title: Goods not wanted: Older people's narratives of computer use rejection

authors: Weaver, C. Kay

subjects: older people

abstract: In societies where the use of computers is pervasive, individuals who resist using the technology are often studied in order to determine how susceptible their views might be to change. This research takes a different approach, focusing not on the non-use of computers as a problem but as an opportunity to explore how the proponents of such views make sense of computers and computer use and to accord respect for, rather than dismissal of, their views. Underpinned by a narrative sense-making approach, the investigation examines older non-users' discursive performances of rejection and the ways in which they draw on and position themselves in relation to dominant and emerging socio-cultural narratives of technology and the ways in which those performances are circumscribed by particular value systems or choice behaviours. Participants drew on three prominent socio-cultural narratives in making sense of computers and in performing rejection: computers benefit older people; society discriminates against non-users; and don't need computers, don't want computers. These three narratives work together to enable non-users to justify their rejection of computer use. The study makes a contribution to the literature by highlighting dimensions of older people's relationships with computers not previously identified, including an appreciation for the complex and often tension-filled process by which determinations of rejection are made.

text: Goods not wanted: Older people's narratives of computer use rejection In societies where the use of computers is pervasive, individuals who resist using the technology are often studied in order to determine how susceptible their views might be to change. This research takes a different approach, focusing not on the non-use of computers as a problem but as an opportunity to explore how the proponents of such views make sense of computers and computer use and to accord respect for, rather than dismissal of, their views. Underpinned by a narrative sense-making approach, the investigation examines older non-users' discursive performances of rejection and the ways in which they draw on and position themselves in relation to dominant and emerging socio-cultural narratives of technology and the ways in which those performances are circumscribed by particular value systems or choice behaviours. Participants drew on three prominent socio-cultural narratives in making sense of computers and in performing rejection: computers benefit older people; society discriminates against non-users; and don't need computers, don't want computers. These three narratives work together to enable non-users to justify their rejection of computer use. The study makes a contribution to the literature by highlighting dimensions of older people's relationships with computers not previously identified, including an appreciation for the complex and often tension-filled process by which determinations of rejection are made.

year: 2010

title: Hiroshi Machida −respected tephrochronologist, teacher, leader

authors: Suzuki, Takehiko

subjects: tephrochronologist

abstract: Professor Emeritus Hiroshi Machida (Hiroshi hereafter) is the leading tephrochronologist of his generation in Japan. Perhaps more than any other geoscientist from Japan, Hiroshi carried the insights and advances of tephra studies and their application in palaeoenvironmental and archaeological applications, landscape processes, and volcanology and hazard analysis, to the outside world through a succession of papers and books written in English and through conference presentations. He has been the ‘international face’ of tephra studies in Japan

text: Hiroshi Machida −respected tephrochronologist, teacher, leader Professor Emeritus Hiroshi Machida (Hiroshi hereafter) is the leading tephrochronologist of his generation in Japan. Perhaps more than any other geoscientist from Japan, Hiroshi carried the insights and advances of tephra studies and their application in palaeoenvironmental and archaeological applications, landscape processes, and volcanology and hazard analysis, to the outside world through a succession of papers and books written in English and through conference presentations. He has been the ‘international face’ of tephra studies in Japan

year: 2011

title: Early French views of the Waikato and its inhabitants (1840-54)

authors: Jennings, William

abstract: This paper will investigate how the cultural background of these Frenchmen informed their descriptions of Waikato Maori and the Waikato environment. It will use the newly-published ten-volume collected correspondence of the pioneer Marists in the Pacific,the Lettres refues d'Odanie, as its principal source.

text: Early French views of the Waikato and its inhabitants (1840-54) This paper will investigate how the cultural background of these Frenchmen informed their descriptions of Waikato Maori and the Waikato environment. It will use the newly-published ten-volume collected correspondence of the pioneer Marists in the Pacific,the Lettres refues d'Odanie, as its principal source.

year: 2011