The study was done to understand the direction in which South Africa’s mining model is developed and the changes required for South Africa to take its rightful place in the mainstream spheres of economic and commercial affairs. The huge demand for African commodities is creating new opportunities for African governments to realise the hopes of their people for a better life. The objective of this study is to analyse the South African mining model to determine the sustainability of mining in South Africa. It was done by analysing Chrome, Coal and Platinum as selected minerals and metals. A literature study was conducted and the focus was on the reserves and resources that South Africa has in these minerals and metals, the current supply and demand factors and estimates were done on the future demand. The last part was to determine the state of and planned expansions of infrastructure like Electricity supply, Shipping Ports, Rail transport, Road transport and Water supply that mining operations require. Following the literature study, a survey was conducted in order to support the findings of the literature study and to determine the most important factors that can influence investment decisions in the mining sector by evaluating the investor’s acceptability of South Africa’s mineral and resource industry. It was concluded that the South Africa mining module is well developed with the required skills and knowledge for sustainable mining in the future. It was determined that there would be a future market to maintain a sustainable mining module. The major risk for the sustainable mining module is the reliance on infrastructures required in the mining environment, which is under governmental management. Survey results concluded that South Africa is not an investor-friendly country mainly because of its ineffective administration processes to perform mining. Investors are also seeking for independence of regulatory institutions. A recommendation for future research would be to determine the optimum South African Governmental needs of the investment in infrastructure capital to ensure that the country’s economy will be able to grow.The study was done to understand the direction in which South Africa’s mining model is developed and the changes required for South Africa to take its rightful place in the mainstream spheres of economic and commercial affairs. The huge demand for African commodities is creating new opportunities for African governments to realise the hopes of their people for a better life. The objective of this study is to analyse the South African mining model to determine the sustainability of mining in South Africa. It was done by analysing Chrome, Coal and Platinum as selected minerals and metals. A literature study was conducted and the focus was on the reserves and resources that South Africa has in these minerals and metals, the current supply and demand factors and estimates were done on the future demand. The last part was to determine the state of and planned expansions of infrastructure like Electricity supply, Shipping Ports, Rail transport, Road transport and Water supply that mining operations require. Following the literature study, a survey was conducted in order to support the findings of the literature study and to determine the most important factors that can influence investment decisions in the mining sector by evaluating the investor’s acceptability of South Africa’s mineral and resource industry. It was concluded that the South Africa mining module is well developed with the required skills and knowledge for sustainable mining in the future. It was determined that there would be a future market to maintain a sustainable mining module. The major risk for the sustainable mining module is the reliance on infrastructures required in the mining environment, which is under governmental management. Survey results concluded that South Africa is not an investor-friendly country mainly because of its ineffective administration processes to perform mining. Investors are also seeking for independence of regulatory institutions. A recommendation for future research would be to determine the optimum South African Governmental needs of the investment in infrastructure capital to ensure that the country’s economy will be able to grow. / Thesis (M.B.A.)--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2012

Postmodern theory maintains that analyzing the history of archival material can enrich our understanding of archival methods over time and help us understand their effect on society. Examining various records of the First World War, from the perspectives of Britain, Canada, and Australia, from their creation to their uses today, demonstrates the lasting effect that these records have had on the memory of the war, and on our understanding of the past. During the war, records were largely used by governments and individuals for the war’s prosecution and the well-being of soldiers and civilians. The interwar period was faced with whether and how to preserve millions of government records as well as the need for governments, in particular, to use them to shape public opinion and international relations. Today personal First World War records such as letters, diaries, and photographs have taken centre stage and are used primarily for education, commemoration, and entertainment. Although these and other First World War records have increased in popularity in Britain, Canada, and Australia, archival institutions remain in the shadows. Nevertheless, the First World War centenary and the interest in the war's records allow an opportunity to address that problem. This thesis aims to provide greater awareness of the varied uses of the war's records across their histories in order to add to their value and thus demonstrate the importance of preserving archival records. It is hoped that this will help to garner much needed political, economic, and societal support for archival institutions. / May 2017

L’efficacité d’un système d’information se mesure à sa capacité à proposer une offre documentaire adéquate afin de susciter des usages. Notre travail a consisté à étudier les deux composantes principales de systèmes d’information pour la recherche en Education, l’offre et les usages, dans un contexte numérique et international, en comparant les situations française et britanniques. La mise en regard de nos analyses a révélé quelques incompatibilités de l’offre notamment en France entraînant surtout un non-usage de l’information numérique par de nombreux chercheurs. L’offre numérique dans les bibliothèques française est essentiellement anglophone sont destinées à des chercheurs dont la majorité ne maîtrise pas la langue anglaise. L’offre numérique francophone est insuffisante et ne concerne pas tous les domaines de l’Education. Au Royaume-Uni, la situation est inverse, l’offre numérique est riche quasiment pour l’ensemble des champs de la discipline, le problème de la langue ne se pose pas et son usage est de fait très important. Ainsi, nos résultats indiquent que la nature de l’offre influe sur les usages. Par ailleurs, il apparait que l’usage de la documentation numérique peut aussi être lié à la culture technique (culture informatique et documentaire) et l’âge. Enfin, la culture de la discipline est un autre facteur prépondérant influençant les pratiques informationnelles des chercheurs en Education, une analyse de domaine nous a permis d’en avoir une connaissance plus précise. Il explique pourquoi certaines ressources numériques, telles les archives ouvertes, connaissent un faible usage tant en Fance qu’au Royaume-Uni / An information system can be considered as being efficient if it offers adequate documentation in order to generate usage. Our work was to study the two major components of information systems for research in education, supply and use, in a digital environment comparing the French and British situations. The results confrontation revealed some inconsistencies in supply especially in France involving mainly non-use of digital information by many researchers. The digital resources proposed by French libraries are mainly in English and most researchers do not speak this language. There are French language digital resources but this offer is not that privileged by scholars and does not cover all their areas of Education. In the United Kingdom, the situation is reversed, the digital offer is rich in almost all fields of discipline, the language problem does not arise and its use is very important. Thus our results show that the nature of supply affects uses. Furthermore, it appears that the use of digital documentation may also be linked to computer and information literacy and age. Finally, the disciplinary culture in another factor influencing the information practices of researchers in education a domain analysis has allowed us to have more precise knowledge. It explains for example why some digital resources, such as open archives, have a limited use in France as well as in the United Kingdom

Social media today constitute a big part of everyday life for adolescents, but we believe that there is an inadequate knowledge of how young people in everyday contexts go about evaluating and reflecting upon the information mediated through Facebook. This study aims to examine how adolescents in their everyday life judge the credibility of information mediated through Facebook. In order to attain the aim the study also seeks to answer how adolescents reflect upon information on Facebook, what is their own role in the production of content and also to identify their cognitive resources and the practical doings which they apply in order to judge the credibility of the information. The theoretical framework on which the study is based are Patrick Wilson's theory of Cognitive authority and the theory of Uses and Gratifications. The data was accumulated by conducting two focus group interviews with a total of eight respondents, each focus group comprising four respondents. The study found that the content the respondents are exposed to is dependent on their own actions and that it is also a result of a wider range of age groups being more active on Facebook. Many of the respondents do not put much trust in the information and most of them are also passive in the production of it. The study also identified the following methods the respondents use when they evaluate the credibility of the information: to examine the sources, determine if there is any underlying political interest, reputation, how it is expressed, their attitude towards the information, compare sources, common sense and experience.

Title: The proposal of the Geological Trails in the Area of the Rychleby Mts. Abstract: This thesis is devoted to draft for new nature trails in the area of the Rychleby Mts. with a specific focus on geology. The proposed trails are preceded by detailed characteristics of geomorphology, geology and stratigraphy of the studied area. The trails are located in two areas, i. e. the northern part of the Rychleby Mts. (Račí údolí - Zálesí - Javorník) and Žulová highlands (Around Žulová pluton). The first mentioned trail is designed in two levels of difficulty for elementary and secondary schools. The trail are supplemented by specific guidebooks, worksheets and the "Didactic recommendation for teachers", which included general didactic recommendations, next detailed information about the trails and suggestions for other additional activities. The trails had been verified in practice on students, amateurs and experts. Anthe effectiveness of the trails was evaluated through surveys with participants. It has been proved that the trails are suitable complement of education process mainly for natural science and the trails are also useful for non-educational leisure activities for visitors of these areas. Key words: nature trail, the Rychleby Mts., excursion, pedagogical uses

This work based on regression analysis and analysis using uses and gratification theory at the sample of 146 students opens the relationship between the use of online social networks and other media. Analysis comes up with results inconsistent with the theory of niche. The wider are the gratifications provided by online social networks and the wider are their gratification opportunities, the less they were used or not used more. It is also shown that there is a positive relationship between the number of dimension in which the internet social networks compete with other media and a usage of internet social networks. A major conclusion of this work is a negative relationship between the use of online social networks and all other media, including traditional media, with the exception of computer games. A negative relationship against expectations was found between online social networks and online news sites. In addition to these findings some interesting relationships between the use of online social networks and personal characteristics of their users were shown. There is no effect of age, gender or grade point average. Positive effect, however, was found for semester of studies and negative effect of having a job.

Master of Science / Department of Journalism and Mass Communications / Louise Benjamin / In 2013, creating a 57-second video can lead to more than $150,000 in profit for the creator and the creator can be anyone. This money-making opportunity comes from a recent popular trend known as a “viral video,” defined as a phenomenon of a video becoming highly popular through rapid, user-led distribution via the internet. However, research has not determined a clear model for creating a non-professional viral video. Interviews and YouTube analytics revealed how the video “I’m Farming and I Grow It,” a non-professional video created by three Kansas boys, was spread. Using the theories Uses and Gratifications and Two-Step Flow, this case study then analyzed the comments posted on the viral video and a content analysis of the comments identified the key factors mentioned by users, which contributed to the videos’ millions of views. The results conclude the key components for making a non-professional video go viral are “opinion leaders” spreading the message and video content that elicits positive feelings such as joy, humor, or praise. This study also provides a model to help a non-professional video go viral based on previous research and this case study.

Master of Science / Department of Journalism and Mass Communications / Nancy Muturi / This study was designed to explore how Alzheimer’s caregivers use Facebook support groups. Specifically it describes what kinds of activities caregivers engage in when in Facebook support groups, explores the motivation behind participation, and details perceived advantages and disadvantages of the groups. Whether Facebook support groups are considered a primary and accurate source of disease information was also explored. The study was qualitative in nature and consisted of 20 caregiver interviews, conducted via phone and Skype. Guided by uses and gratifications theory (Katz, Blumler & Gurevitch, 1974), the study employed six research questions to fully explore the experiences of caregivers in Facebook support groups. Generally speaking, the study identified the primary theme of community, and three subthemes including context, advice and emotional release/support. There were also significant findings on the primacy and accuracy of information. The ability to more fully understand these themes in the context of the caregiver experience will provide health care professionals with a foundation on which they can build effective ways to tap existing Facebook support groups and bolster support as the Alzheimer’s epidemic grows exponentially between now and 2050.

Denna studie undersöker hur ett videospel som heter Crusader Kings 2 använder historia. Studien kommer också att titta på den potential videospel kan ge som pedagogiskt verktyg för lärande. Detta har analyserats i nära relation till den svenska läroplanen för ämnet historia på gymnasiet. För att upptäcka hur detta spel använder historia har spelet bryts ner i sina spelmekanismer, genre och faktorer och analyserats med hjälp av Klas-Göran Karlsson teori om de olika historiebruken för historia. För att hitta och analysera potentialen för lärande i spelet som har valts för denna studie har Young m fl teori om videospel och dess potential använts i nära relation till tidigare forskning, samt läroplanen för att analysera spelet. Denna teori om denna potential har baserats på artiklar och studier om videospels potential för lärande efter K-12 läroplanen. Resultatet är att Crusader Kings 2 potential för lärande i historia ämnet är mycket relevant till läroplanen och visar sig vara ett sätt uppfylla vad som förväntas av målen i ämnet. Det visade sig att spelet identifierades med hjälp av användningen av historia på många nivåer med hjälp av Karlssons teori om användningen av historia. Här har följande användningar identifierades: Existentiellt, moraliskt, ideologiskt, icke-bruk och kommersiellt bruk. / This study looks at the way a video game called Crusader Kings 2 uses history. The study will also look at the potential videogames can bring as pedagogical tool for learning. This have been analyzed in close relation to the Swedish curriculum for the subject history in the upper secondary school. To discover the way this video game uses history the game has been be broken down into its game mechanisms, genre and factors and analyzed using Klas-Göran Karlsson theory about the different uses of history. To find and analyze the potential for learning in the game, that have been chosen for this study Young et als theory about video games and its potential have been used in close relationship to previous research and the curriculum to analyze the game. This theory about this potential have been based on 300+ articles and studies about video games potential for learning following the K-12 curriculum. The result is that Crusader Kings 2 potential for learning in the history subject is very related to the curriculum and shows to provide a way fulfill what is expected to be learned from the goals of the subject. It was shown that the game was identified using the uses of history on many levels using Karlssons theory of the uses of history. Here the following uses was identified: Existentially, moralist, ideologist-none-use and commercial uses.

Syftet med denna studie är att undersöka hur upplevelser ser ut hos personer som uttrycker sig om adhd på Instagram. De upplevelser som undersöks är hur kontoinnehavarna upplever att de kan få hjälp att hantera sin adhd-diagnos via Instagram. Om de upplever att det finns några bakomliggande behov och motiv till användandet av kontot och i sådant fall vilka de är. Samt om de visar tecken på att själva teknologin och funktionerna spelar roll i skapandet eller tillfredställelsen av behov. Studiens teoretiska utgångspunkt är kommunikationsteorin, uses and gratification samt olika forskares teorier kopplat till den. Den valda metoden är kvalitativ och materialet består av kvalitativ data insamlad via epost-intervjuer. Studiens tre deltagare har alla Instagram-konton där de uttrycker sig om sin adhd-diagnos. Resultatet pekar på att motiv, behov och funktioner till viss del överlappar och kopplar till varandra. Respondenterna har genom mediet bland annat kunnat uttrycka känslor, vara behövda samt känt samhörighet, på så vis kan mediet ha hjälpt dem att hantera sin diagnos. Ur materialet har sammanlagt tre utmärkande behov identifierats. Behovet av social tillhörighet, behovet att uttrycka sig samt behovet av förändring gällande synsätt på diagnosen. De anledningar eller motiv som användarna menar ligger bakom valet av mediet är att sprida kunskap/informera och att nå ut med den samt att känna samhörighet. Funktionerna eller de tekniska behov som verkar spela in i valet och interagerandet är att Instagram är snabbt och enkelt att använda samt att det går att nå ut till många genom det.