Streetwise Asia, a practical guide for the conservation and revitalisation of heritage cities and towns in Asia.

This is a practical and accessible guide for residents and professionals concerned to preserve and revitalise heritage cities in Asia. Heritage cities (many listed by UNESCO) are of course of major interest to one of the world's largest industries, tourism. Using inset colour photographs to complement the text, the realities of destructive and constructive development, repairs, restoration and usage are made clear. Legal, financial, administrative, historical and educational aspects of conservation policies, incentives and implementations are discussed. With outlines for strategy, goals and bibliography.

Writing reports for court : a practical guide for psychologists working in forensic contexts

Examines relevant mental health state legislation relating to criminal, civil and family courts and then sets out a logical structure for writing reports for such matters.

Recalling yesterday, predicting tomorrow : revisit South Australia conservation practice for heritage mining places, a practical guide for Malaysia

Mining started in South Australia in the early 1840s with the discovery of silver-lead ore at Glen Osmond in 1841 and later copper in Kapunda in 1842 and Burra in 1845; all these discoveries greatly contributed to South Australia's economic development. South Australia entered the mining era at the time when the Cornish engine was at the peak of its development, and the horizontal engine was beginning its rise in popularity. These South Australian historic mining sites contain extensive extant evidence of technology, innovation and human endeavours that previously went into the mining activity. This paper seeks to critically review items for inclusion on the South Australian State Heritage Register, the character of mining heritage places, enforcement by legislation, interpretation of the heritage assessment and how these practices could guide Malaysia in recognizing industrial heritage as a significant part of its cultural heritage that needs to be conserved, restored and managed as a legacy for present and future generations.

A practical guide to the application of the IUCN Red List of Ecosystems criteria

The newly developed IUCN Red List of Ecosystems is part of a growing toolbox for assessing risks to biodiversity, which addresses ecosystems and their functioning. The Red List of Ecosystems standard allows systematic assessment of all freshwater, marine, terrestrial and subterranean ecosystem types in terms of their global risk of collapse. In addition, the Red List of Ecosystems categories and criteria provide a technical base for assessments of ecosystem status at the regional, national, or subnational level. While the Red List of Ecosystems criteria were designed to be widely applicable by scientists and practitioners, guidelines are needed to ensure they are implemented in a standardized manner to reduce epistemic uncertainties and allow robust comparisons among ecosystems and over time. We review the intended application of the Red List of Ecosystems assessment process, summarize 'best-practice' methods for ecosystem assessments and outline approaches to ensure operational rigour of assessments. The Red List of Ecosystems will inform priority setting for ecosystem types worldwide, and strengthen capacity to report on progress towards the Aichi Targets of the Convention on Biological Diversity. When integrated with other IUCN knowledge products, such as the World Database of Protected Areas/Protected Planet, Key Biodiversity Areas and the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, the Red List of Ecosystems will contribute to providing the most complete global measure of the status of biodiversity yet achieved.

A practical guide to averaging functions

Averaging is ubiquitous in many sciences, engineering, and everyday practice. The notions of the arithmetic, geometric, and harmonic means developed by the ancient Greeks are in widespread use today. When thinking of an average, most people would use arithmetic mean, “the average”, or perhaps its weighted version in order to associate the inputs with the degrees of importance. While this is certainly the simplest and most intuitive averaging function, its use is often not warranted. For example, when averaging the interest rates, it is the geometric and not the arithmetic mean which is the right method. On the other hand, the arithmetic mean can also be biased for a few extreme inputs, and hence can convey false meaning. This is the reason why real estate markets report the median and not the average prices (which could be biased by one or a few outliers), and why judges’ marks in some Olympic sports are trimmed of the smallest and the largest values.

Interviewing : a guide for journalists and writers

A practical guide to all aspects of interviewing for print and broadcast journalists and writers. The authors explain how to prepare, and what to do when you don't have time to prepare; outline the difference between "soft" and "hard" interviews; and show how to make the most of any interview.

A guide to interviewing children : essential skills for counsellors, police, lawyers and social workers

This book has been written by two people who really understand children. [They show how to] create opportunities to reduce the trauma of the interview and significantly improve the quality of the information obtained. Chief Constable A.J. Butler Gloucestershire Constabulary A few years ago, a Chief Justice said that it was unnecessary to educate lawyers and judges in the techniques of interviewing children because it was 'just common sense'. The authors show that successful interviewing requires much more than 'common sense'. Freda Briggs, Professor of Child Development, University of South Australia...an excellent book for students and professionals in forensic psychology, policing and social work.Helen Westcott, PhD, The Open UniversityIt is critical that children are interviewed properly in cases of suspected abuse or where the children may be witnesses to or victims of a crime. Poor questioning can upset the child further and contaminate evidence that may be needed in court. Interviewing Children is a practical guide to interviewing techniques for a range of professionals including welfare workers, psychologists, schoolteachers and counsellors, police officers and lawyers. Step by step, it outlines the key stages of an interview, and how to respond to the child's needs during an interview. It explains how to deal with children of different ages and from different backgrounds, and also how to work with their parents. Particular attention is paid to the sensitive issue of sexual abuse, and the problems created by multiple interviews.Clare Wilson lectures in the Department of Psychology at the University of Sydney. Martine Powell lectures in the School of Psychology at Deakin University. Both have trained police officers, social workers and legal professionals in interviewing techniques in Australia and the UK.------------------Full quotes to go on half-title page:This book has been written by two people who really understand children. In passing on their knowledge to professionals who engage with children in the interview room, they create opportunities to reduce the trauma of the interview and significantly improve the quality of the information obtained. Writing in a clear and fresh style, the authors have produced a book which is valuable as a point of reference, a day to day tool and as a training aid to develop skills.Chief Constable A.J. Butler Gloucestershire ConstabularyThis book should be read by all professionals who work with children and could findthemselves receiving disclosures of abuse. It is practical, easy to read and full of examples and hints. It should be a compulsory text for social work studen

A review of employment relations theories and their application

New developments in the industrial relations and human resource management have moved management and employee bargaining down to the level of the firm. In doing so they have generated a growing level of interest in the conduct of employment relations, not just at the level of specialist managers, who have traditionally had the responsibility for dealing with issues in this area, but across management as a whole. There is thus a growing need for managers to place more emphasis on achieving a greater symmetry between commercial objectives and employment practices. This paper looks at the predicates of managerial authority and its legitimacy, and how personal assumptions and value systems (i.e., ‘frames of reference’) held by managers can predispose them to view the nature of work and workplace relations in particular ways. The paper also presents
and aligns a range of contemporary theories within the province of such systems, with the aim being to show how judgements made about the worth or otherwise of a given range of theories are inevitably shaped by the type of value system and set of assumptions one holds towards the
world of work. The paper concludes by offering a practical guide to managers on how to evaluate their own assumptions and value systems when applying the noted theories and concepts to real world circumstances. In doing so, the paper provides a tool kit of theories and concepts that should allow managers to avoid engaging in workforce management practices that are either illconceived or based on intuitive premises.

Mixed methods : a research design for management doctoral dissertations

Purpose – This paper seeks to examine two management doctoral research projects to highlight the advantages in mixed methods as the primary research design.
Design/methodology/approach – This paper summarises the methods of data collection and analysis which were used by two doctoral students in their management research. The researchers used mixed methods approaches (quantitative and qualitative) to explore different areas of management.
Findings – The paper supports the view that triangulation of research methods strengthens the findings and inferences made for understanding social phenomena in more depth, compared to using a single method.
Research limitations/implications – The paper relies excessively on two doctoral research projects which utilise sequential mixed methods. Therefore, arguments made in the paper are specific because other doctoral projects that have used different methods from those employed in the two projects were not considered.
Practical implications – Early researchers, in particular students commencing doctorate studies, should apply mixed methods research because it develops skills in the two most dominant data collection methods used in management research. This paper is a practical guide on how this could be done effectively.
Originality/value – The paper is drawn from two unique doctoral research projects. The paper’s originality and value is in providing experiences and practical insights on how mixed methods research is undertaken.