The Concrete Institute’s information centre houses special collections and information about concrete and various aspects of concrete technology, including photographs that need to be managed effectively for retrieval purposes. The photographic collection has to be recorded and preserved according to relevant standards to ensure longevity and long term access. Management of photographic collections comes with its unique problems. The purpose of this study is to improve the state of the photographic collection by organising it for easy retrieval, allocating metadata and preserving it for future use. This study employed the action research method to study problems of the photographic collection at the institute. The action research method aims to find solutions to problems that are experienced by people in their everyday lives. Data was collected from a sample drawn using purposive sampling from the target population of information specialists and professionals. Data collection from information professionals was facilitated through an online questionnaire and three information specialists were interviewed. The study has indicated the importance of dematerialisation and allocating metadata to photographs to help identify and enhance accessibility of information resources. The results show that dematerialising the photographs will ease the retrieval process and assist information professionals to gain a greater insight of the material in their collection. Collections that are easily accessible are usable and fulfil their purpose to information users. In conclusion, a summarised overview of the study is presented in findings and recommendations regarding the management of photographic collections for effective retrieval.

This dissertation presents a constructivist grounded theory study of curation and biopiracy of medicinal knowledge about Hoodia. Hoodia is a succulent cactus used by the San people for sustenance and medicinal purposes, and a victim of biopiracy as indigenous knowledge of its properties has been patented with the aim of commercialisation. The purpose of this study was to generate a theory or framework that explores and explains the processes involved in curation and application of indigenous medicinal knowledge in the scientific, legal and commercial knowledge domains. The colonial 'discoveries' and records of the Hoodia species by Carl P. Thunberg, Francis Masson, as well as the recorded experience of Rudolf Marloth, in a Renaissance Humanist tradition, led to scientific experiments by the CSIR (Council for Scientific and Industrial Research) and commercial trials in an attempt to develop slimming drugs for commercialisation. A landmark royalty and benefit-sharing agreement in 2002/3 awarded intellectual property compensation to the San community for commercial exploitation of their traditional knowledge. Although there have been several Master's and Doctoral research studies about Hoodia, minimal or no attention have been directed toward the curation of information in a biopiracy case. Science has sought to capitalise undocumented indigenous knowledge by applying for patents and developing pharmaceutical drugs using indigenous medicinal knowledge obtained from local people. Using a grounded theory methodology, data was collected through an unstructured interview, reviews of literature and theoretical sampling to extract relevant concepts and themes. The study then identified key players and knowledge domains that added new layers of information and knowledge to traditional knowledge in relation to Hoodia use. The study traces the movement of indigenous knowledge from the San to the CSIR, from CSIR to the commercial entities Phytopharm, Pfizer and Unilever, through the licencing of a patent on Hoodia. An emergent theory based on the concept of palimpsest suggests that erasures of the existing traditional knowledge occurred as new layers of knowledge were added or applied. These erasures took the form of (1) renaming the Hoodia species with Greek or Latin names instead of adopting the indigenous names (Renaissance Humanism), and (2) adding new meaning and complicated symbols, resulting in codification of existing indigenous knowledge (Post Modernism). The main themes emanating from the application of palimpsest as a framework present pressing issues such as de-contextualisation and re-codification of indigenous knowledge, resulting in the erosion of benefits for its originators.

Vinicius Pineschi. Founder. VMK Studio UX & UI Consultant agency / Resumen

Despite the growth of digital archives, there is no dedicated repository that systematically compiles the history of Chinese migration to South Africa. This qualitative study used 62 archival records housed at the Western Cape Archives and Records Service, to explore how the application of digital curation (particularly digitisation of materials) can be used in presenting, preserving and sharing the history on the first wave of Chinese slaves, convicts, exiles and ‘free blacks' at the Cape of Good Hope (1654 -1838). The study method consisted of three parts. First, a thorough literature search and understanding on the theoretical, practical and technical components of the subject. Second, the systematic collection and analyses of archival records (through a customised document analysis form) and third, an exploration on what digital curation can offer in terms of facilitating the access to and the preservation of these records. The study exists under a relativist paradigm which believes that reality is a product of power relations. It was found that the records provide valuable insight into the Cape's political development (from Dutch to British rule) and social hierarchies between Chinese individuals at the time. The archival content, being of historical significance, is in fact at a risk of physical and epistemological loss. This loss can be addressed through the application of digital curation which this study explores conceptually from the conception of a digital project to the use, reuse and dissemination of digital surrogates. It is hoped that this study can be used as a foundation or framework for refiguring the colonial archive and bringing other neglected South African histories to the forefront.

There is no doubt that Web 2.0 technologies have impacted almost every facet of our lives. Whether it be in the classroom, or the way to communicate with family and friends, Web 2.0 technology has allowed us to become global citizens. We are now able to tap into a larger, more diverse repository of information, and thus what we "know" is secondary to what we "can find out." One product of the integration of Web 2.0 technologies in our way of life, is the way in which we have now become prosumers in a digital world. Prosumption, a term that defines the process of both producing and consuming data, is applied in this dissertation to discuss the ways in which we remember major events in our national narrative, and how we become civically engaged. This dissertation first outlines the ways in which Web 2.0 technology has remediated collective memory frameworks. By rhetorically analyzing the vernacular literacies that emerge at two sites of memory, one pre-Web 2.0 and one post-Web 2.0 technology, I argue that collective memory frameworks have become sites of prosumption that provide fertile ground for more meaningful civic engagement models. This work also uses an ecology metaphor to help build the concept that collective memory frameworks are a part of our "ecosystem", whether physical or digital, they permeate our lives, particularly the lives of school-aged individuals. The second part of this dissertation attempts to connect the ideas of prosumption and remediation at sites of collective memory to suggest that the most effective way to facilitate civic engagement is for educators to transform their classrooms to become spaces that Thomas and Seely Brown call, a "New Culture of Learning." Through this model, students use Web 2.0 technologies to execute ideas of prosumption which can then be used to solve large-scale problems.

Paralleling with development of computer technology, Computer-Aided Design (CAD) has been researched and introduced into industry since the 1960s. Until the mid-1980s, CAD means Computer-Aided Drafting in architectural field because the majority of practicing architects originally used computer as an electronic drafting tool to produce construction drawings. However, now computer 3D visualization technology as a design aided tool is impacting the architectural design process. In this research, a review of architectural representation in the early design phases is given. Additionally, a literature review of CAD development is presented as well. As a focus of this research, computer 3D visualization technology has been researched as a design aid. The emerging use of computer 3D visualization technology in some educational settings is also reviewed. Within this research, three Case Studies are presented to provide insights of how computer 3D visualization technology may impact architectural design process, design service quality, and client-architect?s relationship.

The digital image watermarking is a process that embeds a secrete sequence into a digital image or a video segment to protect its copyright information. There are several methods utilized to deal with the watermarking problem. There are in total two different kinds: the popular neural network and the traditional methods. And for the traditional methods, according to their working region, they can be divided into two groups: spatial domain-related algorithms (e.g., LSB SVD) and transformed domain algorithms (e.g., DCT, DWT). The spatial domain algorithms are the methods that directly work on the pixel values of the image, while the transformed domain algorithms are the methods that work on the rate of change of the image pixels. In the thesis, first of all, we are going to propose a modified hybrid the scheme, which has better results compared with the paper (Lin and Wan 2016). Then, we are going to offer a brand-new method concerning the LDPC-LDGM coding structure in the area of information theory to deal with the digital watermarking problem. Notice that this LDGM-LDPC nested code watermarking scheme only provides a particular case example, which is implemented by one of the teammates Dr. Mahdi, and there is still much space for improvement. However, according to the step tests in chapter 4.4, we have achieved a reasonably good result in imperceptibility and robustness. / Thesis / Master of Applied Science (MASc)

In this thesis, the physical layer of the Single Channel Ground and Airborne Radio System (SINCGARS) was analyzed in order to gain insight into the bit-error-rate (BER) performance in various channel conditions. The BER performance of the radio was examined using theoretical, simulation, and experimental techniques. These results are presented in graphical form as the probability of bit error as a function of the energy per bit to noise power spectral density ratio. The results of the simulation show excellent agreement with the theory, while the experimental results deviate from theory at higher signal-to-noise levels. This suggests sub-optimal SINCGARS performance, most notably in the signal power to noise power range where reliable data transmission should take place.

W.K. Lee. / Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 1980. / Bibliography: leaves 107-111.

This brief position statement relates to a more sustained argument presented in published paper, available at: http://dlist.sir.arizona.edu/2477. / This position paper presents and argument for "A Humanities Program," as a contribution to the mapping work for the arts and humanities in information science, prepared for the â Mapping Work in the Arts and Humanities: A Participatory Panel Discussionâ at ASIS&T 2008, organized by SIG-AH. Panelists: Kristin Eschenfelder (moderator and chair). Panelists: Marija Dalbello, Paul Marty, Stephen Paling (panel organizer), Scott Simon, John Walsh, Megan Winget and Lisl Zach.