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An overview of the current use of handwritten text recognition (HTR) on archival manuscript material, as provided by the EU H2020 funded Transkribus platform. It explains HTR, demonstrates Transkribus, gives examples of use cases, highlights the affect HTR may have on scholarship, and evidences this turning point of the advanced use of digitised heritage content. The paper aims to discuss these issues.

This paper adopts a case study approach, using the development and delivery of the one openly available HTR platform for manuscript material.

Transkribus has demonstrated that HTR is now a useable technology that can be employed in conjunction with mass digitisation to generate accurate transcripts of archival material. Use cases are demonstrated, and a cooperative model is suggested as a way to ensure sustainability and scaling of the platform. However, funding and resourcing issues are identified.

The paper presents results from projects: further user studies could be undertaken involving interviews, surveys, etc.

Only HTR provided via Transkribus is covered: however, this is the only publicly available platform for HTR on individual collections of historical documents at time of writing and it represents the current state-of-the-art in this field.

The increased access to information contained within historical texts has the potential to be transformational for both institutions and individuals.

This is the first published overview of how HTR is used by a wide archival studies community, reporting and showcasing current application of handwriting technology in the cultural heritage sector.

The purpose of this paper is to assess impact of literacy on the combinations of traceability information on food packages of chilled chicken nuggets and fish fingers consumers choose.

A discrete choice experiment, belonging to the “stated preference method” was designed to meet the purpose of this study with 512 German and Greek consumers. According to this method, the information is gathered using methods of distinct preference asking individuals face to face questions about their behaviour.

The results indicate that literacy has an impact on the combinations of information consumers choose; specific information is most useful and sought by high- and low-literate consumers; and price is an important factor for the consumer choices presented in the current study, but cannot overshadow other equally important factors.

Marketing issues are raised because of the importance and utility consumers attach to traceability systems.

This is a novel research concerning literacy’s impact on the combinations of package information chosen by consumers in Germany and Greece in relation to the two studied chilled chicken and fish products (i.e. chilled chicken nuggets and fish fingers).

During the decade 1970 to 1979, more than 11 million immigrants came to the United States. The only comparable period in the nation's history was from 1900 to 1909, when entire towns emigrated from Italy, Poland, and Russia, and eight million immigrants arrived in America.

This study explores how dimensions of organizational culture are related to performance in a sample of Christian churches. Alternative models of the relationships of four dimensions of organizational culture with multiple measures of church performance were explored using data provided by staff and pastors describing 53 Christian churches. We identified a model that fit the data very well in which the relative strength of four organizational cultural dimensions are predictors of the levels of seven alternative measures of church performance covering membership growth, constituent satisfaction, staff and constituent learning and development, and internal business processes. Church leaders desiring to improve performance could consider focusing on strengthening the culture dimensions that may be related to each area of church operations.

EU membership has been for the greater part of the post-authoritarian period (1974–2010) an important element of the Greek national consensus. Europe was commonly associated in public discourse with geopolitical security, democratic institutions and economic prosperity. Moreover, accession to the European Monetary Union in 2001 was celebrated as proof of a successful national course and as promise for economic growth. Nevertheless, challenges to pro-Europeanism both from the left and from the extreme right have risen in the context of the economic crisis (2010–2015). While Euro-sceptical attitudes are still a minority within Greek society – but significantly increased in relation to past trends – the discursive negotiation of Europe in the Greek public debate is characterized by ambiguity and has acquired various negative connotations (e.g. austerity policies, authoritarianism, German hegemony, democratic deficit in decision-making). In the highly-polarized Greek political debate, a new cleavage has emerged based on the acceptance or rejection of the loan agreements and the austerity policies associated with them (the so-called pro- vs. anti-memorandum cleavage) which have also transformed traditional Left vs. Right cleavage thus allowing for political alliances between left-ward and right-ward parties. It remains to be seen whether the new cleavage will take the form of a clash between pro-Europeanists vs. Euroscepticists as it is often argued in the context of Grexit scenarios. While this new dichotomy can be misleading especially if it is unambiguously interpreted in cultural terms, it describes a newly formed social and political tension that is under process. A special chapter in this respect is the currency debate; the dilemma between the euro and the drachma represents distinct ideological paradigms and power structures. The present chapter explores the discursive negotiation of Europe in the context of the Greek public debate analysing discourses produced both by political elites and mass media with special focus on the 2015 referendum campaign and the implications of the July 2015 Greece-EU agreement.

Using a meta-regression analysis, we quantitatively review the empirical literature on the relation between effective tax rate (ETR) and firm size. Accounting literature offers two competing theories on this relation: The political cost theory, suggesting a positive size-ETR relation, and the political power theory, suggesting a negative size-ETR relation. Using a unique data set of 56 studies that do not show a clear tendency towards either of the two theories, we contribute to the discussion on the size-ETR relation in three ways: First, applying meta-regression analysis on a US meta-data set, we provide evidence supporting the political cost theory. Second, our analysis reveals factors that are possible sources of variation and bias in previous empirical studies; these findings can improve future empirical and analytical models. Third, we extend our analysis to a cross-country meta-data set; this extension enables us to investigate explanations for the two competing theories in more detail. We find that Hofstede’s cultural dimensions theory, a transparency index and a corruption index explain variation in the size-ETR relation. Independent of the two theories, we also find that tax planning aspects potentially affect the size-ETR relation. To our knowledge, these explanations have not yet been investigated in our research context.

The journalism profession has radically changed due to the digitisation and the development of new media. As content is moving online, rapidly evolving Internet technologies have affected basic journalistic work processes. In this context, changes in technology as well as audience engagement have greatly expanded the skills required to be a professional journalist nowadays. A number of studies have shown that search engines constitute an important source of the traffic to online news outlets around the world, identifying the significance of top rankings in search results. Concurrently, in the digital age, the interest in monitoring online activities as well as the significance of studying the traffic data has intensified. This chapter summarises the major findings of two studies regarding the use and impact of SEO and web analytics on news websites and journalism profession in Greece. Through examination of a sample of Greek journalists and several Greek news websites, it aims to provide new insights in the field of digital journalism.

During the analysis of the 1999 avalanche winter and of the winter storm Lothar on 26 December 1999, the Swiss Federal Institute for Snow and Avalanche Research SLF, Davos conducted an inquiry of the cable car‐ and ski lift‐companies in German‐ and French speaking part of Switzerland. This arti‐cle presents the results in detail. In the whole of Switzerland there were 1'821 cable cars and ski lifts in 1999 (not counting 550 small ski lifts). The SLF sent its questionnaire to 117 companies. A considerable proportion of them (79%) have been returned. In February 1999 avalanches and snow pressure induced damages on 44 cable cars and ski lifts; repairs cost more than 17 Mio. SFr. Due to high avalanche danger, 37% of all lift facilities had to be closed for an average of seven days. The loss of earnings for Switzerland (without Ticino) is estimated at 78 Mio. SFr. compared to February 1998. The winter storm Lothar caused damage to 127 cable cars and ski lifts. The cost of damage repairs is estimated at 7.6 Mio. SFr. The storm interrupted power supply for 14% of the lift facilities; 58% had to be closed down due to high wind speeds. The loss of earnings caused by winter storm Lothar amounts to approx. 39 Mio. SFr. for the Swiss cable car and ski lift companies (without Ticino). Immediately after the events of 1999, 32% of the companies interviewed took measures to reduce the negative consequences (e.g. price reductions, press releases or publicity campaigns). To improve public relations is considered to be an important measure to cope with consequences of natural hazards in the future by 39% of the companies.

The purpose of this report is to help companies and other organizations recognize the need for the adoption of antidiscrimination and inclusion practices.

The chapter describes the diversity practices employed and the results achieved by two companies in Greece, as reported through interviews with the Managers of Human Resources that are responsible for their implementation.

This chapter outlines the demographic and social profile of the population of the country, examining gender, race, religion, sexual orientation, age and disability. It also presents the practices of two companies operating in Greece, Vodafone and Coco-Mat, which tackle discrimination and inequality, proving that diversity management can be implemented successfully in the Greek workplace. The diverse policies implemented by the two companies also prove that every organization can incorporate relevant policies in a way that fits best their structure, processes and the mentality of the leadership team.

The development and activation of diversity and inclusion processes in the workplace should also dictate CSR practices, which address the needs of communities, both within and outside the organizations.

There is little research regarding discrimination and diversity in the Greek workplace, despite its growing relevance and importance for the community. This report aims to inspire further research, as well as the development and implementation of diversity management practices by managers and policy-makers.