Dr. James Evans, a professor at the Univeristy of Chicago, is conducting some interesting research about the growing trend of recent scholars who apparently are citing fewer and fewer articles in their own research. Given that researchers have more access to more articles online than ever before, one might be inclined to think just the opposite. A brief video synompsis of Dr. Evans’ research can be accessed here.
Dear Friend,
The time has come for me to go to Tibet again. Last time when I went to Tibet in 1997 - after my graduation - I was arrested by the Chinese authorities, beaten up, interrogated, starved and finally thrown out of Tibet after keeping me in their jails for three months in Lhasa and Ngari. I walked to Tibet, on my own, alone, across the Himalayan Mountains from the Ladakh.
Eleven years later, I am walking to Tibet again; this time too, without permission. I am returning home; why should I bother about papers from Chinese colonial regime who have not only occupied Tibet, but also is running a military rule there; making our people in Tibet live in tyranny and brutal suppression day after day, everyday for fifty years.
The Year 2008 is a huge opportunity for the Tibet movement to present the injustices the Tibetans have been subjected to, when China is going to attract international media attention. I am taking part in the return march from Dharamsala to Tibet, that is being organized as a part of the “Tibetan People’s Uprising Movement”, a united effort put together by five major Tibetan NGOs: Tibetan Youth Congress, Tibetan Women’s Association, Gu-Chu-Sum Movement of Tibet (an association of former political prisoners), National Democratic Party of Tibet and Students for a Free Tibet, India.
The march will start on 10 March 2008, from Dharamsala, the capital of Tibetan exiles and will pass through Delhi and then head towards Tibet. Walking for six months, we might reach the Tibet border around the time China opens the Beijing 2008 Olympics (August 14-25). Presently it’s too early to approximate at which border point we would be crossing; Tibet and India share a border that runs 4,075 Km along the length of the Himalayas. We might choose any point, or even multiple points. We’ll see the situation.
I know there had been similar attempts in the past, but this is 2008, and I have seen the organizers working extra hard with strategic planning, taking care of every minute detail, and the best thing is that we have all the NGOs working unitedly for the common goal. This unity is our strength! I do not know where we would end up, that’s why I am giving away the little collection of books (my only possession in life) to a library at is being setup in McLeod Ganj, Dharamsala. My friends: Lobsang and Nyingje (who served in the Indian army as part of the Tibetan battalion) are also giving away their personal belongings; committing themselves for the march.
Of course the Indian police will do their duty; the Chinese army at the Tibet border would be overtly enthusiastic. Since we are leading a peaceful march, with absolute commitment to non-violence, I do not think anyone - either from Indian authority or Chinese - would impose themselves on us. Inspired by Gandhi’s Salt March, even if they did try to stop us, we are not stopping. For how many days can they jail us for just walking peacefully? And why should the Indian government stop Tibetan refugees voluntarily returning home on foot?
In the past I have climbed buildings to shout for freedom, thrown myself at the Chinese embassy gate in New Delhi, spent months in jails, got beaten up police, fought court cases, but I never lost the dignity of the struggle: my believe in Non-violence. The March to Tibet will be non-violent; it is a sadhana, a spiritual tribute to the truth and justice that we are fighting for. This is our Long March to freedom.
And on our journey home, we will cook and camp in tents on the roadside, there will be the marchers and the support marchers, the kitchen team, logistics, media and the medical team. There will be dancing and singing, and theatre and film shows on the road as we take this long journey home.
Dear friend,
Here is an opportunity to join a historic non-violent freedom struggle, a people’s effort to win freedom for a country that remains subjugated even in 2008. I request you to join us, support us in whatever ways possible. We need people to know about it, so spread the word. You can walk with us, as we walk for six months, maybe you can join us for a day along the path, even one hour, or for a week, months as a supporter. Schools, colleges and even whole town can walk with us. We need volunteers, media people, writers, photographers, bloggers can help us. We need nurses, cooks, technicians and your prayers.
Ever since the march was announced on 4th January 2008, Tibetans have been talking about it; it’s a major discussion in the refugee camps. Recently the organizers launched the entry form. And I heard people are slowly getting themselves registered. You too can register your volunteer online. For more information please visit: www.TibetanUprising.org <http://www.tibetanuprising.org/> For enquiries email the coordinators: Lobsang yeshi <lobsangyeshi2006@hotmail.com <mailto:lobsangyeshi2006@hotmail.com>> or sherab woser <sherabwoeser@yahoo.com <mailto:sherabwoeser@yahoo.com>>
Join us.
Tenzin Tsundue
Dharamsala
The Open Library Project, a loose collection of technologists, publishers, librarians, and book-lovers, has taken up the challenge of creating a website that will collect everything we know about books — including library records, publishers’ blurbs, full-text and scans, reviews, and more.
Course dates 3 – 5 October 2007 – Holiday Inn Arlington, Arlington, VA
This is foundation training for practitioners wanting to adopt complexity thinking and practice in organizations and on projects. It is lead by Dave Snowden, Founder of Cognitive Edge and facilitated by Michael Cheveldave, NuOptiks Consulting and Wayne Zandbergen, Group-W Inc.
This course offers a deep dive into complexity concepts and principles and practical methods for making sense of, and intervening in, complex adaptive systems. It is delivered using a blend of experiential exercises, case studies, teaching and coaching and provides participants with a set of methods for effectively dealing with such complex issues as shifting culture, building sustainable informal networks, capturing knowledge from retiring employees and anticipating potential threats or competition in the market. Seeing a system through a complexity lens and working with this different, but intuitive set of principles and practices changes the way our practitioners and clients approach their intractable of challenges. In contrast to their “inorganic” cousins, these methods are cost effective, scalable and highly effective because they draw on extensive research into complex systems and cognitive science. Completion of the course and subsequent network membership is a pre-requisite for access to our open-source consultancy methods and access to the SenseMaker software suite.
After completing the workshop, you will be able to -
o Use narrative inquiry techniques to capture multiple and diverse perspectives
o Enable groups to make sense of complex and intractable issues
o Address complex challenge es such as innovation, community consultation, employee engagement, lessons learnt, culture change, leadership development and communities
Information and Registration - Full details and registration information are available under the Event listing at http://www.cognitive-edge.com/eventsdetail.php?eventid=26
If you have colleagues or clients who may be interested in attending this training, we’d be grateful if you could forward this note to them.
Kind regards,
Wayne Zandbergen, Group-W Inc. wayne@groupw.com
Michael Cheveldave, NuOptiks Consulting mcheveldave@nuoptiks.com
To eliminate all the distractions associated with a full blown word processing system, consider trying a nice little application called Dark Room.
Deadline: June 22, 2007
As humans we continually story our experiences. We construct our world through our personal, community, institutional and political narratives. The 2008 Narrative Matters conference theme aims to explore all of these narrative sites. Narrative continues to gain recognition as something people do, use and research. The Narrative Matters conference provides a meeting place for people interested in doing, using and researching narrative in diverse contexts and fields. The blurring and crossing of boundaries catalyzes discussion and inquiry at Narrative Matters conferences. We invite proposals for papers, presentations or participatory sessions on a variety of topics around the practice, use and research of narrative. We encourage proposals that take advantage of the nature of narrative. Proposals should be sent using our web page form by June 22, 2007. Proposal, and the presentations themselves, can be in either English or French. Les propositions, ainsi que les communications elles-mêmes; peuvent être en anglais ou en francais.
Vectors: Journal of Culture and Technology in a Dynamic Vernacular is pleased to announce its fourth annual summer fellowship program to take place June 18-22, 2007 at the University of Southern California’s Institute for Multimedia Literacy. They are seeking proposals for projects related to upcoming issues devoted to the themes of Reading (vol. 4 no. 1) and Noise (vol. 4 no. 2). Vectors publishes work which need necessarily exist online, ranging from archival to experimental projects.
You can download the Call For Proposals for the 2007 Vectors Summer Fellowships here:
http://www.vectorsjournal.org/pdf/VectorsCFP2007.pdf
Completed proposals are due by April 15, 2007.
Tara McPherson & Steve Anderson