Jeremy Kean’s Subject Guide – Just another CSU Thinkspace site

OLJ Task 6: Virtual and augmented reality

What Augmented Reality might look like in an RMIT library

by Jeremy Kean

Augmented reality (AR) has established itself in our society since the global popularity of the Pokémon GO game in 2016 and and a variety of face altering apps (Avila, 2017, p. 191). Nevertheless, the long-term success of AR is still uncertain considering the recent failure of AR technologies such as the private use of Google glass eyewear (Levy, 2017). AR’s long-term success is a hard question to answer but if it is to succeed, I believe that its main advantage to users will be its ability to engage users in a new way. For example, the academic library at RMIT university could benefit from using AR technology through using gamification similar to that used in the Pokémon GO game (Avila, 2017, p. 196., Lichty, 2019, p. 226). Students could be engaged by advertisements on campus that prompt them to download an AR game app. The game app would then interact with certain AR-enabled items in the library, such as a poster, which would then trigger audio-visual content about the library on their phone’s app (Avila, 2017, p. 195). This game app could be designed with an incentive for the user such as free AR resources for the first ten people who trigger all the AR-enabled items in the library (Avila, 2017, p. 195). I can also see such AR apps being used in RMIT library classes as interactive ways for students to engage with information literacy and new technology. These concepts can also be experienced through items in the library space that trigger a computer-generated, three-dimensional learning experience via their phone app.

Conversely, I think that AR technology could have a distinct disadvantage for the RMIT library should a potential AR project fall apart due to unforeseen copyright barriers to AR resource acquisition (Hannah, Huber & Matei, 2019, p. 281). According to Hannah et al (2019, p. 281), AR software and hardware often require paid subscriptions to access the content which would restrict RMIT library from collecting the AR materials needed to incorporate into coursework and promoting the library. This of course does not mean that RMIT librarians cannot acquire publicly licensed AR resources from various sources on the internet. Yes this would be a time-consuming process, but I believe it would be fruitful once a collection of links to resources, or a repository, can be established for students to access quality AR resources. (Hannah, Huber & Matei, 2019, p. 292).

Reference

Avila, S. (2017) Implementing Augmented Reality in Academic Libraries. Public Services Quarterly, 13(3), 190-199. DOI: 10.1080/15228959.2017.1338541

Hannah, M., Huber, S., & Matei, S. M. (2019) Collecting Virtual and Augmented Reality in the Twenty-First Century Library. Collection Management, 44(2-4), 277-295. DOI: 10.1080/01462679.2019.1587673

Levy, S. (2017). Google Glass 2.0 Is a Startling Second Act. Retrieved from https://www.wired.com/story/google-glass-2-is-here/

Lichty P. (2019) The gamification of augmented reality art. In: Geroimenko V. (eds) Augmented Reality Games II. Springer, Cham.

OLJ Task 3: Reflections on the impact of change

The Impact of WeChat and Tiktok on the Chinese Government’s relations with America

by Jeremy Kean

I believe that social media is having an impact on the Chinese government, particularly in terms of its relationship with America. In my opinion, social media has both united and divided the two countries. Firstly, they have been united through tens of thousands of Chinese students in America using Chinese social media apps such as WeChat, while many U.S citizens are using the Chinese owned social app Tiktok (ABC News WA, 2019). This means that there is a lot of American and Chinese interaction of culture and data which I think can be helpful for building trust and mutual understanding.

However, the second side to this issue is the potential division that Chinese social media apps can create between the Chinese government and America, particularly in relation to WeChat and Tiktok having great potential to spread political information from person to person and country to country through users who can now share their political knowledge and opinions online like never before via likes, comments and posts (Boulianne, 2019, p. 40, 50). I believe this new reality has fuelled pre-existing tensions between the Chinese government and America in terms of national security. For example, Donald Trump has recently sought to ban WeChat and Tiktok in the U.S, claiming them to be a national security threat because the Chinese government can gain access to the data of social app users (Seven News, 2020). I think this concern is understandable considering that the Chinese government have legislated that Chinese social media apps release their data to the government (ABC News WA, 2019).

I believe, therefore, that the power of social media has impacted the Chinese government so that they have chosen to entrench local community trust ties rather than risk potential harm from foreign nations. As Kwon, Shao and Nah (2020, p. 1) discuss, localised social media may be the way of the future because local community is believed to be the bedrock for building social trust (Kwon, Shao & Nah, 2020, p. 1). I believe this is particularly applicable to the Chinese government and its approach to social trust. I can see Chinese social media apps in China being more and more about content and group membership that is tailored to Chinese concerns and needs in order to ensure social trust in a turbulent political world (Kwon, Shao & Nah, 2020, p. 1).

Reference

ABC News WA (Producer). (2019). Chatting to China: Chinese company Huawei is coming under increased scrutiny because of national security risks, products by other Chinese communication companies are growing in Australia. [Broadcast]. Retrieved from https://primo.csu.edu.au/discovery/fulldisplay?docid=cdi_rmit_primary_TSM201903100182&context=PC&vid=61CSU_INST:61CSU&lang=en&search_scope=MyInst_and_CI&adaptor=Primo%20Central&tab=Everything&query=any,contains,chatting%20to%20china&sortby=rank&offset=0

Boulianne, S. (2019). Revolution in the making? Social media effects across the globe. Information, Communication & Society, 22(1), 39-54. DOI:
10.1080/1369118X.2017.1353641

Kwon, K., Shao, C., & Nah, S. (2020). Localized social media and civic life: Motivations, trust, and civic participation in local community contexts. Journal of Information Technology & Politics. DOI: 10.1080/19331681.2020.1805086

Seven News (Producer). (2020). President Donald Trump is band Chinese owned social media app Tik Tok, using national emergency powers to declare it a security threat [Broadcast]. Retrieved from <https://search-informit-com-au.ezproxy.csu.edu.au/documentSummary;dn=TSM202008070109;res=TVNEWS> [cited 08 Dec 20].

OLJ Task 2: The Influence of Technology on Society

Organisations Need to Ethically Adapt to New Technologies

by Jeremy Kean

In recent times technology has influenced society in significant ways. Digital technology in particular has transformed our social, work and leisure interactions (Destriana & Juanda, 2019, p.1). Statistics show that around half the world now uses the internet, social media and mobile phones and that society is changing rapidly (We are Social, 2020).

This continuing technological change and influence has a number of implications for organisations around the world. Firstly, organisations need to be able to predict future technological and societal shifts and be able to adapt to them quickly (Saxena, Kumar Nandi & Saxena, 2019, p. 14). This is because modern technology has brought about such volatility and complexity to the business environment that it is now a priority for organisations to create strategies and flexible predictions to handle constant change (Saxena et al, 2019, p. 14). Organisations must especially know how to change and when to change.

Similarly, the second implication for organisations in a dynamic, technologically-driven world is the need to know when to change investments in new technology (Adner & Kapoor, 2016, p.62). Adner & Kapoor (2016, p. 63-64) suggest that deciding timing comes down to analysing if a new technology has the adequate “ecosystem” of supporting technologies, services and regulations in place to allow it to thrive. If not, then it is not yet time to invest. Conversely, if an organisation’s current technology has potential to improve its own productivity then it would be wise to pursue that potential while also beginning to invest in new technology that looks likely to supersede it in the future. I believe that this approach is beneficial because organisations that fail to assess market trends and adapt to constant change will be left behind and become outdated.

The final implication for organisations in a dynamic, technologically-driven world is the need to be aware of and adhere to new ethics brought about by technologies such as social media and data analytics. For example, the Educause Horizon Report (2020, p. 9) shows that educational organisations are investing strongly in analytics technology for research and student benefits yet this has implications for student privacy in terms of collecting sensitive student data. This requires organisations to put in place policies and regulations that protect their members from technological breaches of their privacy, such as hacking (Horizon Report, 2020, p. 9). I believe, therefore, that organisations have great potential to use technology for progress and innovation but must ensure that they move forward ethically and not at the detriment of their stakeholders.

Reference

Adner, R., & Kapoor, R. (2016). Right tech, wrong time. Harvard Business Review, 94(11),60-67.

Destriana, D. B., & Juanda. (2019). Influence of information technology on society [IOP Conference Paper]. Retrieved from https://iopscience.iop.org/journal/1757-899X

Educause. (2020). Educause Horizon Report: Teaching and Learning Edition. Retrieved from https://interact2.csu.edu.au/webapps/blackboard/content/listContent.jsp?course_id=_49785_1&content_id=_3990617_1&mode=reset

Saxena, M., Kumar Nandi, S., & Saxena, L. (2019). Chapter 1: Gearing up for the future: HR transformations in the manufacturing sector. In The future of organizations: workplace issues and practices (pp. 12-36). Apple Academic Press.

We are Social. (2020). Digital 2020: Global Digital Overview. Retrieved from https://wearesocial.com/au/blog/2020/01/digital-2020-3-8-billion-people-use-social-media

OLJ Task 1: Social Media and Society

Social Media Practices and Teen Girls’ Mental Health: Journal Article Analysis

by Jeremy Kean

Natalie Hendry’s article “Young Women’s Mental Illness and (In-)visible Social Media Practices of Control and Emotional Recognition” involves a case study on the mental health related practices of four girls aged 14-17 years carried out on various social media platforms (Hendry, 2020, p. 1). Hendry argues that social media visibility is anxiety provoking and leads to visibility control measures such as platform choice, untagging, content deleting and face and body management (Hendry, 2020, p. 5). Hendry concludes that future research needs to expand its focus to include these visibility control measures and to conduct more studies involving youth (Hendry, 2020, p. 8)

I agree with Hendry that the study of the online mental health practices among teen girls is complex and would benefit from more qualitative studies that explore the points of view of teen girls. I believe this would be effective because mental health behaviour is complex and is difficult to reduce to numbers (Leedy, 2015, p. 24). Having said this, I think that Hendry’s discussion of the “sociotechnical contexts” of online, mental health practice research could go even further (Hendry, 2020, p. 1). Firstly, Hendry does not mention the actual text-related social media content of her four female participants. Pelled et al (2017, p. 672) demonstrate in their study that textual information can influence people’s perceptions more than visual cues. Therefore, the sociotechnical element of textual behaviour also needs to be included into research surrounding women’s mental health and social media. Secondly, Woods and Scott (2016, p. 46) point out that there is another relevant sociotechnical context to social media behaviour where a person’s pre-existing mental health issues can lead them in a downward cycle from anxiety to social media overuse and around again. Woods and Scott (2016, p. 46) explain this phenomenon stating that people with higher neuroticism like to use the Internet more for social purposes, which can lead to late nights, poor sleep and, therefore, higher anxiety and depression. This is an important sociotechnical context for mental health research because it does not simply address types of mental health online practices such as Hendry’s visibility management, but also includes patterns of practices which potentially have an upward or downward trend and can be studied and compared over time.

In summary, I think that Hendry’s article would be enriched by a discussion of further sociotechnical contexts such as the social media text-content of teen girls as well as their cycles of online behaviour.

Reference

Hendry, N. (2020). Young Women’s Mental Illness and (In-)visible Social Media Practices of Control and Emotional Recognition. Social Media + Society, 6(4), 1-10. DOI:10.1177/2056305120963832

Leedy P. D., & Ormrod, J. E. (2015). Chapter 1 The nature and tools of research. In Practical research: Planning and design (11th ed., pp. 19-26). Pearson/Merrill Prentice Hall. Retrieved from https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/csuau/reader.action?docID=5176197&ppg=20

Pelled, A., Zilberstein, T., Tsirulnikov, A., Pick, E., Patkin, Y., & Tal-Or, N. (2017). Textual Primacy Online: Impression Formation Based on Textual and Visual Cues in Facebook Profiles. American Behavioral Scientist, 61(7) 672-687. DOI: 10.1177/0002764217717563

Woods, H., & Scott, H. (2016). #Sleepyteens: Social media use in adolescence is associated with poor sleep quality, anxiety, depression and low self-esteem. Journal of Adolescence, 51(?) 41-49. DOI: 10.1016/j.adolescence.2016.05.008

Web Resources

(n.d.). Retrieved from Society of Biblical Literature: www.sbl-site.org

This website is the official homepage of the SBL society. It provides a variety of resources for the academic study of the Bible for the public and its members. The website aims to support Bible scholarship and to grow the public understanding of the Bible.

(Adapted from www.sbl-site.org)

(n.d.). Retrieved from Jewish Virtual Library: A Product of AICE: www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org

The website includes information on Jewish related subjects such as Jewish history, Israel-U.S relations, anti-semitism and Judiasm. The JVL is both an historical archive and a place for information on contemporary Jewish news stories.

(Adapted from www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org)

(n.d.). Retrieved from Academia.edu: www.academia.edu

The website is a place for academic members to share papers for the sake of deepening the world’s research efforts. Website users do this through sharing research, following the research of academics they are interested in and through monitoring analytics.

(Adapted from www.academia.edu)

Search Tips

Keyword analysis

I recommend that when searching for research material to do a keyword analysis of the topic “Similarities and Differences Between Ancient Hebrew and Aramaic.” This involves breaking down the topic into its key concepts and key words and phrases. The key concepts would be;

Ancient Hebrew and Aramaic
The similarities between Hebrew and Aramaic
The differences between Hebrew and Aramaic

Having done this, break down the concepts further into their key words and phrases using synonyms, alternate spellings and related terms.

e.g. Key Concept: Ancient Hebrew and Aramaic

Key Words and Phrases: Biblical Hebrew, Ancient Israel, Aramaic language, Aramaisms

Search operators

Another search strategy is to use search operators as seen below;

Search Operator	Example
Use AND to retrieve results that contain both of your search terms.	Hebrew AND Aramaic
Use OR to retrieve results that contain any or all of your search terms.	Hebrew OR language
Using NOT to exclude irrelevant results.	Hebrew NOT Israel
Combine terms with parentheses to create complex searches.	(Similar OR Different) AND Aramaic
Use quotation marks to search for a phrase	“Biblical Aramaic”
Search for terms with different word endings using an asterisk.	bibl* = Bible, biblical
A question mark can be used to replace a single letter within a word.	organi?e = organise, organize

Active filters

Further search refining can be done through using active filters such as ‘available online,’ ‘peer reviewed,’ ‘topic,’ ‘journal database’ and ‘advanced search’ option.

(Adapted from INF404 Research Skills)

Online Reference Sources

Hurvitz, A. (2014). A Concise Lexicon of Late Biblical Hebrew: Linguistic Innovations in the Writings of the Second Temple Period (Vol. 160). Brill Online. Accessed through Logos.com ($39.99 USD)

This concise lexicon includes eighty lexical entries which are mainly focused on demonstrating a fifth century BCE shift in the Hebrew language from Classical Hebrew to post-Classical Hebrew. The lexicon does this through lexical examples contrasting Classic – Late Biblical Hebrew, Biblical Hebrew – Rabbinic Hebrew and Hebrew with Aramaic. (Adapted from Brill.com)

Journal Articles

Fraade, S. D. (2012). LANGUAGE MIX AND MULTILINGUALISM IN ANCIENT PALESTINE: LITERARY AND INSCRIPTIONAL EVIDENCE. Jewish Studies, 48, 1-40. Retrieved from jstor.org

This article investigates multilingualism in early rabbinic and Jewish literature among those that spoke Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek. The author analyses the intermixing of languages and argues that the multilingual world of biblical Israel was not unlike the multilingual world of the later rabbis.

Hurvitz, A. (2006). THE RECENT DEBATE ON LATE BIBLICAL HEBREW: SOLID DATA, EXPERTS’ OPINIONS, AND INCONCLUSIVE ARGUMENTS*. Hebrew Studies, 47, 191-210. Retrieved from jstor.org

This paper seeks to investigate the validity of the claim that a clear distinction can be made between “Classical Hebrew” and an apparently later, Aramaic-influenced language called “post-classical Hebrew.”

Mor, U. (2011). LANGUAGE CONTACT IN JUDEA: HOW MUCH ARAMAIC IS THERE IN THE HEBREW DOCUMENTS FROM THE JUDEAN DESERT? Hebrew Studies, 52, 213-220. Retrieved from ProQuest.

This paper discusses a group of documents found in the Judean Desert during the Second Temple period which is argued to be a living dialect of Hebrew at the time, close to Rabbinic Hebrew, though strongly influenced by Aramaic.

Pat-El, N. (2008). Traces of Aramaic Dialectal Variation in Late Biblical Hebrew. Brill Online, 58(4-5), 650-655. Retrieved from www.jstor.org.

This paper argues that there are a number of Aramaic dialects and loan translations present in the Bible and that variations in certain words in the Bible can best be explained by the differences in West and East Aramaic dialectal influence.

Uri, M. (2014). Language Contact in Judea? Hebrew, Aramaic, and Punic. Dead Sea Discoveries, 21(2), 211-233. Retrieved from www.brill.com.

This paper examines a 1957 claim for there being an ancient Hebrew-Phoenician common language in Southern Palestine. The author uses a study of linguistic patterns, firstly between ancient Hebrew and Aramaic and then between Punic and Late Punic to refute the claim.

Young, I. (2005). BIBLICAL TEXTS CANNOT BE DATED LINGUISTICALLY. National Association of Professors of Hebrew (NAPH), 46, 341-351. Retrieved from www.jstor.org.

This paper argues that linguistic evidence such as Aramaismic influence alone is not enough to date portions of the Bible. The author argues that such evidence can be explained by the hand of a later author of by other considerations.

Zevit, Z. (2005). INTRODUCTORY REMARKS: HISTORICAL LINGUISTICS AND THE DATING OF HEBREW TEXTS CA. 1000–300 B.C.E. Hebrew Studies, 46, 321-326. Retrieved from www.jstor.org.

This paper is an introductory overview of the debate among scholars as to whether or not biblical texts can be dated using linguistic evidence. The paper gives an outline of the debate using past and present arguments of linguistic influences such as Aramaic.

Evaluation Tips

Remember to evaluate the sources you come across using your search strategies. Evaluate your sources using the criteria below;

Criteria	Ask Yourself	Example
Currency	When was the information published? Does currency matter for this topic? Is it current enough for your topic? When was the webpage last updated?	e.g. Any source that predates the discovery and analysis of the Dead Sea Scrolls may not be appropriate as it will lack modern manuscript evidence
Reliability	Who published the information? Is the source reputable? Is it peer reviewed? Does the creator provide references and are those references credible? Are there spelling, grammar or typographical errors?	A person giving a detailed explanation of a Bible passage using the Bible as his authority vs A peer reviewed article from www.brill.com or www.jstor.org
Authority	Who is the creator or author? Sources without an author may be less credible What are their qualifications, affiliations and experience? Are they an expert in the field?	A blog discussing a documentary they just saw on what language Jesus spoke vs An author that has published work in an academic journal such as Hebrew Studies or Society of Biblical Literature
Purpose	Why was the information published and who is the intended audience? Is the creator trying to sell, inform, entertain, persuade? Is it fact or opinion? Is it biased or balanced?	A documentary that has only negative things to say about the Bible’s reliability. vs A book that gives credible citations to support their statements.

Evaluate Web Resources

Please note these important difference between web sources;

.edu (educational institution)

.gov (government)

These are more likely to be reliable and unbiased. e.g. www.nla.gov.au

.org (non-profit organisation)

.asn (non-commercial organisation)

Sometimes these organisations may show a bias toward one side of a topic. www.sbl-site.org vs www.atheists.org

.com (commercial site)

.net (network)

Critically evaluate these sites as they may be unreliable. e.g. brill.com vs

biblemythhistory.com

(Adapted from INF404 Research Skills Tutorial and Guide: Evaluate)

Databases

Open Access Databases

ProQuest

It is an online database for researchers and librarians including over 90,000 authoritative sources. ProQuest also includes tools for organising digital documents, making bibliographies and citations, and collaborating with others.

(Adapted from www.proquest.com)

JSTOR

JSTOR is an online database for scholars, researchers and students including twelve million resources in seventy five disciplines. JSTOR provides access to free and low cost scholarly works for academic research, collaboration and preservation.

(Adapted from www.jstor.org)

Primo Search

It is a Charles Sturt University library search tool allowing users to access many academic resources such as books and journal articles for free. Primo gives access to academic databases, requesting items and renewing loans.

(Adapted from http://libguides.csu.edu.au/Primo)

Non Open Access Databases

Logos Bible Software

Logos is a commercial bible study library including a vast array of biblical resources such as translations, commentaries and dictionaries. Logos is also a bible study interface including tools such as word searches and cross referencing.

Brill Online Discovery

It is a search tool for accessing subscription academic works from the fields of Humanities, Social Sciences, and International Law. It includes sources from books and journals, reference works, bibliographies and primary sources

(Adapted from brillonline.com)