Journal article mining: the scholarly publishers' perspective

The essence of text mining and data mining is that a machine and software are used for content analysis of large digital corpora. The Publishing Research Consortium commissioned a study on content mining of scholarly journal articles with 29 expert interviews and an international survey among publishers. The main results are: (i) content mining developments appear to be accelerating with more applications in more areas; (ii) third‐party demand for content mining is widespread but still at low levels of frequency; (iii) publishers' permissions for content mining are quite liberal, especially for research‐driven mining requests; (iv) half of the publisher respondents undertake mining of their own content; and (v) content mining is on the rise – publishers and third parties both report an increase in planned mining activities. As content mining of journal articles spreads and intensifies, cross‐publisher solutions can better help facilitate content mining. The study investigated the interest and willingness of publishers to support a set of different solutions, from one shared content mining platform to commonly agreed access terms for mining and standardization of mining‐friendly content formats.     

The Swedish ‘people’s school’ in Finland and the language question: homogenization and differentiation

This paper presents an historical overview of issues around the language of instruction and the curriculum of mother‐tongue education for the Swedish‐speaking minority in Finland during the half‐century after the establishment of the public school in 1866. In a linguistic‐ and culturally‐diverse society like that of Finland it has not been self‐evident that the question of language as a medium of instruction and as a school subject would be understood and shared in the same way by Finns and Swedes. This paper focuses on two collective themes, homogenization and differentiation. Homogenization stands for forces aiming at securing equal opportunities for education, regardless of vernacular languages and cultures. Differentiation refers to the possibility of accommodating the education to specific needs of the Swedish‐speaking population.     

Educators at Work in two Sectors of Adult and Vocational Education: an overview of two European Research projects

Adult learning staff play a key role in making lifelong learning a reality. It is they who facilitate learners to develop knowledge, skills and attributes. At the European level there is a lack of information about various aspects of the profession, such as who they are, how they are recruited, what their specific roles and tasks are, what competences and qualifications they are expected or required to possess, what their employment status is, how their professional development is organised, how they are assessed, and how attractive their profession is. This article is meant to bridge this gap and describes the variety of contexts in which adult learning staff are working. Furthermore, it seeks to reveal the factors that promote or affect the quality of the work provided by these practitioners and will address a number of issues that should be on the agenda of policy makers. This article is based on the outcomes of a study that have been carried out by an international research group in the period 2007 -2008, under guidance of Research voor Beleid and PLATO University Leiden under contract of the European Commission (DG Education and Culture).