Posters and Online Posters
Book Culture in the Digital-Network Environment
Online Poster Sebastian Dawid Kotuła
The digital-network environment has been designed with the impact of books, book culture, and processes associated with books in mind. This means that the book is the basis of the Internet. In other words, some of the achievements of the book and book culture have been adapted to the needs of the Internet. The implementation of book culture in the digital-network environment manifests in such kind of fields like computer hardware and software, the Internet, the World Wide Web, which uses webpages (an analogy from pages of books), and web browsers; there are also similarities in databases and in the convergence of the Internet and books, i.e., text/hypertext, e-book etc. Since the launch of the Internet, every year there is a significant increase in the variety of digital data and information on the network. Some of them are still associated with book culture. The aim of this research is to check what aspects of digital resources are still occupied by book culture. Another goal is to answer the questions: Is book culture still dominant, or is it starting to be pushed into the periphery? Is book culture already on the margin of global digital and network resources?
Books and Writers : A Glance into Portuguese Literature
Online Poster Patrícia Almeida
Several people seek adventures writing books of different textual genres, namely narrative and poetic ones. Editors often refuse to edit "new talents", so author-publications are usual or publishers that accept payment for the editing costs are considered. However, it seems that these publishers will not be the most significant ones as not many authors become writers or achieve social recognition for their work in the field of literature. As mechanisms of this recognition, among others, are literary prizes, whose results may provide clues to a better understanding of the literary reality. In this diversified and complex field, the purpose of this work is to look analytically at the books and writers that were awarded literary prizes in Portugal in recent years. For that, a case study of the Grand Prix of Romance and Novel (Portuguese Association of Writers / General Direction of the Book and the Libraries) is carried out. It is a choice for convenience, given that this is considered the greatest literary prize in Portugal. This work analyses topics such as age and gender of the award-winner, publisher, and literary genre of the book, since 1982. It is believed that the results of this study may help gain a better understanding of the preferences of specialized literary juries as well as the particularities of the books and writers of contemporary Portuguese Literature.
How Can We Motivate Students to Read? : The Difficulties in Japanese Universities and Some Solutions
Poster/Exhibit Session Nobuyo Aizawa
In Japan, like most other countries, the younger generations are reading less than before. How can we motivate students to get in the habit of reading again? This has become one of the main questions in Japanese higher education circles. I, as a researcher of humanities, tried to gain students' interest in reading books in the humanities, which is a less popular domain for them. In this session, I share my practices during classes and in the university's library to understand common problems and offer some ideas. First, I show data that sheds light on the realities of the Japanese younger generations who don't read books and the problems this creates at the university level. Second,I share two practices that encouraged my students to read. One is in my philosophy and French language classes, in which I give them opportunities to read in connection with their interests. The other is, in the university's library, in collaboration with the librarians there, who make the point on how it's easier to meet and borrow books which interest students. This study increases understanding of the difficulties Japanese universities have, and offers some solutions.
Textbook Alternative Program: Open Education Resources
Poster/Exhibit Session Deborah Gaspar
Textbook prices rise faster than the rate of inflation. Publishers update editions regularly assuring new purchases in order to limit the used textbook market. Publishers also add incentives to encourage faculty to remain with the published textbook. These include pre-made tests, online supporting materials, and grading rubrics. At Rowan University we have introduced the Textbook Alternative Program (TAP). This program encourages faculty to select free materials to replace the traditionally published textbooks with open access materials or to design a list of course readings drawn from library holdings. The program is sponsored by units across campus, including the library. Faculty may submit proposals to change their course materials and earn a $2000.00 (US) stipend. This project saved Rowan students a total of $116,181 in just the first year.
