Search Results

The authors present an innovative pedagogy: an integrated reference and document delivery system in a department of economic and administration sciences offering undergraduate and graduate programs. The system provides a public portal, a truly public service providing access to the bibliographic resources available as well as to multimedia aids that explain the techniques used to access documents. This service, initially offered within the department, has become widely accessible anywhere a professor, manager or student is working on a real situation in a global context.

From the arrival of mobile devices to government regulations calling on public and parapublic services to modernize, all while being dominated by the technological giants (Amazon, Google, Netflix, Spotify, etc.), numerous elements call public and national libraries, as well as national archives around the world, to deeply transform themselves. How to continue to serve our users, turned digital citizens, well? How can we understand the consequences of a technological omnipresence on the habits of users and their expectations of our services? How to design our digital products for all users without penalizing others, thus gather, retain and disseminate knowledge grow in complexity over time?The article presents the result of a recent study on personas, conducted by Bibliothèque et Archives nationales du Québec (BAnQ). A presentation summary of the institutional context exposes its vision and the project that materialize to improve the online experience of its users. Then, the implemented methods used to reach the objectives are addressed.

Background On numerous islands of the Pacific, under various names, there are people considered to be neither men nor women but half-men/half-women. In French Polynesia, there is a sociological and anthropological condition called RaeRae or Mahu. A RaeRae is a man who behaves as and considers himself to be a woman. RaeRae and Mahu are good examples of culture-bound transsexuality or cross-dressing. Being Mahu has a cultural meaning, recognized in the history of Polynesian society, and cannot be considered as a medical or psychiatric condition. Being RaeRae extends the transformation to possible hormone therapy and surgery; the traditional social role (education, tourism) of Mahu is retained but in some cases is influenced by prostitution and at-risk homosexuality.Bibliographic sources and method We conducted a literature search using several medical, social, and anthropological bibliographic sources (MedLine, Google Scholar, PsycINFO, DUMAS). We used the terms RaeRae, Mahu, Polynesian androphilia, and Polynesian sexuality. We found 20 articles and theses. Some articles discuss a very similar condition in Samoa (fa'afafine). In addition, Mahu seems to be a derogatory term for a male homosexual or drag queen in the Hawaiian Islands.Results and contents RaeRae and Mahu is broadly defined as men with sweetness [OK?] or women who are prisoners of men's bodies. There is evidence of their presence and social functions in ancient times. The arrival of the missionaries and Christian morality resulted in the emergence of a new moral and sexual order. RaeRae and Mahu remain present and visible today. They are integrated into local professional and cultural life and are accepted, as long as their sexuality remains unspoken and invisible, which is more difficult for RaeRae. We describe the phenomenon and its context and the sociocultural hypotheses. We retain a reference connected to tacit knowledge of Polynesian sacrificial rites: Mahu did not undergo sacrifices the victims of which had to be men. A general discussion must be envisaged concerning the DSM-5, transgender identity and stigmatization. For instance, in Hawaii, people who identify as transgender continue to suffer high rates of violence, sexual assault and discrimination. The description contributes to an investigation of the limits of considering gender as binary; rather, it is a continuum not governed by the medicalization and psychologization of a cultural feature, which is also recognizable in other cultural areas including among the Amerindians. Studying RaeRae and Mahu in Polynesia means agreeing to confront the binary concept that structures and divides the world into two categories of gender and sex, male and female, just like grammatical gender in French. Examples from other cultures include the new half in Japan, muxe or muché among the Zapotecs of Tehuantepec, woubi in Côte d'Ivoire, femminielli in Italy, ladyboys or kathoeys in Thailand, natkadaw in Myanmar, hijra in India and Pakistan, khounta in Arab Islamic culture, and in Canada and the USA, agokwa among the Ojibwa, and ikoneta in the Illinois language. Mahu, or transgendered individuals and transvestites, were in fact viewed by the ancient Hawaiians as a normal element of the old social culture that preceded missionary days and American and French military missions. Mahu were not merely tolerated; they were regarded as a legitimate and contributory part of the ancient Polynesian community.

Keywords: transgenre, RaeRae, Mahu, culture polynésienne, identité de genre, transgender, RaeRae, Mahu, polynesian culture, gender identity

Chapter 19 of CUSMA on digital trade is, among the preferential trade agreements (PTAs), the one that goes the furthest to liberalize digital trade between signatory countries. In fact, the United States, unlike the European Union and China, for example, sees the ACP as the best way to ensure the free flow of digital goods and services across borders while governing data flows that make these commercial transactions possible. Why did the United States choose to make these trade agreements the primary vehicle for governing digital trade and data flows with the rest of the world? And why has a partner like Canada accepted provisions within CUSMA that impose significant potential limits on the regulation of data and digital platforms? Using a political economy perspective, this article answers these questions.

This article offers a brief conceptual portrait of computational thinking, a concept that is highly recurrent in the literature and that is subject to numerous interpretations. A non-exhaustive review of the literature has therefore allowed us to clarify what computational thinking is, while specifying the role of many other related concepts evoked in the works of the authors studied: algorithmic thinking, abstraction, etc. The presentation of integrative models offers an interesting and synthetic perspective on this phenomenon that is becoming more and more widespread in the educational field.

Keywords: Programmation, pensée informatique, pensée algorithmique, résolution de problèmes, algorithmes, Programming, computational thinking, algorithmic thinking, problem solving, abstraction, algorithms

Keywords: érosion, Sierra équatoriale, inégalités, Buen Vivir, agriculture

This article provides an overview of the principle of net neutrality, highlighting its virtues and limitations. A genuine legal guarantee of commercially and technically non-discriminatory access to the Internet for every individual, and of the diversity of content circulating online, the principle of net neutrality is not, however, devoid of any limits set by law, and is being put to the test by the constant innovations of the digital market and of service providers and major platforms. A principle of variable geometry in different parts of the world, net neutrality is particularly relevant at a time when major platforms are being regulated, notably in Europe, and calls for a broader approach than just network access.

Question answering systems have frequently been explored for educational use. However, their value was somewhat limited due to the quality of the answers returned to the student. Recent question answering (QA) research has started to incorporate deep natural language processing (NLP) in order to improve these answers. However, current NLP technology involves intensive computing and thus it is hard to meet the real-time demand of traditional search. This paper introduces a question answering (QA) system particularly suited for delayed-answered questions that are typical in certain asynchronous online and distance learning settings. We exploit the communication delay between student and instructor and propose a solution that integrates into an organization’s existing learning management system. We present how our system fits into an online and distance learning situation and how it can better assist supporting students. The prototype system and its running results show the perspective and potential of this research.

Keywords: automated question answering, natural language processing, information retrieval, LMS, distance education, online learning