Bridging the copyright and licensing knowledge gap

Objectives: The purpose of this project was to examine the copyright and licensing knowledge gap of academic staff to identify their current understanding of, and attitudes towards, copyright, licensing and the open access movement in relation to the content they use, create, and share in their teaching and research practice. The motivation behind this study was to gather information to assist the Library in creating and providing effective information resources and training for academic staff.

Methods: An anonymous online survey was distributed to Faculty of Health academic staff at Deakin University. Seventy individuals in the Faculty of Health completed the survey.

Results: The results suggested that most of the academics have used content created by others in their teaching materials, but they are not confident about complying with copyright or licensing conditions whilst doing so. Most had not posted any of their own content online, but would generally be willing for it to be used by others, with attribution. Around half had never posted their published articles in an institutional or discipline repository, but again, would be willing for them to be used for educational purposes. Most academics have never shared their research data online, and some were very unwilling to do so - despite current pushes to broaden access to research data sets. Finally, most had never applied a Creative Commons licence to a piece of work, and over half were unaware of what rights they had retained under publishing agreements for their work. It was strongly indicated that an informational website would be very helpful in providing guidance around topics of copyright, licensing and sharing.

Conclusions: Results were largely consistent with other similar studies conducted around these topics. There is a clear role for librarians to continue providing such training and resources as the push for Open Access resources, publishing, and data only gains momentum.

Evidence for sustainable e-learning in quality online learning environments: a purposive approach to content analysis

This paper examines a methodology for establishing quality in online learning environments. For e-learning to be sustainable in flexible, open and distance learning, its value in learning must be able to be analysed. In the case of computer conferencing, one way to do this is with content analysis. This methodology is discussed with a review of current frameworks. These indicate that while some researchers and evaluators either use or modify existing frameworks, most researchers develop new ones, generally through the adaptation of existing theories, concepts or model, but in some cases through grounded theory approaches. The development and implementation of two frameworks are then discussed in detail. Both were developed to investigate and evaluate both collaborative learning and deep and surface learning as evidenced in computer conferences. Evidence of such learning attributes are precisely the elements of value in e-learning that can be shown through such a methodology. These attributes can then be integrated into courses developed for quality online learning environments.

Donor-п-acceptor conjugated copolymers for photovoltaic applications : tuning the open-circuit voltage by adjusting the donor/acceptor ratio

A class of new conjugated copolymers containing a donor (thiophene)−acceptor (2-pyran-4-ylidene-malononitrile) was synthesized via Stille coupling polymerization. The resulting copolymers were characterized by 1H NMR, elemental analysis, GPC, TGA, and DSC. UV−vis spectra indicated that the increase in the content of the thiophene units increased the interaction between the polymer main chains to cause a red-shift in the optical absorbance. Cyclic voltammetry was used to estimate the energy levels of the lowest unoccupied molecular orbital (LUMO) and the highest occupied molecular orbital (HOMO) and the band gap (Eg) of the copolymers. The basic electronic structures of the copolymers were also studied by DFT calculations with the GGA/B3LYP function. Both the experimental and the calculated results indicated an increase in the HOMO energy level with increasing the content of thiophene units, whereas the corresponding change in the LUMO energy level was much smaller. Polymer photovoltaic cells of a bulk heterojunction were fabricated with the structure of ITO/PEDOT/PSS (30 nm)/copolymer−PCBM blend (70 nm)/Ca (8 nm)/Al (140 nm). It was found that the open-circuit voltage (Voc) increased (up to 0.93 V) with a decrease in the content of thiophene units. Although the observed power convention efficiency is still relatively low (up to 0.9%), the corresponding low fill factor (0.29) indicates considerable room for further improvement in the device performance. These results provided a novel concept for developing high Voc photovoltaic cells based on donor-π-acceptor conjugated copolymers by adjusting the donor/acceptor ratio.

Technology licensing and grantbacks under hidden information

This paper explores technological transfer via licensing under hidden information. The transaction features a quality choice of technology to be transferred between a licensor and a licensee that has private information about its ability to implement and refine the technology. The model accounts for the possible damage that drastic refinements and reverse licensing can do to the licensor's market position, and makes predictions on the structure of licensing contracts. We show under what conditions a licensing contract will include a further contractual provision such as a grantback clause. Finally, the welfare implications of grantback inclusion are assessed.

Closed vs open corporate social networking communities : a case study of the Victoria Police and Dairy Australia.

The availability of affordable, user-friendly audio-visual equipment, software and the Internet, allows anyone to become a content creator or media outlet. This exploratory case study examines the adoption of social networking by Victoria Police and Diary Australia, a non-media and non-profit organization respectively, in corporate communication, public infmmation and community relations. The paper initiates discussions on the implications for traditional media and audiences of this phenomenon. It content analyzed the two websites during a two-week period and conducted interviews with their moderators about the sites' content, functions and efficacy. The purpose, role and community acceptance of these sites are examined, along with organizational motivations for establishing these channels to reach audiences, bypassing traditional media's gatekeeping function. It highlights how these organizations may set both media and public agendas when traditional media use this web content in their news gathering and reporting, similar to using press releases in the past.

"You Tube and I Find" - personalizing multimedia content access

Recent growth in broadband access and proliferation of small personal devices that capture images and videos has led to explosive growth of multimedia content available everywhereVfrom personal disks to the Web. While digital media capture and upload has become nearly universal with newer device technology, there is still a need for better tools and technologies to search large collections of multimedia data and to find and deliver the right content to a user according to her current needs and preferences. A renewed focus on the subjective dimension in the multimedia lifecycle, fromcreation, distribution, to delivery and consumption, is required to address this need beyond what is feasible today. Integration of the subjective aspects of the media itselfVits affective, perceptual, and physiological potential (both intended and achieved), together with those of the users themselves will allow for personalizing the content access, beyond today’s facility. This integration, transforming the traditional multimedia information retrieval (MIR) indexes to more effectively answer specific user needs, will allow a richer degree of personalization predicated on user intention and mode of interaction, relationship to the producer, content of the media, and their history and lifestyle. In this paper, we identify the challenges in achieving this integration, current approaches to interpreting content creation processes, to user modelling and profiling, and to personalized content selection, and we detail future directions. The structure of the paper is as follows: In Section I, we introduce the problem and present some definitions. In Section II, we present a review of the aspects of personalized content and current approaches for the same. Section III discusses the problem of obtaining metadata that is required for personalized media creation and present eMediate as a case study of an integrated media capture environment. Section IV presents the MAGIC system as a case study of capturing effective descriptive data and putting users first in distributed learning delivery. The aspects of modelling the user are presented as a case study in using user’s personality as a way to personalize summaries in Section V. Finally, Section VI concludes the paper with a discussion on the emerging challenges and the open problems.

“Giving Dracula the keys to the blood bank? Interrogating the Fifth Crown Casino Licensing Regulatory Review

Drawing on narrative analysis, this paper analyses the 2013 Fifth Regulatory Review of the license of an Australian casino as a case study focused on the framing and articulation of ‘responsible gambling’ (RG) in the Review. Part 1 sets out the policy and regulatory context for the licensing review of Melbourne’s Crown Casino. Part 2 overviews the structure/content of the Review; the key messages of the Reviewers’ narrative and its main recommendations. In reflecting on the Review in Part 3, analysis focuses on the investigation and recommendations regarding Responsible Gambling, which has gained recent policy priority. The analysis interrogates the Review’s findings, narratives, processes and evidentiary base in relation to how it presents and assesses casino performance on RG. In doing so, it focuses on the Victorian Commission for Gambling and Liquor Regulation’s Review’s framing of RG; sources of evidence drawn on by the Review; an assessment of the casino’s loyalty club feature ‘Play Safe’, as an RG measure; the Review’s assessment of casino performance on RG and its Code of Conduct in particular; and the Review’s framing of RG recommendations. It concludes with reflections on governance issues raised by the Review, the need for more focus on the neglected area of regulatory licensing and enforcement (OECD, 2011; 2012; OECD & European Commission, 2009) and the need for independent regulatory reviews that address conflicts of interest on the part of both Government and the Regulator.

Internet content regulation, public drug websites and the growth in hidden Internet services

Governments have traditionally censored drug-related information, both in traditional media and, in recent years, in online media. We explore Internet content regulation from a drug-policy perspective by describing the likely impacts of censoring drug websites and the parallel growth in hidden Internet services. Australia proposes a compulsory Internet filtering regime that would block websites that ‘depict, express or otherwise deal with matters of… drug misuse or addiction’ and/or ‘promote, incite or instruct in matters of crime’. In this article, we present findings from a mixed-methods study of online drug discussion. Our research found that websites dealing with drugs, that would likely be blocked by the filter, in fact contributed positively to harm reduction. Such sites helped people access more comprehensive and relevant information than was available elsewhere. Blocking these websites would likely drive drug discussion underground at a time when corporate-controlled ‘walled gardens’ (e.g. Facebook) and proprietary operating systems on mobile devices may also limit open drug discussion. At the same time, hidden Internet services, such as Silk Road, have emerged that are not affected by Internet filtering. The inability for any government to regulate Tor websites and the crypto-currency Bitcoin poses a unique challenge to drug prohibition policies.
Read More: http://informahealthcare.com/doi/full/10.3109/09687637.2012.745828

An empirical study of user perceived usefulness and preference of open learner model visualisations

Many higher education institutions have reformed their academic programmes to adopt unit learning outcomes. It is essential for effective learning management tools to support this fundamental transformation. We see the need for a tool that provides visualisations of Open Learner Models (OLM) and associated e-portfolio content to guide students in achieving intended learning outcomes, help evidence their learning andkeep them engaged in their study. OLMs surface the relationship between learning activities and tasks, formative and summativeassessment, and intended learning outcomes. We have developedand validated a set of candidate visualisations for such OLMs. We report key findings from our study in terms of potential users’ feedback on our tool’s support for tracking learning progress against learning outcomes. Our findings can inform and refine learning management systems.