Interdiscursive collaboration in public relations contexts

Interdiscursive collaborative construction of professional genres (Bhatia, 2004 & 2010; Bremner, 2006; Smart, 2006) within the framework of “communities of practice” (Lave & Wenger, 1991) can be viewed as a useful instrument for developing writing expertise to initiate novice writers into the conventions of corporate writing. Drawing on evidence from public relations (PR) writing contexts in Hong Kong, the paper focuses on the dynamics of participation in collaborative PR practice and on the deconstruction of the collaborative process as evidenced in the deconstruction of various drafts (from brainstorming to the final product) and through the perceptions of some of the key PR practitioners in the industry. The paper will have implications for our understanding of interdiscursivity in genre theory (Bhatia, 2010) and for the collaborative writing process within the academy as well as in the workplace.

System size dependence of associated yields in hadron-triggered jets STAR Collaboration

We present results on the system size dependence of high transverse momentum di-hadron correlations at root s(NN) = 200 GeV as measured by STAR at RHIC. Measurements in d + Au, Cu + Cu and Au + Au collisions reveal similar jet-like near-side correlation yields (correlations at small angular separation Delta phi similar to 0, Delta eta similar to 0) for all systems and centralities. Previous measurements have shown Chat the away-side (Delta phi similar to pi) yield is suppressed in heavy-ion collisions. We present measurements of the away-side Suppression as a function of transverse momentum and centrality in Cu + Cu and Au + Au collisions. The suppression is found to be similar in Cu + Cu and An + An collisions at a similar number of participants. The results are compared to theoretical calculations based on the patron quenching model and the modified fragmentation model. The observed differences between data and theory indicate that the correlated yields presented here will further constrain dynamic energy loss models and provide information about the dynamic density profile in heavy-ion collisions. (C) 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Concentric characterization and classification of complex network nodes: Application to an institutional collaboration network

Differently from theoretical scale-free networks, most real networks present multi-scale behavior, with nodes structured in different types of functional groups and communities. While the majority of approaches for classification of nodes in a complex network has relied on local measurements of the topology/connectivity around each node, valuable information about node functionality can be obtained by concentric (or hierarchical) measurements. This paper extends previous methodologies based on concentric measurements, by studying the possibility of using agglomerative clustering methods, in order to obtain a set of functional groups of nodes, considering particular institutional collaboration network nodes, including various known communities (departments of the University of Sao Paulo). Among the interesting obtained findings, we emphasize the scale-free nature of the network obtained, as well as identification of different patterns of authorship emerging from different areas (e.g. human and exact sciences). Another interesting result concerns the relatively uniform distribution of hubs along concentric levels, contrariwise to the non-uniform pattern found in theoretical scale-free networks such as the BA model. (C) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

A full family of multimodal maps on the circle

We exhibit a family of trigonometric polynomials inducing a family of 2m-multimodal maps on the circle which contains all relevant dynamical behavior.

RailsTNE : En multimodal informationsplattform i ett interorganisatoriskt nätverk

Att utreda möjligheterna att etablera dataförsörjning riktade mot multimodala transporttjänster är idag av största intresse. Det är också intressant att försöka utnyttja de standarder som tagits fram när en dataförsörjningskedja ska etableras. Detta examensarbete genomfördes på Triona AB i Borlänge. Triona har utvecklat databasen Transport Network Engine (TNE), som idag används för att läsa in data från Nationella VägDataBasen (NVDB) och från skogsnäringen. Målet med arbetet var att ta fram en informationsmodell, som beskriver hur ett transportnät med nätanknutna data, som stödjer multimodala transporter och resor, kan lagras i TNE. En förlängning av målet blev att, utifrån ett givet användarfall, etablera dataförsörjning till TNE och lägga in de nödvändiga datamängderna. TNE bygger på ESRI:s produkter och funktionalitet för hantering av geografisk information och informationsmodell och datahantering i TNE baseras på internationella och svenska standarder. Idag finns all information om järnvägsnätet hos Banverket och det finns ingen koppling mellan Banverkets databas Baninformationssystemet (BIS) och Vägverkets databas NVDB. För att den kopplingen ska kunna ske, krävs att de båda verken kan samarbeta som två stora organisationer i ett väl fungerande nätverk. Ett så kallat interorganisatoriskt nätverk. Det akademiska syftet var att föreslå en arkitekturstrategi som stödjer ett sådant nätverk. Vi upptäckte att arkitekturstrategierna IRM och VBS är uppbyggda för att inrikta sig på enskilda organisationer, och det visade sig svårt att följa en specifik strategi inom ett nätverk med flera organisationer. I vårt användarfall måste nätverket mellan Banverket, Vägverket och Stora Enso samarbeta över organisationsgränserna. Därför behövs en strategi för ett interorganisatoriskt samarbete så att informationen kan struktureras på ett gemensamt sätt. Vi föreslår ett antal idealtypskriterier som vi utgått efter i struktureringen av systemarkitekturen. Den innehåller en informationsmodell för både väg- och järnvägsdata som följer standarden SS 63 70 04. Arbetet avgränsades till att endast innehålla de datamängder som användarfallet kräver. Vi har analyserat KombiTIF-rapporten som är ett avslutat projekt styrt av Banverket på uppdrag av Näringsdepartementet. Rapporten ger ett förslag på en lösning i form av en arena som ska göra data tillgänglig för användning. Vi väljer att se TNE-plattformen som en realisering av denna arena. Enligt vårt förslg så ska TNE-plattformen hämta in det mest grundläggande datat om järnvägsnät och nätanknuten data från BIS och standardiserad information om vägnät och nätanknuten data från NVDB via ett gränssnitt. I framtiden är det möjligt att på samma sätt ta in andra trafiknät såsom Sjöfartsverket, Luftfartsverket och Rikstrafiken. Vi arbetade efter en egen metod som vi tog fram med valda delar från andra metoder; kartläggning, perspektivanalys, verksamhetsanalys, utveckling och utvärdering. Arbetet genomfördes iterativt i de fem olika faserna.

Baking Dalarna's biking cake : Collaboration as a means for destination competitiveness, a case study of “Biking Dalarna"

In the contemporary tourism industry, the competitive game is between destinations. Tourism operations struggle to remain competitive on the international market and their success depends to a large extent on other complementary and competing tourism organizations at the destination. It is the sum of the total tourism offerings at the destination which determines its attractiveness. This research explores tourism collaboration process as a means of generating destination competitiveness. The focus of the research is on the enhancing factors which contribute to the success of the collaboration and to the development of quality tourism products. The research studies the case of Biking Dalarna, a collaboration of different organizations at five biking destinations in Dalarna, Sweden. Its purpose is to develop biking tourism in the region and to make Dalarna into Sweden’s leading biking destination. It is a qualitative research; the empirical data was collected through in depth interviews with representatives of six Biking Dalarna member organizations. The qualitative data collected from the participants provides inside look into the members reflections and experience of collaborating. The findings of this research demonstrate how collaboration has improved the biking product in Dalarna and promoted solutions to development problems. The research finds the good relationship between the collaborating actors and the involvement and leadership of the regional tourism management organization as the most contributing factors to the success of Biking Dalarna. The research also suggests that a third desired outcome of collaboration, improved marketing attributes was yet to be achieved in the case of Biking Dalarna.

About Collaboration, Interaction, and the Negotiation of Meaning in Synchronous Written Chats in L2-German

Open Access

Multimodal Literacy as a form of Communication : What is the state of the students at Dalarna University multimodal literacy?

Literacy is an invaluable asset to have, and has allowed for communication, documentation and the spreading of ideas since the beginning of the written language. With technological advancements, and new possibilities to communicate, it is important to question the degree to which people’s abilities to utilise these new methods have developed in relation to these emerging technologies. The purpose of this bachelor’s thesis is to analyse the state of students’ at Dalarna University mulitimodal literacy, as well as their experience of multimodality in their education. This has led to the two main research questions: What is the state of the students at Dalarna University multimodal literacy? And: How have the students at Dalarna University experienced multimodality in education? The paper is based on a mixed-method study that incorporates both a quantitative and qualitative aspect to it. The main thrust of the research paper is, however, based on a quantitative study that was conducted online and emailed to students via their program coordinators. The scope of the research is in audio-visual modes, i.e. audio, video and images, while textual literacy is presumed and serves as an inspiration to the study. The purpose of the study is to analyse the state of the students’ multimodal literacy and their experience of multimodality in education. The study revealed that the students at Dalarna University have most skill in image editing, while not being very literate in audio or video editing. The students seem to have had mediocre experience creating meaning through multimodality both in private use and in their respective educational institutions. The study also reveals that students prefer learning by means of video (rather than text or audio), yet are not able to create meaning (communicate) through it.

Multimodalt skrivande - förutsättningar och lärandemöjligheter : Litteraturstudie om mellanstadieelevers lärandemöjligheter vid multimodalt skrivande inom svenskämnet och förutsättningar för en multimodal skrivundervisning

Kursplanen i svenska förklarar att eleverna ska utveckla det multimodala skrivandet inom svenskämnet. Det multimodala skrivandet innebär att ord, bild och ljud kombineras och samspelar. Huvudsyftet med den här litteraturstudien har varit att undersöka hur det multimodala skrivandet inom svenskämnet för årskurs 4-6 kan se ut, vilka kompetenser och resurser som krävs för att bedriva en multimodal skrivundervisning, samt vilket slags lärande det multimodala skrivandet kan ge upphov till hos eleverna. Litteraturstudien visar att det multimodala skrivandet kan förekomma såväl analogt som digitalt. Vidare visar den att svensk forskning på området är mycket begränsad. De artiklar och avhandlingar som inkluderats i litteraturstudien visar att forskare är eniga om att lärare behöver utveckla sina kunskaper om olika teckenvärldar, såsom auditiva och visuella, för att göra elever medvetna om teckenvärldarnas meningspotential och samspel. Det multimodala skrivandet ger upphov till en form av samordnat lärande, eftersom det multimodala skrivandet är en komplex process, som kräver att eleverna får explicit undervisning om aktuell digital programvara och teckenvärldarnas meningsskapande. Multimodalt skrivande är ett vanligt inslag utanför skolan, men bör få tillträde in i skolvärlden. Det förutsätter att digitala resurser finns tillgängliga och att lärare är positivt inställda till den multimodala skrivutvecklingen.

A Resource Centric Approach For Advancing Collaboration Through Hydrologic Data And Model Sharing

HydroShare is an online, collaborative system being developed for open sharing of hydrologic data and models. The goal of HydroShare is to enable scientists to easily discover and access hydrologic data and models, retrieve them to their desktop or perform analyses in a distributed computing environment that may include grid, cloud or high performance computing model instances as necessary. Scientists may also publish outcomes (data, results or models) into HydroShare, using the system as a collaboration platform for sharing data, models and analyses. HydroShare is expanding the data sharing capability of the CUAHSI Hydrologic Information System by broadening the classes of data accommodated, creating new capability to share models and model components, and taking advantage of emerging social media functionality to enhance information about and collaboration around hydrologic data and models. One of the fundamental concepts in HydroShare is that of a Resource. All content is represented using a Resource Data Model that separates system and science metadata and has elements common to all resources as well as elements specific to the types of resources HydroShare will support. These will include different data types used in the hydrology community and models and workflows that require metadata on execution functionality. The HydroShare web interface and social media functions are being developed using the Drupal content management system. A geospatial visualization and analysis component enables searching, visualizing, and analyzing geographic datasets. The integrated Rule-Oriented Data System (iRODS) is being used to manage federated data content and perform rule-based background actions on data and model resources, including parsing to generate metadata catalog information and the execution of models and workflows. This presentation will introduce the HydroShare functionality developed to date, describe key elements of the Resource Data Model and outline the roadmap for future development.

Using Technology to Increase Collaboration Between the Library, Teaching Faculty, and the Campus at Large

This article outlines many different ways of using technology to better link academic librarians and faculty, focusing particularly on how the appropriate use of technology in Acquisitions can improve the image of the library. The article presents a comprehensive overview of how technologies can be used to make Acquisitions not just a book purchasing department, but a department that works proactively to impress consituents, helping to make the library a central and prestigious part of the campus community. While the article's primary focus is on academic libraries, much of the discussion is also applicable to other types of libraries.