Browsing by Subject "Access"
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Item Bureaucratic access points and leverage(2013-08) Sternemann, Daniel Thomas; Jones, Bryan D.This project studies how bureaucratic behavior influences policy implementation. It presents a novel bureaucratic access points and leverage theory, which help us understand how policies are successfully implemented in the midst of bureaucratic challenges resulting from organizational roles and responsibilities and contrasting assessments. The concept of access points has traditionally involved lobbyists and interest groups accessing elected officials and their staffs. I ask what is the effect of bureaucrats accessing bureaucrats directly in the policy implementation process and its subsequent evaluation. I argue that bureaucrats leverage other bureaucrats during policy implementation proceedings, which adds the notion of power to access points theory. The focus of this investigation is the relationship between humanitarian assistance and disaster relief (HA/DR) agencies and associated Department of Defense (DOD) components, particularly DOD medical components providing wellness intervention. Bureaucratic access and leverage enables a more unified implementation of over-arching HA/DR policy by disparate agencies with unique missions, resources, capabilities, and assessment measures. The existing literature does not fully capture how such agency differences are mitigated and overcome in implementing policy that spans multiple entities. Bureaucratic access points and leverage theory offers bureaucrats the analytical capability to know who is controlling policy implementation. It also presents a tool they can use to maintain and increase their own influence and power within a policy domain.Item Collaborative practices employed by collectors, creators, scholars, and collecting institutions for the benefit of recorded sound collections(2014-12) Vanden Dries, William Robert; Clement, Tanya ElizabethThere is a long history of collaboration between private collectors and collecting institutions. Literature that discusses collaboration between these two groups typically focuses on the donation or sale of a private collection to an institution. Existing research focuses less often on the collaborative practices these two groups use to create, preserve, and access their recording collections. Furthermore, there is no scholarly work that aggregates known public-private collaborative practices. As a result, these additional practices are consistently underdeveloped and underutilized. For the first time, this thesis compiles a list of collaborative practices employed by private collectors and collecting institutions. Data was gathered through a literature review and a series of semi-structured interviews with private collectors and information professionals working with recorded sound collections. The constant comparative method of qualitative analysis was used to analyze the data. This thesis finds and discusses twelve collaborative practices employed by private collectors and information professionals. This study also discusses factors that encourage and discourage the use of these collaborative practices, the potential for their continued use, and ways in which future studies can extend the exploratory research of this study. This study’s findings contribute to the efforts of both private collectors and collecting institutions to preserve and provide access to the vast body of sound recordings documenting the multitude of historic and cultural perspectives necessary for scholarly and personal research.Item Complete radical skepticism(2007-05) Fitzpatrick, Kevin; Weiner, Matt; Hazlett, Allan; Webb, Mark O.Many contemporary philosophers believe that skeptical arguments are important as they reveal flaws in our reasoning, the removal of which helps us to fine tune 'good' epistemology. However, few, if any, seem to take the position of skepticism seriously, at least as a potential position to hold. In the following pages I will try to lay out why I take skepticism seriously, why I cannot escape it and why my ignorance may have some significance for other philosophers. The skepticism that I wish to defend is best described as a complete form of radical skepticism, hereafter referred to as radical skepticism or just skepticism. By 'complete' I mean that there is no belief or belief forming process that is immune from its skeptical doubts, including the skeptical doubts themselves. A proponent of this form of skepticism is unable to find any was to give any belief at any time the status of being rational.Item The development of a geotechnical GIS-based database in Austin, TX(2011-05) Lawrence, Robert Hoff; Gilbert, Robert B. (Robert Bruce), 1965-; Maidment, David R.Geographic Information Systems (GIS) are useful in analyzing and visualizing database information. Specifically, the field of geotechnical engineering stands to benefit from a database encompassing GIS; as, geotechnical data varies spatially. The City of Austin Water Utility realized the advantages of a geotechnical database utilizing GIS which led to the motivation of designing a database for Austin, Texas. The main objective is to provide a detailed explanation of the design of a GIS-relational geotechnical database for Austin, Texas. In addition, several examples of useful methods of analyzing geotechnical data spatially are included. The examples show the identification of faults, the uses of structural contour maps, summarization of data through plots and tables, and analyzing temporal piezometric conditions. The idea of a database is to organize and store data in a basic efficient format so that information is not duplicated. Database queries are then used to combine and rearrange the data within the database through relationships. The queries are then connected to GIS for intelligent visualization. This process is designed specifically for the geologic conditions that exist in Austin, Texas. Understanding the geotechnical engineering state of practice is important when designing a database that will encompass geotechnical data for a given region. The City of Austin relies on experience and the geotechnical report filing systems to initially plan future projects around geologic conditions. With the help of a geotechnical database, the information from geotechnical reports is a “computer click” away. Also, the geotechnical data from multiple reports is viewable at one time in both a 2 and 3 dimensional environments through GIS. Database features coupled with GIS tools proves to be an effective way for engineers and geologists to use geotechnical data.Item Equitable access to green space : management strategies in San Diego California and Austin Texas(2014-12) Steverson, Jennifer; Dooling, SarahThis report is focused on the implementation strategies used by municipal governments to provision communities in San Diego California and Austin Texas with public parks. Green space is an important amenity in urban areas that improves the quality of life for residents. Low income who experience sustained mental fatigue from the stress associated with acquiring basic necessities may experience stress alleviation in vegetated environments. Comprehensive planning documents, city budgets and interviews with parks department employees were used to investigate the methods used to ensure equitable access to public parks in urban areas. Digital cartography was used to measure the proximity to green space at the city and neighborhood scale. Green space was broadly defined to include public parks, conserved lands, community gardens, greenways, and school yards. This is in keeping with the comprehensive plans of both cities.Item Examining transportation's role in social vulnerability : São Paulo, Brazil(2011-05) McGue, Mary Colleen; Zhang, Ming, 1963 Apr. 22-; Lara, Fernando LuizThe City of São Paulo is one of the largest cities in the world, with 11,244,369 people living in the metropolitan area and over 19,672,582 people living in the greater metropolitan region, which is made up of 38 cities in the surrounding area (IBGE, Census 2010). Ten percent of the population in the entire country of Brazil lives in São Paulo, and 15.6% of Brazil’s Gross Domestic Product comes from São Paulo. There is an average of 38.1 million trips taken per day in the metropolitan region. Most of the city’s low-income population lives in the periphery of the city, where the land is least expensive, yet most job opportunities are concentrated in the city center, creating a spatial mismatch. Spatial mismatch occurs when low-income residents live in one area of a city, but their places of employment and job opportunities are located in another part of the city. In a spatial mismatch situation, low-income residents often travel long distances to find work and suffer from isolation based on the disconnect between where they live, where they work, and the difficulty in getting from one place to another. The current transportation infrastructure is insufficient to transport the number of commuters from the periphery to and from the city center to work on a daily basis. In this study I will explore this spatial mismatch through an analysis of both qualitative and quantitative travel data for the entire São Paulo Metropolitan Area, with a specific focus on the Zona Sul of the periphery, in order to understand the limitations of transportation infrastructure and spatial mobility for residents of the city.Item Predictors of instrumental music enrollment : how school policies may influence retention in Title I and non-Title I public schools(2013-12) Chappell, Elizabeth Whitehead; Costa-Giomi, Eugenia; Scott, LaurieThe purpose of this study was to (1) examine the academic and demographic characteristics of 6th-grade instrumental music students attending selected public schools of contrasting socioeconomic backgrounds, (2) examine the retention patterns of students who were required to enroll in 6th-grade instrumental music compared to those who elected to do so, and (3) construct a predictive model of student retention in middle school instrumental music programs. Individual student data (N = 1052) were gathered from beginning instrumental 6th-grade programs at selected schools in a large, urban school district in Texas. Data included students’ 5th and 6th standardized test results, 7th-grade class schedules, and demographic information. Data were analyzed according to the 6th-grade campus the students attended (Title I/non-Title I) and the type of school (elementary school with required music programs or middle school with elective music programs) to identify demographic and academic factors associated with 6th-and 7th-grade music participation. I examined students’ schedules for retention patterns associated with individual school scheduling and academic remedial policies. I used logistic regression to develop predictive models of retention based on the following factors: gender, ethnicity, special education, at-risk, gifted, 5th and 6th-grade standardized test results, 5th-grade campus and pre-AP enrollment. Only the 6th-grade standardized tests, either math or reading, predicted retention in instrumental music in all of the school settings. Ethnicity, at-risk, and 5th-grade standardized tests did not predict retention in any school setting. Each school setting was unique in the factors that predicted instrumental music retention. For example, in the Title I setting, giftedness and 6th-grade reading test results predicted retention whereas in the non-Title I setting, gender, pre-AP enrollment and 6th-grade math results predicted retention. I also observed that 6th-grade required music programs were, by default, more inclusive than elective programs, and that the diversity in the student population of the 6th-grade required programs was maintained during the 7th-grade when music became elective. Results from this study suggest that offering only one elective choice per year may exclude access to music education for low academic achievers and reduce enrollment in music ensembles.Item The re-mediation of the archive : situating new media in moving image archives(2010-05) Jannise, Stephen Tatum; Frick, Caroline; Winget, MeganThis thesis outlines the changing landscape of moving image archives in light of the emergence of new media. Whereas, in the twentieth century, these archives were once responsible for the preservation of endangered films and television programs, I argue that, in the twenty-first century, moving image archives will redefine their value to society not through preservation but through the decisions they make, which will affect not simply the intellectual community but the culture at large. The ways in which moving image archives situate new media materials and extend cooperation between institutions will determine, in large part, the discourse surrounding moving images throughout the upcoming century.Item Session 2F | From Mold Remediation to Collection Digitization(2022-05-24) Mason, MicheliaIn the Fall of 2021, a section of the oldest journals in the Tom Slick Library fell subject to extensive mold. Using interlibrary loan data, OCLC availability, and the PAPR registry, the library staff were able to validate the cost to clean and maintain the entire area. The experience highlighted the value and susceptibility of the collection in full and leads to the prospect of digitization. This reverse workshop aims to encourage a forum of digitization insights, experiences and best practices, grants and potential partnerships to help guide efforts across our organizations.Item The Life Course of Single Welfare-Reliant Mothers: Experiences in Seeking Access to and Persisting in Post-Secondary Education(2012-07-16) McPherson, RebeccaWelfare reform, as a social policy, has implications for higher education policy, because it restricts welfare-reliant women from seeking sufficient post-secondary education for economic mobility. The 2006 Deficit Reduction Act was reinterpreted in the 2008 final rule, allowing welfare-reliant mothers to pursue up to 12 months of post-secondary education. However, this is not sufficient for mothers to persist toward completion of associate's or bachelor's degrees. Recent scholarship has not adequately investigated the impact of this expanded access to post-secondary education. The purpose of this study was to investigate the essence of single welfare-reliant mothers' experiences in their life course from poverty to post-secondary education. To better understand the essence of their experience, this study utilized a transcendental phenomenological approach to investigate experiences that influenced their (a) pathways and social roles, (b) perspectives as sole providers, and (c) decisions to access and persist in post-secondary education. The three major findings of this study were presented in the context of a developmental life course framework supported by social role theory and women's adult The three major findings of this study were presented in the context of a developmental life course framework supported by social role theory and women's adult identity development concepts. The first major finding elucidated two distinct pathways to adulthood for six single welfare-reliant mothers. The three teen mothers experienced transitions to adulthood that were premature, truncated, and compacted. As a result they missed their developmental task of exploring possible selves in their transitions to adulthood. During their identity development as sole providers they returned to the task of exploring possible selves in their choices to access post-secondary education. The second major finding elucidated that single welfare-reliant mothers' perspectives as sole providers were experienced as an evolving adult identity, beginning with the birth of their first child and evolving throughout the era of early adulthood as mothers persisted in post-secondary education. The third major finding elucidated a recurring pattern of negotiating between role conflict and role salience experienced by single welfare-reliant mothers that resulted in critical junctures and recurring commitments to their decisions to persist toward post-secondary education goals. This study determined that commitment toward their adult identity as sole providers had a direct link to their commitment toward persisting in post-secondary education.Item What is Digital Librarianship? An Interview with Laura Tadena(Texas Digital Library, 2021-11-29) Coleman, Misha; Gunnells, Ali; Santiago, Chloe