The Semantic Web: Apotheosis of annotation, but what are its semantics?

This article discusses what kind of entity the proposed Semantic Web (SW) is, principally by reference to the relationship of natural language structure to knowledge representation (KR). There are three distinct views on this issue. The first is that the SW is basically a renaming of the traditional AI KR task, with all its problems and challenges. The second view is that the SW will be, at a minimum, the World Wide Web with its constituent documents annotated so as to yield their content, or meaning structure, more directly. This view makes natural language processing central as the procedural bridge from texts to KR, usually via some form of automated information extraction. The third view is that the SW is about trusted databases as the foundation of a system of Web processes and services. There's also a fourth view, which is much more difficult to define and discuss: If the SW just keeps moving as an engineering development and is lucky, then real problems won't arise. This article is part of a special issue called Semantic Web Update

'The Paintings Within'

This is one of several contributory essays in the volume: 'Nicholas Lanier, 1588–1666. A Portrait Revealed'. It examines the two paintings that are internal to the portrait and suggests reasons for their inclusion and also proposes that they require ways of seeing which are unfamiliar to viewers today

Communicating an arts foundation’s values: sights, sounds and social media

Purpose This paper tests and refines the long-established signal transmission model of the communication process by examining the ways in which a newly-formed nonprofit arts foundation communicated its professed values to its stakeholders. Methodological approach The study uses a mixed method case study approach. Interviews with key informants and observations of the foundation’s webpages enabled the identification of the professed values of the arts foundation. Next, a questionnaire survey established whether these values had been successfully decoded by stakeholders and identified the channels via which the values-related signals had been received. Findings The transmission model was found to be relevant as a model. However, to improve its fit within a nonprofit arts context, a modification to the model is suggested which highlights the importance of multi-sensory channels, the importance of context, and the increasingly important role of the stakeholder. Research limitations This study is a small-scale case study, although its mixed methods help to ensure validity. Practical implications The findings will help nonprofit arts organisations to decide on how to best communicate their values to their stakeholders. Social implications A determination by an organisation to uphold an uplifting range of values, such as those which were found to be transmitted by Folkstock, impacts upon society by the potential contribution to a better quality of life. Originality /value Literature which provides in-depth examination of the communication of values within a nonprofit arts context via a range of channels, including traditional, online and multi-sensory, is sparse. The opportunity to study a newly-formed nonprofit arts organisation is also rare. The results of this study provide valuable evidence that even in today’s social media-rich world, people, sounds, sights and material objects in physical space still have a vital role to play in the communication of values

'The Statuette'

This is one of several contributory articles to the volume: 'Nicholas Lanier, 1588–1666. A Portrait Revealed'. It examines the statuette of Antinous which is shown within portrait, arguing that is more than a decorative feature, rather, that it carried much of the portrait's meaning. It is speculated that for early Jacobean viewers Antinous brought to mind the character of that name in Homer's Odyssey (and in derivative works) and not the Emperor Hadrian's Antinous

New Women And New Negroes: Archetypal Womanhood In The 'Living Is Easy'

Englis

THE EMOTIONAL TOLL OF ORGANIZATIONAL DOWNSIZING

In spite of the frequent need for downsizing organisations, managers are in general badly prepared to meet such contingencies when they arise. There is thus a real need for educating managers to handle layoffs. This paper analyses the emotional dynamics at work in cases of downsizing organisations, the types of impact on layoff ‘survivors’ and the coping strategies that management may promote and deploy in order to minimise organisational trauma. Emotions are key factors in social life upon which a coherent sense of community ultimately depends. The idea advanced here is that understanding and managing emotions may enhance survivor coping capacities and thus prevent the major negative effects of downsizing for both the organisation and the individual. The paper concludes with practical recommendations to ensure that emotional well-being is prioritised as central to the process of downsizing in order to maximize cooperation and sustain collective endeavour.Downsizing; layoffs; emotional management; coping strategies; stress

The Educational Green: Researching Ways of Combining Professions

The Educational Green was an innovative 3rd year design studio held in 2007 in the faculty of Architecture, Building and Planning at the University of Melbourne. The studio both informed and was informed by the authors’ involvement in a Research Council (RC) grant (ongoing 2007-2010). It involved collaboration between university staff and students, a teacher educator and staff and students at a local secondary school as a case study and the studio leader wished to experiment with her teaching, evaluate it and respond to her evaluation immediately. Keywords: School Design; Environmentally Responsible; Sustainability</p