M. Tech. Education / It is well known that learners do not perform well in physical science. The purpose of this study was to investigate how learners interpret the role of photographs and other illustrative devices in physical science and whether learners are able to identify physical science concepts that they think are embedded in the photographs found in grade 12 physical science textbooks. The study focused on photographs found in physical science textbooks as it is clear that photographs are explicitly used in physical science textbooks as pedagogical resources. It is of great significance for learners to also understand the physical science concepts embedded in photographs.

This project uses the body as a framework to understand and re-imagine the archives (here referring to the professionally managed repository). It argues that the archives as a body of knowledge, like the human body, does not and cannot fit into normative stable categories. Tracing the shift in archival paradigms from modern to postmodern, I employ the posthuman to argue for a concomitant shift in understanding of the archival body, which I conceive of as comprising both human and non-human corpora of knowledge and knowledge-making practices. These corpora are simultaneously becoming and unbecoming as multiply-situated identities, technologies, representations, and timescapes. Using temporality as a key element in analyzing archival productions, I consider how this body might sediment. This research, written from my insider perspective as an archivist, implements a transdisciplinary approach that draws from the disciplines of archival and queer studies as well as from somatechnics, embodiment and affect studies, and decolonizing methodologies to advocate for a proposed Queer/ed Archival Methodology, Q/M, that is designed to trouble the concepts of archival theory and production. It also employed on-site observation and interviews at the Transgender Archives in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, observation and narrative analysis of recordings held by the Arizona Queer Archives and the Arizona LGBTQ Storytelling Project, and online interviews with the developer of the Skeivt Arkiv, Norway's first state-sanctioned queer archives. Three overarching questions guided the research: 1) How can archives simultaneously hold normative and non-normative stories, materials and practices together as both complementary and also contradictory without subordinating or otherwise invalidating either and so that each can still be considered worthy of archival attention? 2) How might a Q/M be a radical intervention into normative archival practices and structures and to what ends? 3) What might it mean and look like for a queer/ed archives to be a radically open space? For whom? As we encounter multiply-situated subjects in the postmodern approach and follow traces in order to interrogate the force and function of respectability politics within the archival body, the modern and anthropocentric Cartesian statement 'Je pense, donc je suis' (I think, therefore I am) can no longer support the human and records as the central theme of archival endeavors. The posthuman approach offers many possibilities. Through the understanding that human bodies are relational and contingent in complex ways to non-human bodies and each to bodies of knowledges, human and non-human bodies come together in complex relations and assemblages within the archives. Archival productions can thus represent new and emerging thoughts on lived experiences as these are situated in various structures and systems. The Q/M offers a way of thinking and acting with, about, through, among, and at times in spite of traditional as well as emerging archival practices and processes in order to facilitate new, imaginative, irrational, and unpredictable re-configurations of bodies and archives and the many histories and records therein. Its flexible foundation in the theories employed in the research support Q/M's seven key approaches: 1) Participatory Ethos, 2) Connectivity, 3) Storytelling, 4) Intervention, 5) Re-framing, 6) Re-imagining, and 7) Flexibility & Dynamism.

In 2011, over 1.5 million new book titles were published in the United States, a 400% increase in just five years compared to 2006. In the same time period, the market share for eBooks increased dramatically and now comprises 20% or more of sales from many of the biggest publishing companies. This hyper-abundance of titles in an increasingly heterogeneous market place has made it difficult for consumers to connect to books they might want to read. This is the discovery problem. It is compounded by the continuing decline of traditional gatekeepers and sources of discovery such as mass media reviews and advertising, as well as the decline of traditional bookstores where people often find books through browse. Authors and publishers therefore have turned to social media to spread the word about their titles. Social gatekeeping, an extension of traditional gatekeeping theory, is proposed as the framework for understanding how author participation in social networks initiates a flow of the diffusion of information over the web and other computer mediated communication channels, and through individuals and social networks to potential readers. Serendipitous browse and discovery is a key strategy for readers to find titles of interest, and the serendipitous tie is proposed as a social mechanism through which individuals discover new titles and bring it back to their social networks to share. To explore these concepts, a random sample of new eBook titles published during the first week of April, 2012 was generated and analyzed in three phases. The first phase of research classified books and authors according to facets such as traditional or self-published, use of social media and other factors. The second phase used multiple regression to establish an association between the use of social media by authors and a title's sales and presence on the Web. The third phase reviewed selected titles for new approaches to social media use and evidence of the serendipitous tie. The results are consistent with the hypothesis that author web presence predicts discoverability and sales.

Intellectual property affects an increasingly large range of social life. Despite the breadth of goods and activities affected by intellectual property schemas, policy-makers, legislators, jurists and even many social theorists have a narrow understanding of the basis for instituting intellectual property rights and understanding their limits: most see intellectual property rights only as a means to create more intellectual goods in society. My dissertation argues that our intellectual property schemas and policies need to be more sensitive to the diversity of values involved in the social meanings of different intellectual goods and activities. Contrary to those who claim that "information wants to be free," I defend a property-based approach to the protection and regulation of intellectual goods. I argue that intellectual property schemas need to do a better job responding to the diversity of value that characterizes intellectual activities and goods. Finally, I argue that context is an important tool for marking out which values are to be promoted in different circumstances and communities.

The study was conducted to identify the sources of HIV/AIDS information used by residential university students on the Pietermaritzburg campus of the former University of Natal. HIV/AIDS is one of the scourges that the world is faced with. South Africa, before the 1994 elections, was fighting the obvious enemy, apartheid. The enemy now is the silent killer, HIV/AIDS. The future leaders, the students of this country, need to be challenged to behave in a manner that will bring about a change in their sexual behaviour, so that no students are lost to the AIDS epidemic and neither are the skills that they have acquired. The research was conducted at the then University of Natal (now known as the University of KwaZulu-Natal). The researcher administered a questionnaire to residential students of Pietermaritzburg campus to determine the sources of HIV/AIDS information used by them. There were four residences included in the study, namely Denison, Malherbe Hall, Petrie Hall and William O'Brien Hall. The study argues that it is time for the university sector and its partners to take stock of a situation that might quickly outpace the institutions. AIDS has become an everyday reality in the university system . There is a need for a clearer, more forceful definition of roles and responsibilities amongst all the partners in response to the epidemic. Provision of relevant information in an appropriate format needs to be an integral part of the University's response to HIV/AIDS. The study found that the residential students were generally satisfied with the existing sources of HIV/AIDS information. They did encounter problems in finding information in some of the sources given in the study. The study revealed that some of the sources of HIV/AIDS information were used more than others. The study suggested that the sources that are most frequently used should be utilised by information providers or university information stakeholders to disseminate information on HIV/AIDS among students. This study should help the University of KwaZulu-Natal to improve the information - related aspect of its HIV/AIDS intervention strategies at a time when the HIV/AIDS epidemic is threatening the academic sphere and the whole community at large. / Thesis (M.I.S.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2006.

This study employs an eclectic rhetorical-critical approach to examine the Website of the National Alliance, a prominent White-supremacist organization. This study is guided by research questions that ask what rhetorical strategies the National Alliance uses on its Website, and how these strategies might inform how politically-extreme Internet communities socialize new members into their belief systems. The critical analysis shows that the National Alliance desires its audience to become identified with the goals and program of the organization, redefine their notions of "responsibility" to only encompass the White race, and obsessively endeavor to build the foundation for a new White society. This study concludes by defining "socialization value," a proposed rhetorical-critical construct with special relevance to Internet texts. The National Alliance Website possesses a high socialization value, meaning that it is likely to assist the National Alliance in expanding the size of its Internet community. / Department of Communication Studies

The relationships between medical libraries and the main users of medical information in the teaching hospitals and University departments in Oxford is examined. Systems ideas are used to define the sort of model or picture of the users that a library manager needs in order to provide the appropriate services, and to provide a formal means of incorporating users and their information needs into a management control system. Data were gathered by several methods and combined into a rich picture of the users and their information-seeking behaviour. The systems methodology developed by Checkland at the University of Lancaster was used to test this rich picture and link it with monitoring for library effective- ness. Application of the Checkland methodology was a crucial step which shifted the emphasis of the project from quantitative to conceptual modelling. The methods of data collection and the results are described as the User Survey. The following techniques were used: questionnaires, semi-structured interviews, direct observation, feedback forms (a critical incident technique), a reference tracing experiment and analysis of existing library records. The data gathered by those methods presented a consistent picture in which the nature of the users' work, ie research or clinical practice, was the dominant influence on information-seeking patterns. Application of the Checkland methodology and the conceptual models derived from it are described as the Systems Study. This revealed that the formal processes for monitoring and control expected by the conceptual models did not appear in identifiable form in the real world. Further examination showed that a detailed description of the library function was necessary and that this statement could be used to generate performance criteria. In addition, the rich picture from the User Survey was found to be a fair representation of reality. Conclusions for systems thinking, user studies, library managers and medical librarianship are presented.

The use of the Internet as a medium for education has grown exponentially since the mid-1990s. Institutions of higher education are increasingly offering online access to distance education programmes, especially at postgraduate level. Some see e-learning as offering solutions to many problems traditionally associated with distance education. Research into e-learning at a distance has largely focussed on the effectiveness of differing technologies for the delivery of online courses, the emphasis being upon the technology itself, with few studies examining the student experience of this new phenomenon. It is therefore argued that a gap exists, as the views of distance e-learners at postgraduate level have seldom been paid attention, with their specific and individual needs failing to be addressed. This study aims to rectify this gap by examining postgraduates' experiences of e-learning at a distance. The purpose of the study is to inform the future development of elearning at postgraduate level and help determine how higher education can best support this rapidly expanding group of learners. The research presents a qualitative case study of a group of students studying modules from the University of Salford's MSc/Postgraduate Diploma in Occupational Safety and Health in a virtual learning environment called GOLDPhase, which was specifically designed and developed to facilitate the study. Issues related to the students' heightened awareness of their peers, their sensitivity to tutor feedback, and the learning strategies they adopted are identified and discussed. The findings show that e-learning engendered a range of barriers and enhancements for this group of distance learners. The enhancements were largely computer based and barriers were mostly sociological. The findings have implications for both online teaching and online learning strategies. As distance e-learning is in its infancy the study will increase overall understanding in this area and contribute to the growing body of knowledge.

This report describes a research study into the current situation within Federal, State Government and selected private sector agencies, assessing contingency plans for Information Systems and suggests models for state-wide planning against Information Systems disasters. Following a brief look at various phases of contingency plan development, the study looks into the factors that prompt organisations to prepare contingency plans. The project involved a survey of current Information Systems contingency plans in the government agencies in the states of Victoria, Western Australia, South Australia, New South Wales and in the Australian Capital Territory. It also included two major banks, an insurance company and two computer services bureaux in the private sector within New South Wales. The survey determined that particular factors play important roles in the decision by organisations to commence contingency planning. These include actual disaster experience, senior management support, auditor's comments, legal requirements, risk analysis and business impact study, economic considerations, insurance requirements, contract commitment, new staff and introduction of new hardware and software. The critical success factors in contingency planning include regular maintenance and testing of the plan. The project also discusses the current contingency planning environment within New South Wales Government agencies and suggests cost-effective models for state-wide adoption.

Sharing and exploitation of information resources across a diverse organisation can confer a significant competitive advantage but also can be a substantial challenge in coordinating across structural and specialisation boundaries. This challenge reflects the difficulties traditionally associated with lateral relations, which were recognised by classical organisational theorists but are more pronounced with the emergence of information as a critical resource. Notwithstanding the benefits of information sharing across the organisation, the classical concept of specialisation remains fundamental to organisational theory; thus there is potential for friction between requirements for specialisation and coordination. This research therefore examines information management arrangements to balance specialisation and coordination in a diverse organisation. The research takes advantage of organisational and systems theory literature to appreciate complex information management requirements in terms of differentiation/cohesion and integration/coupling of organisational elements. Information management???s business and technology perspectives define the conceptual framework, within which gaps in the literature are identified and become the focus of the research. The two key research areas are the opportunities enabled by technology for business integration through collaborative decision-making and the management of organisation-wide information technology infrastructure. Collaborative decision-making is an integrating mechanism that can provide balance between specialisation and coordination contingent upon the nature of decision tasks and their organisational context. Propositions associated with an adaptive approach to collaborative decision-making were tested in laboratory experiments, with positive support for the contingency model albeit constrained by individual cognitive variances. Organisations increasingly are adopting centralised approaches to the provision of IT services, with IT governance as an integrating mechanism and a need for multiple business-IT alignments to add value according to the differentiation required by organisational elements. Propositions relating to the adaptation of IT management arrangements based upon organisational characteristics were tested using a multi- iv -discipline approach, which resulted in support for the model although practical difficulties were experienced in the action research component. This research provides a framework for maintaining effective variety of information capabilities commensurate with the diverse organisation???s mission and environment, while also exploiting the synergies and economies of shared information resources for holistic benefits.