bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
What's Left? - an Exploration of Social Movements, the Left and Activism in New Zealand Today
Authors:   , Taylor Dylan 
Published: November 2021

<p>Surveys of the situation and prospects of the contemporary Left over the past three decades have frequently underscored themes of fragmentation, decline, even terminal demise. This thesis explores the question of the contemporary Left through interviews conducted with participants in New Zealand social movements. The general theoretical literature around the Left and social movements has consistently highlighted a number of social changes and challenges facing the Left today: the split between old and new Lefts following the rise of the new social movements; economic transformation (for instance, post-Fordism), and changes in class composition; the rise of neo-liberalism, and the dislocating effects of globalization; intellectual challenges, such as the demise of Marxism and the rise of post-modern philosophy; challenges to the state, and the arrival of a "post-political" condition. Analysis of the New Zealand literature around the Left and social movements shows congruent arguments and themes, as well as suggesting Antipodean specificities. To examine these contentions, a series of interviews were conducted with participants in "Left" social movements. These interviews suggest both congruence with some of the arguments in the literature and complexities that do not confirm these generalizations. In particular, the suggestion that a third phase of the Left is emerging, characterized by the joining of culturalist and materialist emphases, appears somewhat confirmed. In addition, a number of the challenges signalled in the literature were singled out by interviewees as pressing - for instance, neo-liberalism and the mediatisation of politics. With respect to the modes of action of social movements connected to the Left, there was here too some confirmation of themes from the literature - for instance, the importance of networking. On the other hand, the widespread theme of the wholesale decline of collective actions was put into question by those interviewed. While no definitive conclusions can be drawn from such a study, the interviews suggest the Left may be entering a period of renewal.</p>
RemoteME: Experiments in Thin-Client Mobile Computing
Authors:   , Delwadia Vipul 
Published: November 2021

<p>Mobile phones are ubiquitous, however they are vastly underpowered compared to their desktop counterparts. We propose a technique to play potentially resource intensive games over a network, and provide a prototype system called RemoteME which implements this technique. We also explore the responsiveness requirement for systems of this nature, establish benchmarks for responsiveness via user studies. We evaluate our implementation by measuring its responsiveness and comparing it to this benchmark.</p>
An Analysis of Urban Ecological Knowledge and Behaviour in Wellington, New Zealand
Authors:   , Parker John 
Published: November 2021

<p>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.</p>
Usage and Impact Factor Correlations in Electronic Journals
Authors:   , Shepheard-Walwyn Emma Jane 
Published: November 2021

<p>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.</p>
Passive Environmental Control: The Use of Insulated Archival Boxes to Control Fluctuations in Relative Humidity and Temperature
Authors:   , Woods Andrea Jane 
Published: November 2021

<p>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.</p>
LibraryThing Tags and Library of Congress Subject Headings: a Comparison of Science Fiction and Fantasy Works
Authors:   , Carman Nicholas 
Published: November 2021

<p>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.</p>
"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

<p>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.</p>
Mafutaga Samoa
Authors:   , Unasa Leilani 
Published: November 2021

<p>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 ...</p>
Factors Affecting Staff Demand for an Electronic Course Materials Service
Authors:   , Amarathunga Upeksha Sajeevani 
Published: November 2021

<p>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.</p>
Language Policy in Multilingual Workplaces: Management, Practices and Beliefs in Banks in Luxembourg.
Authors:   , Kingsley Leilarna Elizabeth 
Published: November 2021

<p>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.</p>
Teacher Beliefs, Knowledge, and Reported Practices Regarding Numeracy Outcomes in the Solomon Islands
Authors:   , Alamu Adrian 
Published: November 2021

<p>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.</p>
Everyday District Nurses' Experiences Revealed Through Distillation: Palliative Care in the Community - an Action Research Project
Authors:   , Voice Donna Michelle 
Published: November 2021

<p>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.</p>
The Groma and the Gladius: Roman Surveyors in the Later Republic
Authors:   , Morris Jason C 
Published: November 2021

<p>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.</p>