Governance of open content creation:a conceptualization and analysis of control and guiding mechanisms in the open content domain

The open content creation process has proven itself to be a powerful and influential way of developing text-based content, as demonstrated by the success of Wikipedia and related sites. Distributed individuals independently edit, revise, or refine content, thereby creating knowledge artifacts of considerable breadth and quality. Our study explores the mechanisms that control and guide the content creation process and develops an understanding of open content governance. The repertory grid method is employed to systematically capture the experiences of individuals involved in the open content creation process and to determine the relative importance of the diverse control and guiding mechanisms. Our findings illustrate the important control and guiding mechanisms and highlight the multifaceted nature of open content governance. A range of governance mechanisms is discussed with regard to the varied levels of formality, the different loci of authority, and the diverse interaction environments involved. Limitations and opportunities for future research are provided.

Characteristics of hospital-treated intentional drug overdose in Ireland and Northern Ireland

OBJECTIVES This study compared the profile of intentional drug overdoses (IDOs) presenting to emergency departments in Ireland and in the Western Trust Area of Northern Ireland between 2007 and 2012. Specifically the study aimed to compare characteristics of the patients involved, to explore the factors associated with repeated IDO and to report the prescription rates of common drug types in the population. METHODS We utilised data from two comparable registries which monitor the incidence of hospital-treated self-harm, recording data from deliberate self-harm presentations involving an IDO to all hospital emergency departments for the period 1 January 2007 to 31 December 2012. RESULTS Between 2007 and 2012 the registries recorded 56,494 self-harm presentations involving an IDO. The study showed that hospital-treated IDO was almost twice as common in Northern Ireland than in Ireland (278 vs 156/100,000, respectively). CONCLUSIONS Despite the overall difference in the rates of IDO, the profile of such presentations was remarkably similar in both countries. Minor tranquillisers were the drugs most commonly involved in IDOs. National campaigns are required to address the availability and misuse of minor tranquillisers, both prescribed and non-prescribed.

Embedding university perspectives in university teaching and learning : lessons learnt and possibilities for reforming/decolonising curriculum

Embedding Indigenous knowledge in the curriculum continues to challenge traditional western perspectives on Indigenous epistemologies and cultures. This paper will initially discuss experiences of embedding Indigenous perspectives in the curriculum at an Australian university. The project was inspired by the Reconciliation Statement which ensured funding through Teaching and Learning Large Grants. Its successful outcomes included the creation of identified positions for Indigenous academics within faculties, creation of a resource hub of relevant teaching materials and consistent documentation and awareness of Indigenous perspectives through interviews and workshops. The paper concludes by critically interrogating the methodology used to conceptualise Indigenous knowledge in embedding Indigenous perspectives in a university curriculum. This paper argues for a thorough curriculum reform if a degree of decolonisation of the western constructed Indigenous knowledge and its living systems are desired.

Vom Prosumenten zum Produtzer

Auch wenn Alvin Tofflers „Prosumer“ oder „Prosument“ in diesem Band von zentralem Interesse ist, lohnt es sich, zunächst etwas weiter auszuholen und kurz zu umreißen, worauf dieses Modell fußt und welche Grundmodelle es modifizieren soll. Prosumtion soll nämlich die herkömmliche Wertschöpfungskette erweitern und verbessern, welche beim Übergang zur industriellen Massenproduktion etabliert wurde. Die Notwendigkeit, industrielle Produktionsmittel zu bauen, zu betreiben und zu warten und die Waren aus Massenproduktion an ihre Zielmärkte zu vertreiben, führte schnell zu einer immer größeren Trennung von Produzenten, Distributoren und Konsumenten als separaten Stationen in der Wertschöpfungskette der industriellen Produktion. Besonders zu Beginn des industriellen Zeitalters war eine solche Trennung ein angemessenes und wirksames Organisationsmodell, das Teilnahme an der Industriegesellschaft in drei klar definierte Aufgaben aufteilte.

Produsage: a closer look at continuing developments

The concept of produsage developed from the realisation that new language was needed to describe the new phenomena emerging from the intersection of Web 2.0, user-generated content, and social media since the early years of the new millennium. When hundreds, thousands, maybe tens of thousands of participants utilise online platforms to collaborate in the development and continuous improvement of a wide variety of content – from software to informational resources to creative works –, and when this work takes place through a series of more or less unplanned, ad hoc, almost random cooperative encounters, then to describe these processes using terms which were developed during the industrial revolution no longer makes much sense. When – exactly because what takes place here is no longer a form of production in any conventional sense of the word – the outcomes of these massively distributed collaborations appear in the form of constantly changing, permanently mutable bodies of work which are owned at once by everyone and no-one, by the community of contributors as a whole but by none of them as individuals, then to conceptualise them as fixed and complete products in the industrial meaning of the term is missing the point. When what results from these efforts is of a quality (in both depth and breadth) that enables it to substitute for, replace, and even undermine the business model of long-established industrial products, even though precariously it relies on volunteer contributions, and when their volunteering efforts make it possible for some contributors to find semi- or fully professional employment in their field, then conventional industrial logic is put on its head.

g4c2c: A model for citizen engagement at arms' length from government

The recognition that Web 2.0 applications and social media sites will strengthen and improve interaction between governments and citizens has resulted in a global push into new e-democracy or Government 2.0 spaces. These typically follow government-to-citizen (g2c) or citizen-to-citizen (c2c) models, but both these approaches are problematic: g2c is often concerned more with service delivery to citizens as clients, or exists to make a show of ‘listening to the public’ rather than to genuinely source citizen ideas for government policy, while c2c often takes place without direct government participation and therefore cannot ensure that the outcomes of citizen deliberations are accepted into the government policy-making process. Building on recent examples of Australian Government 2.0 initiatives, we suggest a new approach based on government support for citizen-to-citizen engagement, or g4c2c, as a workable compromise, and suggest that public service broadcasters should play a key role in facilitating this model of citizen engagement.

Community media 2.0 : a report from the 'Co-Creative Communities' forum

Participatory digital culture presents major challenges to all traditional media outlets, but it presents very direct challenges to the community broadcast sector, which was established from the outset as local, community-driven and participatory. These and other issues were the focus of a recent forum at the Australian Centre for the Moving Image in Melbourne (Co-Creative Communities, 8–9 November 2012). The forum was part of a national research project, which has been exploring how Australian community arts and media organisations are responding to participatory digital culture, social media and user-led innovation. Focusing on the organisations who presented at the symposium, the paper examines how community-interest media is making the most of new and social media platforms. It considers examples of participatory digital media that have emerged from the community broadcast sector, but it also considers local, collaborative, community-interest media projects developed by public broadcasters and organisations involved in arts, social justice and development. Drawing on forum transcripts and follow-up research the essay describes some of the key trends shaping how community-interest media organisations and independent producers are working with participatory digital culture, and with what success.

The Instabooth

The InstaBooth is a portable demountable interactive installation for situated community engagement. Its aim is to give a voice to communities who can share their thoughts and ideas in an unstructured and playful way that combines digital technology with tangible materials. It is constructed from standard CNC-cut plywood stock and plans for its construction are available for others to download and use. Its modular design accommodates a range of bespoke interactive technologies, both analogue and digital, designed to facilitate the engagement process by providing means to present different materials and offer different ways to collect feedback. The appearance and interactions of the booth are designed to appeal to different demographics and foster an interactive discussion about a range of different topics such as change management, policy development, and urban planning.

From Gods to men: A historical overview of the discovery of the chemical elements

To achieve the apparently simple Periodic Table of the Elements has implied tremendous efforts over thousands of years. In this paper we present a brief history of the discovery of the chemical elements from prehistory to the present day, revealing the controversies that arose on the way and claiming the important work performed by alchemists in the advancement of knowledge. This is especially important if we consider that alchemy had a period of existence of many thousands of years, while the "Chemistry", officially established as a science in the eighteenth century, has operated as such for only a few hundred years. Even so, if we consider the progress of discovery and isolation of chemical elements throughout history, it can be observed that the number of elements identified is achieved mainly in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, reflecting the development of instrumental techniques, that facilitated this task.

Geochemical characterization of the fire-fountain fed deposits of Las Herrerias volcano (Campo de Calatrava Volcanic Field, Ciudad Real)

The Las Herrerias volcano (Bolanos de Calatrava, Campo de Calatrava Volcanic Field) is characterized by the great amount and variety of fire-fountain fed deposits. All these deposits are compositionally similar, being constituted by magnesium-rich (MgO = 11.58-4.19%), aluminium-poor (Al2O3 = 9.64-10.99%) highly sodic (Na2O = 2.24-3.81%) melanephelinites, with high contents in rare earth-elements (10x-200x chondrite), particularly in light-rare earth elements with respect to the heavy ones [(La/Lu)(N) = 32-35]. Contrary to the equivalent melanephelinites of this volcanic field, the relatively low contents in Ni (233-286 ppm), Cr (393-520 ppm) and magnesium number (Mg* = 45-54) indicate that these rocks do not correspond with primary melts. On the other hand, the variable distribution of clinopyroxene in the magma during eruption would be responsible for the slight compositional differences observed in the studied samples. Finally, we argue that these fire fountains were developed in a continental intraplate setting.

Palaeoenvironmental analysis based on alluvial ostracod assemblages of the Cenicero section (lower Miocene, NW Ebro Basin)

In this work we perform for the first time a palaeoenvironmental and biostratigraphic analysis of the lower Miocene alluvial deposits of the Cenicero section (NW sector of the Ebro Basin; N Iberian Peninsula), based on the ostracod and micromammal assemblages. One of the main characteristics of this section is the unusual abundance on non-reworked ostracods present in the studied samples compared to other European sequences of similar age and sedimentary environment. This fact has allowed us to develop precise palaeoenvironmental reconstructions. The variations of the identified ostracod assemblages, defined by species such as Cyclocypris laevis, Ilyocypris bradyi, Ilyocypris gibba, Limnocythere sp. or Pseudocandona parallela, record the development of small, ephemeral and shallow ponds in a distal alluvial and/or floodplain environment. Towards the upper part of the section the ponds appear to be less ephemeral, being the aquatic systems more stable for ostracods development. Variations in the water temperature and salinity have been observed along the section, which are related to changes in the local pluviometric regime. On the other hand, the presence of micromammals in one of the studied samples has allowed the precise dating of this section. Thus, the presence of Armantomys daamsi dates the Cenicero section as Agenian (lower Miocene), local zone Y2 (MN2).

STUDY ON STRUCTURE-PROPERTY RELATIONSHIP OF POLYIMIDE BLENDS .2. STRUCTURE AND MISCIBILITY OF POLYIMIDE PBPI-E/PTI-E BLENDS

The structure and miscibility of polyimide PBPI-E/PTI-E blends were studied by wide- and small-angle X-ray scattering and dynamic mechanical analysis, where PBPI-E is a biphenyl-dianhydride-based polyimide, and PTI-E is a polyimide from 4,4'-thiodiphthalic anhydride and 4,4'-oxydianiline. The results obtained show that there exists a paracrystalline structure in the blends with high content of PBPI-E, but this does not affect the miscibility of the blends. The blends are miscible over the entire composition range, since only one T(g) was observed for each blend. Meanwhile, the segregation of PTI-E during crystallization of PBPI-E in the blends is interlamellar.