Authoritative Source Of Information Research Articles

Enhancing access to missionary archives: the role of digital libraries and online repositories

Purpose The purpose of the paper is to explore how digital libraries and online repositories enhance access to missionary archives. It investigates how the digitalization of missionary archives fosters the access, searchability, interactivity, dissemination and preservation of the historical and cultural knowledge of missionary documents and legacies. The selected topic stems from a genuine and deeply ingrained desire and interest to explore the digital archiving landscape, majorly in the context of missionary archives. Design/methodology/approach The study relied heavily on the literature review of the most current scholarly articles. Additionally, the study relied on case studies on missionary institutions and churches that rely on technology to digitize missionary archives and online repositories to make them accessible. Generally, reliance on scholarly articles relevant to the topic was an avenue for examining the existing studies and projects affiliated with digitizing and using missionary archives. Findings Missionary archives and records provide a distinct perspective regarding the realities faced by missionaries and indigenous populations. Digital libraries and online repositories are invaluable and instrumental in improving access to missionary archives. They help users overcome physical barriers while supporting the preservation of fragile materials. Additionally, the digitization efforts of various institutions foster the broader dissemination of missionary records. Digital platforms and online repositories foster collaborative research globally in remote settings. Online repositories are instrumental in enhancing access to missionary archives. They achieve this by providing centralized access points to digitalized collections of historical documents, photographs, manuscripts and artifact. Major challenges include substantial costs affiliated with digitization, environmental factors heightening degradation of the original materials and intellectual property dictations and copyright. Originality/value By using scholarly and authoritative sources of information and evidence, the study contributes to the existing literature by providing insights into the instrumentalism of digital libraries and online repositories to enhance access to missionary archives. There should be comprehensive digitization, adherence to preservation standards, commitment to stakeholder engagement and collaborative decision-making.

Cultural preservation through technology in UAE libraries

PurposeThis study aims to explore how libraries in the United Arab Emirates use technology to preserve and digitize cultural and historical documents. It examined how these institutions use different technology models to facilitate the dissemination of UAE’s cultural traditions, practices, historical experiences and expressions to the local and global populations interested in learning about the country.Design/methodology/approachThis study relied heavily on a review of the relevant literature and case studies covering how UAE libraries use technology to preserve, document and share tangible and intangible cultural heritage. The methodology entailed gathering and synthesizing relevant information from scholarly journal articles, government and reputable institutional resources online and reports. Collectively, it led to a close analysis of the impact of technology on cultural preservation and an assessment of the specific technology models preferred for optimal outcomes in preserving and disseminating cultural heritage information of the UAE.FindingsMultiple UAE libraries rely heavily on technology to collect, record, translate and store cultural heritage information, including releasing it to users when required. The National Archives of the United Arab Emirates, the Arabian Gulf Digital Archive, Mohammed Bin Rashid Library, the UAE National Library and Archives, New York University Abu Dhabi and Khalifa University of Science and Technology and Research libraries have leveraged different technological models and tools to make UAE’s cultural heritage information available and accessible globally. Artificial intelligence and machine learning algorithms, three-dimensional imaging and scanning, electronic archiving systems, document management systems and ICT storage systems have helped the UAE libraries to promote and disseminate the nation’s tangible and intangible cultural heritage.Originality/valueBy relying on scholarly and authoritative sources of information and evidence to draw conclusions, this study contributes to the existing literature by offering insights into the innovative strategies used by UAE libraries to leverage technology for cultural preservation and promotion. In underlining the value of digital approaches to safeguard tangible and intangible cultural heritage, the research highlights the instrumentalism of technology in preserving the UAE’s cultural heritage and identity.

Digitising diabetes education for a safer Ramadan: Design, delivery, and evaluation of massive open online courses in Ramadan-focused diabetes education

AimsRamadan-focused diabetes education is critical to facilitate safer Ramadan fasting amongst Muslim people living with diabetes. We present the design, delivery, and evaluation of two parallel massive open online courses (MOOCs) in Ramadan-focused diabetes education for people with diabetes and HCPs. MethodsTwo Ramadan-focused diabetes education MOOCs were developed and delivered for Ramadan 2023: one for HCPs in English, and another for people with diabetes in English, Arabic and Malay. A user-centred iterative design process was adopted, informed by user feedback from a 2022 pilot MOOC. Evaluation comprised a mixed-methods evaluation of pre- and post-course user surveys. ResultsThe platform was utilised by people with diabetes and their family, friends and healthcare professionals. Overall, a total of 1531 users registered for the platform from 50 countries, 809 started a course with a 48% subsequent completion rate among course starters. Qualitative analysis showed users found the course a user-friendly and authoritative information source. In the HCP MOOC, users reported improved post-MOOC Ramadan awareness, associated diabetes knowledge and ability to assess and advise patients in relation to their diabetes during Ramadan (p<0.01). ConclusionsWe demonstrate the potential of MOOCs to deliver culturally tailored, high-quality, scalable, multilingual Ramadan-focused diabetes education to HCPs and people with diabetes.

Where is the panic in “panic buying”? Consumer purchases at the outset of the COVID pandemic

The declaration of the COVID pandemic in March 2020 was immediately followed by news media accounts of “panic buying.” However, this term is problematic because it implicitly assumes that people engage in indiscriminate consumer product purchases that are motivated solely by extreme fear. Contrary to the implicit assumptions of “panic buying,” this study's examination of consumer product purchases by 435 households found that respondents drew clear distinctions among four activities (observed shortages, own consumption changes, own stockpiling, and others’ stockpiling) related to six consumer product categories (fresh produce, fresh meat, nonperishable food, cleaning supplies, sanitary supplies, and nonprescription medications). The results show that own stockpiling has moderately positive correlations with own consumption changes and is as strongly related to optimism and anger as to fear. Own stockpiling also has positive correlations with perceptions of others’ stockpiling, reliance on informal information sources, and observed shortages. Unexpectedly, own stockpiling has positive correlations with positive disaster stereotypes rather than negative disaster stereotypes, and is unrelated to expected pandemic duration, authoritative information sources, demographic characteristics, and routine stockpiling. The results suggest that the term “panic buying” should be replaced by “crisis stockpiling,” which avoids unnecessary erroneous inferences about the motivation for that behavior.

An Experimental Study on how Messaging from CDC Affects Attitudes toward Mandatory MMR Vaccination for Schoolchildren.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, public health institutions, particularly the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), were frequently attacked by politicians. Popular trust in these institutions declined, particularly among self-identified Republicans. Therefore, the effectiveness of public health institutions as vaccination messengers might have been weakened in the post-COVID-19 period. We conducted a survey experiment examining the effectiveness of messaging from the CDC in shaping people's attitudes toward mandatory MMR (measles-mumps-rubella) vaccination for schoolchildren. The experiment was embedded in a survey fielded in South Dakota, a "red state" with a population predisposed to distrust the CDC. Using registration-sampling, we received 747 responses. We used difference-in-means tests and multivariate regression to analyze the data. We found that participants who received a message from the CDC were more likely to support MMR vaccine mandate for schoolchildren than participants who received the same prompt from a state agency. Further analyses showed that messaging from the CDC was particularly effective among Republicans. Overall, our study showed that although the CDC was caught up in the political skirmishes during the COVID-19 pandemic, it remains an authoritative source of public health information. Public health officials at the local and state levels should not shy away from referring to the CDC in their vaccination messaging.

Borders Start With Numbers: How Migration Data Create “Fake Illegals”

Sudden rises in migration across the borders of the Global North have persistently attracted substantial media attention and fueled hostility toward “irregular migrants” and “bogus refugees.” While existing qualitative studies have extensively criticized the migrant-refugee distinction, we offer unique quantitative evidence of how migration numbers and labels construct impressions of increased irregular migration while in fact creating “fake illegals.” We conduct a two-stage mixed-method analysis, demonstrating first that data on “irregular/illegal border crossings” (IBCs) published by Frontex have become an authoritative source of information on migration flows cited in a corpus of mainstream news media articles. We then posit that, while persecutions and violence in countries of origin may trigger migration, it is policies in destination states that determine who “is” and “isn’t” a refugee. In turn, we develop a novel method to divide IBCs into those who would likely obtain asylum in 31 European destination states (“likely refugees”) and those who would not (“likely irregular migrants”) across time given asylum acceptance rates by nationality. We estimate that between 2009 and 2021 most border crossers labeled as “irregular/illegal” (55.4%) were actually “likely refugees,” a proportion we estimate to be 75.5% at the peak of arrivals in 2015. Thus, we find that sudden and large increases in border crossings concentrated in space likely concern forced rather than irregular migrants. Altogether, our constructivist approach reveals how migration data and categories both influence and are influenced by securitized border policies and that, in this respect, borders start with numbers.

Enhancing Translation Research on Chinese Silk Terminology: A Critical Review from the Perspective of Skopos Theory

As China’s international status continues to improve and its foreign trade and exchanges become more and more frequent, the development of China’s silk industry has received more and more attention. As a bridge for China’s foreign trade in silk industry, its translation will take on important responsibilities in the future. The accurate translation of Chinese silk terminology is the most direct, authoritative and comprehensive source of information about Chinese silk culture for people around the world. In the new era, a better standardization of Chinese silk terminology translation is a new requirement for the international community to have a more comprehensive understanding of Chinese silk and culture in the future. Therefore, it is crucial to explore and study translation theories in translation practice in the context of Chinese silk terminology.

On Translation of Report on the Work of the Government 2023 from the Perspective of Skopos Theory

The Report on the Work of the Government covers all aspects of China's politics and livelihood, and has become an authoritative source of information for domestic and foreign communities to understand China's national development as well as its policies. Therefore, the translation of RWG is of great importance. This paper introduces the Skopos Theory and discusses its applicability to RWG. Taking the 2023 RWG as an example, it further discusses its stylistic features and translation strategies from lexical, syntactic and rhetorical perspectives. These skills are of great practical importance in the translation of RWG, making the translation more readable and comprehensible, and can be used for other similar political reports. The Skopos Theory, Report on the Work of the Government, translation strategies

Who Australasians trusted during COVID-19: lessons from the pandemic response.

Public trust in authoritative information sources is a key element of a successful public health response to a pandemic. This study investigated which sources of COVID-19 advice were most trusted by a primarily New Zealand-based cohort and considers implications for policy and practice regarding future pandemics. Data were from a COVID-19 vaccine intention survey presented to Australia- and New Zealand-based members of the longitudinal Dunedin Study (n=832) between ages 48 and 49, immediately before vaccines became available for the general population within New Zealand. We assessed participants' trust in specific sources of COVID-19 advice and investigated whether the pattern of responses differed by sex, socio-economic status (SES) or education. Doctors and healthcare providers were the most trusted source of COVID-19 advice, over and above other institutional sources. This pattern was consistent across sex, SES and education. Institutional experts were trusted significantly more by those with higher SES compared to those with lower SES, and by those with formal qualifications compared to those without formal qualifications. Our findings suggest that it is important to empower healthcare providers early in a pandemic to share advice with the public alongside other trusted sources, such as the government.

Zpráva Světové meteorologické organizace o stavu klimatu ve světě v roce 2022

Since 1994 the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) has been publishing its annual “WMO Statement on the Status of the Global Climate”. The report has gradually gained in popularity and recently is a recognized authoritative source of information for the scientific community, the media and the general public. The report presented is the latest link of this successful sequence. The journal Meteorologické zprávy (Meteorological Bulletin) offers to its readers an abbreviated version of the report.

Co‐developing guidance for conservation: An example for seabirds in the North‐East Atlantic in the face of climate change impacts

AbstractConservation guidance—an authoritative source of information and recommendations explicitly supporting decision‐making and action regarding nature conservation—represents an important tool to communicate evidence‐based advice to conservation actors. Given the rapidly increasing pressure that climate change poses to biodiversity, producing accessible, well‐informed guidance on how to best manage the impacts and risks of changing climatic conditions is particularly urgent. Guidance documents should ideally be produced with multistage input from stakeholders who are likely to use and implement such advice; however, this step can be complicated and costly, and remains largely unformalized. Moreover, there is currently little direct evidence synthesized for actions that specifically target climate change and guidance remains largely absent. Here, we introduce a process for co‐developing guidance for species conservation in the face of climate change, using seabirds in the North‐East Atlantic as a case study. Specifically, we collated evidence on climate change vulnerability and possible conservation actions using literature synthesis, stakeholder surveys, and ecological modeling. This evidence base was then discussed, refined, and expanded using structured stakeholder workshops. We summarize the knowledge gained through stakeholder engagement and provide recommendations for future international efforts to co‐produce conservation guidance for managing wildlife, in the context of a rapidly changing climate.

Public Trust in the Time of Pandemic: An Analysis of Social Networks in the Discourse of Large-Scale Social Restrictions in Indonesia

This article discusses public trust in the Indonesian government’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic, explicitly focusing on the discourse surrounding large-scale social restrictions (LSSR). In a time of uncertainty, the public requires timely and actual information, most of which is gathered through online media, with Twitter being one such medium. This article applies social network analysis to examine how information about the restrictions is shared and discussed on social media platforms and how this discourse may impact public trust in government institutions in the first phase of pandemic handling. Although LSSR is the government’s policy, this study shows that the interpersonal network plays a more significant part in distributing information, indicating a legitimacy crisis of formal and authoritative sources of information. The negative sentiment voiced by critics did not show public rejection of the implementation of LSSR. On the contrary, what was implied by those critics was public doubt against the consistency and firmness of LSSR implementation—because of this, restoring public trust requires planned information management to communicate risks to those who are affected by LSSR implementation, as well as managing negative sentiments that arise as a response.

Charting a path for the National Nature Assessment

It's not every day that you get the opportunity to influence a major federal-level assessment from its inception; however, now is just such an occasion. A new evaluation of the state of nature in the US – the first National Nature Assessment (NNA) – is in its early formative stages and you are invited to help shape it. The NNA is one of several efforts being advanced by the Biden-Harris Administration to know, grow, and account for nature – in clear recognition of nature's significance to (among other Administration priorities) the fight against climate change. Nature affects almost every aspect of our lives and means something different to each of us. Even those reading this journal hold diverse views of nature, influenced by our backgrounds and cultures; our personal experiences and communities; our different ways of knowing; and our work across ecosystem types and levels of biological, ecological, and social organization. We've seen the value of including a wide range of perspectives and disciplines in research efforts, reports, and scientific assessments, including in ESA's own products. And we know that overlooking diverse views when considering policy and management decisions can create unnecessary trade-offs, marginalize groups of people, or fail to recognize the full spectrum of roles that nature plays. We need a comprehensive understanding of nature, an assessment enriched by braiding together the stories, scientific findings, Indigenous knowledge, and lived experiences of people from across the US. The NNA is an opportunity to integrate and assess information – from multiple sources and through a diversity of voices – to help gauge what nature means to different people, and to explore the future of the nation's great natural treasures. Launched in 2022 by the US Global Change Research Program (USGCRP) and expected to be completed in 2026, the first-ever NNA aims to explore the many aspects of nature and its connections to issues facing those residing in the US today. Taking stock of the full abundance of our nation's lands, waters, and wildlife and the myriad ways that ecosystems affect US communities, the assessment will investigate how nature interacts with the economy, climate mitigation and adaptation, social equity, public health, and national security. It will allow us to consider what the future may hold, and what options we have for investing in nature as a core part of achieving societal aspirations. The USGCRP is taking initial steps to outline the NNA development process, with much of the scope and details of the assessment still to be determined. The developers will draw on lessons from previous assessments to ensure that the NNA is both useful and usable. For example, a major strength of the National Climate Assessment – now in its fifth cycle (https://www.globalchange.gov/nca5) – is its diverse author team: contributors from across the US with a wide range of expertise work together to create a credible, authoritative source of information on climate change. The National Climate Assessment also has broad salience and relevance, in part due to its multiple opportunities for engagement with and participation beyond the federal government. Building on experiences like these, and given the increasingly stronger calls from the research community for co-production, we aim to conduct the NNA in close collaboration with potential users and to broaden the types of knowledge considered, particularly those ways of knowing that have historically been repressed or overlooked. This process has just begun. We invite you to help shape it and ensure strong, diverse, relevant content. You can start by telling us: What questions should the NNA answer? What needs should it fill? How can we ensure strong collaboration with users and incorporate diverse ways of knowing nature? What form should the final product(s) take to be most accessible and useful to you, your community, and the government? Read more about this Request for Information (https://www.globalchange.gov/content/request-information-framing-national-nature-assessment) and submit your ideas to https://contribute.globalchange.gov through March 31, 2023. Comment is free and open to anyone from anywhere, including other countries. Beyond this initial collaboration on framing the assessment, there will be multiple opportunities to engage with the NNA throughout its development. The NNA is an opportunity to create a new picture of nature in the US – one that reflects the depth and diversity of ways people know, care about, and act on changes in nature. Your input and expertise matter. By design, our collective success depends on your engagement. Please join us in charting a new path for National Nature Assessments.

Analysis of the C-E Translation Skills of Political Text Based on the Eco-Translatology

As China’s exchanges with other countries grow more frequent, and influence keeps increasing, many foreigners have an increasingly strong desire to know much more about China. In this context, political texts, as authoritative publicity materials, cover all aspects of Chinese society. They provide an authoritative source of information for foreigners to follow China’s development trend.Based on the Eco-Translatology theory, the author takes the 2021 Government Work Report as an example to explore the complex and changeable translational eco-environment of today’s political texts through a comparative analysis of the Chinese and English versions. It also talks about how translators of political text can convey the Chinese voices throughout the world and establish cultural confidence while maintaining the ecological balance between the original language and the target language.This paper mainly talks about the C-E translation of the 2021 GWR from the eco-environment of Eco-Translatology. The analysis part focuses on skills and strategies adopted in the translation of political texts from the perspectives of lexis, syntax and text, taking the 2021 Government Work Report as an example. The conclusion is a summary of translation strategies for C-E translation of political texts. It also lists the limitations of this paper and the prospects of the research.

Features of personality trust of Russian and Indonesian students in terms of network activity

Introduction. The process of modern youth’s cybersocialisation is caused by the digitalisation and the inclusion of information and communication technologies (ICT) in daily life. Network activity is a part of students’ socialisation. The interaction of student youth in the virtual space is conditioned by personality trust, which is revealed through the categories of trust in oneself, other users and the virtual world. The personality trust of students, as a belief in the reliability of other people and the world, regulates network activity and the life of society. Trends in the formation of personality trust in traditional and virtual space have similar prerequisites.Aim. The aim of the study is to identify the features of personality trust of Russian and Indonesian students in terms of network activity.Methodology and research methods. The study was conducted on the basis of the subject-personal approach. A set of methods was used: “Assessment of trust/distrust of a person in other people” (A. B. Kupreychenko) (the authors introduced an additional construct “virtual world”); “The study of trust/distrust of the individual in the world, other people, oneself”; “Questionnaire for the problematic use of social networks”; “Assessment of involvement in the use of ICT”.Results and scientific novelty. For the first time, personality trust is considered in the context of network activity in the framework of a comparative study of Russian and Indonesian students. Indonesian students tend to display personality trust in communication by accepting participants in network activity, in choosing more authoritative sources of information and participants with a positive reputation. Students from Russia trust reliable and credible sources and network users, basing on empathy and a similar worldview. The personality trust of students in the virtual world and network users is more pronounced among Indonesians, and trust in oneself is equally important for both groups of students. The Russian student youth is characterised by a low level of trust in the information on the network, in comparison with the Indonesian youth. General trends in the problematic use of technology have been identified, such as cognitive absorption, emotion regulation, and Internet addictive behaviour. Both groups of students prefer online communication and strive for open and effective relationships in the virtual space with like-minded people, for mutual assistance and unity.Practical significance. The results of studying the personality trust of Russian and Indonesian students in terms of network activity can be used to build open and productive relationships between young representatives of the countries, to organise psychological and pedagogical support for the socio-cultural adaptation of foreign students, to develop digital educational environment of an international university.

Critical Discourse Analysis on China’s Image in Climate Coverage by Mainstream US Media

In the trend of information globalization, mass media is not only an authoritative source of information but also a participant and executor of international affairs. News reporting is the most influential and authoritative form of media, shaping people’s cognition and attitudes while conveying information. Therefore, using news reports to build a national image has become an essential strategy for the government of a country. At the same time, an excellent national image is essential for improving a country’s global discourse power. Therefore, this paper uses discourse-historical analysis as a theoretical framework to analyze the China-related climate reports of mainstream media in the United States from 2015 to 2023 and explores the diachronic changes and reasons for the image of China in mainstream media reports in the United States. In this study, a combined approach of quantitative and qualitative methods is employed, with a particular emphasis on data-driven corpus research methods. The study found that mainstream US media’s climate reporting on China mainly focuses on China’s climate responsibility, renewable energy, and inter-country relations in climate governance. Through the analysis of the predication strategy, argumentation strategy, and intensification strategy, it is found that the media’s stance has gone through a period of neutrality from 2015 to 2017, increased hostile rhetoric from 2018 to 2019, and continued to worsen from 2020 to 2023. The media’s stance is mainly related to the changes in climate policies in the United States at different phases.

Creating Conspiracy Beliefs: How Our Thoughts Are Shaped

Creating Conspiracy Beliefs: How Our Thoughts Are Shaped

Brief Report: Learning About Autism: Is the Source of Autism Knowledge Associated with Differences in Autism Knowledge, Autism Identity, and Experiences of Stigma.

People on the autism spectrum can learn about autism from various sources, likely differing in the information, portrayal, and discussion they offer. The present study investigates where autistic people learn about autism, and whether their information source is associated with their level of autism knowledge, perceptions of stigma, and developmentand expression of an autism identity. A survey of 198 Australian adults with an autism diagnosis showed that learning about autism from conventional sources (e.g., professionals, parents) was associated with more internalised stigma, lower endorsement of special abilities and autism identity, whereas online blogs and social media showed the opposite pattern as well as more accurate knowledge of autism. The findings raise questions about how authoritative sources of information discuss autism.

Populist attitudes and politicians’ disinformation accusations: effects on perceptions of media and politicians

Abstract Populist politicians increasingly accuse opposing media of spreading disinformation or “fake news.” However, empirical research on the effects of these accusations is scarce. This survey experiment (N = 1,330) shows that disinformation accusations reduce audience members’ trust in the accused news outlet and perceived accuracy of the news message, while trust in the accusing politician is largely unaffected. However, only individuals with strong populist attitudes generalize disinformation accusations to the media as an institution and reduce their general media trust. The phrase “fake news” does not amplify any of these effects. These findings suggest that politicians can undermine the credibility of journalism without much repercussion—a mechanism that might also threaten other authoritative information sources in democracies such as scientists and health authorities.

Knowledge, Awareness, and Practices among Pakistani Population regarding COVID-19: An Online Survey-Based Study

Abstract Aim The study aims to analyze the knowledge, awareness, and practices among the Pakistani population. Study Method This is an online survey-based study conducted in July 2020 among the general public of Pakistan. Pretested and structured self-administered questionnaire, designed on Google Forms Inc., was used to collect data. The questionnaire included sociodemographic and measurable coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) knowledge data. Assessments on participants' attitudes and practices toward COVID-19 included questions on transmission, symptoms knowledge, and preventive measures. Results Among the survey completers (n = 962) 61% (n = 590) were male and 39% (n = 372) were female. The majority of participants is aged 18 to 25 and belonged to Punjab. The participants had moderate knowledge regarding disease origin, clinical features, symptoms, and prevention. A vast majority of participants had good knowledge of symptoms and prevention measurements. A good number of participants were also practicing precautionary measures. The majority of participants utilize media and government authorities as authoritative sources of information. The population was also satisfied with the information given by the government. Conclusion Participants have moderate knowledge regarding the COVID-19 pandemic, reflected by a positive attitude and safe practices. There are gaps in knowledge of the virus, its origin, and transmission. Rumors affect the psychology of people, which may lead to the worst situation of panic conditions.