the promotion of community engagement and social connections.  The HKMM is also equipped with its own museum library, and it is called the CSSC (China State Shipbuilding Corporation) Maritime Heritage Resource Centre.  In addition to supporting various research activities carried out by the Museum, this Resource Centre also serves as a central, and yet comprehensive repository for publications, and other archival documents on maritime heritage and history related to Southeastern China. This paper aims to compare the distinctive operational practices, and user needs between museums and libraries.  It also examines the benefits and challenges of museum-library collaborations in the new knowledge-driven society.  This paper features an interview with Kitty But (Librarian, CSSC Maritime Heritage Resource Centre, The Hong Kong Maritime Museum) and Robert Trio (Project Officer for Technology, The Hong Kong Maritime Museum), and in which they discussed their professional experiences in the fields of audience education; the implementation of different new technologies associated with the museum and library services; and various collaborative initiatives carried out between the Museum and the Resource Centre.  Upcoming challenges and opportunities faced by both the Museum and Resource Centre are also discussed in this paper.Istituito nel 2005, l'Hong Kong Maritime Museum (HKMM) è un museo privato che colleziona materiali di vario genere su imbarcazioni, esplorazioni navali e commercio, oltre ai conflitti navali sulla costa meridionale della Cina e nei mari limitrofi. Il Museo serve non solo come punto di partenza per l'insegnamento e l'apprendimento della storia di Hong Kong, ma contribuisce notevolmente alla promozione del coinvolgimento della comunità locale. L'HKMM è dotato di una propria biblioteca, CSSC (Compagnia Cantieristica Statale Cinese) Maritime Heritage Resource Centre. Oltre a dare supporto alle diverse attività di ricerca del Museo, la biblioteca serve come repository centrale di pubblicazioni e altro materiale archivistico relativo al patrimonio conservato presso l'istituzione.Scopo di questo articolo è il confronto delle pratiche operative e dei bisogni degli utenti di musei e biblioteche. Si esaminano inoltre i benefici e le problematicità emergenti dalla collaborazione tra museo e biblioteca nella società dell'informazione. Vengono riportate due interviste, rispettivamente a Kitty But, bibliotecaria presso il CSSC Maritime Heritage Resource Centre, e a Robert Trio, project officer per gli sviluppi tecnologici dell'istituzione, in cui gli intervistati discutono dell'esperienza professionale nell'ambito dell'insegnamento agli utenti, dell'implementazione di nuove tecnologie associate ai servizi di musei e biblioteche, e infine delle iniziative di collaborazione tra museo e biblioteca dell'HKMM

Push and Pull Factors of Child Work: Implications for Life Skills Development Among Children in Semi-Urban Centres in Cameroon

This study investigatedthe push and pull factors of child work among school-going children in Fako Division of the South West Region of Cameroon. It was largely descriptive and adopted the mixed methods design. Data collected with the use of a questionnaire from a purposively selectedsample of seventy-six (76) school-going child workers. Among the 76 working children, five (05) were purposivelyselected and interviewed with the aid of an interview guide. The study was carried out in some semi-urban centres in Fako Division of Cameroon. Data wereanalysed by calculating frequencies, percentages; weighted means (μ) and standard deviations (σ). Among others, findings revealed that child workers engaged in work for economic, socialisation and responsible behaviour reasons. The study showed that child work in Africa is a reality for both cultural and economic reasons. Work inthe African culture aims at socialising, training and educating a child to become responsible inthe family, kin and community at large. Furthermore work contributes to child development and child workers who follow a proper school-and-work programme tend to acquire many life skills needed for survival in the changing world. It is therefore rewarding to focus on the benefits of child work and reconsider the fight against it. Parents and children should plan work activities such that theydonot interfere with school activities of workingchildren. Keywords: Child work; Push and pull factors of work; Life skills                                           

Modeling your college library after a commercial bookstore? the Hong Kong Design Institute Library experience

The Hong Kong Design Institute (HKDI) is a leading design education institute in Hong Kong under the Vocational Training Council (VTC) group. Opened in September 2010, the HKDI Learning Resources Centre is a specialist library for the study of art and design. The mission of the HKDI Library is to support and promote the academic goals of the Institute, i.e., to prepare the students for professional careers; emphasize learning through a creative and interactive environment; meanwhile uphold a positively relaxing, and yet inviting environment that is very much similar to a commercial bookstore. In order to accomplish this, the HKDI Library aims to serve as a user-centered library for creative learning--by providing an important place for both students and faculty to actively engage in study, research, as well as socializing. Through a series of small focus group interviews with both students and faculty staff at the HKDI, the study investigates how influential the library environment could be in fostering students\u27 learning and other social activities under a creative environment