Sociocultural animation

The emergence of global computer networks and the ubiquitous availability of advanced information and communication technology (ICT) since the mid Nineties has given rise to the hope that the traditional disadvantages faced by regional economies and regional communities could be elevated easily and swiftly. Yet, the experience of both community informatics and community development researchers and practitioners tells a different tale. Although the potential of ICT is in fact realised in some situations and locations and does provide means to ensure sustainability in some regional communities, elsewhere it has not been taken up or has not been able to elicit change for the promised better. Too many communities are still faced by a centralised structure in the context of commerce, service provision or governance and by various degrees of digital divides between connected and disconnected, between media literate and illiterate, between young and old, and between urban and rural. Many attempts to close or bridge the digital divide have been reported with various degrees of success (cf. Menou, 2001; Servon, 2002). Most of these accounts echo a common voice in that they report similar principles of action, and they reflect – in most cases unconsciously – practices of sociocultural animation. This article seeks to shed light onto the concept of sociocultural animation which is already commonplace in various forms in the arts, in education and professional development, youth work, sports, town planning, careers services, entrepreneurship and tourism. It starts by exploring the origins of sociocultural animation and draws parallels to the current state of research and practice. It unpacks the foundation of sociocultural animation and briefly describes underlying principles and how they can be applied in the context of community informatics and developing regional communities with ICT. Finally, further areas of investigation are being proposed.

Building essential BPM capabilities to assist successful ICT deployment in the developing context : observations and recommendations from Sri Lanka

The role of Information and Communications Technology (ICT) has been identified as an important factor by the United Nations in achieving the millennium development goals (UNAPCICT, 2012)1. The potential for ICT has been identified as a means to reducing poverty, creating global communities by providing access to the internet and mobile networks to rural communities, improving education services, medical services, and information availability. As of today, significant amounts of funds have been invested by the governments and donor organizations in ‘Information and Communication Technologies for Development (ICT4D)’projects by establishing telecenters, e-villages, e-health, electronic and mobile banking, and egovernment systems for citizens in general, and more specifically, rural communities to bridge the digital divide (Heeks & Molla, 2009).

Male reproductive health disorders among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander men : a hidden problem?

OBJECTIVE: To better understand help-seeking behaviours and reproductive health disorders among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander men. DESIGN, SETTING AND PARTICIPANTS: A cross-sectional mixed-methods study conducted from 1 May 2004 to 30 April 2005 of 293 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander men aged 18 years and over from urban, rural and remote communities in the Northern Territory and Queensland. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Subscale of the International Index of Erectile Function, self-reported help-seeking behaviours for erectile dysfunction (ED) and prostate disease, thematic analysis of semi-structured interviews and focus groups. RESULTS: The prevalence of moderate-to-severe ED increased across age groups, from about 10% in younger men (under 35 years) to 28% in men aged 55-74 years. Moderate-to-severe ED was strongly associated with reporting a chronic condition (odds ratio [OR], 3.67) and residing in a remote area (OR, 2.94). Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander men aged 40-59 years showed similar low levels of help-seeking behaviours compared with non-Indigenous men from a comparable population-based study. About half of the men with ED saw a doctor or received treatment for ED in each population. While prostate cancer rates were low in both studies, testing for prostate problems was less frequent in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander men (11.4%) than in non-Indigenous men (34.1%, P < 0.001), despite similar levels of concern about prostate cancer. Barriers to help-seeking included shame, culturally inappropriate services and lack of awareness. CONCLUSION: This study, the first to investigate reproductive health of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander men, found low levels of help-seeking behaviours for reproductive health disorders, with implications for missing a predictor of chronic disease and late diagnosis of prostate disease.

Investigation of energy efficient approaches for the energy performance improvement of commercial buildings

Energy efficiency of buildings is attracting significant attention from the research community as the world is moving towards sustainable buildings design. Energy efficient approaches are measures or ways to improve the energy performance and energy efficiency of buildings. This study surveyed various energy-efficient approaches for commercial building and identifies Envelope Thermal Transfer Value (ETTV) and Green applications (Living wall, Green facade and Green roof) as most important and effective methods. An in-depth investigation was carried out on these energy-efficient approaches. It has been found that no ETTV model has been developed for sub-tropical climate of Australia. Moreover, existing ETTV equations developed for other countries do not take roof heat gain into consideration. Furthermore, the relationship of ETTV and different Green applications have not been investigated extensively in any literature, and the energy performance of commercial buildings in the presence of Living wall, Green facade and Green roof has not been investigated in the sub-tropical climate of Australia. The study has been conducted in two phases. First, the study develops the new formulation, coefficient and bench mark value of ETTV in the presence of external shading devices. In the new formulation, roof heat gain has been included in the integrated heat gain model made of ETTV. In the 2nd stage, the study presents the relationship of thermal and energy performance of (a) Living wall and ETTV (b) Green facade and ETTV (c) Combination of Living wall, Green facade and ETTV (d) Combination of Living wall, Green Roof and ETTV in new formulations. Finally, the study demonstrates the amount of energy that can be saved annually from different combinations of Green applications, i.e., Living wall, Green facade; combination of Living wall and Green facade; combination of Living wall and Green roof. The estimations are supported by experimental values obtained from extensive experiments of Living walls and Green roofs.

Going offline : An exploratory cultural artifact analysis of an internet dating site's development trajectories

In this study we develop a theorization of an Internet dating site as a cultural artifact. The site, Gaydar, is targeted at gay men. We argue that contemporary received representations of their sexuality figure heavily in the site’s focus by providing a cultural logic for the apparent ad hoc development trajectories of its varied commercial and non-­‐commercial services. More specifically, we suggest that the growing sets of services related to the website are heavily enmeshed within current social practices and meanings. These practices and meanings are, in turn, shaped by the interactions and preferences of a variety of diverse groups involved in what is routinely seen within the mainstream literature as a singularly specific sexuality and cultural project. Thus, we attend to two areas – the influence of the various social engagements associated with Gaydar together with the further extension of its trajectory ‘beyond the web’. Through the case of Gaydar, we contribute a study that recognizes the need for attention to sexuality in information systems research and one which illustrates sexuality as a pivotal aspect of culture. We also draw from anthropology to theorize ICTs as cultural artifacts and provide insights into the contemporary phenomena of ICT enabled social networking.

International tax and the Australian wine industry: Is your client’s product destined to sail the seven seas?

The export market for Australian wine continues to grow at a rapid rate, with imported wines also playing a role in market share in sales in Australia. It is estimated that over 60 per cent of all Australian wine is exported, while 12 per cent of wine consumed in Australia has overseas origins. In addition to understanding the size and direction (import or export) of wines, the foreign locales also play an important role in any tax considerations. While the export market for Australian produced alcohol continues to grow, it is into the Asian market that the most significant inroads are occurring. Sales into China of bottled wine over $7.50 per litre recently overtook the volume sold our traditional partners of the United States and Canada. It is becoming easier for even small to medium sized businesses to export their services or products overseas. However, it is vital for those businesses to understand the tax rules applying to any international transactions. Specifically, one of the first tax regimes that importers and exporters need to understand once they decide to establish a presence overseas is transfer pricing. These are the rules that govern the cross-border prices of goods, services and other transactions entered into between related parties. This paper is Part 2 of the seminar presented on transfer pricing and international tax issues which are particularly relevant to the wine industry. The predominant focus of Part 2 is to discuss four key areas likely to affect international expansion. First, the use of the available transfer pricing methodologies for international related party transactions is discussed. Second, the affects that double tax agreements will have on taking a business offshore are considered. Third, the risks associated with aggressive tax planning through tax information exchange agreements is reviewed. Finally, the paper predicts future ‘trip-wires’ and areas to ‘watch out for’ for practitioners dealing with clients operating in the international arena.

A study of postdiagnosis breast cancer concerns for women living in rural and remote Queensland. Part II : support issues

This paper presents the recent findings from a study on the postdiagnosis support needs of women with breast cancer living in rural and remote Queensland. The findings presented in this discussion focus on support needs from the perspective of the women experiencing breast cancer as well as health service providers. The tyranny of distance imposes unique hardships, such as separation from family and friends, during a time of great vulnerability for treatment, the need to travel long distances for support and follow-up services, and extra financial burdens, which can combine to cause strains on the marital relationship and family cohesion. Positive indications are, however, that the rural communities operate on strong, informal networks of support. This network of family, friends and community can, and does, play an active role in the provision of emotional and practical support.

Comparison of genomic DNA extraction techniques from whole blood samples : a time, cost and quality evaluation study

Genomic DNA obtained from patient whole blood samples is a key element for genomic research. Advantages and disadvantages, in terms of time-efficiency, cost-effectiveness and laboratory requirements, of procedures available to isolate nucleic acids need to be considered before choosing any particular method. These characteristics have not been fully evaluated for some laboratory techniques, such as the salting out method for DNA extraction, which has been excluded from comparison in different studies published to date. We compared three different protocols (a traditional salting out method, a modified salting out method and a commercially available kit method) to determine the most cost-effective and time-efficient method to extract DNA. We extracted genomic DNA from whole blood samples obtained from breast cancer patient volunteers and compared the results of the product obtained in terms of quantity (concentration of DNA extracted and DNA obtained per ml of blood used) and quality (260/280 ratio and polymerase chain reaction product amplification) of the obtained yield. On average, all three methods showed no statistically significant differences between the final result, but when we accounted for time and cost derived for each method, they showed very significant differences. The modified salting out method resulted in a seven- and twofold reduction in cost compared to the commercial kit and traditional salting out method, respectively and reduced time from 3 days to 1 hour compared to the traditional salting out method. This highlights a modified salting out method as a suitable choice to be used in laboratories and research centres, particularly when dealing with a large number of samples.

Community college faculty's teaching social networks and their implications for librarians

Collaboration between faculty and librarians is an important topic of discussion and research among academic librarians. These partnerships between faculty and librarians are vital for enabling students to become lifelong learners through their information literacy education. This research developed an understanding of academic collaborators by analyzing a community college faculty's teaching social networks. A teaching social network, an original term generated in this study, is comprised of communications that influence faculty when they design and deliver their courses. The communication may be formal (e.g., through scholarly journals and professional development activities) and informal (e.g., through personal communication) through their network elements. Examples of the elements of a teaching social network may be department faculty, administration, librarians, professional development, and students. This research asked 'What is the nature of faculty's teaching social networks and what are the implications for librarians?' This study moves forward the existing research on collaboration, information literacy, and social network analysis. It provides both faculty and librarians with added insight into their existing and potential relationships. This research was undertaken using mixed methods. Social network analysis was the quantitative data collection methodology and the interview method was the qualitative technique. For the social network analysis data, a survey was sent to full-time faculty at Las Positas College, a community college, in California. The survey gathered the data and described the teaching social networks for faculty with respect to their teaching methods and content taught. Semi-structured interviews were conducted following the survey with a sub-set of survey respondents to understand why specific elements were included in their teaching social networks and to learn of ways for librarians to become an integral part of the teaching social networks. The majority of the faculty respondents were moderately influenced by the elements of their network except the majority of the potentials were weakly influenced by the elements in their network in their content taught. The elements with the most influence on both teaching methods and content taught were students, department faculty, professional development, and former graduate professors and coursework. The elements with the least influence on both aspects were public or academic librarians, and social media. The most popular roles for the elements were conversations about teaching, sharing ideas, tips for teaching, insights into teaching, suggestions for ways of teaching, and how to engage students. Librarians' weakly influenced faculty in their teaching methods and their content taught. The motivating factors for collaboration with librarians were that students learned how to research, students' research projects improved, faculty saved time by having librarians provide the instruction to students, and faculty built strong working relationships with librarians. The challenges of collaborating with librarians were inadequate teaching techniques used when librarians taught research orientations and lack of time. Ways librarians can be more integral in faculty's teaching social networks included: more workshops for faculty, more proactive interaction with faculty, and more one-on-one training sessions for faculty. Some of the recommendations for the librarians from this study were develop a strong rapport with faculty, librarians should build their services in information literacy from the point of view of the faculty instead of from the librarian perspective, use staff development funding to attend conferences and workshops to improve their teaching, develop more training sessions for faculty, increase marketing efforts of the librarian's instructional services, and seek grant opportunities to increase funding for the library. In addition, librarians and faculty should review the definitions of information literacy and move from a skills based interpretation to a learning process.

Fresh ideas : services thinking for social marketing

Purpose The social marketing literature tends to focus on upstream marketing (policy) and downstream (individual behaviour change) and has a limited view on midstream (working with partners and community groups) social marketing. The paper proposes midstream social marketing should also include an understanding of how services and service employees influence and support individual behaviour change goals. The paper presents four key services marketing principles - derived from services theory and thinking - which the paper believes to be essential for implementing effective midstream social marketing. Design/methodology/approach This is a conceptual paper that uses service theory and case-examples to show how service thinking can be used as a midstream social marketing approach. Findings For effective uptake and impact of social marketing services amongst people and populations, social marketers need to design programs that consider the service experience, the service employee, service quality/customer value and the active role of the customer in value creation. Research limitations/implications Services marketing is a well-established sub-discipline of marketing which, until recently, has not interacted with social marketing. The extension and application of services theory for social marketing can enrich and propel the social marketing discipline forward. Further research is recommended to evaluate how service principles can be applied in practice. Social implications Given that social marketing services tend not to be accessed in sufficient numbers by the people who most need them, social marketers need to think beyond the technical, cognitive, and organisational-focused goals when designing social services. Originality/value This paper identifies key service theories that social marketers should understand and use and is thus a source of fresh ideas for theory and practice.

Living the indie life : mapping creative teams in a 48 hour game jam and playing with data

In contemporary game development circles the ‘game making jam’ has become an important rite of passage and baptism event, an exploration space and a central indie lifestyle affirmation and community event. Game jams have recently become a focus for design researchers interested in the creative process. In this paper we tell the story of an established local game jam and our various documentation and data collection methods. We present the beginnings of the current project, which seeks to map the creative teams and their process in the space of the challenge, and which aims to enable participants to be more than the objects of the data collection. A perceived issue is that typical documentation approaches are ‘about’ the event as opposed to ‘made by’ the participants and are thus both at odds with the spirit of the jam as a phenomenon and do not really access the rich playful potential of participant experience. In the data collection and visualisation projects described here, we focus on using collected data to re-include the participants in telling stories about their experiences of the event as a place-based experience. Our goal is to find a means to encourage production of ‘anecdata’ - data based on individual story telling that is subjective, malleable, and resists collection via formal mechanisms - and to enable mimesis, or active narrating, on the part of the participants. We present a concept design for data as game based on the logic of early medieval maps and we reflect on how we could enable participation in the data collection itself.

Quality demand in vaccination and how to improve service quality under Total Quality Control [论全面质量管理模式下预防接种工作的质量要求与改进对策]

Under the concept of Total Quality Control, based on their experience, the authors discussed potential demand for quality of immunization services and possible solutions to these demands. Abstract in Chinese 全面质量管理(total quality control,TQC)是在20世纪60年代由美国人V,Feigonbaum和J.unan先后提出的新的质量管理观念,众所周知的ISO9000族标准即建立在TQC理念下的质量管理标准,该标准已成为当今世界全球一致、最具权威的质量管理和质量保证的国际规则[1-2].21世纪是质量世纪,推行TQC,不断改进产品和服务质量,目前已成为我国各行各业在不断激烈的市场竞争下完善自我、保证生存和发展的重要手段.实施预防接种是预防和控制传染病,保护人群健康的重要措施,预防接种工作中,产品即预防接种服务,需方(顾客)为接受预防接种服务的广大人群,是产品的消费者.随社会的迅速发展,人们对健康需求的不断提高,对预防接种工作也提出了更高的质量要求.本文对TQC模式下顾客对预防接种服务的质量要求进行了综合分析,并对如何改进服务质量进行了初步探讨.

Lung health care for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Queenslanders : breathing easy is not so easy

Objectives In Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples in Queensland, to (a) determine the disease burden of common chronic lung diseases and (b) identify areas of need with respect to lung health services. Methods Literature reviews and analyses of hospitalisation and mortality data were used to describe disease epidemiology and available programs and services. Key stakeholder interviews and an online survey of health professionals were used to evaluate lung health services across the state and to identify services, needs and gaps. Results Morbidity and mortality from respiratory diseases in the Indigenous population is substantially higher than the non-Indigenous population across all age groups and regions. There are inadequate clinical services and resources to address disease prevention, detection, intervention and management in an evidence-based and culturally acceptable fashion. There is a lack of culturally appropriate educational resources and management programs, insufficient access to appropriately engaged Indigenous health professionals, a lack of multi-disciplinary specialist outreach teams, fragmented information systems and inadequate coordination of care. Conclusions Major initiatives are required at all levels of the healthcare system to adequately address service provision for Indigenous Queenslanders with lung diseases, including high quality research to investigate the causes for poor lung health, which are likely to be multifactorial.

Concealing their communication : exploring psychosocial predictors of young drivers’ intentions and engagement in concealed texting

Making a conscious effort to hide the fact that you are texting while driving (i.e., concealed texting) is a deliberate and risky behaviour involving attention diverted away from the road. As the most frequent users of text messaging services and mobile phones while driving, young people appear at heightened risk of crashing from engaging in this behaviour. This study investigated the phenomenon of concealed texting while driving, and utilised an extended Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB) including the additional predictors of moral norm, mobile phone involvement, and anticipated regret to predict young drivers’ intentions and subsequent behaviour. Participants (n = 171) were aged 17 to 25 years, owned a mobile phone, and had a current driver’s licence. Participants completed a questionnaire measuring their intention to conceal texting while driving, and a follow-up questionnaire a week later to report their behavioural engagement. The results of hierarchical multiple regression analyses showed overall support for the predictive utility of the TPB with the standard constructs accounting for 69% of variance in drivers’ intentions, and the extended predictors contributing an additional 6% of variance in intentions over and above the standard constructs. Attitude, subjective norm, PBC, moral norm, and mobile phone involvement emerged as significant predictors of intentions; and intention was the only significant predictor of drivers’ self-reported behaviour. These constructs can provide insight into key focal points for countermeasures including advertising and other public education strategies aimed at influencing young drivers to reconsider their engagement in this risky behaviour.

Evidence for the safety and quality issues associated with the care of patients with cognitive impairment in acute care settings : a rapid review

The Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care commissioned this rapid review to identify recent evidence in relation to three key questions: 1. What is the current evidence of quality and safety issues regarding the hospital experience of people with cognitive impairment (dementia/delirium)? 2. What are the existing evidence-based pathways, best practice or guidelines for cognitive impairment in hospitals? 3. What are the key components of an ideal patient journey for a person with dementia and/or delirium? The purpose of this review is to identify best practice in caring for patients with cognitive impairment (CI) in acute hospital settings. CI refers to patients with dementia and delirium but can include other conditions. For the purposes of this report, ‘Hospitals’ is defined as acute care settings and includes care provided by acute care institutions in other settings (e.g. Multipurpose Services and Hospital in the Home). It does not include residential aged care settings nor palliative care services that are not part of a service provided by an acute care institution. Method Both peer-reviewed publications and the grey literature were comprehensively searched for recent (primarily post 2010) publications, reports and guidelines that addressed the three key questions. The literature was evaluated and graded according to the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) levels of criteria (see Evidence Summary – Appendix B). Results Thirty-one recent publications were retrieved in relation to quality and safety issues faced by people with CI in acute hospitals. The results indicate that CI is a common problem in hospitals (upwards of 30% - the rate increases with increasing patient age), although this is likely to be an underestimate, in part, due to numbers of patients without a formal dementia diagnosis. There is a large body of evidence showing that patients with CI have worse outcomes than patients without CI following hospitalisation including increased mortality, more complications, longer hospital stays, increased system costs as well as functional and cognitive decline. 4 To improve the care of patients with CI in hospital, best practice guidelines have been developed, of which sixteen recent guidelines/position statements/standards were identified in this review (Table 2). Four guidelines described standards or quality indicators for providing optimal care for the older person with CI in hospital, in general, while three focused on delirium diagnosis, prevention and management. The remaining guidelines/statements focused on specific issues in relation to the care of patients with CI in acute hospitals including hydration, nutrition, wandering and care in the Emergency Department (ED). A key message in several of the guidelines was that older patients should be assessed for CI at admission and this is particularly important in the case of delirium, which can indicate an emergency, in order to implement treatment. A second clear mess...