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Article
Publication date: 1 February 1989

John A. Hearty and Valerie K. Rohrbaugh

During the 1980s, database vendors mounted more full text primary literature online. Users, however, have not adopted these files for use at the same rate. There are several…

Abstract

During the 1980s, database vendors mounted more full text primary literature online. Users, however, have not adopted these files for use at the same rate. There are several reasons for the slow adoption of full text primary files: one is the lack of full, complete online files, a second is that full text online files compete with many other better‐known sources of information. Full text files are often isolated, and not linked with bibliographic retrieval files. Finally, the files may be positioned to appeal to end users, but end users may not be adopting online searching as eagerly as the information intermediaries have. The future of online full text information will depend on producers developing the technology necessary to mount complete files economically, and the ability of producers and vendors to make this kind of retrieval attractive to users. Enhancements for users may take the form of artificial intelligence interfaces, integrated searching and inclusion of graphics.

Details

Online Review, vol. 13 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0309-314X

Book part
Publication date: 21 November 2018

Lisa Kervin, Annette Woods, Barbara Comber and Aspa Baroutsis

The structures, procedures and relationships within schools both constrain and enable the ways that children and teachers can engage with the everyday ‘business’ of literacy…

Abstract

The structures, procedures and relationships within schools both constrain and enable the ways that children and teachers can engage with the everyday ‘business’ of literacy learning. In schools and classrooms, the resources available to children, the spaces in which they work and how adults interact with them are often decided upon by others, including their teachers. In this chapter, we focus specifically on access to mobile digital resources and important spaces in the school, arguing that opportunities for children to be critical consumers and producers of text can be provided when children are afforded some control of decisions about how, where and when people, materials, tools and texts are used. Drawing from data collected as part of a larger study of learning to write in the early years of schooling, at two different schools in different Australian states, we examine two cases of ‘disruption’ negotiated by children and their teachers. We explore the potential of mobile technologies in children’s hands as key elements in changing the socio-spatial power relations around text production that usually hold in schools. These instances are explicit opportunities to study what is possible when young children and teachers work to change children’s relationships to materials, spaces and people in productive and provocative ways. We analyse the digital texts produced and the work of teachers and children to foreground digital literacies as a way to influence what goes on in their schools.

Details

Mobile Technologies in Children’s Language and Literacy
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-78714-879-6

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 June 2005

Inger Askehave and Anne Ellerup Nielsen

The purpose of this paper is to account for the genre characteristics of non‐linear, multi‐modal, web‐mediated documents. It involves a two‐dimensional view on genres that allows…

6879

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to account for the genre characteristics of non‐linear, multi‐modal, web‐mediated documents. It involves a two‐dimensional view on genres that allows one to account for the fact that digital genres act not only as text but also as medium.

Design/methodology/approach

The theoretical framework of the article is the Swalesian genre theory used in academic settings all over the world to investigate the relationship between discourse and social practice and to teach genre conventions to students of language and communication. Up till now most genre research has focused on the characteristics of “printed” texts, whereas less has been done to apply the genre theory to digital genres.

Findings

The article discusses the characteristics of digital genres, notably the media constraints that have a significant effect on the production and reception of digital genres and suggests an extension of the Swalesian genre model that takes the digital characteristics into account.

Research limitations/implications

The suggestion for a revised genre model is not based on an extensive empirical study of various types of web sites. The observation is restricted to a limited number of commercial web sites.

Originality/value

The article proposes new insights into the concept of genre adapting traditional models of genre theory to web‐mediated texts. A revised two‐dimensional genre model incorporating media elements into the concept of genre thus takes account of the particular characteristics of the navigation and reading elements of web‐mediated genres.

Details

Information Technology & People, vol. 18 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0959-3845

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 1 January 2013

Klaus Weber, Hetal Patel and Kathryn L. Heinze

Much of contemporary institutional theory rests on the identification of structured, coherent, and encompassing logics, and from there proceeds to examine multilevel dynamics or…

Abstract

Much of contemporary institutional theory rests on the identification of structured, coherent, and encompassing logics, and from there proceeds to examine multilevel dynamics or the relationship between logics in a field. Less research directly studies the internal properties and dynamics of logics and how they are structured over time. In this paper, we propose a method for understanding the content and organization of logics over time. We advocate for an analysis of logics that is grounded in a repertoire view of culture (Swidler, 1986; Weber, 2005). This approach involves identifying the set of cultural categories that can make up logics, and measuring empirically the dimensions that mark a cultural system as more or less logic-like. We discuss several text analytic approaches suitable for discourse data, and outline a seven-step method for describing the internal organization of a cultural repertoire in term of its “logic-ness.” We provide empirical illustrations from a historical analysis of the field of alternative livestock agriculture. Our approach provides an integrated theoretical and methodological framework for the analysis of logics across a range of settings.

Details

Institutional Logics in Action, Part B
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-78190-920-1

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 1 January 2013

Klaus Weber, Hetal Patel and Kathryn L. Heinze

Much of contemporary institutional theory rests on the identification of structured, coherent, and encompassing logics, and from there proceeds to examine multilevel dynamics or…

Abstract

Much of contemporary institutional theory rests on the identification of structured, coherent, and encompassing logics, and from there proceeds to examine multilevel dynamics or the relationship between logics in a field. Less research directly studies the internal properties and dynamics of logics and how they are structured over time. In this paper, we propose a method for understanding the content and organization of logics over time. We advocate for an analysis of logics that is grounded in a repertoire view of culture (Swidler, 1986; Weber, 2005). This approach involves identifying the set of cultural categories that can make up logics, and measuring empirically the dimensions that mark a cultural system as more or less logic-like. We discuss several text analytic approaches suitable for discourse data, and outline a seven-step method for describing the internal organization of a cultural repertoire in term of its “logic-ness.” We provide empirical illustrations from a historical analysis of the field of alternative livestock agriculture. Our approach provides an integrated theoretical and methodological framework for the analysis of logics across a range of settings.

Details

Institutional Logics in Action, Part B
Type: Book
ISBN:

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 28 July 2014

Deviraj Gill and Anne Broderick

The translation of corporate social responsibility (CSR) values in customer awareness and engagement with the CSR values with the corporate brand is a key challenge for UK…

Abstract

Purpose

The translation of corporate social responsibility (CSR) values in customer awareness and engagement with the CSR values with the corporate brand is a key challenge for UK retailers. This chapter examines the incorporation of CSR in the core brand discourse of Marks & Spencer (M&S), focusing on the interrelationship between CSR reporting and brand heritage.

Design/methodology/approach

Using Fairclough’s (1989) method of critical discourse analysis, this chapter reports on the key discourses around CSR to emerge from annual reports of M&S in the period from the 1940s to 2010s.

Findings

Findings identify how messages relating to CSR are shaped and presented to stakeholders, noting the textual patterns that emerge in the M&S discourse. Patterns included a substantial reliance on relational values, the strategic adoption of expressive values toward specific groups (employees, suppliers), and textual cues such as metaphor and over-wording as a means to draw out links to M&S brand heritage.

Research implications

The chapter highlights how we, as academics, need to consider both (a) the evolution of CSR reporting and how this reflects brand messages over time and (b) how CSR reporting is becoming integral in brand positioning for UK retailer brands.

Practical limitations

In dealing with archival materials, it is necessary to be selective and this can limit the range of textual patterns that might be articulated in the discourse analysis.

Originality/value

Limited research to date has examined the integration of CSR and brand heritage in organizational discourses. This study offers an in-depth examination of how this integration of CSR messages in brand communication has evolved for M&S – one of the United Kingdom’s foremost retail brands.

Details

Communicating Corporate Social Responsibility: Perspectives and Practice
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-78350-796-2

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 15 March 2013

Zied Kechaou, Ali Wali, Mohamed Ben Ammar, Hichem Karray and Adel M. Alimi

Despite the actual prevalence of diverse types of multimedia information, research on video news is still in an early stage. Improving the accessibility of video news seems worth…

Abstract

Purpose

Despite the actual prevalence of diverse types of multimedia information, research on video news is still in an early stage. Improving the accessibility of video news seems worth investigating, therefore, the purpose of this paper is to present a new combination mode of video news text clustering and selection. This method is useful for sorting out and classifying various types of news videos and media texts based on sentiment analysis.

Design/methodology/approach

A novel system is proposed, whereby video news are identified and categorized into good or bad ones via the authors' suggested Hidden Markov Model (HMM) and Support Vector Machine (SVM) hybrid learning method. Actually, an exploratory video news sentiment analysis case study, conducted on various news databases, has proven that the feature‐selection‐combining method, encompassing the Information Gain (IG), Mutual Information (MI) and CHI‐statistic (CHI), performs the best classification, which testifies and highlights the designed framework's value.

Findings

In fact, the system turns out to be applicable to several areas, especially video news, where annotation and personal perspectives affect the accuracy aspect.

Research limitations/implications

The present work shows the way for further research pertaining to the personal attitudes and the application of different linguistic techniques during the classification.

Originality/value

The achieved results are so promising, encouraging and satisfactory, that they highlight the originality and efficiency of the authors' approach as an effective tool enabling to secure an easy access to video news and multi‐media texts.

Details

Journal of Systems and Information Technology, vol. 15 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1328-7265

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 11 April 2016

Ali Salami and Amir Ghajarieh

The purpose of this paper is to examine the representations of male and female social actors within the subversive gendered discourse of “equal opportunities for men and women” in…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine the representations of male and female social actors within the subversive gendered discourse of “equal opportunities for men and women” in Iranian English as a foreign language (EFL) textbooks.

Design/methodology/approach

From the methodological perspective, this study fused van Leeuwen’s (2003) “Social Actor Network Model” and Sunderland’s (2004) “Gendered Discourses Model”.

Findings

Data obtained from this study showed the subversive gendered discourse of “equal opportunities” was supported through such representations within a narrow perspective in line with dominant gender ideologies in Iran. The findings suggest the resistance against such subversive gendered discourse in Iranian EFL textbooks underpins gender norms and religious ideologies existing in Iran.

Originality/value

Such representations of male and female social actors in school textbooks show inclusive education and the discourse of “equal opportunities” have yet to be realised in education system of many countries, including Iran.

Details

Gender in Management: An International Journal, vol. 31 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1754-2413

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 June 2005

Barbara H. Kwaśnik and Kevin Crowston

To introduce the special issue on “Genres of digital documents.” While there are many definitions of genre, most include consideration of the intended communicative purpose, form…

1998

Abstract

Purpose

To introduce the special issue on “Genres of digital documents.” While there are many definitions of genre, most include consideration of the intended communicative purpose, form and sometimes expected content of a document. Most also include the notion of social acceptance, that a document is of a particular genre to the extent that it is recognized as such within a given discourse community.

Design/methodology/approach

The article reviews the notion of document genre and its applicability to studies of digital documents and introduces the four articles in the special issue.

Findings

Genre can be studied based on intrinsic genre attributes or on the extrinsic function that genre fulfills in human activities. Studies on intrinsic attributes include classifications of genres as clusters of attributes, though these classifications can be problematic because documents can be used in flexible ways. Also, new information technologies have enabled the appearance of novel genres. Studies on extrinsic function include ways to use genre for education or information accesses, as well as the use of genre as a lens for understanding communications in organizations. The four articles in the special issue illustrate these approaches.

Originality/value

The paper provides a framework that organizes the range of research about genres of digital documents that should be helpful to those reading this research or planning their own studies.

Details

Information Technology & People, vol. 18 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0959-3845

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 18 November 2015

Clinton D. Lanier, Jr., C. Scott Rader and Aubrey R. Fowler

The purpose of this paper is to interrogate the concept of meaning and the meaning making process in consumer behavior. While the study of the consumption focuses increasingly on…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to interrogate the concept of meaning and the meaning making process in consumer behavior. While the study of the consumption focuses increasingly on how consumers create meaning in a marketing dominated world, it views this process as relatively unproblematic. This paper challenges that perspective and argues that this process is inherently ambiguous.

Methodology/approach

This paper is primarily conceptual in nature. It utilizes a post-structural perspective to theoretically examine the concept of meaning and the meaning making process. It then applies this analysis to the consumption and production of popular culture. Three exemplars from the domain of digital fandom are provided to explore the conceptual arguments in the paper.

Findings

The paper argues that if the meanings of all texts are fundamentally unstable and that meaning itself is endlessly deferred in the meaning making process, then as the consumer becomes the author of the text, the instability and ambiguity of meaning and the meaning making process transfers equally to the consumption process. Rather than view this as a negative aspect of consumer culture, this paper argues that some consumers relish this ambiguity and the freedom that it gives them to manipulate these products, their textual meanings, and the readers’ identities.

Research limitations/implications

The primary limitation of this paper is that it is conceptual in nature. Future research should empirically examine different cases of meaningless consumption to provide more evidence of this interesting and potentially pervasive aspect of consumer behavior.

Originality/value

There is virtually no research that examines meaningless consumption. The value of the paper is that it challenges a core concept in cultural theories of consumer behavior and extends our understanding of consumption.

Details

Consumer Culture Theory
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-78560-323-5

Keywords

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