Designing for Communities with Communities: Co-designing Public Libraries. Public libraries are critical social infrastructure for communities across Australia. This project investigates how to involve community participation in the design of their public library spaces by analysing the efficacy of co-design activities introduced into three case studies. New knowledge will be generated about engaging community participation in the design and re-design of library spaces, as the societal role of p ....Designing for Communities with Communities: Co-designing Public Libraries. Public libraries are critical social infrastructure for communities across Australia. This project investigates how to involve community participation in the design of their public library spaces by analysing the efficacy of co-design activities introduced into three case studies. New knowledge will be generated about engaging community participation in the design and re-design of library spaces, as the societal role of public libraries continues to expand. Expected outcomes include an online guide and overarching framework, and blueprints for community participation that ensure genuine engagement and input.Read moreRead less
Understanding migrant information literacy: a qualitative study. This project plans to establish an information literacy framework to inform the design and delivery of information to Australia's migrant communities. Migration is the major component of population growth in Australia. Between 1996 and 2013, Australia’s overseas-born population grew by 51 per cent to 6.4 million people. To participate in and contribute to Australia and its social, economic and cultural life, migrants must be able t ....Understanding migrant information literacy: a qualitative study. This project plans to establish an information literacy framework to inform the design and delivery of information to Australia's migrant communities. Migration is the major component of population growth in Australia. Between 1996 and 2013, Australia’s overseas-born population grew by 51 per cent to 6.4 million people. To participate in and contribute to Australia and its social, economic and cultural life, migrants must be able to make informed choices. Access to information that is timely, accurate, relevant and tailored to their specific needs is essential for all Australian migrants. This project intends to contribute to an empirically-derived evidence base for migrant information literacy in Australia.Read moreRead less
Studying 'research' in Australia’s library and information profession. With over 111 million annual visits, libraries are fundamental to Australia's social fabric and increasingly to its success as a national economy. In the current volatile economic climate Australia's libraries are being called upon to do more with less. This project aims to help Australia's libraries to contribute in a more powerful way to national productivity by helping library and information professionals make tough decis ....Studying 'research' in Australia’s library and information profession. With over 111 million annual visits, libraries are fundamental to Australia's social fabric and increasingly to its success as a national economy. In the current volatile economic climate Australia's libraries are being called upon to do more with less. This project aims to help Australia's libraries to contribute in a more powerful way to national productivity by helping library and information professionals make tough decisions in an environment where there is competition for limited resources. This project aims, for the first time, build an evidence base on research in Australia's library and information profession. It will establish a framework that can be used by library and information professionals to build a research culture that enables the adoption of "practitioner-researcher" as an approach to professional practice.Read moreRead less
Understanding health information literacy in Australia's ageing population: A qualitative study. Australians need to know how to find and use information to help them age well. This research will establish a national Health Information Literacy Framework that will be an evidence-based guide for community agencies to use in creating resources and services to support the information needs of ageing Australians. Ageing Australians who are healthy and active are able to participate in the workforce, ....Understanding health information literacy in Australia's ageing population: A qualitative study. Australians need to know how to find and use information to help them age well. This research will establish a national Health Information Literacy Framework that will be an evidence-based guide for community agencies to use in creating resources and services to support the information needs of ageing Australians. Ageing Australians who are healthy and active are able to participate in the workforce, engage in the community while easing the burden on the national health care system. The research will place Australia at the forefront of health prevention and information literacy research. The research will be undertaken as a partnership between QUT, Griffith University and the Health Contact Centre. Read moreRead less
A scheme of local compilation of mobile collectors for image and video search engines. The object collector is an important component in a Web search engine. A collector collects Web objects (text, image, video, etc), extracts their features and builds an index file for the search engine. Sending each object to the collector is always the worst option with respect to resource usage because it is the feature, not the entire object, which will be used in indexing and retrieval. An alternative is t ....A scheme of local compilation of mobile collectors for image and video search engines. The object collector is an important component in a Web search engine. A collector collects Web objects (text, image, video, etc), extracts their features and builds an index file for the search engine. Sending each object to the collector is always the worst option with respect to resource usage because it is the feature, not the entire object, which will be used in indexing and retrieval. An alternative is to send a collector to the source site, which has an advantage of distributing computational load and performing summarization and compression. This project proposes a locally compiled mobile collector for image and video search engines.Read moreRead less
Generating knowledge and avoiding plagiarism: Smart information use by secondary students. Schools and tertiary institutions across Australia and the world are struggling to deal with the increasing problem of plagiarism. Public discussion tends to revolve around detection. By focusing on dealing with the roots of the problem through innovative teaching at the secondary level, the project supports recent school curriculum efforts in all Australian states, in International Baccalaureate schools a ....Generating knowledge and avoiding plagiarism: Smart information use by secondary students. Schools and tertiary institutions across Australia and the world are struggling to deal with the increasing problem of plagiarism. Public discussion tends to revolve around detection. By focusing on dealing with the roots of the problem through innovative teaching at the secondary level, the project supports recent school curriculum efforts in all Australian states, in International Baccalaureate schools and in the educational sector worldwide. The flow-on effect at tertiary levels will contribute to the national benefits from the project. A toolkit that provides positive solutions to plagiarism will benefit any educator who is concerned about plagiarism and knowledge generation.Read moreRead less
Australian information seekers and the social consequences of information poverty. This project aims to advance considerably our understanding of information seeking, and its social, cultural and civic implications for Australia. It will produce useful findings for researchers and policy makers interested in the economic and social consequences of information poverty, and will also contribute to the strategic planning of the public library sector.
Investigating the future of Australian television. This project investigates the future of Australian television and the society 'served' by it. Regulation of free-to-air TV has tightly controlled the production and dissemination of news, information and entertainment in Australia. Now digital technology offers audio-visual content on many extra platforms, fixed and mobile. This sets up profound changes in Australian economics, politics and culture. Yet there is a marked lack of independent rese ....Investigating the future of Australian television. This project investigates the future of Australian television and the society 'served' by it. Regulation of free-to-air TV has tightly controlled the production and dissemination of news, information and entertainment in Australia. Now digital technology offers audio-visual content on many extra platforms, fixed and mobile. This sets up profound changes in Australian economics, politics and culture. Yet there is a marked lack of independent research available to Government and Industry to assist them to plan for the changes. And there is almost no context for careful public debate about these crucial changes. This project will play a vital role in promoting knowledge and informed, strategic decision-making for all constituencies.Read moreRead less
Accurate Context-Aware Search for Managed Document Collections. Search is a key component of a vast range of computing applications. However, while search on large collections of general-purpose text is well-understood, and the best systems are highly effective, search on smaller or special-purpose collections is much less reliable and has attracted relatively little research. By identifying general ways of using context such as user history or prior page usefulness, the quality of search in s ....Accurate Context-Aware Search for Managed Document Collections. Search is a key component of a vast range of computing applications. However, while search on large collections of general-purpose text is well-understood, and the best systems are highly effective, search on smaller or special-purpose collections is much less reliable and has attracted relatively little research. By identifying general ways of using context such as user history or prior page usefulness, the quality of search in such cases can be greatly improved. Products that make use of these principles will provide greater workplace efficiency and be able to locate information that other search tools cannot identify.Read moreRead less
The Dictionary of Sydney. Sydney is a global metropolis with a complex identity and continuously changing form. The Dictionary of Sydney will leverage the contributions of hundreds of researchers to re-present the history of the city using scholarly text, digital multimedia and the Internet. The Dictionary will deliver primary sources, analysis and synthesis to diverse audiences, building on the information delivery expertise of the project partners. The Dictionary will form an invaluable resour ....The Dictionary of Sydney. Sydney is a global metropolis with a complex identity and continuously changing form. The Dictionary of Sydney will leverage the contributions of hundreds of researchers to re-present the history of the city using scholarly text, digital multimedia and the Internet. The Dictionary will deliver primary sources, analysis and synthesis to diverse audiences, building on the information delivery expertise of the project partners. The Dictionary will form an invaluable resource informing urban, heritage and planning policy; providing resources for education and cultural tourism; advancing the application of digital technology in the humanities; and internationally showcasing Australian scholarship.Read moreRead less