Real estate 2.0 : towards a value ecology?

This paper anatomises emerging developments in online community engagement in a major global industry: real estate. Economists argue that we are entering a ‘social network economy’ in which ‘complex social networks’ govern consumer choice and product value. In the light of this, organisations are shifting from thinking and behaving in the conventional ‘value chain’ model--in which exchanges between firms and customers are one-way only, from the firm to the consumer--to the ‘value ecology’ model, in which consumers and their networks become co-creators of the value of the product. This paper studies the way in which the global real estate industry is responding to this environment. This paper identifies three key areas in which online real estate ‘value ecology’ work is occurring: real estate social networks, games, and locative media / augmented reality applications. Uptake of real estate applications is, of course, user-driven: the paper not only highlights emerging innovations; it also identifies which of these innovations are actually being taken up by users, and the content contributed as a result. The paper thus provides a case study of one major industry’s shift into a web 2.0 communication model, focusing on emerging trends and issues.

Governmentality and the reflection of legal educators : assessment practices as a case study

This paper presents a conceptual framework, informed by Foucault’s work on governmentality, which allows for new kinds of reflection on the practice of legal education. Put simply, this framework suggests that legal education can be understood as a form of government that relies on a specific rationalisation and programming of the activities of legal educators, students, and administrators, and is implemented by harnessing specific techniques and bodies of ‘know-how’. Applying this framework to assessment at three Australian law schools, this paper highlights how assessment practices are rationalised, programmed, and implemented, and points out how this government shapes students’ legal personae. In particular, this analysis focuses on the governmental effects of pedagogical discourses that are dominant within the design and scholarship of legal education. It demonstrates that the development of pedagogically-sound regimes of assessment has contributed to a reformulation of the terrain of government, by providing the conditions under which forms of legal personae may be more effectively shaped, and extending the power relations that achieve this. This analysis provides legal educators with an original way of reflecting on the power effects of teaching the law, and new opportunities for thinking about what is possible in legal education.

Governing depression in law students and the shaping of legal personae

Since a recent Australian study found that university law students experience higher rates of depression than medical students and legal professionals (Kelk et al. 2009), the mental health of law students has increasingly become a target of government. To date, however, there has been no attempt to analyse these practices as an activity of government in advanced liberal societies. This paper addresses this imbalance by providing an initial analytics of the government of depression in law schools. It demonstrates how students are responsibilised to manage the risks and uncertainties of legal education by constructing resilient forms of personal and professional personae. It highlights that, in order to avoid depression, students are encouraged to shape not just their minds and bodies according to psychological and biomedical discourses, but are also to govern their ethical dispositions and become virtuous persons. This paper also argues that these forms of government are tied to advanced liberal forms of rule, as they position the law student as the locus of responsibility for depression, imply that depression is caused by an individual failing, and entrench students within responsibilising and entrepreneurial forms of subjectivity.

Law autonomy and advance directives

The principle of autonomy underpins legal regulation of advance directives that refuse life-sustaining medical treatment. The primacy of autonomy in this domain is recognised expressly in the case law, through judicial pronouncement, and implicitly in most Australian jurisdictions, through enactment into statute of the right to make an advance directive. This article seeks to justify autonomy as an appropriate principle for regulating advance directives and relies on three arguments: the necessity of autonomy in a liberal democracy; the primacy of autonomy in medical ethics discourse; and the uncontested importance of autonomy in the law on contemporaneous refusal of medical treatment. This article also responds to key criticisms that autonomy is not an appropriate organising principle to underpin legal regulation of advance directives.

Research adventures in Web 2.0 : encouraging collaborative local content creation through edgeX

The intersection of current arguments about the role of creative industries in economic development, online user-generated content, and the uptake of broadband in economically disadvantaged communities provides the content for this article. From 2006 to 2008 the authors carried out a research project in Ipswich, Queensland involving local creative practitioners and community groups in their development of edgeX, a Web-based platform for content uploads and social networking. The project aimed to explore issues of local identity and community building through online networking, as well as the possibilities for creating pathways from amateur to professional practice in the creative industries through the auspices of the Website. Set against the backdrop of a rapidly changing technological environment that has problematic implications for research projects aiming to build new online platforms, we present several case studies from the project to illustrate the challenges to participation experienced by people with limited access to, and literacy with, the Internet.

Anna Clark (2008) History’s Children: History Wars in the Classroom. UNSW Press, Sydney, 178 pages

“History’s Children” stems from Anna Clark’s 2004 postdoctoral research into the ways in which Australian students connect with the past, and aims at bringing some classroom perspectives into the public debates about Australian history education. Although the title makes reference to the “History Wars”, there is little evidence of contestation, engagement, passion or intellectual excitement in Clark’s conclusions about what happens in history classrooms. Rather, Clark’s small focus groups with 182 high school students in 34 high schools around Australia indicate that “it got a bit dismal hearing student after student being so dismissive of Australian history” (p. 143). Apart from some enthusiasm for the study of Australians at war, a sort of resigned boredom seems to characterise what students have to say about learning Australian history, despite their acknowledgement that it is important to “know about” it.

"Criatividade na Educação e Formação de Talentos" (Creativity in Education and Development of Talent)

Historically, 'Creativity' has had a complex set of meanings. Not long ago, 'Creativity' had a kind of marginal or peripheral status, being seen as the province of a gifted few; in many cases it was associated almost exclusively with the arts and with artists. But these traditional attitudes to creativity are changing. Mainstream businesses are employing people with creative skills as diverse as writing, directing, graphic design and event management. So what we’re beginning to see is an innovation framework and creative content adding value not just to SMEs, but to traditional industries such as manufacturing and mining, and to wider service industries. And this is why Education is such an important element, particularly with a focus on innovation, and on creative people and the contributions they make across different parts of the economy.

International students' experiences of university libraries and librarians

ABSTRACT International students constitute a significant proportion of the Australian university population, and thus of the university library-using population. Drawing on qualitative research findings, this paper discusses the library-related experiences and perceptions of international students at two Australian universities. While the students’ previous library use was limited, at their host university they experienced library using challenges, often associated with unfamiliarity. However, they generally viewed their Australian university library and library staff in a positive light. The findings support recommendations for developing library professionals’ awareness of, and enhancing international students’ library use.

The regulation of insurance intermediaries in the Australian financial services market

The insurance industry discharges a critical role in the Australian economy and is a significant part of the Australian financial services market. The industry relies upon intermediaries, the principal types being brokers and agents, to promote, arrange and distribute their products and services in the market. The pivotal role that they play in this context and sensitivities associated with the consumer oriented products, such as house and contents insurance, has ensured close regulatory attention. Of particular importance was the passage of the Insurance (Agents and Brokers) Act 1984 (Cth), a comprehensive attempt to address the responsibilities of intermediaries as well as particular problem areas associated with the handling of money. However, with the introduction of financial services and market reform early in the new millennium this insurance intermediary specific regulatory approach was abandoned in favour of a market-wide strategy; that is, market reform was based upon across-the-board licensing, disclosure, conduct and fairness standards, and all financial products and services are now regulated at a generic level under Ch 7 of the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth). This article briefly explores the categories of insurance intermediaries and the relevant distinctions between them but focuses mainly upon the regulatory context in which they operate. This context transcends a strictly legal framework as the regulatory body, the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC), has sought to inform and guide the market through Policy Statements and Regulatory Guides. The usefulness of these guides as an adjunct to the legislation in explaining the scope and operation of regulatory framework is examined. In addition, the article looks at the self-regulatory and dispute resolution practices in this area and their impact. In conclusion an assessment of this across-the-board regulatory regime is advanced.

Reading nineteenth century schoolbooks online : user behavior in a digitized special collection

Special collections, because of the issues associated with conservation and use, a feature they share with archives, tend to be the most digitized areas in libraries. The Nineteenth Century Schoolbooks collection is a collection of 9000 rarely held nineteenth-century schoolbooks that were painstakingly collected over a lifetime of work by Prof. John A. Nietz, and donated to the Hillman Library at the University of Pittsburgh in 1958, which has since grown to 15,000. About 140 of these texts are completely digitized and showcased in a publicly accessible website through the University of Pittsburgh’s Library, along with a searchable bibliography of the entire collection, which expanded the awareness of this collection and its user base to beyond the academic community. The URL for the website is http://digital.library.pitt.edu/nietz/. The collection is a rich resource for researchers studying the intellectual, educational, and textbook publishing history of the United States. In this study, we examined several existing records collected by the Digital Research Library at the University of Pittsburgh in order to determine the identity and searching behaviors of the users of this collection. Some of the records examined include: 1) The results of a 3-month long user survey, 2) User access statistics including search queries for a period of one year, a year after the digitized collection became publicly available in 2001, and 3) E-mail input received by the website over 4 years from 2000-2004. The results of the study demonstrate the differences in online retrieval strategies used by academic researchers and historians, archivists, avocationists, and the general public, and the importance of facilitating the discovery of digitized special collections through the use of electronic finding aids and an interactive interface with detailed metadata.

Multitasking information behaviour in public libraries : a survey study

Multitasking information behaviour is the human ability to handle the demands of multiple information tasks concurrently. When we multitask, we work on two or more tasks and switch between those tasks. Multitasking is the way most of us deal with the complex environment we all live in, and recent studies show that people often engage in multitasking information behaviours. Multitasking information behaviours are little understood, however, and an important area for information behaviour research. Our study investigated the multitasking information behaviours of public library users at the Brentwood and Wilkinsburg Public Libraries in Pittsburgh through diary questionnaires. Findings include that some 63.5 percent of library users engaged in multitasking information behaviours, with a mean of 2.5 topic changes and 2.8 topics per library visit. A major finding of our study is that many people in libraries are seeking information on multiple topics and are engaged in multitasking behaviours. The implications of our findings and further research are also discussed. (Contains 7 tables and 2 figures.)

Conceptualising a capstone experience for law students

Currently the final year curriculum in most, if not all, Australian law schools is delivered in a disjointed way which is not engaging final year students in a genuine capstone experience that supports the development of their professional identity and their transition out of university. The possible benefits of a capstone experience include preparing law students for the practice of law by assisting them to synthesise and extend their knowledge and skills, develop a professional identity that incorporates moral, ethical and social values, and become skilled problem solvers and life-long learners who can meet the rigours of the dynamic, competitive, and challenging world of twenty-first century legal practice. In 2009 the ALTC funded the “Curriculum renewal in legal education” project which seeks to achieve curriculum renewal for legal education through the articulation of a set of curriculum design principles for the final year and the design of a transferable model for an effective final year program. The three cornerstone capstone curriculum objectives identified by the project are closure of the tertiary experience, reflection on that experience, and transitioning from university student to legal professional. These cornerstone curriculum objectives will inform the development of the final year principles and model program. This paper will report on the progress that has been made on the project including a meeting of the project reference group held in February 2010 and the draft curriculum design principles.

Integrating a sustainable academic career around scholarly learning and teaching activities

To be scholarly in learning and teaching is rigorous academic work. It demands: currency and command of both discipline subject matter and educational theory; inquiring, methodical, and reflective approaches; the collection, evaluation and documentation of evidence of learning and teaching efficacy; and, optimally, entails participation in and communication among a community of teaching professionals. This chapter examines the author’s own practice in this regard to explicate the ‘how’ and ‘why’ of scholarly and scholarship approaches, as much as the ‘what’ and ‘where’ of that endeavour. In doing so, this meta‐analysis is made ‘community property’, in the same way that Shulman (1993: 6) exhorted we ‘change the status of teaching from private to community property’ so that teaching might be more greatly valued in the academy.