bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
FLOSS in New Zealand Public Libraries
Authors:   , Noonan Hamish 
Published: November 2021

<p>This study attempts to gain an understanding of the uses and potential uses of FLOSS (free/libre and open source software) in New Zealand public libraries; including how FLOSS is currently being used by New Zealand public libraries, problems encountered with FLOSS, benefits received from using FLOSS, and how libraries came to the decision to use FLOSS. It uses an instrumental case study approach and interviews eight participants from four institutions; Te Horowhenua Trust, Auckland Libraries, Aotearoa People's Network Kaharoa and South Taranaki LibraryPlus. The research found that participants were very happy with their FLOSS usage, and that it was important for governing bodies and IT departments to be supportive of experimentation and innovation. Benefits of FLOSS included lack of vendor lock-in, lower cost, flexibility, ability to influence the development of the software, the philosophies and ethos of FLOSS, better features, stability, community support and the ability to give patrons software to use outside the library. Information sharing between libraries and engagement with FLOSS communities were important factors in successful use. Further research could study how software procurement decisions are made in New Zealand libraries, and whether FLOSS is being overlooked due to preconceptions or uneven decision-making processes.</p>
Speaking of Mysteries: Atonement in Teenage Fantasy Books
Authors:   , van Gend Anne 
Published: November 2021

<p>The question of how we can speak of a transcendent God and God’s relationship with creation has been pondered for millennia. Today particular difficulties arise when communicating Christian atonement theories to a generation for whom the world of the Bible is increasingly foreign, and in a time when theologians and philosophers are questioning both the violence of some atonement theories and the existence of “superior transcendence.” This study explores the presence of biblical motifs in the stories of atonement in young adult fantasy works. It suggests that the use of these motifs to make sense of atonement within fantasy worlds may assist readers to make sense of the same motifs when they are used to portray the Christian story of atonement. The investigation begins by discussing the place of imagination, reason and transcendence in religious language and argues for the centrality of metaphor and myth in religious expression. It suggests that young people today still seek intermediaries—“priests and prophets”—between themselves and the unknown, but they now find them in the fantasy authors who continue to use imaginative language to communicate transcendence. A central trope in contemporary fantasy fiction is that of a death that saves the world. Contrary to the expectations raised by René Girard’s work, these are not the violent deaths of a helpless scapegoat. The biblical mythologems incorporated in these works allow the authors to explore instead ideas of divine and human self-giving. This is demonstrated by tracing how mythological understandings of blood, victory and covenant in the Bible are incorporated into the atonement process of three fantasy series: the Old Kingdom Chronicles by Garth Nix (1995-2003), the Mortal Instruments trilogy by Cassandra Clare (2007-2009), and the Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling (1997-2007). The thesis proposes that the presence of biblical mythologems in contemporary fantasy stories of atonement means that a better understanding of their use in each domain can both enrich our appreciation of this kind of literature and provide teenagers with an imaginative language with which to consider aspects of Christian atonement. The prevalence of atonement ideas within recent fantasy books suggests that, by attending to the mythologems of atonement drawn from the Bible, the church might both rediscover the imaginative power of her own story and convey it meaningfully to young readers of fantasy literature today.</p>
The Value of Truth
Authors:   , Holden Josef 
Published: November 2021

<p>People often want truth, and it often seems worth wanting. This has led many to claim that truth is valuable (VT). This essay argues that there are good reasons to reject VT. After dealing with preliminary issues, Chapter 1 discusses the instrumental value of truth. I argue that, though some instrumentally valuable beliefs are true, there is little reason to think that these beliefs are valuable because they are true. Chapter 2 and 3 are concerned with the claim that truth is intrinsically valuable (CVT). Chapter 2 examines a serious difficult facing CVT. This is the problem of trivial truths. Though this problem is often discussed, its power is rarely appreciated. I argue that the two most prominent responses to the problem fail. Chapter 3 poses a different question: Do people in fact consider truth to be valuable? A few notable exceptions aside, it is generally accepted that they do. Further, a number of arguments for CVT rest on this assumption. I argue it is very doubtful that people value truth intrinsically. If this is correct, the arguments for CVT that rest on this claim collapse.</p>
‘Making Ownership Real’: An analysis of ‘ownership’ in technical assistance projects in the Solomon Islands
Authors:   , Bax Debbie 
Published: November 2021

<p>Recipient country ownership has been seen by many aid experts, to be an important way to improve the effectiveness of aid delivery. Technical assistance projects consume 25% of worldwide ODA,¹ and have been criticised by many aid experts for being ineffective. The Solomon Islands Government (SIG) has received a large amount of technical assistance over the last ten years and therefore makes it a useful government to use as a case study to answer the main question of this thesis: Is the transfer of ownership in technical assistance projects shifting from the donor to the SIG? The research has found that the SIG has more ownership of their technical assistance projects at the management level than at the operational level. The main constraints to SIG having more ownership at the management level were in the areas of technical advisor (TA) recruitment and performance management processes, and some areas of aid funding. At the operational level of technical assistance projects, the amount of SIG ownership was significantly less. Many of the restraints in the transfer of ownership to the SIG counterparts were at the individual TA level, and were largely related to poor working relationships between individual TAs and counterparts caused by shortcomings in TAs’ capacity building and people management skills and TAs’ lack of knowledge of the SIG working style and environment. More ownership needs to be transferred at the operational level for the SIG to have ‘real’ ownership of their technical assistance projects. ¹ OECD, Perspective Note: Technical Co-operation for Capacity Development, OECD, (2011), pg 4.</p>
How does a student music therapist, working within a multidisciplinary team, address the physical, communication and cognitive needs of two patients who have experienced a left hemisphere mid-cerebral artery (MCA) stroke? An exploratory case study
Authors:   , Robinson Andrea 
Published: November 2021

<p>This case study describes a student music therapist’s experience in a rehabilitation ward working with two patients who had experienced left hemisphere mid cerebral stroke. Each patient’s individual music therapy sessions were documented during their stay in the rehabilitation unit and for a further two months in the community. A variety of music therapy methods were used which specifically targeted patients’ needs and capabilities. The research focused on methods used to support patients’ physical, communication and cognitive rehabilitation, because these are paramount in patients regaining their independence. The case study involved secondary analysis of data collected over a four month period. Key findings suggest that music therapy, may have helped these patients with their speech retrieval. Improved gross and fine motor control was demonstrated in one patient using percussion instrument playing and keyboard mastery as the music therapy methods. Breathing exercises enabled phonation in a man who was non-verbal. Other findings suggest that singing familiar songs, listening to self-selected music and moving to music may have aided cognitive recovery in all of these areas. Although the psychosocial areas were not included in the study, both men looked forward to music therapy sessions and demonstrated improved mood when engaged in music therapy. Music therapy seemed to alieviate frustration and anxiety in the rehabilitation setting for one of the men. Further, family involvement in music therapy was positive for both men. This research suggests that music therapy could have contributed positively to the mens’ rehabilitation and further research focussing on the pyschosocial aspects of music therapy in this setting is recommended.</p>
Genre games: Edward Gorey's play with generic form
Authors:   , Lackner Eden Lee 
Published: November 2021

<p>This thesis examines Edward Gorey's play with form and content across five literary genres, how that play results in the style that has come to be known as the "Goreyesque" and how the Goreyesque has influenced later artists and writers. Gorey consistently places style ahead of thematic and moral considerations, removing the purpose of each genre to reveal what remains in its absence. In doing so, Gorey maps out the boundaries of each form, providing genre- and period-specific details that act as signposts to how his audience should approach each narrative. With these markers in place, Gorey's readers are thus made aware of which genre expectations rule each piece. These expectations, however, are undermined as Gorey removes the audience-understood literary endgame, so that the work appears in all respects to be an accurate representation of the chosen genre, yet is missing the central heart. Gorey's melodramas present scenarios in which deep familial loss and suffering are at the forefront of each narrative, yet as a result of the distance that Gorey places between the text and his readers, these works ultimately lack sentimentality. His Dickensian narratives, while populated with virtuous orphans and embittered, isolated men, lack moral pronouncements and just rewards, resulting in exceptionally bleak, nihilistic endings that provide little or no social commentary. His children's literature, although full of mnemonic systems, rejects all pedagogical functions in favour of inviting in adult audiences to luxuriate in sound and linguistic form. His mystery and detective fiction, while containing secrets, crimes and criminals, ignores any pretence of decoding the central mysteries. His Gothic horror revels in supernatural excesses, yet engenders no fear. By tracing Gorey's play with genre, we can identify the aesthetic parameters of the Goreyesque, and examine how they manifest in the works of other artists and writers, notably Tim Burton, Neil Gaiman and Roman Dirge. In manipulating genre expectations, Gorey does more than simply leave readers with the shell of narrative purpose. Instead, he draws attention to the absence and pushes beyond expectation to reinvention. He normalizes the strange and fantastic by removing the very things that make the ordinary extraordinary. He infuses his works with a distance that shifts their purpose from generating high emotion and strong reactions to encouraging minute attention to narrative detail. Gorey's fantasies therefore represent odd, underwhelming moments that are otherwise ignored in the search for the uncommon and unique. By underplaying the significance of the events in his stories, Gorey represents and refreshes our concepts of the fantastic, and highlights the strangeness in the overlooked.</p>
Bayesian estimation of a phenotype network structure using reversible jump Markov chain Monte Carlo
Authors:   , Woods Lisa 
Published: November 2021

<p>In this thesis we aim to estimate the unknown phenotype network structure existing among multiple interacting quantitative traits, assuming the genetic architecture is known. We begin by taking a frequentist approach and implement a score-based greedy hill-climbing search strategy using AICc to estimate an unknown phenotype network structure. This approach was inconsistent and overfitting was common, so we then propose a Bayesian approach that extends on the reversible jump Markov chain Monte Carlo algorithm. Our approach makes use of maximum likelihood estimates in the chain, so we have an efficient sampler using well-tuned proposal distributions. The common approach is to assume uniform priors over all network structures; however, we introduce a prior on the number of edges in the phenotype network structure, which prefers simple models with fewer directed edges. We determine that the relationship between the prior penalty and the joint posterior probability of the true model is not monotonic, there is some interplay between the two. Simulation studies were carried out and our approach is also applied to a published data set. It is determined that larger trait-to-trait effects are required to recover the phenotype network structure; however, mixing is generally slow, a common occurrence with reversible jump Markov chain Monte Carlo methods. We propose the use of a double step to combine two steps that alter the phenotype network structure. This proposes larger steps than the traditional birth and death move types, possibly changing the dimension of the model by more than one. This double step helped the sampler move between different phenotype network structures in simulated data sets.</p>
Perspectives of learning during the transition from secondary school to university: A comparative study of first generation university students in Chile and New Zealand
Authors:   , Garcia Quiroga Antonio 
Published: November 2021

<p>While tertiary education has grown rapidly in most countries in recent years, retention rates and educational success of many first generation students is still below that of their counterparts from tertiary-educated family backgrounds. This presents a significant challenge to universities seeking to better understand and support such students. This comparative study explores the perspectives of learning along educational transitions between school and university that were experienced by two groups of first generation university students in Chile and New Zealand. The research draws on the narratives of 24 working class university students enrolled in teacher education programmes and studying to become teachers. Unlike some previous studies of first generation students that take a deficit approach to the educational under-achievement of working class students, this research assumes that the barriers these students face are primarily located within institutional structures and that the distinctive perspectives of first generation university students make a positive contribution to institutional development. A photo-elicitation methodological approach was undertaken whereby the participants were asked to collect images that represented their school and university experiences. These images were then assembled onto a storyboard. Group and individual interviews were also conducted. Through a dialogical approach derived from Bakhtin, the thesis examines the cultural, social and emotional tensions and accomplishments they encountered in the course of their educational journeys through school and university. Employing Bourdieu’s notion of habitus, and Quinn’s notion of imagined social capital, this study found that for New Zealand students, imagined social capital was largely located in institutional contexts, while in Chile these were more closely associated with social groups and peers. The findings show that New Zealand has a more flexible and supportive system of school to university transitions than Chile. In both countries, however, students placed considerable value on experiences that allowed them to connect their own social background with what they learned at university.</p>
Towards A Dadaist interior
Authors:   , Katic Matej 
Published: November 2021

<p>Modern interior design has reached a plateau. Due to the anaesthesia brought about by mass information sharing and the dominance of the image, very little innovation has occurred, stylistically as many designers simply seek to regurgitate each other’s designs instead of treading new ground. Nowhere is this more apparent than in the modern day office; as a program that is deliberately aimed towards productivity and profit, office design has been streamlined to achieve these ends often leading to unpleasant working environments. The study of the Dada movement and one of its key practitioners, Marcel Duchamp, led to a question regarding the possible architectural implications that his work and his subversive manner of working has to offer and if it have any relevance in contemporary practice. This thesis proposes an alternative to the modern office interior through a detailed investigation into the theory and practices of Marcel Duchamp. It aims to further examine the architectural implications of his work through in depth analysis of his methods using assemblage, as well as his theoretical investigations in perspective and representation. Through these investigations I hope to develop a new design language that simultaneously critiques the modern office interior as well as furthering the research already done into the Dada movement and Architecture.</p>
Performing Authorship in the Music of Contemporary Singer-Songwriters
Authors:   , Lipscombe Ailsa 
Published: November 2021

<p>This thesis explores the dynamic and oftentimes puzzling relationship between singer, song, and listener in the music of contemporary singer-songwriters. I argue that this relationship is simultaneously understood through and confused by the use of indeterminate pronouns in song lyrics. The crossing over of language from speech to song leads to a multiplicity of “readings” of music and artists, where the “I” of the song’s narrator is elided with the “I” of the composer and the “I” of the performer. In this research I highlight the importance of listener experience in the ways these “I”s are contextualized and examined, shedding light on the dynamic and varied ways listeners are already engaging with this music. I also explore how these understandings ultimately impact listeners’ broader perceptions of the often-gendered values of emotional honesty and truthfulness of singer-songwriters. This research brings together original ethnographic research and theoretical explorations of musical and literary authorship and interpretation, focusing on the creative work of three singer-songwriters – Amanda Palmer, Hera Hjartardóttir, and Katie Morton. By drawing on these diverse research areas and musical repertoires, I propose an interdisciplinary model that highlights the active role listeners play in the creation (or discovery) of musical meaning. My hope is that this thesis opens up a space for future discussions to take place that examine the many layers of live performance that impact and inform interpretations of narrative, while also giving a voice to the listeners and fans whose engagement forms a crucial element of these singer-songwriter performances.</p>
Leadership pathways for local women: Case studies of three communes in Cambodia
Authors:   , Ly Tem 
Published: November 2021

<p>Women in leadership are necessary for the development of Cambodia. Their involvement in leadership roles in the public sphere and politics is crucial and has been shown to impact positively on poverty reduction. Governments, NGOs and international organizations have been increasingly aware that development is significantly linked to gender. It is noted that sustainable development should focus on gender equality and that women’s empowerment is a key factor in ending extreme poverty. Thus, a developing country like Cambodia should aim to empower women at the grassroots level. This study aims to facilitate how this may be achieved. The lack of representation of women in local politics in Cambodia has recently been considered as a problem which can slow the progress of local development. This study uses case studies to understand the complexity of some women’s real-life situations (life experience, behaviours, and emotions) and to explore the patterns of women becoming leaders at local levels. Three communes in the North-Eastern provinces, Kampong Cham, Kratie and Steung Treng provide the empirical base of the study. The study poses three main research questions: firstly, what type of work, personal characteristics and resources influence women to become local leaders? Secondly, what experiences do female local leaders have? Lastly, what can be learned from women’s backgrounds and experiences to assist in the formation of a practical leadership model to help guide other women aspiring to be local leaders? In answering this last research question, the study concludes by offering a practical leadership model that is intended to help increase women’s participation in local politics. This study found that to achieve leadership, women need to build up their local work experience. Secondly, certain personal characteristics need to be developed, including a minimum education level, personal drive, confidence, gentleness, softness, integrity and friendliness. These internal factors gain people’s trust, acknowledgement and support. Lastly, women need the continuing support of government, NGOs, family, villagers and others, including political parties. Greater opportunities for women to get involved in local politics will enable them to have access to local work experience, so they can build their own capacity, and enrich their education. The findings will assist organisations and women to plan for leadership and to create and make the most of opportunities.</p>
Cluster verification for listening learner strategies
Authors:   , Dobbie Stacey 
Published: November 2021

<p>This thesis presents a comparison of statistical methodologies for cluster verification on ordinal response variables. Methodologies will be applied to a Listening Strategy dataset collected by the Language Learner Strategies research team at the National Institute of Education in Singapore. From this listening dataset, eight clusters suggested by Linguistics theory require verification. The methodologies undertaken is to find which listening strategies have been formed well. Methods used includes the proportional odds model, confirmatory factor analysis and ordinal agreement model. The proportional odds model is used to establish how well each cluster of questions is built. This is established by checking how similar questions within clusters are. The confirmatory factor analysis is used to verify how well the overall listening clusters have been built. This will be compared to clusters proposed by a statistical method. Lastly, the ordinal agreement model is applied to see how much agreement there is within each of the listening clusters. This will be able to show us which clusters is built better than the other clusters for this listening questionnaire. Results show that the prediction listening strategy has the highest level of agreement as well as no difference between questions within this cluster. The Socio-affective listening strategy has the lowest level of agreement and very strong evidence of a difference between questions within the cluster. This suggests that the prediction cluster has been formed better than the Socio-affective cluster.</p>