- Research Article
170
- 10.1016/j.cub.2019.07.040
Extinction in the Anthropocene.
- Oct 01, 2019
- Current Biology
- Samuel T Turvey + 1 more +1
Extinction in the Anthropocene.
Amidst the unravelling of the sixth mass extinction—the first mass extinction event in planetary history primarily driven by anthropogenic causes—the emerging field of extinction studies places extinction within its historical, political, and sociocultural contexts. Typically, extinction is understood as the end of a species or other group which officially occurs upon the death of its final individual. Dodos, passenger pigeons, mammoths, dinosaurs—all are icons of extinction, some anthropogenically-driven and some not. Arguing against seeing extinction as a purely scientific issue that needs to be diagnosed and cured by the natural sciences, “extinction studies” contends that extinction cannot be disentangled from its social drivers and effects. The natural sciences have produced a vast interdisciplinary literature on extinction, but, following the lead of the field of “extinction studies,” this entry focuses on humanistic perspectives. Extinction studies examines extinction, endangerment, extirpation, and biodiversity loss from interdisciplinary humanistic and qualitative social science lenses. Extinction studies researchers across disciplines—anthropology, sociology, geography, history, philosophy, literary studies, religious studies, among others—are united by their interest in understanding what extinction is, how it comes to be, how it is understood, and, perhaps most importantly, how “we” – a varied, contested “we” – might attend to it in ethical, responsible, and just ways. Although extinction studies broadly includes many forms of extinction ranging from cultural and linguistic extinction to vegetal and other nonzoological extinctions, studies of nonhuman animals arguably form the bulk of current extinction studies research. Animals and their extinctions—actual or potential—have had a significant role in environmental history and environmental historiography, from studies of agriculture and fishing to studies of conservation, wildlife management, and animal protectionism. This entry begins with general overviews of extinction studies, focusing primarily on edited collections and special issues that have contributed to shaping this emerging field. After these overviews, the entry describes key online resources and digital humanities resources, which have emerged alongside the development of this field. After these broader sections, the entry is arranged around key themes in extinction studies, particularly in relation to extinction and animals. The final section focuses on futures of extinction and ethical questions prompted by emerging technological promises of “reversing” extinction. It is important to note that many of the sources included in this entry do not necessarily describe themselves as “extinction studies,” but each forms a core part of what is shaping that emerging field.
Extinction in the Anthropocene.
Extinction in the Anthropocene.
Peer Review Report For: Digital Human Resource Management and Its Role in Achieving Competitive Advantage: An Exploratory Study of the Opinions of a Sample of Leaders in Private Banks. [version 1; peer review: 1 approved with reservations
Background The banking sector is undergoing rapid digital transformation, requiring the development of business processes and employee skills. making digital human resource management a key factor in enhancing competitiveness. This research aims to identify the relationship between digital human resource management and competitive advantage in private banks by studying the level of adoption of digital practices and their impact on the development of competitive performance. Methodology A descriptive analytical approach was used, and data were collected through a questionnaire administered to a sample of 150 administrative leaders in private banks. The data were analyzed using SPSS V.27 and AMOS V.24, with tests of stability and internal consistency, in addition to testing for procedural bias. Results The results showed a high level of stability (α = 0.94) and the absence of measurement bias (CMB = 32.08%). It also showed that the level of competitive advantage was higher than the level of digital human resource management adoption. The results of the analysis showed a strong and significant correlation between digital human resource management and competitive advantage (r = 0.96, P = 0.002). All digital dimensions had a direct and significant impact on competitive advantage, with the digital learning dimension having the most significant impact. Conclusions Developing digital human resource management practices is an important path to enhancing the competitiveness of private banks. Investing in digital infrastructure and expanding the use of digital applications contributes to supporting operational efficiency, increasing responsiveness to technological changes, and enhancing banks’ readiness for market requirements.
Read moreDigital technology and human resource practices: A systematic literature review.
This research explores the relationship between digital technology and human resource practices, analyzing contemporary research conducted between 2016 and December 31, 2023. The systematic literature review adheres to fundamental review principles and identifies various studies conducted across various nations on the conceptual application of digital technology in human resource practices. This paper emphasizes the importance of understanding digital technology and human resource practices for all organizational levels, aiming to help professionals build and implement these practices for stronger competitive advantages in the digital technological era. Many methodological (exclusive search) constraints exist in this review, which may limit how well it can be used with additional case studies. Digital technology and human resource practices are essential parts of developing digital and advanced technologies relevant to human resource practices in many aspects. This systematic literature review analysed the relationship between digital technology and human resource practices, demonstrating their interconnectedness through a comprehensive review of research in this field. Both concepts of digital technology and human resource practices linkage was not more focused before. A full understanding of the current state of digital technology and research conceptualization for human resource practices on a single platform through developing a thorough technological concept in human resource practices.
Read moreDecoding the Framework for Managing Human Resources in the Digital Era: A Conceptual Analysis
In academic discourse, digital human resource management and related terms like digitalization, disruption, and transformation of HRM are becoming more and more prominent. However, these concepts are often used implicitly, with heterogeneity and proliferation. Consequently, there is a lack of conceptual clarity in research regarding these concepts. By offering a conceptual explanation of digital human resource management and associated ideas, this article seeks to close this conceptual gap. Based on extant research on digital companies, the paper creates a nomenclature and classification system for digital HRM. Establishing a core understanding, the terminology provides clear and succinct descriptions of the concepts and their links. The typology offers perfect examples that categorize and arrange phenomena related to digital HRM in an organized manner, improving the body of knowledge in this field. This article clarifies the notion of digital human resource management and its related topics by utilizing the vocabulary and typology. It presents a conceptual foundation for further research in this area and portrays digital human resource management as an evolutionary development of earlier conceptualizations of technology-based human resource management.
Read morePengaruh Digital Transformation dan Digital Human Resources Management Terhadap Strategic Leadership yang Dimediasi oleh Organizational Culture pada Karyawan Perusahaan Retail di Jakarta Barat
This research aims to analyze the influence of Digital Transformation and Digital Human Resource Management on Leadership Strategy with Organizational Culture as a mediating variable. Digital transformation and digital human resource management are important factors in changing company strategy and culture. The research method used is quantitative with a survey approach. Data was obtained from a questionnaire distributed to employees of companies that have implemented digital technology in West Jakarta. The research results show that Digital Transformation has a positive effect on Organizational Culture, which in turn affects Leadership Strategy. Likewise, Digital Human Resource Management can increase the effectiveness of organizational culture, although its direct influence on Leadership Strategy is still limited. In conclusion, developing a strong organizational culture through digital transformation and digital human resource management plays an important role in strengthening leadership strategies in the digital era.
Read moreSanctification in Milton's Academy: Reassessing the Purposes in Of Education and the Pedagogy of Paradise Lost
By the time John Milton published Of Education in 1644, many educational theorists had already suggested varying goals for education,1 but few had suggested such an explicitly theological purpose. Early in the tract, Milton states “The end then of learning is to repair the ruins of our first parents by regaining to know God aright, and out of that knowledge to love him, to imitate him, to be like him, as we may the neerest by possessing our souls of true vertue, which being united to the heavenly grace of faith makes up the highest perfection” (2: 366-67). Education's central purpose is the reapprehension of the knowledge of God, which was lost through the Fall. However, after discussing second-language acquisition, Milton announces another, quite different, purpose: “I call therefore a compleate and generous Education that which fits a man to perform justly, skilfully and magnanimously all the offices both private and publike of peace and war” (2: 377-79). Milton's two stated purposes have generated a wide variety of explanations over the years. Some readers have argued his theological purpose is ancillary to his civil purpose, while others view the two purpose statements as fundamentally incompatible. As early as 1922, Murray Bundy described Milton's spiritual purpose as postlapsarian and his civic purpose as prelapsarian, thus making the two goals impossible to achieve at the same time (128-29). In 1944 Tyrus Hillway argued Milton's spiritual purpose was the means by which to achieve his civic purpose (377). A decade later, M. G. Mason contended that “ ‘to know God aright' is the spiritual call, which, in an interesting passage reminiscent of Plato, [Milton] then translated into more concrete terms. One way to Godliness was, he stated, through an education ‘which fits a man to perform justly, skilfully and magnanimously all the offices both private and publike of peace and war’” (214; emphasis added). Mason believed, as would others later, that Of Education sees spiritual development as a result of intellectual development. In contrast, John F. Huntley argued in 1964 that Milton's spiritual purpose, unlike his civic goal, is not achievable through education (45). More recently, Martin Dzelzainis's brief discussion of Milton's theory of education does not even mention the first statement of purpose, but skips directly to the second, claiming that Of Education“begins with a grandiloquent statement of his ideal,” one that appears almost a third of the way through the text. In another recent assessment, Gauri Viswanathan asserts a fundamental conflict between the two and privileges the civic over the spiritual purpose: “Having decided that the object of education was to make good citizens of the state, Milton put his intellectual weight behind national consolidation rather than individual salvation” (348, 351). Still other critics have seen Milton's two purpose statements as complementary. In 1928 Oliver M. Ainsworth pointed out that “some persons have been confused by Milton's twofold definition of education, supposing its two parts to be unrelated or even inconsistent” (15). But, these aims, combining as they do the classical spirit with the Christian, are of the essence of humanistic educational doctrine. They look, indeed, respectively to the inner and the outer aspects of the same individual, normally developed. Milton, like other genuine humanists, cared little for virtue apart from practice, or for talent without principle. (15)2 Likewise, in 1951 George Sabine maintained that the two purposes are complementary: The end of education is defined as equally “to know God aright” and to fit men “to perform justly, skilfully, and magnanimously” all the duties of public and private life; the essence of Milton's thought lay in the presumptions that these purposes are identical. Hence education must be comprehensive, addressed to the physical, intellectual, aesthetic, moral, and religious faculties. (vii) While Sabine did not elaborate on the relationship between the two statements, Michael Lieb, in a 1985 essay, developed a detailed argument in which he showed that bodily fitness and the practice of virtue—the moral “fitness” necessary to lead a household or a nation—are inextricably linked to repairing the ruins of the Fall: “Implicit in this postlapsarian view is a process of transformation by which ruins are repaired and knowledge regained as the soul, possessed of true virtue and heavenly grace, achieves a fully spiritualized form” (247). For Lieb, as for Ainsworth and Sabine, Milton's two statements of purpose are complementary. Most recently, Margaret Olofson Thickstun has argued that Milton's educational philosophy, as articulated in Paradise Lost, has what she calls “moral adulthood” as its aim, although she does rely on the implicit assumption that Milton's ultimate pedagogical purpose is “ ‘to repair the ruins of our first parents' ” (2). While some critics see Milton's two purpose statements as unrelated or even antithetical, I follow Ainsworth, Sabine, Lieb, and Thickstun in arguing that Milton's first, theological statement of purpose is indeed his ultimate purpose of education, and I argue further that his second, civic statement of purpose is an observable consequence of the fulfillment of that initial spiritual goal. Because many critics have misunderstood this sequential relationship, they have tended to misapply the principles and curriculum in Of Education to Paradise Lost. Actually, the two works help to elucidate each other, Of Education setting out the goals that drive the teaching scenes in Paradise Lost, and Paradise Lost providing working examples of Milton's educational plan as outlined in the brief prose tract. Milton's statements of purpose are very similar to a standard lesson plan format used by many professional teachers today. A typical lesson plan uses two purpose statements, one concerned with a general goal, the other with a concrete objective. The goal states what the student is to know or understand when the lesson is finished, and aims for a change in the student's thinking, feeling, or knowledge. The objective, on the other hand, states what observable action the student will perform in order to demonstrate that the goal has been met. Robert F. Mager, an educational theorist who popularized the use of objectives in curriculum development, defines an objective as “a description of a pattern of behavior (performance) we want the learner to be able to demonstrate” (3).3 The objective provides criteria with which the teacher can evaluate student behavior in order to determine whether goals have been met. Therefore, a good lesson plan states both what students should know and what they should be able to do after the lesson. Two purpose statements, a goal and an objective, must be listed because the fulfillment of a goal, unlike the fulfillment of an objective, is not directly observable or measurable.4 This is something like what Milton is doing when he proposes two distinct purposes for education. Milton states a goal, knowing God; he also states an objective, producing competent leaders for the home and the state. The objective of becoming a competent leader is observable evidence that a student has met the goal of knowing God. In fact, the language in which Milton originally casts each purpose statement suggests such a relationship between the two. In the spiritual goal, Milton explicitly uses the language of ultimate purpose when he refers to “The end then of learning” (2: 366). Then, when he states his practical objective, he uses not the language of ultimate purpose but of consequence and effect: “I call therefore a compleate and generous Education that which . . . , suggesting that the fitting of men for public office has resulted from meeting the spiritual goal (377-78; emphasis added). Thus, Milton believes education facilitates the accomplishment of both spirituals goals and practical objectives. Today's teachers are often encouraged to combine their goal and objective in a single sentence, and a similar single-sentence purpose statement for Milton's Of Education can easily be constructed: students will regain correct knowledge of God, so that they will perform justly, skillfully, and magnanimously all the private and public offices of peace and war. Thus, I will refer to Milton's first stated purpose, “to repair the ruins of our first parents by regaining to know God aright,” as his spiritual goal, and I will refer to the second stated purpose, “that which fits a man to perform justly, skilfully and magnanimously all the offices both private and publike of peace and war,” as his practical objective. While it would certainly be anachronistic to project contemporary educational practice on Milton's work, the comparison is useful because it provides a familiar, modern example of an educational procedure that uses two connected purpose statements.5 If a modern lesson plan can use two distinct but interrelated purpose statements, the fact that Milton's work also has two purpose statements should not automatically lead to the assumption that the two statements are incompatible or antithetical. The difference between a goal and an objective is complicated by the fact that while the goal is the primary purpose of any educational program, the objective is achieved after the goal has been obtained so there is always the possibility that the objective will be taken to be more important than the goal. This is the mistake that Tyrus Hillway makes when he constructs this single-sentence purpose statement for Milton's work: “In order to fit a man for the performance justly, skilfully, and magnanimously of all the offices both private and public of peace and war, education must help him to repair the ruins of our first parents by teaching him to know God aright . . .” (377; emphasis added). Hillway makes Milton's spiritual goal a means to achieve his practical objective, suggesting that educators must repair the ruins of the Fall for the purpose of fitting a person for public service. Hillway makes the same mistake that many teachers today make of “teaching to the test,” thinking that fulfilling the behavioral objective is the one true aim of the educational process and forgetting that the real educational goal is knowledge, understanding, and character formation, not specific behavioral outcomes. Part of this confusion comes from thinking that reaching an educational goal insures the achievement of an educational objective, a sequence Milton does not have in mind. For him, obtaining an objective is tangible evidence that the more important goal has been met. To put it another way: the fact that a student becomes fit for public office is evidence that the student is learning to know God rightly, but the knowledge of God is not a mere means to being fit for public service. It may strike a reader as odd that, while Milton's stated goal is spiritual formation, the program outlined in Of Education does not seem to emphasize spiritual studies. Indeed, G. F. Sensabaugh observes that the tract “dismisses religious studies chiefly to times after the evening repast and to Sundays, when the mind is ripe for moral instruction, and is devoted almost entirely to describing the materials and methods by which gentlemen's sons might secure a ‘compleat and generous Education’ ” (263). Indeed, a cursory survey of Milton's curriculum reveals less study of Scriptures and theology than his spiritual goal might suggest it should. Early on in the curriculum, students study subjects such as arithmetic and geometry during the day, but “After evening repast, till bed time their thoughts will be best taken up in the easie grounds of Religion, and the story of Scripture,” specifically studying the ethical principles to be found in “David, or Salomon, or the Evangels and Apostolic scriptures” (2: 387, 397). Religious studies, at least at first, are relegated to collateral reading; the study of classical literature and natural sciences apparently receives the students' freshest attention in the morning. When Milton next mentions religious studies, the students have progressed from hard sciences to ethics and political science, and at this point, he recommends that they study “law, and legal justice; delivered first, and with best warrant by Moses; and as farre as humane prudence can be trusted, in those extoll'd remains of Grecian Law-givers . . .” (398). Students should study the Torah as a divinely-inspired legal code and compare it to the less-perfect classical legal writers. For the most part, the study of Scriptures and theology occurs on weekends and evenings: “Sundayes also and every evening may be now understandingly spent in the highest matters of Theology, and Church History, ancient and modern” (399-400). These passages are essentially the only explicit mention of strictly religious studies in a curriculum supposedly driven by the goal of knowing God. It seems strange that such a spiritually minded goal would produce a curriculum that appears to push explicitly religious studies to the margins of the program. Sensabaugh concludes that “Milton apparently had not, in 1644, thought through the implications of repairing the ruins of our first parents” (262) and proceeds to argue that Milton must have undergone a radical change of mind between the 1640s and the 1670s, since Of Education, published in 1644, proposes a liberal arts education grounded in the classics, while Milton's later poetry, especially Paradise Lost and Paradise Regained, includes stern warnings against the dangers of speculative science and classical learning. By overlooking the fact that Milton republished Of Education in 1673, Sensabaugh leaves himself vulnerable to Irene Samuel's thorough refutation of his argument. Samuel analyzes the rhetorical context of each passage from Paradise Lost and Paradise Regained that he cites, showing that in each instance, Milton is merely warning against pursuing knowledge as its own end (722). Milton had always valued education, but only insofar as it produced virtuous people who behaved ethically (713-15). Thickstun has recently confirmed Samuel's position: For Milton, the purpose of language study—of all education—is a knowledge that embraces and fosters greater appreciation of God and the Creation. Although the tone of the pronouncements may modulate in light of the audience and context of their utterances, his position doesn't change much from his exhortation in the seventh Prolusion to Raphael's advice in Paradise Lost. . . . (110) Education for Milton was always a purely instrumental good, never something to be sought for its own sake, but only for the sake of becoming a virtuous and knowledgeable Christian. Milton's spiritual goal does suggest that religious studies should be a priority in his academy, and if Of Education appears to marginalize religious subjects, in reality the curriculum prioritizes them. First, if students spend most nights and weekends studying the Bible and theology, they will spend almost as much time studying specifically religious matters as they will spend studying all other subjects combined. Furthermore, it is anachronistic to presume a clear distinction between religious and secular course materials in Milton's proposed school. If Milton believes that his entire curriculum is designed to ultimately fulfill a spiritual goal, he probably assumes that studying things other than Scriptures and theology will help students attain that goal. Viswanathan claims that in connecting the study of the natural world with spiritual formation, “[Milton] makes the inexplicable leap of arguing that mastering these subjects better equips one to contemplate moral good and evil” (2: 358). But Milton's connection is neither a leap nor inexplicable. For Milton, not only the Bible, but natural science, mathematics, classical literature, political philosophy, and rhetoric can lead to “possessing our souls of true vertue” by teaching truth. Just after he states his spiritual goal for education, Milton says that “because our understanding cannot in this body found it selfe but on sensible things, nor arrive so clearly to the knowledge of God and things invisible, as by orderly conning over the visible and inferior creature, the same method is necessary to be follow'd in all discreet teaching” (367-69). Thus, a student learns to know God not just from studying Scriptures and theology, but from studying the physical world of sensate objects.6 There is no strict division between “secular” and “sacred” knowledge; in education the most important difference is between what is true and what is false. Milton relies implicitly on St. Augustine's maxim that “every good and true Christian should understand that wherever he may find truth, it is his Lord's” (2.28). If all truth belongs to God, then increasing one's knowledge of any truth, whether of concrete objects or of ethical principles, will increase one's knowledge of God.7 However well this process works in theory, putting it into practice involves certain logistical difficulties. Students might very well increase personal knowledge of God and thus begin to repair the ruins of the Fall, but it is difficult to demonstrate that this goal is being achieved in every person in a student body of 130 young men.8 The problem inherent in any educational goal, and in Milton's spiritual goal especially, is the difficulty of empirically verifying its fulfillment. An algebra teacher can devise a test to measure how much algebra students have learned, but it is much harder to measure the extent to which students are “[repairing] the ruins of our first parents by regaining to know God aright.” The fulfillment of such a goal can be measured only indirectly by observing how the students eventually perform at a concrete task, in this case the effective execution of public offices or estate management. Thus, if Milton's graduates fulfill the duties of certain offices justly, skillfully, and magnanimously, that is evidence, though not entirely conclusive evidence, that they have also progressed in their knowledge of God, just as students' passing of an algebra is evidence, though not conclusive evidence, that they have met the course goal of learning from students' behavior in the physical there is no way for to what those students know or have As Ainsworth Milton's spiritual goal and practical objective indeed, respectively to the inner and the outer aspects of the same individual, normally (15). Milton must rely on the observable the practical objective of good public to demonstrate that his students are meeting his spiritual goal. As Milton himself understanding cannot in this body found it selfe but on sensible (2: This is true for both the student and the the student learns only through and the teacher also only through that the student has of confusion in Milton's spiritual goal to his practical objective is the sequence of in the of an individual student and the of the state. As the individual achieves Milton's spiritual goal, he also to the practical objective as a and while the spiritual its primary only the practical is However, the by a Milton's students have met their practical objective and leaders in a just state, the process would almost met the practical objective should a political that is to other people the spiritual goal because Milton's will be of and intellectual This is articulated in in which Milton the for providing greater intellectual than have other he to it is the and which own and have which is the of all this is that which and our like the of this is that which and up our he the to to and to argue to all For Milton, of the purpose of the is to a for intellectual the of which may a person greater knowledge of God, out of that knowledge to love him, to imitate him, to be like him, as we may the neerest by possessing our souls of true vertue, which being united to the heavenly grace of faith makes up the highest perfection” Education Thus, the fulfillment of Milton's practical objective in individual students to a political that the fulfillment of his spiritual goal in other The process is A student learns to know God, which fits him for public service. As a public he intellectual which other people to to know God these people also fit for public and the But as the it can difficult to which of the is the real goal for education. is Milton early in Of Education that the true end of education is learning to know God The project of Milton's spiritual goal to his practical objective might be if we neither the goal nor the objective as Milton's in Of Education, but rather for his in his first “I since that to or and no purpose or should then the love of God, and of (2: The some to a modern in which an in the its purpose for Milton's statement his goal and objective in a that at the of To know God is to to love God, which the and to as a public or a leader is to love one's which the second These two first of God and of one's in a way Milton's spiritual goal and practical objective. God is the most important a person can and that love of God love of a love that remains inferior to the love of God, although it is often the more visible of the two. most important goal is to to know God, and while that knowledge effective the political remains inferior to the spiritual purpose of know God, to repair the ruins of the Fall, and to the student in the becomes only when we between sequence and Two important implications follow from the relationship between Milton's two statements of purpose. The first is that both the goal and the objective refer to the Christian of the process by which the Christian learns to Milton's of the by the Fall, it is to view his educational goal as describing the Christian of the of and with God that result from a of grace by It would then be to that Milton education to be a necessary to a has to suggest that not to be to men without or to of any for Milton's academy, in this is a . . .” If Milton's educational goal then would have to whether Milton believes is for the But his to that Milton's general goal and practical objective aspects of and he priority to Milton's the over such as to know God our souls of true and suggest that Milton is describing the process of rather than the of While Milton's does emphasize the the if from its context in the of the sentence, its relationship to is Actually, the the has little to do with for the of in the Fall is not by Paradise Lost, for educational in which are in virtuous and as has such how can be regained through the process of For and are by their and faith at the end of when they and so that Michael can at the end of that he can A . . .” a process by the ruins of the Fall been repaired by Michael would of the of a as a not as a This regaining of is the result of over in Milton's brief if the spiritual that in Paradise Regained is to the of the then the that is by in the brief is the practice of rather than the of Paradise Regained is an example of a of the through as Of Education In the tract, Milton assumes that his students are who have already been but as for all Milton's students to a process of as they to a of faith and to a passage of the is by grace through faith and cannot be by Thus, education cannot produce though a good education will to the process of Milton's educational goal and objective also a the educational scenes in Paradise Lost. There are such first, and then the just after is and Michael after the Fall. principles from Of Education to these scenes in Paradise Lost, Murray Bundy and Michael on the between and and postlapsarian education but in and purpose. Because Milton's of education with education and after the Fall is not between and regaining knowledge of God, between and regaining that students have the to and The in all of and is the knowledge of God, which in a postlapsarian world will begin to the of the Fall. But even in they must to know God and to understand such knowledge is not or but God is learning to know him becomes an In and postlapsarian students with of and while pedagogical methods the Education after the Fall is more difficult because students are to though of education the Fall is because the students true knowledge, although they are of In all educational in the the goal and objective stated in Of Education In each and the knowledge of God and their own on In each instance, the or Michael in the process of by character and to This process is at work when comes to and the he as in his works and that follow from those when for more how the was . . . such from I have to Of knowledge To nor own not which in To in or is to and that God is and that he has to certain to and because of this not to into the
Read moreCritique and the Hermeneutics of Suspicion
Critique and the Hermeneutics of Suspicion
Towards effective management and preservation of digital cultural heritage resources: an exploration of contextual factors in Ghana
<p>In today’s world of digital technologies, cultural heritage institutions, particularly in developed countries, are seeking ways to create national digital memories for the future of the citizenry. However, rapidly developing technologies and their concomitant technological obsolescence put future memories at risk. The challenge is enormous in developing countries that, when compared to their developed counterparts, lack adequate resources and technologies for effective digital resources management and preservation. As a developing country, Ghana appears ready to face the challenges of effective digital resources management. The country has developed programmes and a national policy on information and communication technologies (ICTs) for accelerated development. However, Ghana does not appear to be effective in managing or preserving digital cultural heritage resources. An interpretive case research design involving 27 semi-structured interviews with key stakeholders from 23 institutions was used to explore the various contextual factors influencing the management and preservation of digital cultural heritage resources (or DPM). Rogers’ (2003) “diffusion of innovation” (DOI) theory and Davies’ (2000) “policy, strategy and resources” (PSR) troika model provided a basis for a preliminary model of factors to guide the research. Although the DPM innovation was not fully diffused in Ghana, related activities at the base, middle and higher levels of the Ghanaian social system were unintentionally fostering the adoption process. Four main clusters of contextual factors that were influencing the DPM adoption process in Ghana were identified: attitudinal, resources-related, policy-related, and managerial factors. Key stakeholders perceived the design of appropriate strategies, adequate resource allocation, and proper implementation of policies as key enabling factors for effective adoption of DPM in Ghana. However, a general lack of interest in cultural institutions (libraries, archives and museums) and in information management on the part of decision makers and the Ghanaian stakeholders as a whole was found to hinder DPM adoption. This study extends Information Systems (IS) research involving DOI theory and the PSR troika model into a developing country context. Attitudinal-based complexities involving misunderstandings among various tribal groups in Ghana, and resources-based complexities surrounding technology access and use, were found from the interview data and were added to the initial model which was expanded to aid in understanding the various contextual factors that influence DPM adoption in Ghana. In addition to the study contributing to theoretical understandings in IS research, it provides Ghanaian policy developers with an empirical base for accelerating adoption of DPM in Ghana. It also provides New Zealand and other digital preservation advanced countries with a deeper understanding from which to provide contextually designed advisory services to other developing countries (particularly in the Pacific Island regions) as it enables the contextual understanding of the factors from Ghana.</p>
Read moreAfrica and Environmental History
Next article No AccessIntroductionAfrica and Environmental HistoryGregory H. MaddoxGregory H. Maddox Texas Southern University Search for more articles by this author PDFPDF PLUS Add to favoritesDownload CitationTrack CitationsPermissionsReprints Share onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail SectionsMoreDetailsFiguresReferencesCited by Volume 4, Number 2April 1999 Published for the American Society for Environmental History and the Forest History Society Views: 12Total views on this site Citations: 2Citations are reported from Crossref Article DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1093/envhis/4.2.162 Views: 12Total views on this site Citations: 2Citations are reported from Crossref © 1999 American Society for Environmental History and Forest History SocietyPDF download Crossref reports the following articles citing this article:Adam Rome, Karl Appuhn, Lawrence Buell, Joyce Chaplin, Mark Cioc, Craig E. Colten, William Cronon, Carole L. Crumley, Mark Elvin, Brian Fagan, Deborah Fitzgerald, Dianne D. Glave, Lorne Hammond, Robert Pogue Harrison, Mark Harvey, Richard C. Hoffmann, J. Donald Hughes, Margaret Humphreys, Nancy J. Jacobs, Stephen R. Kellert, Matthew Klingle, Shepard Krech III, Gregory H. Maddox, Arthur F. McEvoy, Martin V. Melosi, Kathryn Morse, Sara B. Pritchard, Cynthia Radding, Candace Slater, Thomas P. Slaughter, Ted Steinberg, Joel A. Tarr, Alan Taylor, Conrad Totman, Ian Tyrrell, Conevery Bolton Valencius, Laura Dassow Walls, James L. A. Webb Jr., Elliott West, and Michael Williams What Books Should be More Widely Read in Environmental History?, Environmental History 10, no.44 (Sep 2021): 666–769.https://doi.org/10.1093/envhis/10.4.666Paul S. Sutter What Can U.S. Environmental Historians Learn from non-U.S. Environmental Historiography?, Environmental History 8, no.11 (Sep 2021): 109–129.https://doi.org/10.2307/3985974
Read moreThe Impact of digital human resource management practices on professional capital: analytical research in the Iraqi ministry of labor and social affairs
The research aims to demonstrate the impact of digital human resources management practices on professional capital in the ministry, the research sample, and to diagnose and explain the relationship between the research variables and their dimensions. And for the purpose of reaching the results, the descriptive analytical method was used in presenting and interpreting the research information. And the Iraqi Social Affairs, which numbered (578), and the sample of the research was (231), which was determined based on the Thompson equation, where (240) questionnaires were distributed and (235) were retrieved from them, and the good ones (231) represented the research sample. The statistical analysis of the research concluded a number of results, the most prominent of which was the presence of a significant effect of the practices of digital human resources management in professional capital, and this indicates that the practices of digital human resources management have an effective and influential role in achieving professional capital, that is, whenever the Ministry of Labor seeks And social affairs to the application of digital human resource management practices, this will constitute a major and effective factor in achieving professional capital.
Read moreWhy study users? An environmental scan of use and users of digital resources in humanities and social sciences undergraduate education
This article presents an overview of a two-year study [1] that (1) mapped the universe of digital resources available to undergraduate educators in the humanities and social sciences (H/SS); and, (2) examined how a better understanding of the variation in use and users can benefit the integration of these resources into undergraduate teaching. Our results suggest that faculty use a vast array of online materials from both educational and “non-educational” sources, but many do not use digital resources for a host of reasons including the lack of direct relevance to their preferred pedagogical approaches, and insufficient time and classroom resources. Our discussions with digital resource providers confirmed that an understanding of the actual use of their resources in undergraduate settings is often murky. These discussions also made clear that resources created by higher education institutions will continue to proliferate despite a lack of formal knowledge about users and/or clear models for financial sustainability. A more precise understanding of the diversity of use and user behavior, and the ability to share findings from user studies, will require that the digital resource development community make typologies, standards of data and data collection, and results more transparent.
Read moreConservation Behavior Is Here to Stay
Conservation Behavior Is Here to Stay
Toward a Trinity Model of Digital Education Resources Construction and Management
This chapter aims to solve the problem of how to construct and manage digital educational resources effectively. It puts forward a trinity mode based on system architecture, workflow, and technology system. The trinity model consists of “Pre-Stage, Mid-Stage, Post-stage,” “Theory, Practice, Regulation” and “Approach, Tool, Rule.” By combining the trinity mode with case studies, the issues concerning construction and management of digital educational resources are to be analyzed, including topic selection, relationship between quantity and quality, implementation. Over the past year, results have showed that the trinity model could shorten more than 50 % of the development cycle of the project. The model could greatly help improve the construction and management of digital educational resources.
Read moreManagement of digital resources in Government college libraries of Madhya Pradesh: A study
The purpose of this study is to look into how digital resources are managed in a selected government college libraries located around Madhya Pradesh, India.The Management Committee, Collection Development Policy for digital resources, Library funding sources, library automation and management software, and stock verification method in the chosen colleges are highlighted in the study by analysing the availability, accessibility, and use of IT infrastructure.The results are based on an evaluation of the technological resources that are accessible as well as a survey of library employees.
Read moreAn Examination of the Ways in Which Transdisciplinary Research Could Be Used to Incentivize Local Communities to Combat the Illegal Wildlife Trade
The illegal wildlife trade (IWT) is currently one of the most critical conservation concerns, given its direct impact on biodiversity loss, endangering local ecosystems, and adding pressure to all species at a point when they face dangers like deforestation and mass extinctions. This industry also significantly impacts local communities, many of which are compelled to engage in it as a result of their precarious socioeconomic conditions. While effective countermeasures to this global issue have been identified, successful implementation of these countermeasures require diverse disciplines and collaborators. This paper argues that a transdisciplinary approach that converges knowledge and skills from social and socioecological fields of study is required to develop strategies that effectively incentivize communities to combat the IWT. This is true because A) at the social level, criminal justice is needed for the retraining and participation in law enforcement efforts to mitigate support for poaching; B) at the socio-ecological level, environmental economics and ecosystem management are needed for the validation of community assets and profitable management of local wildlife; and C) ecology and business administration are needed for the implementation of conservation initiatives like ecotourism. This paper not only presents the implementation of a transdisciplinary approach but also details the most important disciplines needed, provides a review of the correlation between this industry and the locals who live in close proximity to wildlife and conservation areas, and proposes workable recommendations to supporting initiatives that combat the IWT and serve as pillars for sustainable action. Without adopting and reinforcing the position argued for in this research, the IWT would continue to pose a threat to local ecosystems, populations, and economies. This is a major risk to global sustainability and will exacerbate the loss of biodiversity that is already recognized as an imminent threat by the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.
Read more