scholarly journals How Readers Shape the Content of an Encyclopedia: A Case Study Comparing the German Meyers Konversationslexikon (1885-1890) with Wikipedia (2002-2013)

2014 ◽  
Vol 6 (3) ◽  
pp. 569-591 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ulrike Spree

How knowledge is negotiated between the makers of encyclopedias and their audiences remains an ongoing question in research on encyclopedias. A comparative content analysis of the published answers of letters to the editor of the German Meyers Konversationslexikon (Korrespondenzblatt) from 1885 and the discussion pages of the article potato of the German Wikipedia (2013) reveals continuities as well as changes in the communication between encyclopedia producers and their audiences. The main reasons why readers and editors communicate are the need for updated factual information, an exchange on editorial principles and the intellectual exchange of ideas on ideological and philosophical questions in relation to the encyclopedic content. Editors and readers attach a lot of importance to the process of verifying information through bibliographical references. Whereas, for the editors of Meyers Konversationslexikon the leading role of experts remains undisputed, Wikipedians work in a contradictory situation. They are on the one hand exposing knowledge production to a permanent process of negotiation, thereby challenging the role of experts, on the other hand relying strongly on bibliographical authorities. Whilst the reasons for the communication between readers and editors of Meyers Konversationslexikon and among Wikipedia contributors coincide, the understanding of the roles of readers and editors differ. The editors of the Korrespondenzblatt keep up a lecturing attitude. As opposed to this, administrators in Wikipedia want to encourage participation and strive to develop expertise among the participating contributors. Albeit power relations between administrators, regular authors, occasional authors and readers continue to exist they are comparatively flat and transient. Regardless of these differences, the comparison between Meyers Konversationslexikon and Wikipedia indicates that the sine qua non for activating an upwards spiral of quality improvement is that readers accept, learn and cultivate common rules – including how to deal with dissent – and identify with the product at least so far as that they report mistakes.

Adam alemi ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (86) ◽  
pp. 123
Author(s):  
G. Solovieva

Ethical and aesthetic consciousness is considered in the article as a single phenomenon with a priority of the ethical component. The analysis is carried out in comparative studies of two methods: consideration of the topic in the mirror of modern literature of Kazakhstan as a form of public consciousness and study of the same problem in the mirror of sociological material. These approaches complement each other and make it possible to identify two levels of social consciousness in the ethical and aesthetic dimension: the existing and the due. Sociology enables analysis at the first level. Literature combines both the one and the other, emphasizing the level of due, transformation of reality and resolution of the indicated contradictions. As a result, it was found that the key construct of the ethical and aesthetic consciousness of Kazakhstanis is the idea of cohesion and unity of all ethnic groups with the leading role of the Kazakh people. This idea has the deepest moral meaning and at the same time has the status of beauty, i.e. character aesthetic. Discord is always ugly. Whereas, unity in its essence is beautiful, showing a combination of good and beauty.


2014 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 95-114
Author(s):  
DS Adnan Majid

Muslims today employ various and often conflicting strategies to mitigate contradictions between traditional Islamic teachings and modern science, especially in matters related to the age of the universe and the origin of humans. On the one hand, any scientific theory deemed problematic might be rejected outright; on the other, Islamic texts may be reinterpreted to fully support a novel scientific theory. There is, however, an alternative hermeneutical approach that uses intra-textual analysis to acknowledge “interpretative latitude” in the Qurʾān and other Islamic texts – the possibility that these texts allow for ambiguity and multiple interpretations that may or may not agree with modern science. In this paper, human evolution will serve as a case study of the implementation of this approach via a structured discussion of common Muslim objections to the theory. The paper will conclude with a discussion of the implications of this approach on defining the role of the Qurʾān and on the boundaries of religion and science.


M n gement ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 1-22
Author(s):  
Anthony Hussenot

This article examines the emergence of organizational dynamics in the context of fluid organizational phenomena. To do so, three organizational dynamics are studied: (1) identity, (2) actorhood, and (3) interconnected instances of decision-making. To study how these three organizational dynamics take shape in the context of fluid organizational phenomena, I rely on the events-based approach and a case study of makers operating in a makerspace in the Paris region. The results show, on the one hand, that the collective of makers enacts a structure of past, present, and future events that participates in the definition of a common frame of reference and, on the other hand, that this common frame of reference plays a role in the emergence of organizational dynamics. On the basis of this result, my main contribution is to show the role of the eventalization – that is, the definition, configuration and narration by the actors of past, present, and future events – in the definition of organizational dynamics in fluid organizational phenomena. This article contributes on the one hand to the literature on fluid organizational phenomena, and on the other hand to the literature on makers working in makerspaces.


2021 ◽  
pp. 163-188
Author(s):  
Paola Guglielmotti

The essay addresses the problem of the relationship between large aristocratic families and “noble parishes” in Genoa, by considering the case of the Doria and the church of San Matteo, founded in 1125 and whose reconstruction was planned in 1278. On the one hand, three qualifying aspects of the Doria kinship are examined in order to understand the role of the small church in enhancing the coordination of the group: i.e., positions of leadership and command in the maritime city and in its government; dispersion and presence outside Genoa; numerical strength, residence and leadership. On the other hand, the article considers the insertion of San Matteo in the monastic network (not only in Liguria) headed by the abbey of San Fruttuoso, and how its reconstruction allowed for the diversification of the large family internal and external relevance. The conclusion, thanks to the comparison with the experiences of other important urban families, shows the uniqueness of this case study and how broader and more systematic comparisons should be made, even outside the Genoese context.


2003 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 209-233 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bear F. Braumoeller

Theories that posit complex causation, or multiple causal paths, pervade the study of politics but have yet to find accurate statistical expression. To remedy this situation I derive new econometric procedures, Boolean probit and logit, based on the logic of complexity. The solution provides an answer to a puzzle in the rational deterrence literature: the divergence between theory and case-study findings, on the one hand, and the findings of quantitative studies, on the other, on the issue of the role of capabilities and willingness in the initiation of disputes. It also makes the case that different methodological traditions, rather than settling into “separate but equal” status, can instead inform and enrich one another.


2021 ◽  
pp. 1-15
Author(s):  
Anja Eleveld

Drawing on the neo-republican theory of non-domination and a qualitative case study conducted in three Dutch municipalities, this article explores the extent to which external rules are able to prevent arbitrary power in relationships between welfare officers and work supervisors, on the one hand, and welfare recipients participating in mandatory work programmes, on the other hand. It concludes that external rules were insufficiently implemented in the three municipalities in question. In addition, it found that rules cease to be capable of constraining arbitrary power where institutional contexts themselves are unpredictable and insecure. Under these conditions, welfare recipients may seek to avoid risks and act in accordance with the preferences (or their expectation of the preferences) of the welfare officer or work supervisor by playing the role of the ‘good recipient’ instead of relying on available rules of a protective nature or rules that enable them to have a say in their participation in mandatory work programmes.


2019 ◽  
Vol 28 (04) ◽  
pp. 657-670 ◽  
Author(s):  
STEPHEN RAINEY ◽  
HANNAH MASLEN ◽  
PIERRE MÉGEVAND ◽  
LUC H. ARNAL ◽  
ERIC FOURNERET ◽  
...  

Abstract:Neuroprosthetic speech devices are an emerging technology that can offer the possibility of communication to those who are unable to speak. Patients with ‘locked in syndrome,’ aphasia, or other such pathologies can use covert speech—vividly imagining saying something without actual vocalization—to trigger neural controlled systems capable of synthesizing the speech they would have spoken, but for their impairment.We provide an analysis of the mechanisms and outputs involved in speech mediated by neuroprosthetic devices. This analysis provides a framework for accounting for the ethical significance of accuracy, control, and pragmatic dimensions of prosthesis-mediated speech. We first examine what it means for the output of the device to be accurate, drawing a distinction between technical accuracy on the one hand and semantic accuracy on the other. These are conceptual notions of accuracy.Both technical and semantic accuracy of the device will be necessary (but not yet sufficient) for the user to have sufficient control over the device. Sufficient control is an ethical consideration: we place high value on being able to express ourselves when we want and how we want. Sufficient control of a neural speech prosthesis requires that a speaker can reliably use their speech apparatus as they want to, and can expect their speech to authentically represent them. We draw a distinction between two relevant features which bear on the question of whether the user has sufficient control: voluntariness of the speech and the authenticity of the speech. These can come apart: the user might involuntarily produce an authentic output (perhaps revealing private thoughts) or might voluntarily produce an inauthentic output (e.g., when the output is not semantically accurate). Finally, we consider the role of the interlocutor in interpreting the content and purpose of the communication.These three ethical dimensions raise philosophical questions about the nature of speech, the level of control required for communicative accuracy, and the nature of ‘accuracy’ with respect to both natural and prosthesis-mediated speech.


Author(s):  
Allyn Fives

We should distinguish the rights parents have ‘over’ their children from the ‘right to parent’. This is the distinction between parents’ power over their children, or more precisely parents’ legitimate power over their children, on the one hand, and the right to play the role of a parent and therefore the right to raise or rear children, on the other hand. It is widely accepted that, in one sense or another, the ‘right to parent’ is conditional. That is, if adults do not satisfy certain requirements, for example the requirement of being a competent parent, society may refuse to grant the right in the first place, or the right already granted may be restricted or rescinded altogether. In this case study, I will look at three proposals concerning the conditions to be placed on the ‘right to parent’: that we should license parents, that we should monitor parents, and that we should train parents.


2018 ◽  
Vol 59 (1) ◽  
pp. 65-79
Author(s):  
Katarzyna Nikorowicz-Zatorska

Abstract The present paper focuses on spatial management regulations in order to carry out investment in the field of airport facilities. The construction, upgrades, and maintenance of airports falls within the area of responsibility of local authorities. This task poses a great challenge in terms of organisation and finances. On the one hand, an active airport is a municipal landmark and drives local economic, social and cultural development, and on the other, the scale of investment often exceeds the capabilities of local authorities. The immediate environment of the airport determines its final use and prosperity. The objective of the paper is to review legislation that affects airports and the surrounding communities. The process of urban planning in Lodz and surrounding areas will be presented as a background to the problem of land use management in the vicinity of the airport. This paper seeks to address the following questions: if and how airports have affected urban planning in Lodz, does the land use around the airport prevent the development of Lodz Airport, and how has the situation changed over the time? It can be assumed that as a result of lack of experience, land resources and size of investments on one hand and legislative dissonance and peculiar practices on the other, aviation infrastructure in Lodz is designed to meet temporary needs and is characterised by achieving short-term goals. Cyclical problems are solved in an intermittent manner and involve all the municipal resources, so there’s little left to secure long-term investments.


Author(s):  
Iryna Rusnak

The author of the article analyses the problem of the female emancipation in the little-known feuilleton “Amazonia: A Very Inept Story” (1924) by Mykola Chirsky. The author determines the genre affiliation of the work and examines its compositional structure. Three parts are distinguished in the architectonics of associative feuilleton: associative conception; deployment of a “small” topic; conclusion. The author of the article clarifies the role of intertextual elements and the method of constantly switching the tone from serious to comic to reveal the thematic direction of the work. Mykola Chirsky’s interest in the problem of female emancipation is corresponded to the general mood of the era. The subject of ridicule in provocative feuilleton is the woman’s radical metamorphoses, since repulsive manifestations of emancipation becomes commonplace. At the same time, the writer shows respect for the woman, appreciates her femininity, internal and external beauty, personality. He associates the positive in women with the functions of a faithful wife, a caring mother, and a skilled housewife. In feuilleton, the writer does not bypass the problem of the modern man role in a family, but analyses the value and moral and ethical guidelines of his character. The husband’s bad habits receive a caricatured interpretation in the strange behaviour of relatives. On the one hand, the writer does not perceive the extremes brought by female emancipation, and on the other, he mercilessly criticises the male “virtues” of contemporaries far from the standard. The artistic heritage of Mykola Chirsky remains little studied. The urgent task of modern literary studies is the introduction of Mykola Chirsky’s unknown works into the scientific circulation and their thorough scientific understanding.


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