Navigating between an emic and an etic approach in ethnographic research. Crucial aspects and strategies when communicating critical results to participants

There is a fundamental tension in ethnographic research between trying to understand participants from within their own perspective and viewing them with greater distance. With this in mind, the aim of this article is to describe how a reflexive communication model was developed during the study of El Sistema Gothenburg, and to discuss aspects and strategies that are crucial when navigating between an emic and an etic approach. It is argued that by reflexive communication, researchers can make their results useful for participants and that reflecting upon the relationship is even more important when communicating critique. With the help of this model, communication of critical results was facilitated by the establishment of an integrative approach that combined the insiders’ and outsiders’ perspectives and was based on the formation of a strong relationship between the researchers and the participants, as well as by the participants’ own cultivation of theoretical understanding.     

Uncertainty in information seeking and retrieval: A study in an academic environment

This research focuses specifically on uncertainty and information seeking in a digital environment. In this research we argue that different types of uncertainty are associated with the information seeking process and that, with the proliferation of new and different search tools, sources and channels, uncertainty, positive/desirable or negative/undesirable, continues to be a significant factor in the search process. Users may feel uncertain at any stage of the information search and retrieval process and uncertainty may remain even after completion of the process resulting in what may be called persistent uncertainty. An online questionnaire was used to collect data from users in the higher education sector. There were three parts to the questionnaire focusing on: information seeking activities, information seeking problems, and access to specific information channels or sources. Quantitative analysis was carried out on the data collected through the online questionnaire. A total of 668 responses were returned from the chosen user categories of academic staff, research staff and research students. This research has shown that there are some information seeking activities and information seeking problems that are the most common causes of uncertainty among significant number of users from different disciplines, age, gender, ICT skills, etc. This is also the case with respect to access to and use of specific information sources/channels, although the degrees of uncertainty in relation are relatively small. Possible implications of this study and further research issues are indicated.     

Flow biosensing and sampling in indirect electrochemical detection

Miniaturization in biological analyses has several advantages, such as sample volume reduction and fast response time. The integration of miniaturized biosensors within lab-on-a-chip setups under flow conditions is highly desirable, not only because it simplifies process handling but also because measurements become more robust and operator-independent. In this work, we study the integration of flow amperometric biosensors within a microfluidic platform when analyte concentration is indirectly measured. As a case study, we used a platinum miniaturized glucose biosensor, where glucose is enzymatically converted to [Formula: see text] that is oxidized at the electrode. The experimental results produced are strongly coupled to a theoretical analysis of fluid dynamic conditions affecting the electrochemical response of the sensor. We verified that the choice of the inlet flow rate is a critical parameter in flow biosensors, because it affects both glucose and [Formula: see text] transport, to and from the electrode. We identify optimal flow rate conditions for accurate sensing at high time resolution. A dimensionless theoretical analysis allows the extension of the results to other sensing systems according to fluid dynamic similarity principles. Furthermore, we developed a microfluidic design that connects a sampling unit to the biosensor, in order to decouple the sampling flow rate from that of the actual measurement.     

Electronic Theses and Dissertations Initiatives: A Survey of University Libraries in Nigeria

The study investigated the extent of adoption of electronic theses and dissertations in university libraries in Nigeria. Data collection for the study was via online questionnaire. The study revealed that digitization of theses and dissertations started between 1980 and 1995. It was found that only a few university libraries have embraced digitization of theses and dissertations in Nigeria. Benefits of electronic theses and dissertations were identified as improving university ranking and visibility, increasing access to the theses and dissertations, saving space in the library, enabling others link to the work with persistent URLs, preserving the work for future generations, and saving costs for students. Challenges such as unstable internet connectivity, lack of funding, irregular power supply, lack of information technology personnel, absence of electronic theses and dissertations submission policy, and copyright issues were identified. It is hoped that the study might provide insights useful for librarians planning to embark on the digitization of theses and dissertations project.     

Confirmative Evaluation of Training Outcomes

This article explores the use of an evaluation model of learning and development utilizing formative, summative, and confirmative steps, along with a framework for developing evaluation tools aligned with organizational change goals. A case study is presented in which formative, summative, and confirmative evaluations were used to assess materials and learners following implementation of a new performance management process, tools, and supporting training. A specific model for developing evaluation tools and techniques is introduced as a way to integrate the evaluation process with the specific content of a learning and development intervention, as well as link to higher‐order cultural change goals. Results of the case study suggest that evaluation tools can provide evidence of improvement and target areas for further work. Recommendations are provided for the researcher or practitioner interested in applying the same or similar models to evaluation.     

The Italian middle school in a deregulation era: modernity through path-dependency and global models

In the current context of intensified moves towards educational deregulation, the configuration of the Italian middle school and its relationship to education governance is an interesting case. Historically, it represents a unique example of the successful ‘decision-making' model of the welfarist era. Despite some internal constraints, at the end of the 1970s it was considered a progressive model of schooling for its time. At present, however, internal institutional processes and path-dependencies have rendered its comprehensiveness relatively formalised and weak. A key finding of this article is that ideas, such as the ‘two people’ theory, have played a crucial role in shaping actors' strategies and goals, while references to world models, in particular the English model, have mediated the reception of global policies. Cultural factors, such as the role played by families, are deeply linked to structural issues and inequalities. An ethnographic account depicts a welfarist institution whose internal processes and links to the wider society may be seen as an example of Italian modernity that ‘speaks for itself’. Fieldwork clarifies the role of the teachers in mediating a path-dependent and cultural reproduction pattern. I argue that partial deregulation is a major source of inequalities at the middle school level, engendered by both new and old mechanisms, which further intensifies a selective path in education. This analysis will show how global deregulation trends meet local and enduring path-dependencies.     

The palette of the Macchia Italian artist Giovanni Fattori in the second half of the xixth century

Giovanni Fattori (Livorno 1825–Firenze 1908) is the most representative artist of the Macchiaioli's current, an early group of Italian plein-air artists, whose work anticipates, in the xixth century, that of their younger contemporaries, the French Impressionists. The study, performed by a multidisciplinary team made up of scientists and conservators, presents the results of the scientific characterization carried out on a group of 10 paintings made by Fattori between 1854 and 1893 and shows the way he used complex mixtures of a large variety of traditional and synthetic pigments, ranging from lead white, found pure and also extended with calcium carbonate, natural barite and gypsum to zinc white, from red ochre to cinnabar and vermilion, from yellow ochre and Naples yellow to chrome yellow, cadmium yellow and zinc yellow, combined with many other ones reported in details. This paper highlights the evolution of his painting technique during a time of great technological and social innovations and puts forward some hypothesis on his awareness about manufactured pigments, i.e. tube paints recently introduced into the artists’ circles. The wide range of pigments and their different quality among the same synthetic products suggest that the artist used all the available materials, and that picking out the pigments he retained the early xixth century artists techniques, such as the use of mineral earths and Prussian blue, similarly to his contemporary Italian artists Federico Zandomeneghi and Telemaco Signorini, but he also experimented new and peculiar pigment mixtures in the making of “colored darks” and an innovative use of the grounds in the final composition, that are also distinctive features of the French Impressionists. This work is aimed at contributing to overcome the lack of a comprehensive overview on the widespread historical and scientific data collected up to now on the Italian paintings in the xixth century, which has been severely underestimated with respect to previous art movements.