Language of the Brochure Essay

Firstly, the brochure gives the impression that the resort is the best in Tenerife. The holiday resort is described as, ‘the largest, most vibrant, holiday centre in Tenerife†¦Ã¢â‚¬â„¢. This uses super latives to persuade the readers that the Sun Valley Beach Club is the best because if the Sun Valley are describing the resort the largest and most vibrant, they are saying that the resort has lots of availability in order to fulfil customers as the resort is so popular while also being full of life and energy which may also suggest that, again, the resort may be popular with tourists. The word, ‘most’ is a super lative because if you want to be the most at something nothing can be more or beat you at something. For example, if you are the most funniest person in school, no one else in the school can be funnier than you, they can only be less funnier than you. This will cause people to listen because the resort is the largest and most vibrant compared to all the other holiday resorts in Tenerife and you want the best value for money. Therefore, readers would want to book a bargain holiday at the Sun Valley Beach Club. Also, the brochure gives the impression that the resort is in a great location. The brochure tells us there is, ‘low rainfall and year round temperatures of 25-30 °C’. This uses facts to persuade the readers that the Sun Valley Beach Club is in a great location because when you go on holiday, if it is raining, you have to stay inside but everyone wants to make the most of your holiday but if you just stay inside, you can’t get out and go activates. In this case, Tenerife has great beaches so the tourists may want to go to the beach or go swimming. The phrase, ‘25-30 °C’ is factual because it is saying that the temperatures can only be 25-30 degrees in Tenerife. Also, people like hot places like Tenerife because it is easier to relax in a hot place and when you are on holiday, you want to relax and have a good time. This will also cause readers to listen to the Sun Valley Beach Club because facts are more believable because they are true so people will believe the information on the brochure. Therefore, readers would want to book a hot and rainless holiday at the Sun Valley Beach Club. Next, the brochure gives another impression that the resort has a lot of activates on offer for a great price. The brochure explains that the resort offers, ‘a full range of water-sports, tennis, mini golf and riding’. This uses lists to persuade the reader that the resort has a lot of activates because not everyone is the same and likes doing the same activates because different people have different likes and dislikes. If you have a resort with different activates, you would prefer to go to the Sun Valley then another resort that only has one activate on offer, especially if you were a family with children that are all different. The phrase, ‘full range’ is involved in a list because when something has a full range, it has everything to do with that thing. For example, when you have a full range of activates, you have loads of activates. This will cause readers to want to listen to the Sun Valley Beach Club holiday providers because tourists would want to keep active on holiday and the resort contains a lot of activates. Therefore, readers would want to book a fun and active holiday at the Sun Valley Beach Club. Lastly, the brochure gives the impression that the resort will be enjoyable for everyone. The brochure says to the parents, ‘why not relax in the poolside bar area keeping them in sight†¦Ã¢â‚¬â„¢. This uses conversational tone to persuade the reader that the resort is enjoyable because both parents and children has things that they can enjoy. In this case, the children can play in the swimming pool while the parents can drink and chat to other people whilst still being in reach of their children. The phrase, ‘why not’ is conversational because it sounds like advice and a friend give you advice. It also sounds like Sun Valley is letting them have their say whether or not they want to book the holiday. This will cause readers to want to listen to the Sun Valley Beach Club’s advice because they would want to listen to a friend more than a stranger. Therefore, readers would want to book a friendly holiday at the Sun Valley Beach Club.

Internal vs External Change Agent Essay

One of the example that he did was â€Å"In his early years, he helped GE Plastics explode from a $28 million after-thought into a billion dollar business. (Answer) Promoting personally from the internal organisation will have its positive effects, as they will have known the organisation structure, culture and also the employees’ working attitudes and behaviour towards their job and the organisation. And will have the awareness of what is the current problem of organisation is facing and the cause of it. Which can be shown by Jack Welch decided to quit due to â€Å"frustrated by the organisation’s bureaucracy†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Answer). This could save the time of finding out of the current practices, culture and procedures of the organisation. And know which of the manager of the organisation can entrust. This provides a morale boast to the front line employee who is suffering from the current situation; a mutual understanding will be form between the employees and the new CEO as they might have worked together before. Knowing the structure of the organisation inside out, will let the new CEO to know which part of the structure is in flaw and require fixing whether it is the corporate between two departments of within the department itself or even the flow of process a project or working procedure. With the time spent in the organisation, the CEO will have known the culture of it like; knowing the time of employee’s lunch hour and tea break sessions. He will be able to make necessary changes to it to boast the productive of the worker. And knowing the employees’ working attitudes caused by the culture, for example a manager picking on every small mistake and carry heavy punishment will cause the employee to work in fear and lower morale which lead to lower productive. With the knowledge of problems that is causing the organisation to function poorly, the internal promoted CEO, he will know who he can entrust to do fix the problem and knowing which products/services that organisation manufactured/provided are with flaws. As an insider of the organisation, the CEO will have known that the weakness of the product and will able to cut off the production and switch the organisation focus on other type of product. Which is something, as a CEO hired from other place, cannot carry such actions. As this is will because chaos will break out in the organisation, as this will give a feeling or message to the employee that they will lose the sense of belonging to the work as they will feel that they don’t have the skill or knowledge to cope with it. As for the promoted CEO from within might have problem to create a revolution for the organisation as he might have a fix mind set of following the currents culture and structure, which will only make the situation more worse as the employee will not able to see any changes in their work regards for better or worse. As CEO is hired from other organisation, this will bring in a different view and will able to bring in other organisation strengths to help improve the current situation of the organisation. The new CEO will not bind down with the relationship of the current staff and thus he will not hesitate to replace the current staff with the more capable new staff. This will give a clear message to the current staff to change their working attitude towards their job. With new top management, this will change the culture of the organisation might have a positive effect as changes is for the good. However, by bringing new culture or replacing with new staff, this might have a side effect on the organisation, as the current staff might felt left out and the suddenly change to culture can create new problem as the current staff might not able to cope with it. An internal leadership will prove a better solution for the organisation that is going for a change. As this shorten the process of understanding the organisation and pointing out problem faster than a CEO hired from other organisation. And also they are more accurately to identifying the correct person with their hearing from others. With the case of Jack Welch, he was able to turn one of the GE’s business from million to billion worth. â€Å"An internal placement could result in multiple inside promotions. † (Sullivan 1999) Since there is an open slot for promotion, as people are moving up, this can serve as a reason for people to show what they can do for the organisation. Thus improve the organisation productive.

Gun Control-Argumentative Paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Gun Control-Argumentative Paper - Essay Example Proponents of gun control passionately argue that allowing every American to carry guns will only cause more harm than good (Crooker 13). I completely disagree with these sentiments because I believe that gun control is not right for America. Reasons for Gun Control Legislation According to Crooker, one of the main arguments of gun control proponents is that it curbs access by persons who are not supposed to have access to firearms such as juveniles, criminals and high-risk individuals. They argue that the only way to curb accessibility of guns and firearms by such groups of people can only be possible through federal legislations. Many of those who support the idea of federal restrictions of gun ownership actually do not dispute the fact that it is the right of every American citizen to own a gun. However, they point out that the right to bear such firearms should be negotiable. This, they say, will help in minimizing the increasing rate of gun crime (22). Proponents of gun control legislation also point out that regulating gun ownership does not have to affect law abiding citizens. They say that the regulations are for criminals and other individuals who would feel inclined to use guns for destructive reasons (Wuest 121). They also argue that gun control measures would stop individuals from purchasing what are considered to be dangerous guns, such as those used for military and other high risk operations. They also argue that guns pose a lot more danger to the owner than to a potential threat. Many claim that owning a gun puts the owner and his family at risk because of the possible accidents that might happen (Spitzer 46). Reasons against Gun Control Measures The constitution of the United States allows every eligible American to own a gun. Proponents of gun rights argue that if the constitution gives individuals the freedom to own guns, then there are should be no one to take away this right (Wuest 113). They emphasize on the importance of gun ownership as a useful means of personal defense in case of an attack. While the law does not allow the common law abiding citizen to freely purchase guns, thugs are continually procuring all sorts of high caliber firearms illegally. The balance here is tipped in the favor of the thug who is not afraid to use his gun to achieve whatever he wants, including killing an innocent citizen. If gun laws allowed individuals to own firearms legally, people would have live more secure lives since they would be empowered to defend themselves using those guns (Crooker 110). Spitzer says that some of the proponents of gun rights also argue that allowing widespread gun ownership is not only a true and tested means of curbing gun crime, it is also an effective way of checking tyranny in the government. The people’s government would not dare impose unjust leadership because the citizens would have the power to overthrow it. According to supporters of gun rights, unrestricted gun ownership can make people live more responsible lives. If someone knows that he has a gun in his house, he will not act in a way that will result in the careless handling of the firearm (50). I agree with the proponents of gun rights because I believe that every American citizen should enjoy the right to own guns as the constitution allows them to. Gun control measure

Places and Spaces in Art Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Places and Spaces in Art - Essay Example However, using several media effects, the images at times appear to be a bit artificial in form. The forms and figures becomes a little brighter than the works based upon pure manual work of art. Although this is the case, it is still obvious that even though media effects are incorporated within the art pieces, the message is still clearly sent to the viewers of the painted art. Meanwhile, the explosion of creative genius ideas on art characterizes High Renaissance Style. This style has been used through the stretch of years from 1450-1520. Now, the same style is being redeveloped along with the mixture of painting style with the latest media effects available through technology and computer application. The High Renaissance Style is known for its technical competence and its rich artistic presentation of imaginative design. The heroic composition of the images presented through this style is indeed shown through the use of harmony and balance of the figures featured through the produced artistic pieces. To have a better understanding of the artistic styles and presentations mentioned above, two of the most widely known art pieces, which have been revised and repainted by many painters on their own version, shall be examined. For the International Gothic Style, The Coronation of The Virgin painted by Gentile de Fabriano shall be observed as to how the figur es of its presentation where shown in connection with the message of the art work. For the High Renaissance Style, the version of Madonna ad Child by Lorenzo Di Credi shall be examined as well. The Elements of Creative Art Both paintings created by the painters mentioned above have their own characteristics that depicts the message each painter wants to send the viewing public. The following re the elements of art and painting that contributes to the said matter of concern. Hence, both paintings shall be analyzed as to how they are able to convey their message to their audiences. Space Analysis The 'Coronation of the Virgin' is more of a wide spaced painting wherein the point of attention is focused upon the arising 'Mary' towards the direction of heaven. This spacious factor in the said painting thus contributes to the sense of centralized visionary element that the painter would want to imply to the viewers. On the other hand, the painting of 'Madonna and Child' has a more intact space. This is mainly to denote the close connection of the characters portrayed by the images found in the painting. The closeness shows the relationship that exists between the mother and the child which is common to the actual events in the world. This factor helps portray the painting's touching message of the caring thoughts of a mother towards her child. Form "Coronation of the Virgin" has a form that shows femininity and the fragile aspect of a woman's character. The characteristics of being free and constantly changing is being depicted by the ascending picturesque of"Mary". On the other hand, Madonna and Child depicts the other side of the woman on being a mother. A caring woman who is able to support her young amidst all the challenges in life, whether easy or not. Design and Figures Both the design and figures of the paintings are used to show the elements of the images that are used to show

The General characteristics of Angels in Supernatural Research Paper

The General characteristics of Angels in Supernatural - Research Paper Example The paper discusses the angels in the TV series appear to show commonalities with the Bible, but the divergences are profound. I have stated the proof and the verses to show the conclusion of what I found in the research. The research has been somewhat more expansive than what is provided here. What was really found was that post modern and humanistic thinking is behind the portrayal of the TV series? â€Å"Humanism is naturalistic and rejects the super naturalistic stance with its postulated Creator – God and cosmic Ruler†. The most recent trend is to make the super natural a fad but still reject the creator at the center and replace one’s own ideas there. The TV series supernatural has done that successfully. The Biblical angels too are extremely powerful. However unlike the beings in the TV Series there power is focused and driven by a purpose. As ministering spirits, angels carry out the commands of God pertaining to the heirs of salvation. This involves warning, guiding, protecting, comforting, providing, and delivering the children of God according to His perfect will. This is exemplified in the verse â€Å"The angel of the LORD encamped round about them that fear him, and delivered them†. The power of the Angles in the Bible is derived from them being the army of God. Again central is God and his purposes to all this. They are so under the command of God that the meaning Gabriel is man of God. A relevant question is ‘What Is the Army of God?’.

In what ways are horses used as symbolism in the plays The New York Essay

In what ways are horses used as symbolism in the plays The New York Idea by Landgon Mitchell, and the play Mazeppa by Henry - Essay Example In order to understand why horses are used in both stories, we must take a closer look at the general perception of what horses stand for. According to Psychics and Mediums Network, a fantastic website dedicated to the interpretation of dreams and symbols, horses in a dream mean the following: Wild forces that have been tamed are symbolized by the horse. Horses are also a symbol of sexuality and were considered by Freud to represent the terrifying aspect of the father. To dream of ridding an out-of-control horse, may indicate that you are being ‘carried away’ by your passions, whereas a tightly tethered horse may show that you inhibit these natural feelings. Therefore, horses reflect on the feelings of individuals—where they are going and what they are doing. This concept is certainly used in both Mitchell and Milner’s works. As noted above, horses are used to judge different individual actions. In the introduction of â€Å"The New York Idea,† Mitche ll states, interestingly enough: â€Å"The temperament of the race-horse has to be considered—much more, that of the 'star'.† (2). This is an important concept in relation to what we have already been discussing. The author is basically admitting the purpose of the horses in the play itself—to reflect on the actions and emotions of individuals. In Mazeppa, we see a similar stance. The bulk of the narrative focuses on a romantic journey on a horse, the horse serving as sort of escape from reality, or one’s emotions and personal responsibilities. This is especially accurate if we compare this with the Freudian interpretation of horses above. Horses can represent one being carried away by one’s passions, and this seems to be in line with what is going on in Mazeppa. Therefore, the general interpretation of what horses can mean symbolically certainly ties back to what Mazeppa is trying to reveal a horse can mean. Another concept present in Psychics and Mediums network is the reflection of what horses generally mean in mythological terms, and again, this concept can be used to better understand the symbols present in both stories that we are discussing. According to Psychics and Mediums Network, horses can myth logically mean the following: In some myths and fairytales horses speak. In dreams, this represents the voice of your unconscious- a message from your innermost self. In Greek myth, horses were associated with Hades, the underworld and death. However, dream prophecy says that to dream of horses indicates that you will receive news from a distance. And it is extremely lucky to dream of a horse being shod. So, the journey of the horse in â€Å"Mazeppa† can be related to the ultimate end of all human journeys—that of death. Basically, there is the sense that no matter what we do with our lives, all of us will eventually face this end of the journey, or the ultimate end, of relinquishing our souls. This concept is not as present in The New York Idea, but if we think of the races present in the story as a type of journey for the horses, then we see a similar concept present; that of the journey and the finish, and whether ones wins or loses it does not really seem to matter when one reaches the final end of all things. The other interesting point to note about this interpretation of horses is the concept of receiving news from a dista

Important Partnerships between Police Officers and the Community Research Paper

Important Partnerships between Police Officers and the Community - Research Paper Example This research paper explores the importance of partnership between police officers and community in reducing criminal activities in the society. Today, law enforcing agencies look at the best approach to handle domestic violence and crime. The need to stump out crime in the society needs a collective effort, which would involve the police and the community. Criminologists argue that partnership between the police officers and the community can help to reduce crimes committed in the community. Largely, the society has a role to play in controlling the security, crime and any other vice that is likely to occur in the community. The manner in which prosecutors handle cases of domestic violence indicates the partnership between the police officers and the community could help to avert criminal activities in the society. Notably, prosecutors use the following approaches to handle cases of domestic violence evidence based prosecution, no drop policies, and special regional or district atto rneys. In conclusion, the importance of partnership between community and police officers include improved safety in the society, effective police activities in the community, leverages of resources used by the police, and leads to a reduction of criminal activities or improvement of behavior in the society. Largely, coordination of information between the society and the police leads to address and possible prosecution of the criminals. Arresting and prosecution of criminals would be difficult without the cooperation of the community.

Summary Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 3

Summary - Research Paper Example For instance, a good information system provides managers a platform to know real problems affecting their companies and customer satisfaction, hence provides adequate solutions regarding the predicament at hand. It also facilitates an organization to attain a heightened operational excellence (Nowduri, 2011). This is via offering managers ample chance to attain high efficiency in their work especially decision-making. An example is Wal-Mart and its retail link system (Gordon, 2008). The link connects suppliers to every Wal-Mart outlets. The system immediately notifies the supplier where he or she immediately gets a replacement for the shelf on the purchase of a certain product (Gordon, 2008). Information system enables an organization to get and maintain diplomatic relations with customers (Nowduri, 2011). This increases the input and output level of the company as the profit and interest percentage rises. For instance, five star hotels in United States, which utilizes information system and technology to keep in touch with customers preferences. Consequently, this enables them to act on every client’s feedback and ensure they reach decisions meant to enhance their satisfaction (Nowduri, 2011). This is especially in terms of upgrading the state of their

Human Resource Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words - 19

Human Resource Management - Essay Example Majority of these stores are found in America, and the number is 12,218 stores. China is also a lucrative market for Starbucks, and the company has opened 1,330 stores. Starbucks offers products such as cold or hot beverage, coffee, pastries, snacks, etc (Pahl, 2008). This means that the company has diversified, and this is through the many services it offers. Initially, the main reason for the formation of Starbucks was to sale the coffee drink (Simon, 2009). This diversification strategy of Starbucks is also seen when the company decided to offer wines, beer and appetizers. The target markets of these products are people who want to relax in the evenings. Pahl (2008) explains that some of the products of Starbucks are found within a particular location, and this is mainly because it offers some services and products at specific seasons. These products have also been designed, to serve a specific market. Starbucks does not only sale its coffee, in its stores, but it also sales them at various retailing organizations, and grocery stores (Pahl, 2008). Through this strategy, it is the intention of Starbucks to reach a large market base. Organizational culture is generally the unique combination of values, norms, morals, beliefs, and techniques or ways of behavior that characterizes the way individuals or large groups of individuals combine to have things done in an organization (Gurski, 2013). Schultz & Gordon (2011) explains that organizational culture is the norms and activities that people are able to engage with, within the organization. Through this definition, we are able to know that organizational culture is the internal environment of an organization, which regulates then manner which people within the organization are able to interact with one another, and other stakeholders of then organization (Michelli, 2007). Culture is very important in every company, for example

Woodlands & forests Essay Example for Free

Woodlands forests Essay Forests and woodlands provide many social, economic, and environmental benefits. In addition to timber and paper products, forests provide a wildlife habitat and recreational opportunities, prevent soil erosion and flooding, help provide clean air and water, and contain tremendous biodiversity. Forests are also an important defence against global climate change. However, huge areas of the richest forests in the world have been cleared for wood fuel, timber products, agriculture, and livestock. This is why we must take extreme measures to conserve these natural resources. We can conserve forests and woodlands by careful management of the woodlands and forests, also by limiting deforestation and by adapting good forestry practices and to encourage woodland owners to help sustain their land. New by-laws have been implemented in which if a heavy fine and/or prison sentence may follow if a person breaches their conservation agreement. Britain is a good example of an industrialised country that is adapting strong conservation methods to help retain their native woodland. This involves special areas being designated National Parks or ESA’s etc. National Parks allow total protection of an area under law and is cared for by the National Trust aswell as the private landowners. Environmentally Sensitive Area’s (ESA’s) are to maintain areas of natural beauty and to allow habitats to be protected from destruction. Brazil in the developing world is home to the Amazon rainforest which is under constant exposure to deforestation. The cause of this large scale destruction is purely for economic reasons for timber and minerals etc. An estimated 3 hectares of forest is destroyed every minute and this must stop. The developing world must take action and adapt new ways of ensuring they protect their forest from exploitation. There are many ethical and aesthetical reasons for why we should conserve woodlands and forests is because everything has the right to live including trees. The environment is also the target of pleasure seekers and therefore it is needed to continue as a source of pleasure for people to enjoy and appreciate. Example: People like to escape the cities at the weekends or for holiday breaks to feel escape and to enjoy beautiful scenery aswell as watching wildlife. Ecotourism will be benefited by tighter conservation laws and will allow more people to be able to enjoy the natural environment without spoiling/ruining it in the process. There are many other ecological reasons of why we must conserve forests and woodlands. Plants are essential for regulating the atmosphere, the water cycle and is also a vital part of both the the nitrogen and carbon cycles. They form the soil and are a source of dependency for many plants, animals, birds and insects. One of the most important reasons to conserve is the potential for discovering wonderful new medicines that could hold the cures to the worlds worst diseases, this would also have enormous economic benefits for the country where discovered. E. g. a discovery in the developing world could bring billions of investment into the country and could help eliminate poverty. The conservation of forests and woodland is essential as the world’s forest contain great biodiversity and is a major habitat to millions of species. The threats of logging and urban expansion are jeopardising the world most valuable resource. Discuss the ways in which â€Å"afforestation† may influence: Climate, Soil, Water Cycle Afforestation can bring great benefits to the world. The effect on the climate can be dramatically greater when compared to deforestation. Afforestation has had many success stories throughout the world. E. g. in Finland during the 1960’s a massive area of 200,000hectares was planted. The results showed that after a scenic beauty assessment all the areas afforested now had a higher scenic beauty rating. And many animals returned to a new habitat that they had previously lost. Afforestation has many climatic impacts in relation to the greenhouse effect. The trees take in more Carbon Dioxide which is allowing negative feedback to occur, therefore resulting in a reduction in Carbon Dioxide levels. Due to the way C0 2 is an insulating gas, the removal of this gas actually lowers the temperature, so afforestation can actually help control the temperature and prevent the enhanced greenhouse effect. Afforestation can also affect winds by acting as a windbreak and can help in preventing soil erosion it acts as a saltation. The planting of more trees will help improve the humidity particularly in dry areas where the atmosphere and air is very dry and lacks moisture for further plant growth and vegetation. The gain of deep rooted plants can prevent land from being degraded. The deep roots can reach deep down to find the groundwater and will transport its up from the ground and up into the atmosphere as part of the hydrological cycle. The roots help bind the soil. It also affects salinity by transpiring water it helps keep the water table well below the surface and prevents salinisation from occurring. Trees also intercept some rainfall from reaching the ground and this helps prevent the soil from becoming waterlogged. Other climatic factors are influenced by forest cover. An article in New Scientist magazine shows that new climate models have found that forests help cool the atmosphere as the water evaporating from leaves absorbs heat, it also stated that the location chosen to afforest is important as if you chose to plant a forest to take in C0 2 it could actually lead to warming if it was planted in a region where snow falls, as this would change the lands albedo value and would reflect less sunlight. The forest has major influences on the hydrologic and carbon cycles, regulating the conversion of precipitation to runoff, CO 2 fixation, and evapotranspiration. It also influences the hydrologic cycle on the ground surface and maintains the production of biomass and vegetation. Areas of large forest cover will have high precipitation levels and high humidity related to the amount of water present in its local atmosphere due to the forests water holding system. Afforestation will affect the water cycle in a positive way by helping areas with low rainfall have more precipitation for its local crops etc.

Metadata Encoding Transmission Standard Overview

Metadata Encoding Transmission Standard Overview Elizabeth Rogers Metadata Encoding Transmission Standard History The origins of the Metadata Encoding Transmission Standard, or METS, can be traced back to a 1996 attempt by The University of California Berkley to address the institutions inability to rebind pages of a book once they had been digitized. The program created by UC Berkley, called Ebind, was not successful. However, it paved the way for another attempt at solving this problem, the Making of America II Project. This project, started in 1998, was taken on by several U.S. universities, including UC Berkley (McDonough, 2005). While MOA2 was a step in the right direction towards the organization of digital objects, it was discovered that MOA2 had limited ability to fulfill this role. In 2001, a group of libraries working on digital library development programs decided that a replacement for MOA2 was needed, which led to the development of METS (McDonough, 2005). Metadata Encoding Transmission Standard Importance and Significance When an institution creates metadata for a resource, particularly a book, the metadata can be used to aide users in finding the book, and helps the library keep an accurate account of its collection and holdings. However, if the library fails to create accurate structural metadata, that does not mean the resource is lost or that the pages of the book will be forever separated. The same cannot be said of books once they are digitized. When a book is digitized, each page becomes a separate resource, and before the creation of METS, there was no encoding standard that provided a platform to create the structural metadata necessary to digitally bind these resources to ensure that they would be findable and able to used and evaluated as a cohesive unit (METS: An Overview Tutorial, 2016). Brad Westbrook, a librarian at the University of California in San Diego, describes METS as an XML standard that is a type of digital wrapper. It functions to relate the components of a digital resource (Rose, 2005). METS was specifically created for the digital library community to allow for the digitization and encoding of complex digital objects, like books or presentations. These resources can contain a variety of parts as well as different types of files. For example, one presentation can contain text files, images, video, and sound files. Using the structural metadata elements included in METS, institutions can ensure that all components of a resource are linked, even if they are stored in different places. METS also enables institutions to use structural metadata to control the presentation of resources and ensure that the objects are presented in the way they were intended to be (Rose, 2005). As previously stated, METS was born out of MOA2. METS did not replace MOA2, but rather built upon the work that had already been done. One of the major shortcomings of MOA2 was its lack of flexibility at the local level with administrative and descriptive metadata elements. METS allows for flexibility at the local level with administrative and descriptive metadata, as it does not require either of these to be included in an objects METS document. If descriptive or administrative metadata are used, METS does not require the use of controlled vocabularies for many elements, and allows for the use of whatever metadata element set the record creator chooses, furthering its increased flexibility over MOA2 (McDonough, 2005). Additionally, MOA2 was limited by its ability to encode only texts and still image media. MOA2 was unable to encode audio or video resources. Even in 2001, this would pose a significant challenge to any library with a well-developed collection that was serious about di gitizing all of its resources (McDonough, 2005). METS gives institutions and repositories the ability to encode audio and video resources, in addition to print objects. Finally, METS was created to allow for improved sharing of digital objects between repositories, which MOA2 could not facilitate (McDonough, 2005). Metadata Encoding Transmission Standard Schema Description METS documents are created using XML, so that the document is machine readable. A METS document can include up to seven sections, METS header, descriptive metadata, administrative metadata, file inventory, structural map, structural links, and a behaviors section. The only required, and most important, section for a METS document is the structural map. The structural map defines a hierarchical structure for a digital object, this section is where the relationship between the digital objects files is described. The information found in this section is what allows users to more easily look through a digital object, much in the way a user would look through a physical book. The structural map can also links the objects digital files back to their descriptive and administrative metadata (McDonough, 2005). The structural map is a unique aspect of this scheme because it can be represented by an actual diagram that illustrates the relationships between the parts of an object and the objects metadata. Another unique section of the METS document is the structural links section. This section is generally used in the archiving of websites. It allows the document creator to record hyperlinks between items in the structural map. A METS structural map can show the page hierarchy of a website, showing the relationship between a parent page and subsequent child pages underneath it. The structural links section allows for the recording of links between the child pages that would not be displayed in a traditional hierarchical organizational structure (METS: An Overview Tutorial, 2016). The behaviors section of a METS document is used to record behavioral metadata. This section records any metadata related to software or applications that may be needed to view, or use, a digital object. The behaviors section enables institutions to exercise control over how users experience a digital object. However, this section can also create significant challenges for repositories. Software and applicat ions change consistently and often, rapidly. If a behavior changes, a repository manager would need to modify the record for every object associated with this behavior (McDonough, 2005). The seven required sections of a METS document are also some of the top level elements used in METS. Other elements unique to METS include, structural requirements, technical requirements, maintenance agency, behavior files, and description rules. This is a departure from other schemas that tend to include top level elements that lend themselves solely towards descriptive metadata. In METS, these traditional descriptive elements are found within the descriptive metadata element. Here, elements from Dublin Core, MARC, MODS, EAD and VRA can be wrapped inside METS sub elements to describe the digital work (METS: An Overview Tutorial, 2016). This distinction is important because it reinforces that while METS does allow for the inclusion of descriptive metadata, its focus is on the administrative and structural metadata that is necessary to maintain the objects original structure and presentation. Metadata Encoding Transmission Standard Resources METS Schema Documentation. (2016, August 9). Retrieved March 12, 2017, from http://www.loc.gov/standards/mets/mets-schemadocs.html Schema Documentation. (2011, July 1). Retrieved March 12, 2017, from https://www.loc.gov/standards/mets/profile_docs/mets.profile.v1-2.html METS: An Overview Tutorial. (2016, February 9). Retrieved March 12, 2017, from https://www.loc.gov/standards/mets/METSOverview.v2.html#structlink Rose, Trish. (Summer 2005). METS: A Data Standard for Access and Preservation Now and Into the Future. Digital Letters, 8, 1-4. McDonough, Jerome. (2006, February 1). METS: standardized encoding for digital library objects. International Journal on Digital Libraries, 148-158. Metadata Encoding Transmission Standard Example Alabama blues Lomax, Alan 1915-2002 Recordist Hurston, Zora Neale Recordist Barnicle, Mary Elizabeth 1891-1978 Recordist Metadata Encoding Transmission Standard Conclusion METS was created in response to a void in the Library and Information Science community, with respect to archiving digital objects. Repositories that curate digital objects are tasked with organizing and disseminating a number of resources that can far exceed the collections of institutions with only physical objects in their collections. Once objects become digitized, they also present the unique challenge of taking on characteristics they did not possess as physical objects. In addition to their physical characteristics, these objects now have digital characteristics as well. Ensuring the that the integrity of the objects remain intact is important, if the objects are going to best serve patrons and users. The encoding scheme provided by METS enables institutions to organize and display vast collections of digital objects, while maintaining the objects integrity. METS achieved the flexibility that institutions felt MOA2 was lacking. However, one of the challenges presented by increased flexibility can be decreased interoperability. The lack of controlled vocabularies and required schema elements in METS makes it more difficult for individual repositories to share digital objects that have been encoded using METS. The future of METS will be focused on overcoming this challenge, and working towards interoperability between repositories. Jerome McDonough suggests that the creation of METS profiles by institutions is a step that can be taken on the road towards interoperability. In a METS profile document, institutions can detail restrictions on, and guidelines for, creating METS documents. Institutions can include directions about the schema and controlled vocabularies that should be used in the creation of METS documents. Additionally, McDonough suggests that a METS profile could contain guidelines for the forms that should be used for digital objects. This way, repositories could easily communicate with each other regarding the forms of objects that can accept and give. (McDonough, 2006). The LOCs METS website already has information on developing a METS profile for a digital object and describes the requirements for a complete profile. The requirements laid out by the LOC for a METS profile include information about an objects title and creation date, contact information, related profiles, profile context, external schema, rules of description, controlled vocabularies, structural requirements, technical requirements, tools and applications, and examples. (METS Profile Components, 2011). As more institutions start to adopt this profile format, they will be able to move towards increased sharing of metadata and records. Categories for the Description of Works of Art History Cataloging non-print items has always proved challenging for the Library and Information Science community. The uniqueness of the objects held by galleries and museums makes standardization and interoperability difficult. As a possible answer to this conundrum, Categories for the Description of Works of Art, or CDWA was developed. CDWA can trace its roots back to the early 1990s when it was created by the Art Information Task Force, also known as the AITF. This task force was comprised of art historians, museum curators and registrars, visual resource professionals, art librarians, information managers, and technical specialists. CDWA is the basis for CDWA Lite, an XML schema used to describe works of art that was developed out of CDWA (Categories for the Description of Works of Art: Introduction, 2015). Categories for the Description of Work of Art Importance and Significance The art documentation and museum communities realized that developing a data structure standard for the explicit purpose of describing art, architecture, and material culture was a necessity (Baca, 2007). As the community was developing and changing, so was its need to describe its collections and holdings. Traditional data structure standards and schema, such as MARC, were primarily intended to describe textual works, as evidenced by the data element sets that include elements such as creator and publisher. These elements simply dont apply to visual works of art. In contrast the CDWA includes 532 categories and subcategories directly related to visual works of art (Baca, 2007). It was important for this community to develop a schema that had a wide variety of categories because repositories, like art museums that hold a wide variety of objects. Art objects can include textiles, paintings, pottery, sculpture, and works of architecture just to name a few. With the development of CDWA this community finally had the data structure standard it needed. However, CDWA is not able to be expressed in a machine-readable form. To be able to make this data machine readable, and thus more sharable, another standard needed to be developed by this community. In response to this need, CDWA Lite was created. Now, the art documentation and museum communities had an XML schema that was based off CDWA. Though this schema does not contain as many categories and subcategories and CDWA, CDWA Lite still achieves great depth and flexibility with over 300 elements and sub elements (Baca, 2007). Categories for the Description of Works of Art Schema Description The Getty Institute describes the purpose of CDWA on its website stating, The Categories for the Description of Works of Art (CDWA) are a set of guidelines for best practice in cataloging and describing works of art, architecture, other material culture, groups and collections of works, and related images, arranged in a conceptual framework that may be used for designing databases and accessing information (Categories for the Description of Works of Art: Introduction, 2015). The category/subcategory sets for CDWA are vast and allow for detailed and accurate descriptions of these types of collections and holdings. CDWA has several core categories that are strongly recommended to be included in the description of a work using this schema. While the IATF states that they feel the core categories represent the minimum information necessary to uniquely and unambiguously identify and describe a particular work of art or architecture, they concede that ultimately which core categories to in clude should depend on a particular institutions purpose and users (CDWA List of Categories and Definitions, 2014). The core categories in CDWA are object/work, classification, title or names, creation, measurements, materials and techniques, subject matter, current location, related textual references, person/corporate body authority, place/location authority, generic concept authority, and subject authority (Categories for the Description of Works of Art: Categories, 2014). These categories clearly lend themselves to describing works of art and differentiate this schema from others like Dublin Core or MARC. In contrast, CDWA Lite requires fewer elements, presenting instead a core description of the object (Baca, 2007). Per its website Getty explains that the purpose of CDWA Lite is to describe a format for core records for works of art and material culture, based on the data elements and guidelines contained in the Categories for the Description of Works of Art (CDWA) and Cataloging Cultural Objects (CCO) (CDWA Lite: Specification for an XML Schema for Contributing Records via the OAI Harvesting Protocol, 2006). Records created with CDWA Lite are less detailed that those created using CDWA intentionally, so that they represent the essence of the work. Murtha Baca of the Getty Research institute says The goal of the CDWA Lite schema is to provide core descriptive metadata about cultural works-i.e., an essential metadata record that can be easily shared and contributed to union resources and that provides enough information to enable users to understand what the work is and what instituti on owns it (Baca, 2007). The core categories recommended by the IATF for CDWA are the basis for the twenty-two high level elements in the CDWA Lite schema. In this schema elements 1-19 deal with descriptive metadata and elements 20-22 deal with administrative metadata. (CDWA Lite: Specification for an XML Schema for Contributing Records via the OAI Harvesting Protocol, 2006). Within CDWA Lite, only nine of the twenty-two top level elements are required. These elements are, object/work type wrapper, title wrapper, display creator, indexing creator wrapper, display materials/techniques, indexing dates wrapper, location/repository wrapper, and record wrapper (CDWA Lite: Specification for an XML Schema for Contributing Records via the OAI Harvesting Protocol, 2006). One of most unique features of CDWA and CDWA Lite is that within the required categories and elements, there are recommended sub elements and sub categories. For example, within the creation category for CDWA the following sub categories are also strongly recommended, creator description, creator identity, creator role, creation date, earliest date, and latest date. (CDWA List of Categories and Definitions, 2014). There are considerably more recommended categories and subcategories required by CDWA than other metadata schemas I have encountered thus far. The inclusion of such a wide variety of elements and sub elements is essential when an institution holds objects in its collection that all possess distinct characteristics. Another interesting aspect of this schema is the harvesting ability of CDWA Lite. CDWA Lite records foster interoperability between museums and other institutions that use the Open Archives Initiative, or OAI by allowing repositories to harvest metadata from one another (CDWA Lite: Specification for an XML Schema for Contributing Records via the OAI Harvesting Protocol, 2006). According to Murtha Baca of the Getty Research Institute this is an advantage because the metadata comes from (or should come from) the institution that owns the corresponding objects or items, and is therefore accurate and authoritative (Baca, 2007). As was mentioned earlier, an XML record that is created using CDWA Lite represents only the most core information about the work. This was done to make the harvesting of metadata using this schema achievable and manageable (Baca, 2007). Categories for the Description of Works of Art Resources Categories for the Description of Works of Art: Introduction. (2015, October 6). Retrieved March 20, 2017, from http://www.getty.edu/research/publications/electronic_publications/cdwa/introduction.html Categories for the Description of Works of Art: Categories. (2014, April 9). Retrieved March 19, 2017, from http://www.getty.edu/research/publications/electronic_publications/cdwa/categories.html Categories for the Description of Works of Art (CDWA). (2012, August 9). Retrieved March 23, 2017, from http://www2.archivists.org/groups/standards-committee/categories-for-the-description-of-works-of-art-cdwa CDWA Lite: Specification for an XML Schema for Contributing Records via the OAI Harvesting Protocol. (2006, July 17). Retrieved March 22, 2017, from http://www.getty.edu/research/publications/electronic_publications/cdwa/cdwalite.pdf Baca, Murtha. (Spring 2007). CCO and CDW Lite: Complementary Data Content and Data Format Standards for Art and Material Culture Information. VRA Bulltein, Vol. 34, Number 1, 1-8. Categories for the Description of Works of Art Example 12345 http://www.getty.edu/art/collections/objects/o1091.html 12346 http://www.getty.edu/art/collections/objects/o1092.html 98077 full view, oblique view from the right front corner general view oblique view 1996 98076 detail of the desktop with inlaid coat of arms overhead view detail view coat of arms Metadata Encoding Transmission Standard Conclusion Museums and art institutions recognized the need for a cataloging system that enabled them to accurately represent the works held in their collections which led to the development of CDWA. As more institutions and repositories began to develop digital collections, a new need also arose. Institutions that previously had distinct collections found themselves having the same digitized copies of works in their online repositories. Interoperability, which wasnt as a great of a need before now needed to be realized. It was this realization that led CDWA Lite. Both CDWA and CDWA Lite have element and sub element sets with a great amount of depth that are specific to describing works of art. Within CDWA this allows for the development of rich and accurate records. Within both CDWA and CDWA Lite the element and sub element sets allow institutions to use one system to catalog a variety of works that have dissimilar properties. This need sets this community apart from the library and archival communities which mainly house textual objects. These schemas rely heavily on descriptive metadata, and most of the elements in the CDWA and CDWA Lite element sets fall under the descriptive metadata umbrella. Through CDWA Lite institutions are also able to harvest metadata from each other, enabling museums and art repositories to create accurate and up to date records for digitized works. CDWA and CDWA Lite are still relatively young schemas, CDWA just reached is barely twenty years old. Considering the future of the schemas, one change that may come for CDWA Lite is the inclusion of more of the elements and sub elements from CDWA (CDWA Lite: Specification for an XML Schema for Contributing Records via the OAI Harvesting Protocol, 2006). Adding more elements to CDWA Lite would enable museums to make the metadata for more of the objects in their collections harvestable and would increase the quality of the harvested metadata. It will be exciting to see how this schema develops and continues to improve standardized cataloging and interoperability in the museums and art repository communities. Works Cited: Baca, Murtha. (Spring 2007). CCO and CDW Lite: Complementary Data Content and Data Format Standards for Art and Material Culture Information. VRA Bulltein, Vol. 34, Number 1, 1-8. Categories for the Description of Works of Art: Introduction. (2015, October 6). Retrieved March 20, 2017, from http://www.getty.edu/research/publications/electronic_publications/cdwa/introduction.html Categories for the Description of Works of Art: Categories. (2014, April 9). Retrieved March 19, 2017, from http://www.getty.edu/research/publications/electronic_publications/cdwa/categories.html Categories for the Description of Works of Art (CDWA). (2012, August 9). Retrieved March 23, 2017, from http://www2.archivists.org/groups/standards-committee/categories-for-the-description-of-works-of-art-cdwa CDWA List of Categories and Definitions. (2014). Retrievied March 23, 2017 from https://getty.edu/research/publications/electronic_publications/cdwa/definitions.pdf CDWA Lite: Specification for an XML Schema for Contributing Records via the OAI Harvesting Protocol. (2006, July 17). Retrieved March 22, 2017, from http://www.getty.edu/research/publications/electronic_publications/cdwa/cdwalite.pdf McDonough, Jerome. (2006, February 1). METS: standardized encoding for digital library objects. International Journal on Digital Libraries, 148-158. METS Example Documents. (2016, February 9). Retrieved March 14, 2017, from https://www.loc.gov/standards/mets/mets-examples.html METS: An Overview Tutorial. (2016, February 9). Retrieved March 12, 2017, from https://www.loc.gov/standards/mets/METSOverview.v2.html#structlink METS Schema Documentation. (2016, August 9). Retrieved March 12, 2017, from http://www.loc.gov/standards/mets/mets-schemadocs.html Rose, Trish. (Summer 2005). METS: A Data Standard for Access and Preservation Now and Into the Future. Digital Letters, 8, 1-4. Schema Documentation. (2011, July 1). Retrieved March 12, 2017, from https://www.loc.gov/standards/mets/profile_docs/mets.profile.v1-2.html

Character Study of Gollum from Lord of the Rings, The Two Towers :: Papers

Character Study of Gollum from Lord of the Rings, The Two Towers He is a supporting character in the book who guides Frodo and Sam on their intrepid adventure, to Mordor and MountDoomto destroy the ring. Gollumrepresents the consequences induced by man's greed; he was once a human called Smeagol. He sought to use the ring's power for his own gain, but the ring's overwhelming and evil power poisonedGollum's mind and he became hideous and twisted. His only relation to the characters is his love for the ring; he is trying to remove it from Frodo's possession and make it his own again. He thinks Frodo stole the ring from him, and shows his resentment of him when speaking to himself: "Where iss it, where iss it: my Precious, my Precious? It's ours, it is, and we wants it. The thieves, the thieves, the filthy little thieves. Where are they with my Precious? Curse them! We hates them." The author, JRR Tolkien, created a particularly vivid representation of Gollum in several ways. The author uses "we" in Gollum's dialogue to show he is not one character but in effect two (smeagol, his good side and his evil alter ego). Smeagol is reluctant to bring harm or despair to Frodo, but his evil side convinces him to do otherwise. Sam, another character in the book describes Gollum as "sinister", "deceitful" and "mischievous". Gollum also has varied personalities and attributes. He himself is shown as being very distasteful of Sam, especially his cooking methods. For example when he catches rabbits and Sam Stews them with herbs, Gollum unpleasantly replies to this with "Stupid fat Hobbit!" [IMAGE] This image from the film interprets Gollum's expressions described in the book to the greatest detail "Gollum looked at Sam in dismay" Gollum is very similar to Boromir from the first book of the Lord of the Rings Trilogy, The Fellowship of the Ring. They both had very noble intentions, but the ring drove them to insanity and forced them to pursue the ring at all costs.

The River Why - Eddy quotes Essay -- essays research papers

Eddy Eddy changes Gus in three different ways: when she directly interacts with him, by her absence and by her reappearance. On their first encounter with one another Gus is compelled by her differences in dress, techniques and gear. After she leaves, Gus feels a â€Å"need† to fulfill his empty life. Finally when she shows back up in his life, Gus then has everything he could ever ask for: a beautiful woman who loves to fish, just like him. Page 151: â€Å"A barefoot girl. A full-grown one. One who wore the top tenth or so of what had long ago been a pair of blue jeans. One who wore a short, skin-tight, sleeveless sky-colored t-shirt through †¦which revealed the shape of the†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Gus describes his first view Eddy, after having snuck his way up to the tree where she sat â€Å"motionless† not noticing him. His attention is soon diverted, if not completely towards her odd pole and gear. Lying to himself as he checked out this â€Å"research project† he notices how her gear is like nothing he had seen or used before, but his mind never full wonders from Eddy. (Page 151) Page 151: â€Å"Her fishing equipment was innovative also; she appeared to have no creel or equipage or container of any kind apart form her pole and line and whatever was on the end of it. There was the possibility of a few spare hooks or leaders in the pockets of the fraction of blue jeans †¦but the theory grew tenuous†¦As to the possibility of fishing tackle concealed with in the sky-colored t-shirt, this was even less likely. Nevertheless I considered the problem long and carefully, scanning every least curve of the thin material, reluctant to give up the search.† While Gus is checking her style out he realizes that Eddy was important and he needed to learn from her. He describes his sudden thirst for knowledge about Eddy as follows: Page 150: â€Å"She must be an extraordinary person, well worth watching, well worth meeting, well worth thinking about, an exceptional fisherman, and I was, what I was, I was learning, yes learning: I was learning like crazy. I’d never learned so much so fast before†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Watching Eddy fish, Gus absorbs a lot of information that before was totally unseen to him. Not only about fishing, but about this woman and about himself, needing to learn from her. He says on page 152 â€Å"I felt for the first time that I was in the presence of a fishing genius exceeding my own.† He is enthralled by her fishin... ... a mouse could sing I just might see Eddy again.† Along his journeys Gus comes across a writer for a newspaper article and made up a story to the over zealous, unskilled fisherman, who wrote about fishing. In the end of the article he put a note to Eddy. Page 217: â€Å"Will the girl who ran form the guy who recited Izaak Walton I the tree please contact Gus on the other river he named. He has your rod and fish and wants to return them. He is totally harmless, but urges you to bring a loaded fun if frightened, as long as you come. Thank you.† Through out his waiting and searching for Eddy he changes dramatically. He feels the need for his live to be fulfilled, and he strives for it by doing new things. He acquires a new load of friends and things from swapping, but he was sad for those who did not have what he could have and for other reasons. Page 221: â€Å"†¦also because I had so much to share, but nobody to share it with.† Then Gus goes into making her a rod like her old one, but with improvements. Like a 14 foot pole, belly reel with a waist strap and some good line in it. The hope still lives on to see her once again and he is striving to make a good impression on Eddy this time.

Mobile Technology in Higher Education

THE IMPACT OF MOBILE INFORMATION COMMUNICATIONS TECHNOLOGY ON STUDENT’S ATTITUDES AND PERCEPTIONS IN HIGHER EDUCATION The use of the mobile technologies gives an excellent opportunity to connect the digital division that has an effect on so many students. At University of the Western Cape, we proudly possess leadership that leads underrepresented students. This article will show the efforts made to: change and construct positive attitudes toward the use of Mobile Information Communications (ICT), understand habits in computer usage, and do experiments to show which methods are more effective in usage of mobile technologies to improve academic performance. Our way was to make use of mobile technologies with differing form factors into the learning environment and find their impact on student insight and performance. Results, ways and evaluation tools were developed within a general framework to gauge the effectiveness of our approach.The results on hand in this article will sho w how technology factor, use and student categorization has a positive impact on student’s attitudes and views as well as their academic performances. Introduction When students’ access to computers is limited outside of computer lab available, there was need that existed to promote the use of technology as an essential instrument that could be used as an integral part of the curriculum. For some a smaller group of students, studies showed that gaining access to computers and technology as a child growing up was not as vast as the other students. Hence, it was realised that there may be the fear factor at the introduction of technology to students 2. Enhanced understandings of computers and how they work and how information is exchanged was an important concern toward using technology effectively. Our attempt addressed the need to correct and construct positive attitudes toward mobile technology and heavily promote the need to understand habits of computer usage by the underrepresented categories and which methods were most effective in using mobile technologies.The approach we used was to highlight the neccessity to improve the students’ awareness of how technological tools ( mobile tools in particular) can have impact on their academic efficiency and performance. As a result we developed a short course module that could be used in any discipline to gauge and positively strengthen the productive aspects of mobile technology. The idea was to give a certain group of student’s mobile technology in various forms that they could take with them once the period class in this course ended (mobile class) period has ended.Our enthusiasm drove us to make use of this opportunity to further study the impact of mobile computer ownership on user views and performance within the academic framework in that effort. First year student matriculation as a whole was relatively low and unbalanced where close to 50% of students left university before rece iving a degree. Students go into the university with very little understanding as to: * What tasks a student accomplishes, the courses involved, and the technical aspects required. First semester is important in shaping if the student finishes as well as the pace in which the student finishes.However, it was shown that educational understanding and construction has a larger effect on attrition than complexity of the subject or ability * . The preceding factors make first year students interesting candidates for the mobile technology incorporation studies. The Technology The introduction of local and personal area networks such as Wi-Fi provided an affordable mobile solution to broaden learning and collaborating capabilities outside the classroom. Wi-Fi provided a platform that allowed the use of personal digital assistants (PDAs), tablets and wireless capable laptops by connectivity to the internet.It also enabled students to create peer networks that made information shared and deb ated in groups Students that took part in the mobile course modules had three mobile gadgets to choose from: COMPAQ/HP Tablet PC TC1000, the Gateway notebook PC and HP IPAQ 5450 POCKET PC. These mobile devices had a customized version of the Microsoft Windows Platform made to processing power and memory allocations available. The Windows CE incorporated built-in a platform for the pocket touch screen, recognition of handwriting, file transfers via infrared, Bluetooth connection, and biometric security.The Windows XP Tablet PC edition incorporated a system for the pen stylus, handwriting recognition, and remote presentation displays. All devices were capable of Wi-Fi connectivity. The device a particular student received was based on likes and availability. Preference depended on the main five categories: shape factor or size, processing power, memory space, data entry, and network connectivity. We classed the mobile devices in factors below to quantify which device the student would prefer if all devices were available.They had to rate wither it was best, worst or intermediate. It was in terms of the shape, processing ability, memory availability, data entry ease and network connectivity. The result was that the Table PC was the best trade off between sizes, data entry, processing power, memory, and connectivity. Students were most likely to take the tablet PC first. It also showed that the students who had tablet PC responded much positively to the mobile computing modules exercises. The wireless notebook was best described as a replacement for the desktop class machine.The students got the devices at the start of the course and were allowed to maintain ownership till the end of the module. Ownership was a vital characteristic to give students freedom to discover the capability of the device and roam within the wireless factor outside the classroom. The convenience of the device depended on the application and type of projects. Assessment and Attitudes of Mob ile Technology Module Design Incorporating mobile technology into the classroom needed a clearly distinct educational goal for the student to gain anything valuable.The overall goal for this course module was to restrain the anxiety associated with introduction to new technology. This expectation was to allow the students with the technology to enhance investigative skills and collaborative skills. Students were originally advised to try the material individually to acquire core competency and ease with the technology. Afterwards, students were placed into groups to work together on complex tasks using the mobile technology. Designing of the course module, emphasis was ought to be placed on all aspects of learning.According to Marzano and Pickering an excellent way was to follow the dimensions of learning structure. The model illustrated five dimensions of learning: * Positive attitudes and views about Learning * Processes involved in getting and incorporating knowledge * Processes involved in extending and enlightening knowledge * Processes involved in using knowledge significantly * Efficient behaviour of the mind Dimension one affected students’ effort put in the course. The attitude and view of course material upon getting into the classroom may have had a dramatic impact on overall performance of the student.Second dimension involved the students’ capability to incorporate the knowledge into long-term memory. Therefore the student acquired the skills to use what they had learned to future courses or assignments. Extension of the incorporated knowledge encompassed the third dimension. The student applied reasoning processes to help them grow and improve the material. Fourth dimension involved the use of the acquired knowledge for solving problems, making decisions and analysis. The final one focused on traits development for the student that allowed critical thinking, creativity, and ability to regulate themselves.After establishing the frame , strategies must be in place to blend in technology successfully into the course, record outcomes, and report results. The main focus in the design of this course module was to cover the first two dimensions. We wanted to avoid the fear, and encourage healthy attitudes and views that first year students have about technology and their curriculum over the long run. While students completed assignments, conducted research and worked together in teams, integrating and using the acquired knowledge is required.The 3 objectives that were common in all activities that involved mobile usage technology: * Promoted an environment that allowed the student to judge the weaknesses and strength of computer ownership and impact of ownership on performance. Student appraised advantages and disadvantages of different mobile platforms in a classroom environment. The student learnt about computer/network organization. * Issued assignments that required extended hours to complete * Evaluated and asses sed the most effective form of ownership that impacted the student’s ability to complete an assignment.BEFORE AND AFTER SURVEY * Had the students do an interactive recreational activity during off hours. * Encouraged students to find other areas that would encourage them to consider private ownership * Monitored usage statistics THE METHODS OR METRICS USED 1. Divided the students into teams that have mobile computational systems with varying types 2. Distinguish strengths and weaknesses of each platform in implementing a task. The students had to learn about computer/network organization and set-up different of simple wireless connections. THE METHODS OR METRICS USED . Had the students arrange simple fixed and wireless networks 2. Developed an initial level understanding of network protocol stack and connectionless networks Written Report 1. Had the students construct pages for peer to-peer and structure networking 2. Familiarized students with mobile computing skills and inf ormation sharing. The aims, outcomes and assessment methods shown in gave a high-level sight of material taught in the module. The tasks were made interactive in which the students had the ability to investigate capabilities of the technology further.In class works were carried out in a co-operative learning style environment where the team size varied between 2 to 4 students. Outside class students were encouraged to work together but all written assignments were collected individually. The students had to research and report on technology, implementation of the technology, and show its usefulness. The student learnt the complexities of the computer networking, device and wireless networks. Projects ranged from the use of pocket pc and/or laptops to create peer-to-peer networks over Wi-Fi or Bluetooth. An exampleThe students are investigated a mobile application by examining how one used a pocket PC device. An in class demonstration was done where teams of students were to explore the major components of a web based application. Afterwards they had to complete this task and report on advantages and disadvantages of the different forms . Also they were required to find these components, on the internet, and write a short report that had to be handed in electronically before the next class. Students also used applications e. g. virtual network computing to handle servers and desktops remotely .Also some applications contained servers that allowed complex computation on the server to be reported on the device The survey analysis was divided into three categories: * Perception of students on mobile technology * Usage of mobile technology * Effect of mobile on retention Targeted Programs and Course Some first year courses had been designed to familiarize students with the faculty, our facilities and resources and projects that required group work. Four three-week sections of the courses involved 118 first year students.Addition to using that course module to inves tigate some of their main curriculum courses, were made to infuse mobile technology into the different research organizations within the university. Thirty-six foundation students in the Law faculty used notebook and tablet PCs for six weeks to help in their research t. These students studied various topics such as basic laws, family, corporate and ethics. Ten students, including 3 from Zimbabwe, in the Science faculty used tablet PCs for eight weeks to discover knowledge fusion and acquisition techniques.The usage of the mobile technology to students in the different research groups varied depending on the nature of the research. For example, teams may deal closely with mobile technology using remote procedures needed technology or application development. Whereas, other teams may not use e-mobility technology for research but instead use them for information communication among members or work division. Perception on Mobile Technology * The most frequent trend in the analysis was that students felt mobile technology had higher relevance after having ownership and using the device than before. Ownership and using the device allowed the student to find relevance and apply the device to his/her environment. * Another trend taken note of is the relationship between time of ownership and the change that actually comes in student’s perception. The Science and Law students’ ownership period was close to three times longer than that of the other faculites’students. Therefore, in the end positive perceptions of students others faculties changed approximately higher on average. However the perceptions of students in Law and Science changed more dramatically.Positive perceptions for Science increased close to 60% and students participating in Law increased about 15% on average. Mobile Technology Usage While finishing interactive tasks with the mobile device and discovering its capabilities, most students gained a sense for the usefulness of the dev ice and mobile networking. For instance, while gaining knowledge about the technology and finishing a task using Bluetooth technology, the student found out that their cell-phone was also able to communicate via Bluetooth. The students were able to finish the tasks by joining his cell phone to network with other students using PDA’s.This technology raised the student’s interest and they showed initiative to use the technology further. Focusing on the aspect of ownership students’ views changed on buying a device for fun and convenience to that of buying for information access and research. Students who had longer ownership found means to use technology and contemplated more about using computational tools in their studies. STUDENT MAINTENANCE Attrition in faculties was discussed earlier in this paper. Theories within department’s research indicated that more exposure to technology made the curriculum more interesting.The prospect was to enhance the studen ts, increase probability of finishing through their degrees. It was discovered that even limited use of Mobile Technology raised the students’ interest in the more technological advancements to come. OTHER FACULTIES IN THE RESEARCH A modified questionnaire on computer attitude was developed to gauge on attitudes about computer value, enjoyment of the computer, studying habits, empathy, persistence and motivation, tendencies to be creative, school, mobile ownership, knowledge and importance for the first year courses. Results indicated fair amount of anxiety over all platforms.Also in views and acquired knowledge showed that technology ownership had a direct effect on the first two scopes of learning in the presence of technological combination. Most frequent were the fluctuating results in enjoyment of computer, email usage, e-classroom application and usage of computers. Tablet PC users exhibited constant satisfaction across the board. We hypothesize that the tablet PC strik es the balance in portability, performance and functionality that the user used it more and was more productive with it compared to the rest used in the study.This was especially applicable in urban areas where the student was tasked with selecting mobile computational devices to help counterbalance the many demanding situations placed by the bulk of communications, transportation, and social networks that surround them. Conclusion In this article, we showed a course specifically customised to introduce mobile technology to first year students. First year students were given a wide indication of device usage, connecting to the network, and low-level network design.Our attempt to instil mobile technology into the module was highly successful in raising the student curiosity, view, usage, and interest in the curriculum. Results revealed that the prolonged time of ownership and student categorisation or maturity has a positive impact on our student’s attitudes and views on mobil e technology. In addition mobile forms that offer a balance between size, weight, system and performance seem to have the greatest effect on student attitude and academic performance

Performance Appraisals Essay

There are three fundamental questions every business organization must consider. The first is how are the employees doing? The second is why? The third is what should the employees be doing? In this of advancement of technology and rapid obsolescence of knowledge, every business organization must continuously assess the performance of its most important asset and determine what needs to be done to improve their performance. The effective assessment and evaluation of employee performance is one of the goals of performance appraisals. Early studies conducted by companies reveal that performance appraisals may serve as an effective motivating strategy to boost employee performance. This conclusion was reached after these companies noticed that employees with the same skills, abilities, educational background who are generally given the same compensation package perform differently at work. Some perform very well, while some were performing poorly. As a result, the emphasis for reward was gradually replaced by other motivational tools. One of them is performance appraisals. Some managers however find performance appraisals as one of their most difficult function. (Linda Gravett p. 1) They fail to realize that the managers have been doing this function for a long time even at the time they were still supervisors. As a human resource management function, performance appraisal has started only in the 20th Century. However, the essence of performance appraisals which is judging the work of employees has been practiced by employers and managers since time immemorial. According to Shannon Burger (2006) it is a basic human tendency to make judgments about those one is working with, as well as about oneself. †(Burger p. 11) Recently, however, some practitioners in the field of Human Resource Management that and Human Resource Managers are questioning the effectiveness of the performance appraisal System as an effective motivational strategy. A research on this issue shows that about 80 percent of companies in the United States use annual performance reviews of some kind. Yet 85 percent of these firms are dissatisfied with employee appraisals. Also, surveys conducted by Mercer and Wyatt consulting firms report that a majority of the firms are currently experiencing problems with their performance appraisal. (Chalmer E. Labig Jr. & Tan Yew Chye, p. 1) On the other hand, some are in favor of the continuation of the performance appraisal systems in company arguing that the performance appraisals help motivate and change the behavior of employees. It helps in measuring the performance of every employee and his effectiveness on the job. It also is a good mechanism by which the employers may provide feedback to their employees on their performance. This research paper seeks to determine whether performance appraisals indeed can motivate the employees and help result to a change in their behavior and attitude toward their work. This research paper proceeds on the theory that performance appraisals are effective in motivating the employees and that any misconception on the nature of performance appraisals stem from a lack of understanding on the part of the managers and supervisors on how to effectively perform this function. Performance Appraisals: The Two Sides One of the most often reasons why performance appraisals are criticized is its lack of objectivity of the Human Resource Manager or the person conducting the performance appraisal. The idea behind performance appraisal is that it is intended to evaluate work performance based on pre-set goals and objectives. The problem with this is that human factor always comes in the way of producing an objective and accurate performance appraisals. It is always possible that the person conducting the evaluation may rate the employee on the basis of his personal opinion. As a result, it is feared that the evaluator may make a mistake which have a serious impact not only on the present salary of the employee but also on his performance. In response to this objection, it is common knowledge that no human resource function is perfect and is 100% objective. Human Resource Management in essence is about people who are very complex and have different skills, motivations, character and personalities. Unlike the other managerial functions which deal with other company resources that are predictable and controllable, Human Resource Management function deal with unique individuals. It is to be expected that emotions will become part and parcel of the performance of their functions. The important role of managers now is to become aware of their own biases and prejudices and make sure that this does not interfere with their important function of measuring employee performance. The Halo Effect is anther most commonly raised argument against performance appraisals. This means that the person who conducts the evaluation has the natural tendency to rate an employee high in one particular area simply because the subject rated high in other areas. Thus, an employee who may have the excellent technical skills but low on customer relations may still get a high mark in customer relations because of the evaluator may give more emphasis on technical knowhow of the employee under the Halo effect. In addition, some people also object to performance appraisal because of the Horns effect. The Horns effect is the opposite of the Halo effect which is the tendency of the appraiser to rate the employee low because the employee rated low in some aspects of his job. Thus, if an employee is not good in one aspect of his job such as customer relations, if the person conducting the evaluation considers such function as his more important then it is highly possible that he may get a lower rating for his other function even if he may be excellent in these other functions. In answer to the second argument, it is always to be borne in mind that when a company conducts performance appraisal of its employees it is to be expected that the company only had the best interest of the employees and the company in mind. Every company desires to know the strengths of its employees and their weaknesses. Weaknesses must be identified so that the employees can be given the proper training. No company would purposely do anything that will prevent them from attaining this objective. Thus, there is no reason for the employees to feel that the person conducting the evaluation will purposely do any act that will lead to the failure of the performance appraisal. After providing counter arguments to the objections against Performance Appraisal, we now turn to the reason why Performance Appraisal can change human behavior. An ideal performance appraisal has two basic elements: a) the evaluation system and b) the feedback system. (Margaret J. Palmer, 2007, Ch. 1) The first element of performance appraisal is the evaluation of employee performance. Here, the person conducting the evaluation seeks to find out whether the performance level of the employees is at par with what is expected of them. In case the performance is below what is expected there is what is known as the performance gap. Those who are determined to be performing below what is expected of them are required to undergo training which is in essence a good thing also since the employee will be able to learn more about his job. For those who performed well in the appraisal, it can also be used to determine which among the employees are entitled to promotion, pay increases and bonuses. (Tznier, p. 282) Performance Appraisal is therefore very important since it can be used as basis prior to any action that may be done by the company. According to Richard Rudman (2003), Expectancy theory tells us that, if people want more pay and believe that working harder will get it for them, they will work harder and perform better. (Rudman p. 173) The second element of performance appraisal is the feedback which in essence is the opportunity for the employees to hear from their superiors how well or how poorly they are doing from work. In most companies this is the only time where the employees can actually know from their superior what the latter thinks of their performance. According to Manuel London (2003), â€Å"feedback is an important part of the education process†¦It helps newcomers learn the ropes, midcareer employees to improve performance and to consider opportunities for development, and late career employees to maintain their productivity. Managers are an important source of feedback because they establish perform objectives and provide rewards for attaining those objectives. † (London p. 11) A positive feedback from his superiors will help boost the morale and confidence of the employee in performing his functions. It may also help in defining the career path of the employee. On the other hand, negative feedbacks from his superiors will help identify the particular areas where the employee needs to be trained. This will help in the improvement of the skills and knowledge of the employee. Conclusion Based on the arguments for and against performance appraisals, it is clear that the objections against it are mainly because of the employee’s lack of understanding of the very nature of performance appraisals and the role this play in maintaining the company’s competitive edge. I am in favor of the conduct of performance appraisals in business organizations. It is effective in changing employee behavior. It helps boost employee morale and helps help open up channels of communication between the employer and the employee. The most important role of performance appraisal is actually the communication between the management and the employees. Proper communication to the employees of the conduct of the performance appraisal helps strengthen and improve their working relationship.

Marx Philosophy and the End of History

Karl Marx is, without a doubt one of the most influential thinkers to emerge in the nineteenth century, and the theories he proposed, have influenced various regimes in different parts of the world. His success is the result of the flexibility present in his theories to adapt themselves to the times. In his mid twenties Marx, turned away from philosophy and concentrated his attention more towards the economic and political aspects of the society. It was in the light of economics that he viewed the problems in society and sought to provide a remedy to it. He viewed society not as an independent entity. Contrarily, he saw, society as a reflection of the progress made by History. The progress made by history always left behind a legacy in its trail. This legacy had a profound impact in the shaping of society. The validity of this statement can be proven, by citing the example of the poverty in the Africa Americans as the legacy of their history as slave labourers. However the direction of History was uncertain and could not be predicted. It was dictated by the economic factors present in society. The only certainty was that an, ‘end of history’ was inevitable. In his theory on Historical Materialism, Marx carefully analyses the various factors influencing the different stages in the growth of society from slavery to modern day capitalism. Thus the views of Marx can be summed up under, four basic principles. Firstly, he believed that society followed a straight law of motion and underwent various phases in order to get to the final stage of Communism. Secondly, the laws governing the society were purely economic in nature, for the only thing that shapes society are the ‘material tools of production. Thirdly, he believed that these laws would continue to be in force until the end of History. Fourthly, the classes and the State would perish with the end of History. However this end would be brought about by a bitter struggle of one class against another. It must be mentioned in this context, that Marx borrowed the concept of a dialectical history, with a cognate beginning, middle and end from Hegel. Marx’s main concern was the ‘State’, which he viewed as the main tool of exploitation. It is the State and its various institutions that are utilised by the dominant class to wield their power. He advocated that the State was the most powerful tool of exploitation, whose sole purpose was to represent the interests of the ruling class. He chose to study the State through the annals of History. To him only ‘History’, could reveal the secrets at work behind the evolution of the state and determine its future shape. However, Marx did not consider History to be an open-ended process. Instead he saw a definite ‘end in history’. This end would result in the downfall of Capitalism and ensue the coming of a new era of Communism. An end in History did not signify an end to human life, it simply meant that there would no longer be any changes in the underlying principles or institutions for all the major problems had been solved and man’s major needs fulfilled. Before we can elaborate on the ‘end of history’, as predicted by Marx, it is essential that we know what history is all about. Marx claims that History has not progressed in a straight line. The coherent development of human societies through the ages has been a result of the various regimes that it has undergone. Marx thus traces the evolutionary process from, tribal based societies which were dependant on slavery and agriculture for subsistence, to theocracies, monarchies, feudal aristocracies, modern liberal democracies and finally to the technologically driven Capitalism. In his study Marx points out that the fundamental element present in all these different societies is the ‘class’ system and the ‘means of production,’ which determined which class would be dominant in the society. The ‘Class’ and the subsequent ‘class struggle’ were the sine qua non of Marx’s theory. History showed that the class who controlled the means of production was the dominant class in society. It is the tools of ruthless dominance and exploitation used by the dominant class to maintain their authority that would one day turn against them and spearhead the inevitable revolutions. History has shown that every revolution brought about a change in the social structure. This change did not bring about an egalitarian order it simply replaced the old dominant class with a new one. The unequal social structure continued to exist. Every revolution just changed the composition of the oppressor and the oppressed. The day that the society became classless would be the day that History came to an end. This end was possible with the rise of Communalism. While proclaiming the advent of Communalism, Marx refused to give a cognate shape to his ideal society. He claimed that the final shape of Communism would be the result of the different historical processes that society underwent. It was not a realisation of a predetermined moral idea. When it came to classes, Marx outlined two major segments into which society was divided. They were the oppressed or the ‘Proletariat’ as he called them and the oppressor or the ‘Bourgeoisie’. When the levels of oppression reached its penultimate point the oppressed class rose in rebellion and the outcome of this rebellion was a new society. Thus Marx stated, â€Å"The history of all hitherto existing societies has been the history of class struggle.† The day history ceases to exist; classes shall also cease to exist. Marx in his theories always stressed on the Historical aspect and asserted that every society contained within itself the forces of contradiction, known as the ‘Thesis’ and ‘Anti Thesis’. When these two contradictory forces clashed against one another, a class struggle emerged that sought to change the shape of society and replace the existing dominant class with a new one. This change was not permanent but would cease with the end of history, and there would finally emerge a classless society where each person enjoyed the fruits of his own labour. In his theory on History Marx, points out that in a divided society the tools of production are owned by the dominant section of society who exploit the weaker classes in order to amass more wealth and gain strength. But, there would come a time, when the levels of consciousness would rise among the oppressed class and they would unite in a struggle against the oppressors. History is replete with such examples. The slave society was replaced by the feudal society and the feudal society by the Industrialists or the Bourgeoisie. The coming of the Industrialist Revolution brought a boom in the industry and a new class emerged as the dominant section. They were the Capitalist class who owned the means of production. Like its predecessors the Capitalist society also contained within itself the seeds of dissent. The Capitalists became the dominant class who usurped the means of production and relentlessly exploited the working class or the proletariat. It resulted in the alienation of the worker. The working class was denied of the fruits of its labour and while the rich grew richer the poor grew poorer. The chasm continued to widen with the increase in wealth in the hands of the Capitalists. Despite the contradictions in the Capitalist regime, the ‘Communist Manifesto’ begins by praising the Capitalist system. It says that the Capitalist system has played a revolutionary role in History. It has shown what man’s endeavours can achieve. It has accomplished wonders, which surpasses the wonders of the world. It has conducted exoduses, which have overshadowed all past crusades in the world. Having praised the Capitalist system they go on to say that Capitalism by nature is based on ‘competition’ and the ‘market’. The same dynamics that propel capitalism will also be the reason of its downfall. When there are no more markets left to explore and exploit, the entire buying and selling cycle would collapse. Capitalism would  Ã‚   suffer from the phenomenon of ‘overproduction’ and   would be brought down to its knees. Harping on the ills of Capitalism, the Marxian philosophy, states that the Capitalist system would soon displace the smaller and individual producers. Marx went to the extent of saying that History would witness the replacement of indigenous farming with industrial and mechanised farming. Once this level of exploitation was reached the end of history would not be far away. This exploitation would unleash an era of unemployment and misery among the working class. When living under such miserable conditions became unbearable, history would witness a revolution spearheaded by the working class. Thus what Capitalism produces above all is its own ‘gravediggers’. It is the working class that would lead the final revolution to successfully remove the yoke of Capitalism. But the end of History or Communism as Marx viewed it was not to be achieved easily. The intermediate stage between Capitalism and Communism was the ‘Dictatorship of the Proletariat’. It was in this stage that the proletariat had complete control over the means of production as well as over the various institutions. The downfall of Capitalism, Marx claimed, would bring about the end of History. The phrase ‘end of history’ indicates a society based on Communism. It is a classless and egalitarian society where every man has full right over the fruits of his labour. From the ‘end of history’ there would emerge the final shape of the society. It would no longer undergo any more transformations, since all the major ills plaguing its predecessors had been removed. It was a society where man attained true economic freedom. Keeping in mind the fact that Marxism has a great deal of supporters it cannot be overlooked that the society Marx depicted in the end was more of a utopia rather than a reality. Though Marx’s philosophy has stood the test of times his views on the ‘end of History’ is yet to materialise. If we study the history of the world carefully we can see instances when the Marxian theory has borne fruit, but there have also been instances when the theory failed miserably. The theory of Marx was put to the test with the Russian Revolution. The theory defended itself by proclaiming that Russian society had not passed through the necessary stages in order to qualify as a successful communist society. Though the country was growing rapidly the society was predominantly feudal in nature. It had not been through the phase of Capitalism. The Soviet Union that was the glowing example of the success of Communism also faced failure. The downfall of the Soviet Union exposed the inherent corruption, inefficiency and irrationality present in the society. This picture of a communist society seemed to be absolutely contradictory to the egalitarian and classless society in a Communist Regime envisaged by Marx. The most important fact is that the ‘end of history’ is yet to manifest itself. With the ongoing scenario in the world Capitalism seems to have gained an even stronger foothold. Rather than an impending doom, capitalism is on a rise. The State that was supposed to wither away with the end of history is a far cry away. The State seems to be playing an even more important role today. It is far more intervening in the ways of man than predicted by man. Instead of being a tool of oppression the State has helped in maintaining stability, law and order in society. The end of history as envisaged by Marx is not easy to implement in practice. While envisaging an equal society Marx placed complete faith on the just and truthful nature of man. But man is by nature greedy. His wants keep increasing and to meet these wants he needs to amass resources. Thus, to think that man would be happy in his own little share would be a folly. It is inevitable that a man or a group of men would want to take over the reigns of power. Such a situation would lead to nothing but anarchy and chaos. It is because of the above reasons that the end of history seems such a far-fetched thought. The Marxian theory was not about right or wrong it was simply a theory of history. It followed the trends that had occurred in the past and on the basis of those sought to predict the future trends that would ensue. In so far that the theory acknowledged the presence of exploitation and domination in history it stands fully justified. It is only when it comes to predicting an end to Capitalism that the theory seems to falter. It seeks to attain the unattainable. In view of the above mentioned arguments, and in the light of the real world scenario, we can safely say, that, even though the political, economic and social institutions proposed By Marx are dead or dying away, his theory and influence on the world continue to exist. Works Cited Marx, . Karl,   Fredrick   Engels   and   David   Mclellan   ed,   The   Communist   Manifesto,   Oxford   World's   Classics   1848