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The aim of this paper is to present case study findings that explore the implementation and use of a low-cost digital technology platform to collect, process and disseminate information in business-to-consumer practices.

The research is interdisciplinary, drawing from a range of backgrounds, the epistemological approach is that of mixed methods, combining both qualitative and quantitative data collection and analysis techniques. Insights are drawn from what emerges from observations arising from the data, rather than starting with a hypothesis and designing the research to test this. The over arching research approach was “action research”. Action research has at its basis the premise of conducting research “in practice”. The “practice” on this occasion was a business practice, implemented in high street estate agents.

This approach to accessing information aids important decision-making in the buying and selling of homes. It allows for mobile augmentation technologies to facilitate a person's presence in the imagined spaces of the advertised properties “for sale”. This has the potential to enable faster, more efficient means of searching for the “right” home to purchase.

This research makes a contribution to the literature by providing empirical evidence regarding the implementation and impact that quick read code digital technologies have on a high street SME. The research showed that statistically more properties were viewed than would have normally been the case, thus whilst not guaranteeing new business, the codes certainly attracted increased attention.

This chapter explores the intersections between narrative criminology and material culture studies using a single object – my wife's old Nazi rifle – as an example. It describes the various connections between the stories we tell and the things that surround us, including the stories objects represent, the stories they may prompt us to tell, the stories we tell using objects as props and the stories our material objects tell us about their owners or users. An object will always tell stories about past, present and future use. This is true of all objects, not just old Nazi rifles, but some things will carry more narrative potential than others. Finally, I ask whether some narratively loaded objects may anticipate or perhaps even precipitate certain actions. Is it true that some objects sometimes ask us to put them to use?

This chapter presents the perspective of an Information and Communications Technology (ICT) integration specialist on how mobile devices and apps are being used in several Western Australian primary schools to improve students’ literacy across a range of contexts and curriculum areas. In her role, the author is responsible for assisting teachers in Independent sector schools with Technologies, ICT Literacy and Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) education and has worked extensively in helping teachers design rich cross-curricular tasks and programmes that harness a range of digital technologies, including mobile devices. The chapter presents several examples of how teachers in Western Australian Independent schools have used mobile tools across the curriculum in rich tasks, and how this has supported students’ literacy learning. Although this chapter makes specific references to Australian curricular requirements and contexts, it is envisaged that the practical examples and insights presented will be more broadly applicable in helping practitioners use mobile technologies to enhance literacy learning across the curriculum.

The shift from color-consciousness to culture-consciousness in world politics has coincided in part with a shift from the legacy of European colonialism to the new global pressure of the American imperium. The old European empires in Africa were ultimately based on doctrines of racial gradation, hence the concept of “the white man's burden”. The new American imperium is ultimately based on a presumed clash between democratic and antidemocratic political systems.

The management of children′s literature is a search for value and suitability. Effective policies in library and educational work are based firmly on knowledge of materials, and on the bibliographical and critical frame within which the materials appear and might best be selected. Boundaries, like those between quality and popular books, and between children′s and adult materials, present important challenges for selection, and implicit in this process are professional acumen and judgement. Yet also there are attitudes and systems of values, which can powerfully influence selection on grounds of morality and good taste. To guard against undue subjectivity, the knowledge frame should acknowledge the relevance of social and experiential context for all reading materials, how readers think as well as how they read, and what explicit and implicit agendas the authors have. The good professional takes all these factors on board.