Open Access Books

This book brings together the works of the members of the group of research on the history of socialism at the Center for Research and Studies on Culture and Society (C.I.E.C.S.), a dual-dependent executing unit of the National University of Córdoba and the National Council for Scientific and Technical Research (CONICET), Argentina. The works are part of the Formar Project, “Between Europe and America: Comparative History of International Socialism (1890-1973)” of the Secretariat of Science and Technology-National University of Córdoba, located in the Research Center of the Faculty of Philosophy and Humanities (CIFFyH-UNC). Likewise, the volume has the collaboration of three researchers who took part in the Seventh Conference on the History of Socialism, organized by the Contemporary History Program of the Center for Research and Study on Culture and Society.

ABC Learning Design is a popular and effective rapid design method for developing educational programmes, modules and short courses. Created at UCL in 2015, ABC enables academic teams to collaborate in short, focused workshops to co-create visual storyboards of students’ learning journeys. Its ease of use, adaptability, and open licence have led to widespread adoption across the UK, Europe and beyond. ABC Learning Design: Active, blended, connected and beyond introduces ABC to a new audience, adding insights from institutions that have localised and implemented the method in diverse contexts. ABC provides practical, ready-to-use tools, but it is often reframed as more than a set of resources. Its built-in flexibility not only allows for transferability but actively encourages creative modifications that respond to institutional needs. The core ABC workshop remains the heart of the method and is central to all implementations. Around this, institutions have built locally relevant adaptations that retain the method’s participatory ethos. This shared structure creates a design lingua franca that supports collaboration within and across institutions. Drawing on facilitator and participant experiences, the book reviews ABC’s key strengths and explains why it continues to inspire innovation. It invites a global conversation on enriching learning design for students, faculty, and institutions alike.

A rich cultural insight of Rome in the second half of the 18th century emerges from the edition of an autograph memoir on the journey from Florence to Southern Italy made by the librarian Angelo Maria Bandini (1780-1781). Lounges, coffees and chocolates, religious rites, curial relations and the reforming action by Pope Pious VI are the backdrop to the meticulous description of Rome as a 'diffused museum'. Bandini, librarian and scholar of the enlightenment century, visits and observes palaces, art galleries, cabinets and churches, paying particular attention to libraries, whose metaphorical sieve gives birth to remarkable pieces and precious curiosities.

Financial inclusion has been noted as a key driver of poverty alleviation and growth. Yet, most of the scholarly work that exists lacks a comprehensive discussion of how the poor interact with financial services and the channels through which such services can affect their livelihoods. This book offers researchers who focus on financial inclusion and African economies a one stop resource for understanding the channels of transmission for financial inclusion as well as an application of these channels through original country specific empirical papers. The book provides a back-to-basics presentation of the transmission of financial services to growth and poverty. This theoretical discussion is complemented by an empirical presentation of the various services used by the poor, with a focus on Africa. Case studies of financial inclusion in six African countries cover a broad range of topics most important to African countries and highlight the unique African setting. These empirical papers provide important learning points. Firstly, hybrid financial institutions such as cooperative financial institutions and financial social entrepreneurs are the best way to increase financial inclusion in Africa. They provide important vehicles to circumventing the restrictive and exclusive bank-based financial markets typical of African economies. Secondly, digital finance is a potent tool in improving financial access and usage in Africa, and its impact on poverty operates through both traditional and nontraditional financial instruments. Thirdly, investment in infrastructure which supports complementary markets is critical and is likely to have a greater effect on credit rationing than direct provision of credit to small businesses.

Das autonom fahrende Automobil der Zukunft braucht neue Licht-Konzepte! Viele Konzeptstudien der letzten Jahre zeigen den Einsatz von Displays im Front‐ oder im Rückleuchten‐Bereich des Automobils.Diese Displays werden hier als Kommunikationsmedium zwischen einem selbstfahrenden Fahrzeug und anderen Verkehrsteilnehmern eingesetzt. Eine etablierte Technologie für diesen Anwendungsbereich stellen organische Leuchtdioden (OLED) dar, welche sowohl in OLED-Displays mit mehreren Millionen individuell ansteuerbaren Pixeln zum Einsatz kommen, als auch im Automobil‐Markt mit wenigen, großflächigen Segmenten. Allerdings erreichen OLED‐Displays nicht die gesetzliche Mindestleuchtdichte von 2000 cd/m², die für Fahrzeug‐Rückleuchten gilt. In dieser Arbeit werden flexible OLEDs mit mehreren hundert Segmenten entwickelt, welche die Anforderungen der Automobil‐Industrie erfüllen. Die Ergebnisse dieser Arbeit wurden in einem Technologie‐Demonstrator umgesetzt, welcher auf dem Innovation Showcase der LOPEC 2018 präsentiert wurde.

This book is a collection of 19 articles which reflect the courses given at the Collège de France/Summer school “Reconstruction d'images − Applications astrophysiques“ held in Nice and Fréjus, France, from June 18 to 22, 2012. The articles presented in this volume address emerging concepts and methods that are useful in the complex process of improving our knowledge of the celestial objects, including Earth.

This open access book investigates the role played by copyright on the digitisation of cultural heritage from three angles: the theoretical differences between cultural property law and copyright; a comparative analysis of the EU, UK, and US; and analysis of current practices and concerns, based on empirical research. As heritage digitisation projects become increasingly common for purposes such as preservation and access, the impact of copyright is also becoming more problematic. In order to provide a full and current picture of the copyright problem, the book first introduces the reader to the debates on the scope and ownership of cultural heritage and provides an overview of the copyright implications of the digitisation process and newer uses, including 2D and 3D scanning; virtual and augmented reality; text and data mining; and artificial intelligence. The author then divides the main critical analysis into three parts, referred to as the ‘clashes with copyright’. The first, clash in theory, lies between cultural property law and copyright justification theories. The second clash is in the different legal approaches to digitising in-copyright, public domain, orphan, out-of-commerce and unpublished works in the chosen jurisdictions, focusing on the relevant rights and defences. The third clash is in the interests of stakeholders, based on public reactions to existing projects and cases, supported by interviews with heritage professionals engaging in digitisation. By placing itself in this particular intersection of law, heritage, and technology, the book will be of interest to both intellectual property academics and cultural heritage professionals. The ebook editions of this book are available open access under a CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 licence on bloomsburycollections.com .

At the time of the U.S.-Japan auto conferences in March 1983, the hoped-for economic recovery as manifested in auto sales had revealed itself quite modestly. Three months later, the indicators were more robust and certainly long overdue for those whose livelihood depends on the health of the industry--some of whom are university professors. With Japanese import restrictions in place until March 1984 and drastically reduced break-even points for domestic manufactures, rising consumer demand holds great promise for the industry. The rapidly rising stock prices of the auto-makers captures well the sense of heightened optimism, as do the various forecasts for improved profits. While the news is certainly welcome, it nevertheless should be greeted with caution. As Mr. Perkins noted at the conference, "we have a tendency to forget things very quickly. If we have a boom market this year, there is a good chance that a lot of things we learned will be forgotten." To put the matter differently and more bluntly, with growing prosperity there is the risk that management will fall back into old habits, making impossible the achievement of sustained quality and productivity improvement. Similarly, the commitment to develop cooperative relations with workers and suppliers will weaken. The union will be under membership pressure to retrieve concessions rather than to take the longer-term view. This longer-term view recognizes that "up-front increases" and adherence to existing work rules increasingly come at the sacrifice of future job security. Government policymakers will turn their attention away from the industry. This may not mean a great deal given how weakly focused their attentions has been during the last three years and how mixed and contradictory government auto policies have been for over a decade.

On 9 July 1709, over 2,300 books were sold at a public auction at the shop of the publishing family Boom in Amsterdam. They comprised the ‘beautiful library’ (treffelyke bibliotheek) of the patrician Pieter de Graeff (1638–1707), member of a prominent regent family. This monograph draws on unpublished archival sources and De Graeff’s book auction catalogue to explore his library and its significance. While tracing the microhistories of De Graeff’s relatives against the backdrop of the Dutch Republic’s unfolding history, this research reveals his book collection as a microcosmos of knowledge accumulated through generations. De Graeff’s boeken kamer -- the library room in his Amsterdam residence – is also investigated and visualized through computer graphics, resulting in an online, interactive and annotated 3D model.

Rivista accademica di respiro internazionale con lo scopo di valorizzare la ricerca italiana nel campo delle biblioteche e delle scienze dell’informazione e raccoglie i contributi di giovani ricercatori e studenti. Il comitato redazionale della rivista incoraggia gli autori (studenti, ricercatori, bibliotecari, archivisti) a contribuire con scritti (papers) innovativi ed interdisciplinari ed ad utilizzare JLIS come uno spazio virtuale per l”elaborazione teorica sulle radicali trasformazioni introdotte dalle innovazioni della cultura digitale. JLIS è pubblicato due volte all’anno in giugno e dicembre.

This book, based on the work of the fifth colloquium of the CNRS GDR "Companies under the Occupation", looks at the issue of work under the Occupation through the prism of the company. The focus is on three main issues: the impact of the requisitioning of labour by the STO (Service du travail obligatoire) on the structure of the labour market, the life of companies and the behaviour of workers; the consequences of German demands and Vichy policy on working conditions and wage levels; and the role of the new forms of staff representation provided for by the Labour Charter, trade unions at company level and the corporatist ideology of work. By extending the scope of the study to all companies, regardless of size, to all sectors of activity, including services, to all categories of workers, not forgetting women and foreigners, and by making ample room for international comparisons, this volume profoundly renews our knowledge of these dark years.

The focus of this volume is on the European context of public budget policy and a variety of different approaches are used - theoretical modelling, econometrics and applied general equilibrium modelling. Empirical evidence and case studies of European countries are contained in all the papers. The papers cover the four general themes of public budget policy: * economic stabilization, in view of the Economic and Monetary Union in the European Community * reinforcing structural change, involved in market liberalization and harmonization of economic structures * its distributional effects and implications for social equity * endogenous economic growth.

On assiste depuis deux ou trois décennies à un engouement pour la mémoire qui touche les savoirs les plus variés autant que les institutions de l'État ou les publicitaires en mal d'idées. Les sociétés modernes avaient pourtant toujours semblé miser plus sur l'originalité du présent ou l'investissement dans l'avenir que sur le retour ou les reprises du passé. Comment comprendre alors cette résurgence ? Il existe, en fait, diverses façons de se débarrasser du passé. Les sociétés traditionnelles, en le sacralisant, en agissant en son nom, impliquaient activement l'ancien dans l'actuel : le passé n'est pas un problème s'il définit le présent. Or, depuis le passage à la modernité, c'est la culture qui donne identité et valeurs aux communautés, à charge pour les historiens de comprendre un passé mis à distance, et d'autant plus énigmatique. La culture s'affranchit alors du passé en l'archivant, en le marquant du sceau du patrimoine, en l'expliquant. En étudiant certains cas littéraires et intellectuels exemplaires, Éric Méchoulan retrace les moyens qui ont permis de « mettre en culture » la mémoire. Ainsi, on peut mieux comprendre comment celle-ci a quitté le cœur de la vie sociale, et pourquoi elle reprend aujourd'hui le devant de la scène. Une réflexion troublante et nécessaire sur les bons usages de la mémoire… et de l'oubli.

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The Qing state, driven by Confucian precepts of good government and urgent practical needs, committed vast resources to its granaries. Nourish the People traces the basic practices of this system, analyzes the organizational bases of its successes and failures, and examines variant practices in different regions. The volume concludes with an assessment of the granary system’s social and economic impact and historical comparison with the food supply policies of other states.