ORAL HISTORY SOURCES AS LEARNING MATERIALS: A CASE STUDY OF THE NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

2016 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 82-93
Author(s):  
Gugulethu Shamaine Nkala ◽  
Rodreck David
Keyword(s):  
Oral History ◽  
Learning Experience ◽  
Science And Technology ◽  
Group Discussion ◽  
Human Interaction ◽  
Learning Material ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
National Archives ◽  
National University ◽  
Set Up

Knowledge presented by Oral History (OH) is unique in that it shares the tacit perspective, thoughts, opinions and understanding of the interviewee in its primary form. While teachers, lecturers and other education specialists have at their disposal a wide range of primary, secondary and tertiary sources upon which to relate and share or impart knowledge, OH presents a rich source of information that can improve the learning and knowledge impartation experience. The uniqueness of OH is presented in the following advantages of its use: it allows one to learn about the perspectives of individuals who might not otherwise appear in the historical record; it allows one to compensate for the digital age; one can learn different kinds of information; it provides historical actors with an opportunity to tell their own stories in their own words; and it offers a rich opportunity for human interaction. This article discusses the placement of oral history in the classroom set-up by investigating its use as a source of learning material presented by the National Archives of Zimbabwe to students in the Department of Records and Archives Management at the National University of Science and Technology (NUST). Interviews and a group discussion were used to gather data from an archivist at the National Archives of Zimbabwe, lecturers and students in the Department of Records and Archives Management at NUST, respectively. These groups were approached on the usability, uniqueness and other characteristics that support this type of knowledge about OH in a tertiary learning experience. The findings indicate several qualities that reflect the richness of OH as a teaching source material in a classroom set-up. It further points to weak areas that may be addressed where the source is considered a viable strategy for knowledge sharing and learning. The researchers present a possible model that can be used to champion the use of this rich knowledge source in classroom education at this university and in similar set-ups. 

Mobility

Anthropology ◽  
2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Roger Norum
Keyword(s):  
Social Sciences ◽  
Capital Mobility ◽  
Science And Technology Studies ◽  
Close Association ◽  
Human Interaction ◽  
The Social ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Seasonal Agricultural Workers ◽  
And Migration ◽  
Set Up

Broadly speaking, mobility refers to the socio-cultural processes surrounding movement. As a focus of anthropological research, mobility engages with the notion that human social worlds are in multiple states and forms of circulating spatial and temporal flux, and, as such, are variously implicated in trajectories of movement between and among human actors, physical objects and intangible information, ideas and capital. Mobility studies emerged out of the celebration of postmodernism and globalization, and their concomitant links to global flows of people and things in contexts of both migration and transnationalism. New forms of human interaction and engagement amid sea changes in the capacity for people, things, and representations to move fast and far have led to new intellectual theorizations, perspectives, approaches, and provocations, denoting mobility as a new point of departure for contemporary analyses of the social world in the 21st century. Since the early 2000s, scholars have worked to develop the theoretical underpinnings of a “new mobilities” paradigm which would, in turn, lead to a “mobility turn” in the social sciences and beyond. The paradigm challenges a number of assumptions within the social sciences including the static, bounded concepts of culture and society as a unit of analysis, the assumed center-periphery nature of movement of peoples from developing to developed areas of the world, and the close association of mobility with freedom (and immobility with oppression). Studies of mobility go far beyond researching mere movement, and now even comparatively sedentary concepts such as society and nation are being upended with interlinked, shifting, and mobile things, ideas, and individuals. Mobility research has been characteristically cross-disciplinary, finding traction early on in the fields of sociology and geography before being taken up by the theoretical considerations and ethnographic research of social and cultural anthropologists (though of course studying movement—of both humans and non-humans—was nothing new for anthropologists). Scholarship across distinct strands of mobility research has fostered dialogue among otherwise spatting social science fields, and scholars from other disciplines, such as cultural and migration studies, tourism and transport studies, media studies, and Science and Technology Studies (STS) have also made important contributions to literature on mobility that is either anthropological in focus or approach, or heavily used by anthropologists in their mobility scholarship. Because research into mobility comprises such a wide range of area specializations, theoretical interests, and methodological approaches, however, exactly what constitutes mobility research can mean different things to different scholars in different disciplines—from research on communities of people who physically move for their jobs (e.g., commuters, expatriates, or seasonal agricultural workers) to studies of societal systems, infrastructures, and regimes such as vehicular transport or border control. And, as expected, the normative categories established by a number of scholars of mobility to study the field have themselves received no small amount of critique from anthropologists for their privileging certain types of mobile movement and deprecating others. This bibliography outlines the scope of literature on mobility that is particularly anthropological in its approach, method, and object, while also considering some of the seminal works in sociology and geography that have both influenced anthropological thinking on mobility and proven foundational to the development of the “mobility turn” in the social sciences more generally. There is inherently overlap between some of the sections set up here (e.g., Migration and Labor and Work), but they have been structured via these categories more to facilitate reader accessibility than to set up any hard and fast distinctions for how the scholarship discussed in this article should be framed or understood.

scholarly journals Automation of Flexible Migration Workflows

2011 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 183-198
Author(s):  
Dirk Von Suchodoletz ◽  
Klaus Rechert ◽  
Randolph Welte ◽  
Maurice Van den Dobbelsteen ◽  
Bill Roberts ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Text Processing ◽  
Human Interaction ◽  
Migration Strategy ◽  
Novel Approach ◽  
File Formats ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Digital Objects ◽  
Set Up ◽  
New Generation ◽  
Machine Interaction

Many digital preservation scenarios are based on the migration strategy, which itself is heavily tool-dependent. For popular, well-defined and often open file formats – e.g., digital images, such as PNG, GIF, JPEG – a wide range of tools exist. Migration workflows become more difficult with proprietary formats, as used by the several text processing applications becoming available in the last two decades. If a certain file format can not be rendered with actual software, emulation of the original environment remains a valid option. For instance, with the original Lotus AmiPro or Word Perfect, it is not a problem to save an object of this type in ASCII text or Rich Text Format. In specific environments, it is even possible to send the file to a virtual printer, thereby producing a PDF as a migration output. Such manual migration tasks typically involve human interaction, which may be feasible for a small number of objects, but not for larger batches of files.We propose a novel approach using a software-operated VNC abstraction layer in order to replace humans with machine interaction. Emulators or virtualization tools equipped with a VNC interface are very well suited for this approach. But screen, keyboard and mouse interaction is just part of the setup. Furthermore, digital objects need to be transferred into the original environment in order to be extracted after processing. Nevertheless, the complexity of the new generation of migration services is quickly rising; a preservation workflow is now comprised not only of the migration tool itself, but of a complete software and virtual hardware stack with recorded workflows linked to every supported migration scenario. Thus the requirements of OAIS management must include proper software archiving, emulator selection, system image and recording handling. The concept of view-paths could help either to automatically determine the proper pre-configured virtual environment or to set up system images for certain migration workflows. View-paths may rise in demand, as the generation of PDF output files from Word Perfect input could be cached as pre-fabricated emulator system images. The current groundwork provides several possible optimizations, such as using the automation features of the original environments.

scholarly journals Students’ and teachers’ attitude towards online classes during Covid-19 pandemic

2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 462-476
Author(s):  
Rozina Afroz ◽  
Nurul Islam ◽  
Sajedur Rahman ◽  
Nusrat Zerin Anny
Keyword(s):  
Online Learning ◽  
Online Teaching ◽  
Quantitative Research ◽  
Learning Experience ◽  
Group Discussion ◽  
Online Classes ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
National University ◽  
Open Coding ◽  
Teachers Attitudes

In this paper, students, and teachers' attitudes towards shifting to an entirely online learning environment were assessed due to COVID-19.  The main objective of the study was to investigate the students’ and teachers' attitudes towards Online learning during the COVID-19 situation in Bangladeshi Government Colleges. Findings revealed that cost and time-effectiveness, safety, convenience, and improved participation were the most frequently cited positive aspects of the online learning experience, while distraction and reduced focus, heavy workload, problems with technology and the internet, lack of ICT knowledge, and poor network infrastructure,  limited availability of educational resources, low attendance of learners, uncooperative learners and insufficient support from instructors and colleagues were the most recurrent negative aspects. The qualitative and quantitative research method was adopted, with semi-structured interviews conducted via Zoom with 10 College teachers and Focus group discussion conducted via Zoom with 18 and survey 100 college students via Google platform from three Bangladesh renowned Government College from Hons 1st year to masters’ level located in Rajshahi divisional district town of the country. A sample of these essays was analyzed using open coding. The findings of the study help instructors and institutions understand students’ and Teachers' attitudes regarding online teaching & learning under abnormal circumstances. Several recommendations informed by the interpretation of the participants’ feedback are offered to assist instructors, administrators, and policymakers improve future online learning experiences.  After conducting the whole study, it can be said that though have some problems adapting to online classes in three regarding BGCs colleges affiliated to the National University of Bangladesh, they are slowly becoming accustomed to it.  

Settlers or Movers? The Temporality of Past Migrations, Political Inaction and its Consequences, 1945–1985

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jozefien De Bock
Keyword(s):  
Temporary Workers ◽  
Guest Workers ◽  
Temporary Migration ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Settler Societies ◽  
Future Policy ◽  
Set Up ◽  
Legal Frameworks ◽  
Temporary Migrants ◽  
Multicultural Policies

Historically, those societies that have the longest tradition in multicultural policies are settler societies. The question of how to deal with temporary migrants has only recently aroused their interest. In Europe, temporary migration programmes have a much longer history. In the period after WWII, a wide range of legal frameworks were set up to import temporary workers, who came to be known as guest workers. In the end, many of these ‘guests’ settled in Europe permanently. Their presence lay at the basis of European multicultural policies. However, when these policies were drafted, the former mobility of guest workers had been forgotten. This chapter will focus on this mobility of initially temporary workers, comparing the period of economic growth 1945-1974 with the years after the 1974 economic crisis. Further, it will look at the kind of policies that were developed towards guest workers in the era before multiculturalism. This way, it shows how their consideration as temporary residents had far-reaching consequences for the immigrants, their descendants and the receiving societies involved. The chapter will finish by suggesting a number of lessons from the past. If the mobility-gap between guest workers and present-day migrants is not as big as generally assumed, then the consequences of previous neglect should serve as a warning for future policy making.

Safeguarding National Heritage through Conservation of Oral History Collections at Bulawayo National Archives, Zimbabwe

2019 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Vimbayi Natalie Nhenga-Mugarisanwa ◽  
Peterson Dewah
Keyword(s):  
Oral History ◽  
Minority Groups ◽  
Case Study Research ◽  
Storage Conditions ◽  
Annual Reports ◽  
Conservation Unit ◽  
National Heritage ◽  
National Archives ◽  
Digital Formats ◽  
Depth Interviews

 Oral history collections are vital assets that represent national heritage. While transcribed collections are kept in a proper archival repository at the Bulawayo National Archives, the audio-visual collections are kept unprocessed and unprotected in unsuitable housing such as cardboard boxes within the Principal Archivist’s office. Storage conditions are not conducive and therefore, unbearable. The study, therefore, explored issues relating to how national heritage contained in oral history collections can be protected through conservation at the institution. In this regard, the study opted to employ the qualitative research methodology, using the case study research design. The informants were purposively sampled, while data were collected through questionnaires, in-depth interviews, and document analysis. Questionnaires were administered to the chosen respondents through hand delivery. Researchers conducted in-depth interviews that lasted between 20–30 minutes. The Director’s Annual Reports from 1990 to 2016 were analysed for the study. The findings of the study indicated that the Bulawayo National Archives captures and stores oral history in paper, cassettes, magnetic tape, and digital formats, and according to various subject areas; which include chieftaincy, minority groups, land question, religion and liberation wars. However, the institution does not have a conservation unit nor an Oral Historian in charge of the collections. In this regard, we recommend that the institution sets up a conservation unit to protect oral history collections, and facilitate the restoration of the already damaged and deteriorated oral history collections. 

Nanofiltration of endocrine disrupting compounds

2003 ◽  
Vol 3 (5-6) ◽  
pp. 321-327 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Gallenkemper ◽  
T. Wintgens ◽  
T. Melin
Keyword(s):  
Wastewater Treatment ◽  
Municipal Wastewater ◽  
Wastewater Treatment Plants ◽  
Endocrine Disrupting Compounds ◽  
Municipal Wastewater Treatment ◽  
Water And Wastewater Treatment ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Endocrine Disrupting ◽  
Municipal Wastewater Treatment Plants ◽  
Set Up

Endocrine disrupting compounds can affect the hormone system in organisms. A wide range of endocrine disrupters were found in sewage and effluents of municipal wastewater treatment plants. Toxicological evaluations indicate that conventional wastewater treatment plants are not able to remove these substances sufficiently before disposing effluent into the environment. Membrane technology, which is proving to be an effective barrier to these substances, is the subject of this research. Nanofiltration provides high quality permeates in water and wastewater treatment. Eleven different nanofiltration membranes were tested in the laboratory set-up. The observed retention for nonylphenol (NP) and bisphenol A (BPA) ranged between 70% and 100%. The contact angle is an indicator for the hydrophobicity of a membrane, whose influence on the permeability and retention of NP was evident. The retention of BPA was found to be inversely proportional to the membrane permeability.

Geoffrey Sawer and the Art of the Academic Commentator: A Preliminary Biographical Sketch

2014 ◽  
Vol 42 (2) ◽  
pp. 389-420 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Coper
Keyword(s):  
Oral History ◽  
Major Influence ◽  
Human Being ◽  
Biographical Sketch ◽  
Political Landscape ◽  
Law And Politics ◽  
National University ◽  
Oral History Interviews

Geoffrey Sawer was the Foundation Professor of Law at The Australian National University, appointed in 1950 at the age of 39. He was a pioneer in the understanding of law in a broader context, especially at the intersection between law and politics, and his fluid and incisive writing has been a major influence on succeeding generations of academics, practitioners and judges. Drawing on Sawer's writings, oral history interviews and private papers, Michael Coper makes an affectionate biographical sketch of this outstanding scholar and warm and genial human being. In particular, he explores how Sawer's scholarship stands up today, when so much has changed in the legal and political landscape; what is enduring and what is transient in a life's work; and what lessons we can draw when we look at law and life through the lens of biography.

scholarly journals A System-Agnostic, Adaptable and Extensible Animal Support Cradle System for Cardio-Respiratory-Synchronised, and Other, Multi-Modal Imaging of Small Animals

Tomography ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 39-54
Author(s):  
Veerle Kersemans ◽  
Stuart Gilchrist ◽  
Philip Danny Allen ◽  
Sheena Wallington ◽  
Paul Kinchesh ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Scientific Data ◽  
Cardiac Monitoring ◽  
Small Animals ◽  
Maintenance System ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Set Up ◽  
Animal Handling ◽  
Imaging Performance ◽  
Significant Effort

Standardisation of animal handling procedures for a wide range of preclinical imaging scanners will improve imaging performance and reproducibility of scientific data. Whilst there has been significant effort in defining how well scanners should operate and how in vivo experimentation should be practised, there is little detail on how to achieve optimal scanner performance with best practices in animal welfare. Here, we describe a system-agnostic, adaptable and extensible animal support cradle system for cardio-respiratory-synchronised, and other, multi-modal imaging of small animals. The animal support cradle can be adapted on a per application basis and features integrated tubing for anaesthetic and tracer delivery, an electrically driven rectal temperature maintenance system and respiratory and cardiac monitoring. Through a combination of careful material and device selection, we have described an approach that allows animals to be transferred whilst under general anaesthesia between any of the tomographic scanners we currently or have previously operated. The set-up is minimally invasive, cheap and easy to implement and for multi-modal, multi-vendor imaging of small animals.

scholarly journals LED Rail Signals: Full Hardware Realization of Apparatus with Independent Intensity by Temperature Changes

Electronics ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (11) ◽  
pp. 1291
Author(s):  
Giuseppe Schirripa Schirripa Spagnolo ◽  
Fabio Leccese
Keyword(s):  
Temperature Sensor ◽  
Energy Efficient ◽  
Light Emitting Diode ◽  
Junction Temperature ◽  
Light Emitting ◽  
Temperature Changes ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
International Regulations ◽  
Long Lifetime ◽  
Set Up

Nowadays, signal lights are made using light-emitting diode arrays (LEDs). These devices are extremely energy efficient and have a very long lifetime. Unfortunately, especially for yellow/amber LEDs, the intensity of the light is closely related to the junction temperature. This makes it difficult to design signal lights to be used in naval, road, railway, and aeronautical sectors, capable of fully respecting national and international regulations. Furthermore, the limitations prescribed by the standards must be respected in a wide range of temperature variations. In other words, in the signaling apparatuses, a system that varies the light intensity emitted according to the operating temperature is useful/necessary. In this paper, we propose a simple and effective solution. In order to adjust the intensity of the light emitted by the LEDs, we use an LED identical to those used to emit light as a temperature sensor. The proposed system was created and tested in the laboratory. As the same device as the ones to be controlled is used as the temperature sensor, the system is very stable and easy to set up.

scholarly journals Entropic measure unveils country competitiveness and product specialization in the World trade web

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Gianluca Teza ◽  
Michele Caraglio ◽  
Attilio L. Stella
Keyword(s):  
Iterative Scheme ◽  
Entropy Function ◽  
Bipartite Networks ◽  
Complexity Measures ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Self Consistent ◽  
Set Up ◽  
Technical Features ◽  
Country Competitiveness ◽  
Entropic Measure

AbstractWe show how the Shannon entropy function can be used as a basis to set up complexity measures weighting the economic efficiency of countries and the specialization of products beyond bare diversification. This entropy function guarantees the existence of a fixed point which is rapidly reached by an iterative scheme converging to our self-consistent measures. Our approach naturally allows to decompose into inter-sectorial and intra-sectorial contributions the country competitivity measure if products are partitioned into larger categories. Besides outlining the technical features and advantages of the method, we describe a wide range of results arising from the analysis of the obtained rankings and we benchmark these observations against those established with other economical parameters. These comparisons allow to partition countries and products into various main typologies, with well-revealed characterizing features. Our methods have wide applicability to general problems of ranking in bipartite networks.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document