An Interview with Mirna Willer

Abstract

In this interview, conducted by email, Dr. Mirna Wiler discusses her career as cataloger, systems librarian and UNIMARC and metadata expert, as well as her position as Professor of library science. She also describes her participation in international organizations' working groups, such as IFLA and UNESCO.     

早春苋菜—套春豇豆—夏豇豆—秋箭杆白周年生产高产高效栽培模式

本文作者根据自己多年的蔬菜生产实践,在武汉市蔬菜生产中总结了早春苋菜—套春豇豆—夏豇豆—秋箭杆白周年生产高产高效栽培模式,从周年茬口安排、品种选择及用种量、整地施肥、播种育苗、定植密度、科学田间管理、病虫害防治、及时采收等方面进行了较为全面深入系统的实践和探索,在武汉市蔬菜生产中成功地进行了大面积推广并取得了显著的经济效益和社会效益。     

“Glocal” patterns of communication-information convergences in Internet use: Cross-cultural behavior of international teaching assistants in a culturally alien information environment

There is minimal research on the cross-cultural needs, priorities, and behaviors of international participants immersed in contemporary culturally alien information environments. Through a quantitative analysis of Internet use patterns of international teaching assistants (ITA) studying in graduate school at a representative university in the United States, the authors discover communication-information convergences in ITAs’ use of the Internet as a “glocal” network, connecting the “global” and “local” dimensions in their everyday lives. The paper identifies dual functions of the Internet considered meaningful to the ITAs in the diaspora, namely: (1) to engage in various communication activities with friends and family in their home countries (the “global”), thereby providing psychological comfort and overcoming social isolation; and (2) to conduct information gathering activities that establish coping mechanisms for ITAs in their new homes in the United States (the “local”). The paper presents empirical data highlighting correlations between communication and information intersections in ITAs’ use of the Internet. Findings extend past Internet research and user studies in traditional communication and information research, which only alluded to these communication-information convergence processes, to better understand how international people use the Internet in present-day cross-cultural contexts of interaction.     

An Ottoman Preacher's Perception of a Medieval Cosmography: Maḥmūd al-Haṭīb's Translation of Kharīdat al-ʿAjāʾib wa Farīḍat al-Gharāʾib

The ninth/fifteenth century Arabic work, Kharīdat al-?Ajā?ib wa Farī?at al-Gharā?ib, ascribed to Ibn al-Wardī (d. 861/1457), was frequently translated into Ottoman Turkish and widely read by the Ottoman literati between the tenth/sixteenth and thirteenth/nineteenth centuries. The most popular translation of the Kharīdat al-?Ajā?ib that is extant today with more than thirty copies in libraries worldwide was made by the tenth/sixteenth century Ottoman preacher Ma?mūd al-Ha?īb. Within the context of Medieval Islamic cosmographical works and their translations, which have potential to shed light on the Ottoman worldview in the early modern era, this paper delves into the extra-textual statements of the translator in the form of eye-witness accounts and contemporary hearsay. By doing so, it argues that Ma?mūd al-Ha?īb's intervention in the text he translated not only provides him with grounds for confirmation of the worldview promoted in the Kharīdat al-?Ajā?ib, but also expressions on certain issues related to sixteenth century Ottoman rule.     

The Tin Trade and Medieval Ceramics: Tracing the Sources of Tin and its Influence on Mediterranean Ceramics Production

This paper examines the role played by the availability of tin in the development of a commercial, glazed ceramics industry in the medieval workshops of Paterna, in eastern Spain. Tin was an essential ingredient that was used by potters since the ninth century in Iraq to make ceramic glazes opaque. However, it is a relatively scarce raw material, which had to be sourced and imported by many potters; in this paper I explore these possible sources of tin, from the Far East to Iberia and south-west England. Although many factors contributed to the development of a ceramics industry in eastern Spain in the medieval period, I argue that one hitherto overlooked and important stimulus was the expansion of the trade in tin from south-west England – Devon and Cornwall – to the Mediterranean.     

Les Idrissides: L’histoire contre son histoire

It has become standard practice nowadays to begin Morocco's history with the Idrīsids. Today, Idrīs I and Idrīs II can be considered the Moroccan historical figures that are best known to Moroccans. Fez, established by the Idrīsids, remains a central place. The Qarawiyyīn, dating from the Idrīsid era, is the most famous and sacred mosque in the country. Nevertheless, the actual history of the two Idrīses, of the foundation of Fez and of that of the Qarawiyyīn continues to pertain to the realm of traditional collective imagination rather than of the academic discipline of history. This brief study proposes to review again current understandings of the Idrīsids, linking them with some new perspectives that allow for the formulation of new hypotheses.     

中国—东盟自由贸易区冶金矿产品检验检疫一体化亟需基础研究

中国—东盟自由贸易区将建设成为世界最大的自由贸易经济体,在此背景下本文研究了中国与东盟在检验检疫领域的合作现状,就东盟自由贸易区检验检疫一体化的基础研究工作提出建议。并对研究工作的切入点进行了深入探讨,鉴于广西所具备的条件,联合多学科多部门建立中国—东盟自由贸易区冶金矿产品检验检疫一体化研究工作组,开展"一站式"服务试点。     

Acts of responding. Teachers’ written comments and students’ text revisions

ABSTRACT

This article addresses written feedback to students’ drafts and provides insight into teachers’ formative assessment practices. Data are taken from a large cross-disciplinary project on writing and assessment in Norway and comprises a sample of 7th graders’ writing processes from 11 schools. Teachers’ comments are categorised according to different acts of responding, drawing on theories of language acts. The study also focuses what teachers comment on, and selected examples from students’ revisions illustrate how teachers’ comments are handled. Findings show that a majority of the teacher comments are directive acts, pointing to specific textual aspects – and quite seldom in a dialogic way. The directives constitute a continuum illustrating different degrees of teacher control. Constatives are frequent, but do not necessarily contain facilitating explanations. The timing of the response stands out as a critical factor. The discussion underlines a need for writing instruction that invites students to revisions and involves teachers and students in active dialogues on text.     

Defining the ‘good mother’ and the ‘professional teacher’: parent–teacher relationships in an affluent school district

This article examines the challenges of parent–teacher relationships in an affluent school district, drawing on 30 in‐depth interviews of mothers and elementary school teachers in the USA. Professional women who have put their careers on hold to care for their children are apt to define being a good mother in terms of the academic achievement of their children. This results in extreme amounts of involvement and advocacy in their child's education, even when such actions have questionable effects on the larger school population. Enhancement of ‘good mothering’ was found to be done at the expense of teacher professionalism. A small number of entitled‐minded mothers were able to make a large impact not only on teacher job satisfaction but on the climate of the entire school due to their extensive networks, levels of advocacy, and critical examination of school processes.     

Delivering Australian vocational qualifications through action learning

In 2009, Skills Tasmania approached the authors to deliver their Lean Action Learning programme in Tasmania. This programme had run successfully in South Australia for some five years. For Tasmania, a requirement was that participants in the programme be eligible for a nationally recognised VET qualification on completion of the programme. This had not been a requirement in South Australia. This Account of Practice outlines how the authors were able to meet requirements without compromising the action learning approach. Qualifications are awarded based on observed performance, mentoring and evidence gathered. The authors describe the processes used for project planning, qualification mapping, mentoring, evidence gathering and assessment.