Determinants of the Web accessibility of European banks

This paper aims at identifying the factors influencing the implementation of Web accessibility (WA) by European banks. We studied a database made up of 49 European banks whose shares are included in the Dow Jones EURO STOXX® TMI Banks [8300] Index. Regarding the factors for the implementation, we considered three feasible reasons. Firstly, WA adoption can be motivated by operational factors, as WA can aid in increasing operational efficiency. Secondly, we expect large banks to have higher WA levels, as small firms face competitive disadvantages with regard to technology adoption. Lastly, WA can also be understood as a part of the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) strategy, so, the more committed a bank is to CSR, the more prone it will be to implement WA. Our results indicate that neither the operational factors nor the firm size seem to have exerted a significant influence on WA adoption. Regarding CSR commitment, results indicate a significant influence on WA adoption. However, the effect of the influence is contrary to that hypothesized, since more CSR-committed banks have less accessible Web sites. A possible reason for this result is that banks not included in the CSR indexes try to overcome this drawback by engaging in alternative CSR activities such as WA.     

Trade of Trepang: A Story of Cultural Exchange

<正>The art exhibition "Trepang: China & the Story of Macassan—Aboriginal Trade" was recently concluded at the Capital Museum of China in Beijing, as an event ce...     

图书情报学研究生课程设置的调研与实践(Ⅱ)

以美国7所大学图书信息管理学院和中国10所大学图情院系的课程设置为调研对象,通过对调研结果的比较分析,借鉴国内外经验,结合本单位教学资源,确定了课程调整基本原则,形成了较为优化的课程设置框架。同时,对培养目标和研究方向进行了简要阐述。     

Using and writing reviews to inform your practice

Reviews are seen as a way of exploiting existing data or research findings more fully and can offer a summarised insight into the current understanding of the evidence. Library and information science (LIS) workers can use reviews to inform their decision-making and service planning. Although the LIS evidence base continues to grow there will frequently be times when no published reviews are available. In these instances, you may consider undertaking your own review. Different types of review require different approaches and, by deciding from the outset what kind of review yours will be, will inform your methodology. Guidelines on writing reviews for the Health Information and Libraries Journal are presented.     

Towards an econophysics view of intellectual capital dynamics: from self-organized criticality to the stochastic frontier

The paper begins with research studying the concept and nature of Intellectual Capital (IC), as well as how close IC firms are to the stochastic frontier. Then basic concepts of complexity theory – such as agents, self-organized criticality (SOC), connectivities, fractals, and power laws (PLs) – are used to distinguish between two kinds of IC firms’ success: traditional SOC applications to how firms maintain their position in a changing industry vs. how an IC firm (such as Apple) creates a new stochastic frontier. The research sets up PLs as indicators of whether or not firms and industries are SOC-effective and includes propositions about: (1) How IC firms benefit from complexity dynamics and SOC; (2) How PL distributions are indicators of efficacious SOC and adaptivity; and (3) Why IC attributes serve to create more transient dynamics pertaining to the stochastic frontier and the rest of the industry's rank/frequency distribution.     

Just Scholarship! Publishing Academic Research with a Social Justice Focus

This article provides support to academics who are committed to engaging in scholarly activities in ways that promote an explicit social justice focus. Moreover, this article provides a broad overview of how to pursue social justice purposes in the field of education throughout the process of scholarly production and dissemination.     

Aragonese Tiles in a Flemish Castle: A Chivalric Gift-Exchange Network in Fifteenth-Century Europe

Excavation of the mid-fifteenth-century castle of Pieter Bladelin, a high-ranking Burgundian official, in the village of Middelburg-in-Flanders, near Bruges (Belgium), has unearthed a remarkable series of blue and white painted and glazed floor tiles. Post-excavation archival and heraldic inquiries into the tiles has led to a deeper understanding of the role that gift exchange of luxury objects played within the diplomatic network of Alfonso V “the Magnanimous”, King of Aragon, and Philip “the Good”, Duke of Burgundy, in shaping a shared chivalric and crusading culture between Burgundy and Aragon. The study demonstrates the added value of the integration of archaeological and historical data in studying economic, political and cultural processes for the later medieval or early modern period.     

Fútbol para Todos (Soccer for All): Democratization,Populist Legitimization or Quasi-Authoritarianism?

Abstract

In 2009 the Argentine government of Cristina Fernández de Kirchner created Fútbol para Todos (Soccer for All), a programme that led to a policy of direct state intervention in the acquisition of government television rights for the transmission of soccer matches throughout Argentina. Does Fútbol para Todos serve as a tool for the democratization of Argentinean society, a strategy for populist legitimization, or as an embodiment of quasi-authoritarianism? Successive Argentine governments have politicized soccer. Fútbol para Todos has served as a tool for populist legitimization, but also as a strategy designed to legitimize state interference in a historically private domain, promote government propaganda through a new state monopoly, and strengthen governance processes through popular approval under the ambit of the ‘democratization’ slogan. Fútbol para Todos thus aims to use the state as an agent in the construction of better governance processes for all, but it also reinforces the historical union between soccer and establishment political power in Argentina. Fútbol para Todos is populist in tone and appears democratic, but also masks a darker undercurrent of quasi-authoritarian tendencies in Argentina.     

Validity of a portable force platform for assessing biomechanical parameters in three different tasks

The aim of this study was to determine the precision and accuracy of the vertical and anterior–posterior force components of the portable PASCO PS-2142 force plate. Impulse, peak force, and time to peak force were assessed and compared to a gold standard force plate in three different tasks: vertical jump, forward jump, and sprint start. Two healthy male participants performed ten trials for each task, resulting in 60 trials. Data analyses revealed good precision and accuracy for the vertical component of the portable force plate, with relative bias and root mean square (RMS) error values nearly the same in all tasks for the impulse, time to peak force, and peak force parameters. Precision and accuracy of the anterior–posterior component were lower for the impulse and time to peak force, with relative bias and RMS error values nearly the same between tasks. Despite the lower precision and accuracy of the anterior–posterior component of the portable force plate, these errors were systematic, reflecting a good repeatability of the measure. In addition, all variables presented good agreement between the portable and gold standard platforms. Our results provide a good perspective for using the aforementioned portable force plate in sports and clinical biomechanics.