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Research & Evidence Base

Swinburne Institute for Social Research

Creative & Digital

New Research

Posted this week

An examination of home page design in New Zealand tertiary libraries

Jessica Elizabeth Howie | School of Information Management
28 February 2013 | The online presence of tertiary libraries is becoming increasingly important, however, research suggests that library websites are being shunned in favour of commercial search engines. Some scholars attribute this to poor website design.

Developing a label for excellence in design for urban sustainability

Fabricio Ribas Chicca | Department of Architecture
20 June 2013 | The thesis investigates the impact caused by urban development on the environment. In addition, the thesis proposes and tests a methodology and a prototype tool for assessing the environmental performance of urban environments.

An evolving trade? Male sex work and the internet

Andrew McLean | School of Global, Urban and Social Studies
20 June 2013 | Examining the ways in which clients and workers engage with the Internet, this investigation into the online male sex trade in Melbourne explores the Internet's rise in popularity as a marketplace for male sex workers, as well as the effect(s) of this new domain upon workers and their professional encounters.

Assessing the wider benefits arising from university-based research

Department of Industry, Innovation, Climate Change, Science, Research and Tertiary Education (DIICCSRTE)
20 June 2013 | In order to assess the broader economic, social and environmental benefits arising from all elements of government research investment, in this case those benefits arising from university-based research, this paper has been prepared for stakeholder consultation.

Internet censorship and control

Steven J. Murdoch, Hal Roberts, eds | Berkman Center for Internet & Society
20 June 2013 | This collection of five peer reviewed papers on the topic of Internet censorship and control are available online as an open access collection.

The gleaning guide: venturing in redirective fashion

Tania Splawa-Neyman | Crafting the Future: Proceedings of the 10th European Academy of Design Conference
19 April 2013 | This paper presents ideas for how the craft based knowledge embedded in both the practices of gardening and fashion might amalgamate through the gleaning activities playing out within the studio.

Digital activism: Passive participation and divergence of ideas in online social movements

Nathan Robert Bromberg | Department of Business Information Systems
19 June 2013 | Focusing on the Occupy Auckland and its ancillaries as the unit of analysis, this thesis explores the ways in which information technology is being used to engage people in social movements.

The UK administrative data research network: improving access for research and policy

Economic and Social Research Council
31 December 2012 | Developers of this report worked with government departments, academic experts, and funding agencies and representatives from all four nations in the UK to examine the best procedures and mechanisms to make administrative data available for research safely.

Red-teaming terrorist attacks: a simulation approach

David Romyn, Mark Kebbell | Centre of Excellence in Policing and Security (CEPS)
19 June 2013 | This study sought to generate data on two areas of terrorist attack prevention: the detection of terrorists before they are able to carry out an attack; and predicting likely targets of a terrorist attack.

From chalkboards to tablets: the emergence of the K-12 digital learner

Project Tomorrow
04 June 2013 | This report provides a birds’ eye view of the changing environment for digital learning, both in and out of school.

Improving access for research and policy: the government response to the report of the Administrative Data Taskforce

UK Department for Business, Innovation & Skills
14 June 2013 | This paper states that the UK government will work with the research community to support the use and reuse of de-identified administrative data for research and policy purposes.

AUSTRAC's administration of its financial intelligence function

Australian National Audit Office (ANAO)
18 June 2013 | This audit assessed the effectiveness of the Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre's (AUSTRAC) arrangements for processing financial intelligence, to assist domestic partner agencies and international counterparts in their operations and investigations.

Australasian Consumer Fraud Taskforce: results of the 2012 online consumer fraud survey

Penny Jorna, Alice Hutchings | Australian Institute of Criminology (AIC)
18 June 2013 | The Australasian Consumer Fraud Task Force has conducted a range of fraud prevention and awareness raising activities since 2006. This report presents the results of the 2012 online consumer fraud survey.

Film, television and digital games

Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS)
18 June 2013 | This publication presents results from a survey of businesses mainly engaged in film and video production and post-production services and a census of businesses mainly engaged in television broadcasting, television channel provision and digital game development.

Cultural and creative activity satellite accounts, Australia 2013

Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS)
14 June 2013 | In Australia and internationally, there is strong interest in the role of ‘cultural’ and ‘creative’ activity in the economy. This paper discusses the feasibility of developing economic measures for these activities.

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Commentary

The government’s media reforms: what 499 readers thought

Ken Haley, Andrew Dodd | Inside Story
17 June 2013 | What we think about media regulation correlates strongly with what we read, write Ken Haley and Andrew Dodd in Inside Story.

Not even George Orwell envisaged this

Peter Marks | The Drum
19 June 2013 | Not even George Orwell anticipated today's society would be so willing to integrate private information with commerce, writes Peter Marks in The Drum.

Learning analytics

Gerald White | Digital Education Research Network (DERN)
23 May 2013 | While learning analytics is becoming very accurate in predicting student success, there are issues in collecting and analysing large data sets of student information.

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Topic Guides

A guide to open educational resources

JISC
27 March 2013 | This guide explains open educational resources (OER) and the benefits that creating, sharing and using OER can provide.Open educational resources (OER) are learning and teaching materials, freely available online for anyone to use. Examples include full courses, course modules, lectures, games, teaching materials and assignments. They can take the form of text, images, audio, video and may even be interactive.

ACCAN Guide: Making the right call

Australian Communications Consumer Action Network (ACCAN)
05 September 2012 | This guide is for consumers and explains their rights in relation to mobile phone, landline, internet and pay TV services.

ACCAN NBN: a guide for consumers

Australian Communications Consumer Action Network (ACCAN) & Internet Society Australia
21 March 2012 | Developed by the Australian Communications Consumer Action Network (ACCAN) and the Internet Society of Australia (ISOC-AU) and now updated for 2012, this guide is designed to offer all Australians information about the National Broadband Network.

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Videos

The School of Life Melbourne Secular Sermon series: Christine Kenneally on lying

Christine Kenneally | The Wheeler Centre
02 June 2013 | Journalist Christine Kenneally looks at the nature of contemporary misinformation – and discusses tools to detect when someone in the media is lying, and when they are not.

Trusting the media: on transparency

Fiona Martin | Slow TV, The Monthly
21 May 2013 | Speaking at Sydney Ideas event 'Trusting The Media', Dr Fiona Martin addresses the topic of transparency. University of Sydney, April 2013

Committee recommends relaxing laws on sexting to avoid penalising children

Frances Bell | ABC Television News
29 May 2013 | The Victorian Parliament's law reform committee has recommended major changes to laws around the practice of sexting, to avoid teenagers who send an explicit picture of themselves being placed on the child sex offender register.

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Audio

Maths and science education in Australia

Paul Barclay, Antony Funnell | Big Ideas, ABC Radio National
17 June 2013 | Is our maths and science education up to scratch?

Three perspectives on the future of the city

Antony Funnell | Future Tense, ABC Radio National
26 May 2013 | This program looks at the history of four ‘future’ cities; examines the role of the suburb in the 21st century; and hears from architect Joyce Hsiang, the co-creator of the incredibly ambitious City of 7 Billion Project.

Hidden innovation

Amanda Vanstone | Counterpoint, ABC Radio National
22 April 2013 | One of the leading fields of innovation in Australia has been the creative sector—advertising, architecture, film, TV, newspapers, software and digital content et cetera. Yet the innovation has largely been hidden from the public eye. That is, until now.

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