bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
An Analysis of Urban Ecological Knowledge and Behaviour in Wellington, New Zealand
Authors:   , Parker John
Published: November 2021

The majority of the worlds' population now live in urban areas, with urban areas growing at a faster rate than other land use types. Most urban residents are concentrated in neighbourhoods of low biodiversity, and there are concerns about urban residents' disconnection from nature. A lack of ecological knowledge and pro-environmental behaviour has conservation implications. I surveyed Wellington households (n=453) and investigated possible predictors of residents' ecological knowledge about birdlife, bird feeding, and tree planting connected to birdlife. Three measures of knowledge were tested, species freelisting, neighbourhood bird knowledge, and photo identification. Key predictors of higher levels of ecological knowledge were increased frequencies of visiting local and regional parks, higher levels of garden space, and higher educational qualifications. However, all models had low predictive power. Species richness and perceived access to greenspaces were not significant predictors of ecological knowledge. Residents had a lower knowledge of native birdlife compared with exotic species across all measures. Forty-two percent of respondents fed birds, 10% targeting native species, and 36% planted trees for birdlife. Knowledge of neighbourhood birds and garden size were key predictors for each. This study shows the importance of urban greenspaces for ecological knowledge and behaviour, and efforts should be made to encourage visits to greenspaces.
Usage and Impact Factor Correlations in Electronic Journals
Authors:   , Shepheard-Walwyn Emma Jane
Published: November 2021

This research explores the level of correlation between electronic journal usage and ISI Impact Factors that may justify Impact Factors to be used as a collection management tool. The study utilised ISI's Journal Use Report and Journal Citation Reports to gather data in the areas of History, Linguistics, Political Science, Environmental Science, Mathematics, Physics (Applied), Economics, Information Science & Library Science, Management and Law. A slight positive correlation was found for several disciplines with two disciplines displaying a small negative correlation. The study concluded that the levels of correlation were not significant enough to enable ISI Impact Factors to be used in isolation as an effective collection management decision-making tool. Several issues were identified as possible factors in the level of correlation found: articles downloaded and not used, the limited number of titles subscribed to by VUW, the lack of New Zealand and Australasian titles, the interdisciplinary nature or limited focus of some titles and the research and teaching focus of VUW. The study concludes that Impact Factors may be of use as an evaluation tool for academic libraries, but that they should be used in combination with a number of other factors discussed. A number of areas for further research are also identified.
Passive Environmental Control: The Use of Insulated Archival Boxes to Control Fluctuations in Relative Humidity and Temperature
Authors:   , Woods Andrea Jane
Published: November 2021

Four archival boxes made from different materials, were tested to see how effective they were at stabilizing fluctuations in temperature (T) and relative humidity (RH) and if this method of passive environmental control could meet the environmental requirements of the Archives New Zealand Storage Standard (ANZSS), instead of using heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC)systems. The boxes were placed in an un-insulated attic space in Auckland, New Zealand, during the winter for twelve weeks from June 7, to August 29, 2009. Twenty-four hour samples of T and RH of each box were taken by a Hobo LCD data-logger placed inside the boxes. Another Hobo LCD data-logger was placed in the ambient environment to determine the difference. The main results were; RH fluctuations inside all the boxes met part of Requirement 28, of the ANZSS, during the twelve weeks of the study, by not fluctuating more than 10% over a twenty-four hour period, even though the ambient RH fluctuated by as much 22%. However, although the T inside the boxes mostly fluctuated less than in the ambient environment it did not consistently reach the 4 degree centigrade or below fluctuation level of requirement, 29 of the ANZSS. The conclusion reached from the study is all the archival boxes used in study are effective in controlling fluctuations in RH and T; however, institutions needing to meet the ANZSS will require other methods to control environmental conditions.
An Analysis of Encyclopaedia Citations in University of Auckland Doctor of Philosophy Dissertations (2007 and 2008)
Authors:   , Tong Wendy Yee
Published: November 2021

It is currently unknown to what extent encyclopaedias are cited in academic research in New Zealand. To provide preliminary findings on the use of encyclopaedias in university research and offer some evidence relating to the use of collaborative encyclopaedias in academic research, a quantitative empirical study of citations of encyclopaedias in 147 Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) Dissertations from the University of Auckland was made. Results included finding citations to encyclopaedias made up a very small (n = 23, or 0.1% in 2007; n = 62, or 0.3% in 2008) proportion of total citations. Of these, traditional style encyclopaedias were more frequently (61%) used than collaborative (39%) style encyclopaedias such as Wikipedia and the Encyclopaedia of Philosophy of Education. Wikipedia, a general, collaborative, and on-line format encyclopaedia, received the highest number of citations (n = 32). By subject, Computer Science and Statistics listed the highest number of 14 citations to Wikipedia; Engineering (Software, Mechanical and Electrical and Electronic) had 8 Wikipedia citations; English, French, Political Studies and Theology received 9 citations; and Nursing included one citation to Wikipedia. With the widely known concerns expressed about the suitability of citing Wikipedia at any level of academic research, it is surprising that this study found (albeit small) a measurable level of citations to Wikipedia in PhD dissertations in New Zealand. The results of this study may be useful to university librarians and faculties in training students before they begin research for higher degrees.
LibraryThing Tags and Library of Congress Subject Headings: a Comparison of Science Fiction and Fantasy Works
Authors:   , Carman Nicholas
Published: November 2021

This study examines the extent to which LibraryThing tags match their equivalent Library of Congress subject headings and looks at whether they offer any additional information about the subject matter of the books to which they are applied. This study has a largely quantitative methodology with some qualitative aspects. The researcher harvested tags from ten books in the genres of science fiction and fantasy. The tags were then classified into categories created by the researcher and examined using descriptive statistics inside Excel. The most frequently used tags were those that matched the Library of Congress subject headings, but there were a significant number of non-matching tags that offered useful additional information about the books in the sample. Library of Congress subject headings mostly identify the basic genres that the books in the sample belonged to, but added little additional information. Integrating tagging into library OPACs would create more opportunities for library users to find books in which they are interested.
An Investigation of Cultural Influence on Academic Library Usage and Experience of International Medical Students from Asian Countries: a Case Study of Students at the Christchurch School of Medicine, University of Otago, Christchurch
Authors:   , Pibulsilp Thanawadee
Published: November 2021

This research uses a qualitative methodology to analyse the academic library usage and experiences of International Medical (IM) students from an Asian cultural background studying medicine at the Christchurch School of Medicine, University of Otago, Christchurch, New Zealand. There has been little research done investigating the library experiences of students from other cultures, despite international evidence that usage habits and experiences of these cohorts can differ greatly from those of local students. With increasing numbers of students from other cultures studying in New Zealand, it seemed that data should be gathered to inform the development of library services. Fifteen 4th and 5th year students from culturally Asian backgrounds participated in focus groups using semi-structured interviews, and transcripts of these interviews were analysed using narrative and discourse analysis. The findings support the work of Hofstede and indicate that an Asian cultural background has a significant impact on students' knowledge of, and ability to utilise, academic library services; however, it is also evident that such knowledge and ability is eventually acquired by students through their friendship groups, but this is often in an ad-hoc manner. It is recommended that academic libraries develop greater awareness of the impact that cultural background can have on the library usage and experience of the increasing numbers of students from foreign cultural backgrounds in New Zealand medical settings in particular, and academic settings in general.
"You Know Very Well You're Not Real": Victorian Children's Fantasy Literature and the Problem of Writing the Child
Authors:   , Turner Beatrice
Published: November 2021

This thesis examines eight "Golden Age"children's fantasy narratives and uncovers their engagement with the "impossibility" of writing the child. Only recently has children's literature criticism recognised that the child in the text and the implied child reader cannot stand in for the "real" child reader. This is an issue which other literary criticism has been at pains to acknowledge, but which children's literature critics have neglected. I have based my reading on critics such as Karin Lesnik-Oberstein, Jacqueline Rose and Perry Nodelman, all of whom are concerned to expose the term "child" as an adult cultural construction, one which becomes problematic when it is made to stand in for real children. I read the child in the text as an entity which contains and is tainted by the trace of the adult who writes it; it is therefore impossible for a pure, innocent child to exist in language, the province of the adult. Using Derrida's conception of the trace and his famous statement that "there is nothing outside of the text," I demonstrate that the idea of the innocent child, which was central to Rousseau's Emile and the Romantic Child which is supposed to have been authored by Wordsworth and inherited wholesale by his Victorian audience, is possible only as a theory beyond language. The Victorian texts I read, which include Lewis Carroll's Alice texts, George MacDonald's At the Back of the North Wind and the Princess texts, Kingsley's The Water Babies and Mrs. Molesworth's The Cuckoo Clock and The Tapestry Room, all explore different ways in which the child might be successfully articulated: in language, in death, and through the return journey into fantasy. While all the texts attempt to reach the child, all ultimately foreground the failure of this enterprise. When a language is created which is child-authored, it fails as communication and meaning breaks down; when the adult ceases to write the narrative, the child within it ceases to exist.
Using Web 2.0 to Collaborate with Stakeholders: An Exploratory Study of Central Government Organisations in New Zealand
Authors:   , Kochunny Anand
Published: November 2021

Web 2.0 tools such as wikis appear to hold promise for collaboration between organisations and their stakeholders. Government organisations in certain countries have only started making use of wikis to collaborate with their stakeholders. This phenomenological study examines the experience of select officials in two central government organisations in New Zealand who have been instrumental in deploying wikis to collaborate with their stakeholders. Three wikis are the subject of this study, and the officials are interviewed to gain an understanding of: (a) the circumstances under which decisions were taken to deploy wikis; (b) the benefits that might accrue to the organisations from using wikis; (c) the strategies they have used to maximise the benefits of using wikis; (d) the pitfalls that they have faced in deploying the wikis, and the manner in which they have overcome these pitfalls. The experiences of these officials are distilled to share their insights with others who may wish to follow their lead.
Mafutaga Samoa
Authors:   , Unasa Leilani
Published: November 2021

Turquoise water laps the sandy white shore where coconut palms hang lazily over the sea. The sound of a church choir singing a Samoan hymn in the background. A loud phone ring. The entire landscape shakes like crazy. What is this? An earthquake in paradise? Pan out to reveal that the image is cell phone wallpaper. The phone rests on a church pew beside a bible and a Samoan hymnbook. The ring tone is a tinny version of George McCrae's 'Rock Your Baby'. The phone spills out a chorus before a hand frantically locates it and hits the off button ...
Factors Affecting Staff Demand for an Electronic Course Materials Service
Authors:   , Amarathunga Upeksha Sajeevani
Published: November 2021

Additional reading materials that are prescribed for undergraduate and postgraduate courses offered by the University of Auckland have a high demand. The Electronic Course Materials (ECM) service of the University of Auckland Library digitizes and provides online access to such materials. The demand for the ECM service varies between different staff members. Thus, this research project aims to investigate the factors affecting the staff demand for the Electronic Course Material (ECM) service provided by the University of Auckland Library. The current research revealed that - percentage increase in usage of the ECM Collection in 2008 was less significant than that in 2007 - there is a correlation between the academic staff awareness and the staff uptake of the ECM service - only 50% of the staff members who were aware of the ECM service used the service to digitize course materials - subject Librarians play an important role in promoting the ECM service in academic departments / units that had a high staff uptake - the Library ECM webpage was less significant in promoting the ECM service - the University of Auckland Library does not have a standard method of promoting the ECM service throughout all the academic departments / units - most preferred method of providing access to course materials was through nDeva, Cecil and WebCT. The ECM service was the third preferred method - there was no relationship between the timeliness of the ECM service, restriction on the types of materials that can be digitized through the ECM service, availability of distant or online courses and the staff uptake of the ECM service Recommendations mentioned in page 61 were made based on these findings.
Language Policy in Multilingual Workplaces: Management, Practices and Beliefs in Banks in Luxembourg.
Authors:   , Kingsley Leilarna Elizabeth
Published: November 2021

For decades the primary focus of language policy research has been activities by states and their agencies, while language policy activities in workplaces have attracted little attention. Addressing this gap, explicit and implicit dimensions of language policies are investigated in financial institutions operating in the globalised context of international banking in multilingual Luxembourg. Three complementary theoretical frameworks are used to extend language policy research to include not just explicit aspects of language policy (language policy statements), but also implicit aspects (the language practices and beliefs of a community). Spolsky's (2004) theory is used to identify and analyse three components of language policy (management, practices and beliefs); Language Management Theory (LMT) (Jernudd and Neustupny, 1987) is used to explore one specific component of language policy (management), and Shohamy's (2006) framework is used to explore the complex interaction between management, practices and beliefs. The data base for the study comprised two phases: the first phase involved interviews with managers in ten Luxembourg banks regarding language policy, followed in the second phase by questionnaires and focus-group discussions with employees from three case study banks regarding language use and beliefs. This empirical data suggests that even in banks where English has been formalised as the working language, multilingual mechanisms (recruitment and language courses) contribute to employees' practices effectively creating, a top-down multilingual implicit (de facto) policy. The data from international banks in Luxembourg suggests that a flexible approach to language management is useful in workplaces where communication is complex, multi-faceted and dynamic. The bottom-up perspective indicates that employees at international banks use English as a lingua franca (ELF) alongside other languages, negotiating language choice across speech communities and linguistic repertoires, for transactional and relational purposes. These multilingual employees highly value English as the most common language in banks for including and involving all, highlighting its vital role in banks. Because the data provides a strong argument for the consideration of both top down and bottom up perspectives, the results have theoretical significance for our understanding of language policy. Overall, this thesis provides insights into the complex nature of language policy in multilingual workplaces, including the importance of both top-down and bottom-up pressures on language practices, the crucial role of ELF and the relevance of attitudes towards ELF and other languages at local and global levels of management.
Teacher Beliefs, Knowledge, and Reported Practices Regarding Numeracy Outcomes in the Solomon Islands
Authors:   , Alamu Adrian
Published: November 2021

The low level of basic numeracy achievement in the Solomon Islands education system is a growing concern to key stakeholders. Apart from monitoring numeracy standards, no attempt has been made to explore how Solomon Islands teachers structure mathematics teaching and learning, or the quality and effectiveness of teaching and learning in schools. It has been widely recognised that teachers' beliefs, knowledge, and practices are major influences in teaching and learning mathematics in classroom situations. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to explore Solomon Islands primary school teachers' beliefs, knowledge, reported practices, and professional learning experiences that enhance numeracy outcomes. The review of literature thus focuses on teacher beliefs about mathematics, its teaching, and learning; teacher pedagogical content knowledge; and professional development. Sixteen mainly urban based primary school teachers were interviewed to explore teachers' beliefs, pedagogical content knowledge, and professional learning experiences. A phenomenological approach to qualitative methodology was adopted to explore the phenomenon. A methodological triangulation of data collection was used involving a Belief Cards exercise and a semi-structured interview protocol. The combination of these methods helped to provide a coherent picture of teacher beliefs, knowledge, and practices. The results were analysed using interpretative phenomenological analysis. The findings of the Belief Cards exercise showed that individual teachers held disparate and inconsistent views and beliefs about mathematics, its teaching, and learning. Although the majority of the teachers agreed with beliefs about the nature of mathematics as problem solving and favoured pupil-centred approaches, when it came to specific beliefs representing pedagogic strategies about teaching and learning of mathematics, teachers held differing views about linking mathematics to real life situations; mathematics as teacher-centred and transmitted, and pupils as passive listeners; and teachers' enthusiasm about doing mathematics. The study also indicates most study teachers displayed a combination of traditional-transmission and contemporary-constructivist beliefs and views about mathematics, its teaching, and its learning. Further findings based on the interview protocol included that almost 50 per cent of the teachers claimed to have insufficient knowledge about mathematical content and theoretical perspectives about learning, inadequate specific mathematics teaching resources, and 75 per cent claimed a lack of ongoing professional development support in mathematics. Some constructivist mathematical practices were reported; however, the teaching described by some teachers tended to reflect the traditional-transmission approach to teaching and learning of mathematics. The overall results showed a disparity between teacher beliefs and practices exists.
Everyday District Nurses' Experiences Revealed Through Distillation: Palliative Care in the Community - an Action Research Project
Authors:   , Voice Donna Michelle
Published: November 2021

Distillation is used to extract and reveal essential oils and essences. Action research is a methodology that enables distillation of nurses' experiences, to reveal previously unseen elements and essences of nursing care, to identify issues and to extract tangible change or action outcomes. This modified action research inquiry focused on the everyday, palliative care practice experiences of a group of district nurses. The intent was to develop an understanding of common issues of concern for this group of district nurses when providing palliative home care in a specific community context and to implement practical, achievable strategies in response to these local issues. Five district nurses identified four broad areas for action through four praxis group meetings and comprising one full cycle. These four areas have been named as methods of enhancing support for people and families, possibilities for creatively managing workloads, mechanisms to enrich working partnership with other palliative care providers and possible vehicles for supporting nurses' self care. Implementation of action from this action research project focused on enhancing care and outcomes for people and family served by this group of district nurses in their local community. This study illuminates everyday essences of the district nurse role and the elements articulated by this group in supporting their practice in one New Zealand community. This study also reveals some of the tensions and messiness when employing an action research methodology with nurses in the workplace. This research focused on a little known area (palliative care delivered by district nurses in New Zealand) in a local community (a culturally vibrant and ethnically diverse yet with poor health and socioeconomic statistics). It has resonance with other nurses, particularly those working in community settings who may experience similar issues and concerns. This research also offers important insights for nurses working in any practice setting, with a desire to unpick and distill local issues they encounter - to take action and make a difference.
The Groma and the Gladius: Roman Surveyors in the Later Republic
Authors:   , Morris Jason C
Published: November 2021

Boundaries have been a concern for all settled peoples in all times and places. The Romans  were no exception to this rule. Literary documents from the second century B.C. right  through to the end of the Western Empire in the fifth century A.D. show a continuous  preoccupation with the delineation of boundaries and the ownership or control of land. As part of this preoccupation, the Romans developed a complex legal framework for coping with property ownership. To accompany this legal framework, they developed a sophisticated system of boundary marking and land surveying known as centuriation. A great deal of scholarly attention has been expended on understanding both the system of centuriation and the legal framework governing Roman land use. Far less attention has been paid to the social development of the agrimensores or land surveyors who actually carried out the operation of centuriation and dealt with the problems of property disputes in the Imperial period. This thesis will focus on the social identity of the Roman land surveyors with a particular emphasis on understanding their origins in the surveying institutions of the later Republic. To accomplish this study, the thesis will be broken down into three broad chapters, each chapter containing two or three subsections. The first chapter will examine the social identity and evolution of the finitor, who has traditionally been considered the surveyor of the Roman Republic. The second chapter will examine the identity of the agrimensores or mensores in the particular context of the Roman army in an effort to distinguish them from the metatores, three names which have been considered to refer to the same or a similar occupation. The third chapter will examine the mensor in the context of the Roman Republic and trace the social forces that shaped their identity as specialists in land law and surveying.
Seismic Velocity Structure of the Shallow Part of the Alpine Fault and Gravity Study of the Basement Features in the Whataroa River Flood Plain, Central Westland, South Island
Authors:   , Brikke Nicolas
Published: November 2021

The deep and middle sections of the Alpine fault have extensively been studied, however, the shallow part has had relatively minor geophysical attention. This study focuses on the basement geometry and the determination of the upper-crustal velocity structure of the Alpine fault in the vicinity of the Whataroa River flood plain in Central Westland, South Island. Data from a temporary gravity survey collected in November 2006, the GNS gravity database and four of the westernmost shot gathers from the SIGHT96's transect 1 were used for this project. A ray-tracing software was used to establish the velocity structure of the shallow part of the Alpine fault. Seismic velocities decrease to 3.8 km/s immediately southeast of the mylonite strip, which is adjacent to the Alpine fault's ramp heading towards the fault's surface trace from the southeast or from depth. Velocities of 5 km/s reach 2 km depth to the southeast of the Alpine fault's ramp. Results of the gravity and seismic models coincide in the positions and the dimensions of two northwest-orientated glacial overdeepings. The strike of their alignment is offset to the northeast by 3.5 km and is sub-parallel to the mouth of the Whataroa River. We propose that these kettle holes, thought to have been carved successively during the Waimea and Otira glaciations, are the beheaded river mouth of the Whataroa river. By supposing that the furthest kettle hole was carved during the Waimea glaciation, the 3.5 km offset thus corresponds to 140 Ka of dextral slip on the Alpine fault, we could approximate the mean displacement rate over the time interval of 140-18 Ka of 25 mm/yr.
Grassroots of Recordkeeping: an Investigation into Archival Practices within Rugby Clubs in New Zealand
Authors:   , Edney Christine Marie
Published: November 2021

The sport of rugby has been officially played in New Zealand since as early as 1870. In the early years of rugby, the rugby club was one place where the community gathered to participate and communicate. It was a hub of the local community and a place which revealed some of the social history of that community. It is where some memories of the community could be captured and this history now needs to be maintained. The purpose of this research is to establish what rugby clubs have done to preserve the archives of the club for the future. It is to investigate if these clubs are even aware of what archives they have and what practices they are carrying out to preserve them. It is these records which contain some of the history of the community and they need to be preserved for future generations so that they can get an insight into the past. The research has been carried out with the participation of seven rugby clubs in the Wellington region with a visit to each club. A club official was interviewed and at the same time there was an opportunity to view the club premises. This research established that from those clubs only one had a good understanding of its holdings and had put an archiving plan into action. Another is about to get the assistance of an archivist. The findings of this research have highlighted the need for education and guidance in the correct archival practices to be carried out. All clubs taking part thought the idea of a manual or guidelines would be of great assistance. If this idea is to be carried through it should be led and encouraged by the clubs' main association, the New Zealand Rugby Union [NZRU]. The idea will need to be promoted to the NZRU to get assistance with development and funding.
Harvest and Conservation of Sooty Shearwaters (Puffinus Griseus) in the Marlborough Sounds, New Zealand
Authors:   , Geary Amelia Frances
Published: November 2021

Customary harvest of wildlife can be an important mechanism through which indigenous people maintain a connection with their environment. Observations built up during harvesting events are also a useful way of monitoring change over time. However, not all traditional societies have lived harmoniously with their environment. Wildlife populations can become depleted quickly if not managed sustainably. Using traditional knowledge interviews, empirical data from two island populations and population modelling, I examined the viability of two island sooty shearwater populations in the Marlborough Sounds and their resilience to resumed, low-level harvest. The biology of the sooty shearwater populations was found to closely resemble that of populations found at higher latitudes. Historic harvest by Marlborough Maori probably had an important influence on the size of present day Marlborough populations. Viability models demonstrated that these populations were experiencing very low or negative intrinsic rates of increase. Population sizes have likely been affected by previous harvest and are not at carrying capacity. The populations are therefore vulnerable to demographic stochasticity, environmental variability and extrinsic factors such as fisheries bycatch. The low and negative growth rates for populations at small sizes not at carrying capacity are of concern where harvesting is proposed. This study provides a basis for ongoing research into the population trajectories of each island population. Harvesting is possible in one population provided an appropriate monitoring regime is established prior to harvest being undertaken, to ensure the long-term viability of Marlborough Sounds' sooty shearwater populations.
The Evolution of Wahlenbergia (Campanulaceae) in Australasia
Authors:   , Prebble Jessica Mary
Published: November 2021

Wahlenbergia is a large genus of flowering plants within the family Campanulaceae. In this thesis the first molecular phylogeny of Wahlenbergia was reconstructed from approximately 20% of the genus, based on the nuclear ribosomal ITS (nrITS) DNA marker and the chloroplast trnL-F DNA marker, with samples from South Africa, Europe, Australia and New Zealand. Additionally a large phylogeny with increased within-species sampling focusing on addressing taxonomic questions among the 45 Australasian species of Wahlenbergia was also reconstructed based on nrITS and trnL-F, plus an additional chloroplast DNA marker, trnK. Relationships and species limits of the New Zealand species of Wahlenbergia were further analysed using amplified fragment length polymorphisms (AFLPs). Wahlenbergia was found to be polyphyletic, though most of the species form a clade. Tree topologies and molecular dating analysis showed that the genus originated in South Africa about 16.2 million years ago (mya), then dispersed to Australasia before radiating there about 3.7 mya, thus refuting the hypothesis of Gondwanan vicariance for the Australasian species. Two dispersals from Australia to New Zealand are hypothesised, one leading to a radiation of species with the rhizomatous growth from about 1.0 mya and the other leading to a radiation of species with the radicate growth form 0.49 mya, although the radicate species might not form a clade. Low levels of genetic variation among individuals from Australia and New Zealand was revealed with all markers, and the phylogenies were poorly resolved as a result. The low genetic diversity is probably due to rapid and recent evolution during a period of geological and climatic change, coupled with incomplete lineage sorting and hybridisation. Phylogenies reconstructed using AFLPs were also poorly resolved, although AFLPs were found to be useful for species delimitation, as has been shown in studies of other plant groups. Despite the poor resolution, several morphological species and subspecies were recovered as monophyletic with DNA sequence data, notably the morphologically distinctive New Zealand W. cartilaginea, W. matthewsii and W. congesta subsp. congesta. Further research into species boundaries within the W. albomarginata/W. pygmaea complex is needed. Members of the New Zealand lowland radicate W. gracilis complex may all belong to the same morphologically variable species, although further research is needed to justify such a taxonomic change. The other New Zealand radicate species, W. vernicosa, is probably a separately evolving lineage, and is not conspecific with the Australian W. littoricola.
Muslim Women in Wellington: Discursive Construction of Religious Identity in Personal Narratives.
Authors:   , Jessen Brie
Published: November 2021

Using a social constructionist framework this thesis investigates the construction of Muslim women's religious identity through an analysis of the discursive and linguistic features of their narratives. Muslim identity in the west is increasingly becoming a research focus for the social sciences and sociological and anthropological research on Muslim identity has much to offer sociolinguistics. Similarly, sociolinguistic research on ethnicity in narrative can also contribute to understanding the position of Muslim women. Following a review of the relevant research, the methods of data collection, transcription and analysis are described. An ethnographic approach, combined with small group discussions, was used to elicit data from eight Muslim women in the Wellington region. The women's narratives are analysed with a focus on the linguistic and discursive strategies used in identity construction. Three different dimensions of identity were identified: (i) comparative identity contrasts Muslim/Islamic identity with the West, constructing the self in opposition to the 'other'; (ii) Islamic identity is constructed on an intellectual/philosophical level, asking 'who am I within my religion, and how do I relate to the wider concept of Islam?'; (iii) Muslim identity focuses on the practical/physical level, integrating the guidelines and rituals of Islam into daily life; it asks 'how do I go about my everyday life as a Muslim?'. Patterns and similarities, as well as differences between narratives in each category are identified and discussed with particular reference to the discursive and linguistic features, which characterise each. In addition, attention is paid to the linguistic and discursive devices used to express Muslim identity through the subversion of societal discourses. Finally, suggestions for further research are presented.
Testing Times: The Impact of Chinese Undergraduate Students' Perceptions of Two Examination Formats on Their Motivation, Study Strategies, and Approaches to Learning
Authors:   , Tait Carolyn Frances
Published: November 2021

Chinese undergraduate students from mainland China, Hong Kong and Taiwan may have different language backgrounds and previous assessment experiences compared with most students studying in a western university. This mixed methods study examines their perceptions of how two examination formats - multiple-choice and essay questions - impact on their motivation, approaches to learning, and study strategies at a New Zealand university. Quantitative data were gathered using a modified Biggs' two factor study process questionnaire and a modified Patterns of Adaptive Learning Study questionnaire. Survey results were integrated with qualitative interview data gathered and analysed using a constructivist version of grounded theory. The participants reported combining deep and surface approaches to learning for both examination formats, preferring deep approaches. In comparison to study strategies used for multiple-choice examinations, more deep strategies were reported for essay examinations. Participants described combining memorisation with understanding in a sequence of study strategies for both examination formats. Predicting and practising both types of examination questions allowed participants to align their perceptions with possible examination requirements. Participants' confidence in their English language ability impacted on memorisation for essay questions. Analysis of the findings supports a model of the interrelationship of motivation, approaches to learning, calculating to develop perceptions of task demands, and the development of discipline-specific discourse skills in English. Perceptions of examination formats impact on study strategies with deep and surface strategies linked through practising. The implications of these findings for assessment of culturally and linguistically diverse tertiary students support the use of well designed multiple-choice questions in examinations to promote deep learning for these students, combined with formative assessment.
Transitioning Peer Consulting: a Technology-in-Practice Approach
Authors:   , Watson Julie Abbott
Published: November 2021

The purpose of this study is to examine the application of ICT to enhance the peer consulting activities of groups of professionals. In this study, peer consulting is defined as the sharing of people's experience through action and reflection in the context of actual practice (Eisen, 2001). The research is undertaken within two New Zealand counselling services organisations, one for-profit and one not-for-profit. The primary guiding research question is: "How do NZ social services organisations apply online technologies to enhance the professional development of their staff?" The study is qualitative in nature, and follows the action research methodology. Within one in-depth action research cycle, key participants of each organisation and the researcher collaborate to describe the problem situation, and select and set up pilot online systems. Groups of counselling practitioners then participate in actual online peer consulting sessions, after which the outcomes of the sessions are evaluated and learnings gained. Data gathered through interviews, observations and systems statistics are analysed to derive the first of two major theoretical contributions of this research, the Model of Peer Consulting Transition. This model reflects the experiences of the research participants as they move through the developmental stages of Defining, Structuring, Experimenting, Engaging and Embedding. The second theoretical contribution of this study is the novel application of the Technology-in-Practice framework developed by Orlikowski (2000). This framework is the lens through which the environmental factors that exist within each organisational situation and influence peer consulting transition are explained. The theoretical models developed in this study provide an important contribution to the use of ICT in facilitating professional development. In addition, the participant organisations benefitted directly from being part of the study. The development of an alternative way to engage staff in professional development activities saves time and financial resources, and engaging in actual peer consulting sessions offered participants the opportunity to further develop their respective professional capabilities.
Efficacy of Energy Efficiency and Thermal Comfort Related Retrofit for Existing New Zealand Houses
Authors:   , Zhang Yanguang
Published: November 2021

Many New Zealand studies have argued that house energy retrofit produces limited benefits, but the issue of how existing house retrofitting can lead to better energy performance and comfort improvement is little explored. The aim of this thesis was to examine the influence of house retrofit on energy efficiency and thermal comfort, using house model simulation and calculation. This study gives a holistic house retrofit approach in thermal comfort improvement and energy conservation. Three house retrofit categories were defined by household energy breakdown: Space Heating Retrofit, Hot Water System Retrofit and Appliances Retrofit. This study started with an investigation of New Zealand existing house stock. A typical house model was defined by the summarized common physical characteristics. This house model was used for retrofit testing. For the building space heating retrofit study, a series of thermal simulations was completed with different retrofit options. Thermal simulation results were compared both in thermal comfort and space heating energy requirement. It was discovered that the optimum level full insulation retrofit significantly reduced space heating energy requirement and also improved thermal comfort. Retrofit solutions for water heating, lighting and appliances were compared by cost and energy saving. Cost effectiveness cross comparison for all of the retrofit solutions was carried out. Retrofitting for space heating system and hot water system can be considered for long term cost effectiveness. Appliances and lighting retrofit have a higher efficacy than other retrofit options in terms of energy saving and cost benefit cycle. These findings are used to provide suggestions for retrofitting of existing houses.
The Gothic as a Practice: Gothic Studies, Genre and the Twentieth Century Gothic
Authors:   , Jones Timothy Graham Stanford
Published: November 2021

Gothic studies, the specialist academic field that explores the Gothic text, has developed substantially over the last twenty-five years. The field often frames the Gothic as a serious literature, involved in historic discourse, and having special psychological acuity; this thesis suggests that there are a number of problems with these argumentative strategies, and that the academy now makes claims for the Gothic that are discontinuous with how this popular genre is understood by most readers. While Gothic studies is the study of a genre, curiously, it has seldom engaged with theorisations of genre. Nevertheless, an understanding of what genre is, and how it alters reading practice, is crucial to understanding the Gothic text. This thesis attempts to reconcile and develop a number of disparate approaches to genre through Pierre Bourdieu's notion of habitus. It argues that genre is not a set of textual conventions but a group of procedures that facilitate and modify both writing and reading practices. Consequently, genres like the Gothic should be seen as discrete historicised phenomena, which retain a cohesive practical sense of how they ought to be performed before they hold discursive properties. Rather than arguing for the literary value of the Gothic, this thesis understands the genre as a popular practice. The consequences of this theorisation of the Gothic are explored in case studies of particular moments in three separate Gothic fields. Firstly, the American Gothic of the mid-nineteen-eighties, particularly Stephen King's It, Joyce Carol Oates' Mysteries of Winterthurn, and Toni Morrison's Beloved, facilitates a discussion of the relationship between Gothic and literary practices. The Gothic text has its origins in 'lowbrow' popular culture, even as it sometimes aspires to 'highbrow' literary performances. Secondly, the English Gothic of the nineteen-sixties is used to stage a discussion of both the way that readers become involved and immersed in the Gothic text, creating a distinct subjunctive 'world', and of the way that Gothics define themselves in relation to each other. The discussion refers to Dennis Wheatley's The Devil Rides Out, which heavily influenced the field, as demonstrated in works by Susan Howatch, Kingsley Amis, Robert Aickman and Mervyn Peake. Wheatley's depiction of the black mass became a key Gothic procedure, and can be read as this particular field's metaphor of its own practice. Thirdly, New Zealand's underdeveloped Gothic field provides a venue to explore the Gothic's relationship with nation and national literature, and how the practice is involved in landscape. Frank Sargeson's stories and his novella The Hangover, together with Janet Frame's A State of Siege are texts authored by canonical New Zealand writers that participate in a local Gothic, although their participation in popular genre has been little recognised. This thesis argues that the Gothic is a commonsense cultural practice, facilitated through the canniness of habitus.
ParA: A Novel Target for Anti-Tubercular Drug Discovery
Authors:   , Nisa Shahista Yasmin
Published: November 2021

Tuberculosis (Tb) continues to be one of the world's greatest challenges in the public health arena. The current treatment for Tb entails a long duration of therapy making adherence to the whole course difficult. This has given rise to drug resistant strains of Mycobacterium tuberculosis which are posing a significant threat to Tb control strategies. To counteract this problem, there is an urgent need to develop alternative anti-tuberculous drugs which target processes that are critical for the growth and/or survival of this microbe. To identify such targets in M. tuberculosis, I used comparative genomics and mutagenesis data to identify conserved essential genes as viable targets for the development of broad-spectrum antibiotics. In addition, I validated the essentiality of three cell division genes in Mycobacterium smegmatis using conditional antisense RNA expression under different culture conditions. Furthermore, I performed high-throughput screens (HTS) using a differential susceptibility assay against one of the validated targets to identify its cognate inhibitor(s). Lastly, I developed a novel biochemical assay of the target to validate the specificity of the inhibitors identified in the HTS and evaluated the potency of the inhibitors against M. tuberculosis. This study identified 261 conserved putative essential genes as broad-spectrum targets. I hypothesized that antisense RNA expression of such genes will lead to its down-regulation and thereby affect the viability of the cells if these genes are essential. I also hypothesized that an essential gene will be required under all culture conditions. One gene, parA, demonstrated that it was essential under various culture conditions. This gene encodes for a protein which contain the conserved Walker A motif thus I theorized that it may posses ATPase activity. The results illustrated that the M. tuberculosis ParA protein possesses ATPase activity. This biochemical activity was used to validate two specific inhibitors of ParA, phenoxybenzamine and octoclothepin, which were identified in the cell-based HTS. Kinetic studies suggest that phenoxybenzamine is a mixed inhibitor while octoclothepin is a competitive inhibitor of ParA. This data is also supported by in silico docking. Both these compounds show low minimum inhibitory concentrations in M. smegmatis under nitrogen starvation conditions. In summary, this thesis illustrates that ParA is a viable target for anti-tubercular drugs. It demonstrates that ParA is an ATPase which has the potential to bind competitive and non-competitive inhibitors that can be exploited to target cell division in M. tuberculosis. Finally, this study presents phenoxybenzamine and octoclothepin as inhibitors of ParA. In conclusion, these compounds can either be developed to increase potency or be used as reference structures to screen for more potent inhibitors of the enzyme.