Say Goodbye to Hollywood

"Life is a series of hellos and goodbyes,

now it's time for goodbye again"

- Billy Joel (but as sung by Ronnie Spector)

Well, it has been fun; but I am going to retire from this blog as I have more pressing things to do.

Archivin' in Freo

'And she said "Tell me are you a Christian child?"

And I said "Ma'am I am tonight"... ' - Marc Cohen

I just returned from a few days in Perth for the conference of the Australian Society of Archivists (Archives: Discovery and Exploration). I learnt a fair amount about archiving and its culture in the digital age and was impressed by the organization of the conference. Professor Eric Ketelaar, keynote "Exploration of the archived world: from De Vlamingh’s plate to digital realities” was excellent.

In Perth I encountered some wisdom from Confucius waiting patiently within 78 Records. I also picked up a remastered copy of Rock N Roll by John Lennon for ten bucks. His version of Stand By Me always reminds me of Marian. Being in W.A. meant I got to catch up with Peter Mayall and Barry O'Grady of ICICTE fame (these guys won the friends of the conference award this year). Hanging with Barry and Pete is always a privilege. Pete cooked up a wicked BBQ and Barry went well above and beyond the call over the next few days. I stayed in Fremantle, which offered the opportunity to revisit some old haunts. Clancy’s Fish Pub is still a winner. The buskers in the Fremantle Market Bar did not disappoint. One of them recognized me as an old Freo hand and sang a George Formby classic in honour of my wife and a version of 'Guilty' for me. Most of all, however, it was nice just to recognize faces in the street of people I have never met but know nonetheless. As Frank Sinatra should have sung ‘Fremantle, you’re my kind of town’.

Still, it is always inspireing to come back home to Adealide. To feel the fresh air from the antarctic and see the hills protecting the city. And, in Marc Cohen's words, to touch down in the pouring rain. I swear our lemon tree seems has grown while I was away and the Bougainvillea is winning its battle against the frost. Be brave little plant, as Phil used to sing "The nights are getting warmer, It won't be long, Won't be long till summer comes ..." I dedicate that one to Barry and his good lady Gill.

Exploring style: Enhancing the capacity to learn

"Unlimited capacity for love" - Grace Jones

A special issue of Education and Training: "Exploring style: Enhancing the capacity to learn"

This special issue features a selection of papers from the 12th Annual European Learning Styles Information Network Conference on the place of cognitive style in enhancing the capacity to learn. These papers discussed articulate various ways through the cognitive/learning style terminology conundrum to help facilitate advancements in educational practice in a meaningful and informed way. http://www.emeraldinsight.com/et.htm. Go to volume 50, issue 2.

I am interested by the learning styles debate and I am very glad to see this special issue offer an accessable way in to the current debate .

The Library and the Internet: Special Issue of On The Horizon

"Somewhere out on that horizon" - Joe Walsh (from The Warriors soundtrack)

A special issue of On The Horizon: “The Library and the Internet”

On the Horizon is the strategic planning resource for education professionals in the international post secondary and life-long learning arena. An environmental scanning journal, On the Horizon covers corporate universities, e-learning, private for-profit degree granting institutions as well as the traditional university. Areas include the business of education delivery, content and certification, as well as rules and regulations in areas such as institutions and intellectual property.

This special issue is devoted to new concepts and innovations in higher education, especially online, that may provide impetus for a paradigm shift. http://www.emeraldinsight.com/oth.htm. Go to volume 16, number 1, 2008. The papers include:

• Constructing the café university: teaching and learning on the digital frontier by Cornel J. Reinhart
• Can we talk? Course management software and the construction of knowledge by Carla R. Payne and Cornel J. Reinhart
• Adaptive individualization: the next generation of online education by Nish Sonwalkar

As program director for the MSc in Library and Information Management at the University of South Australia, I am always glad of the chance to keep up to date with progress in this area.

ICICTE 2008

"These miss you nights ... are the long nights" - Cliff Richard

Sadly we could not attend ICICTE this year as it was impossible to get plane tickets from Australia to Greece due to the Olympics. However, we were pleased to be woken up in the middle of the night by a phone call from Henk, Ken, Nancy and Nicole from the conference dinner. Even though you were eating Greek lamb on a balmy summer evening and we were huddled in a South Australia winter without central heating, we missed you guys.

I also missed my spars Asher and Mitch at ICICTE. However, I was unsuprised to learn that Asher has burned down his house in the country in order to move into a Tipee. Anyway, I hear he did a great job of presenting the paper by Shurville, Greener and Rospigliosi.

This year the ICICTE special issue of Campus Wide Information Systems will be edited by Dr Michael Henderson. Mike is already doing a superb job and I predict he will edit his own journal before we know it.

Some recent papers

"Now I believe this, and it's been proven by research ..." - Joe Strummer

Here are some recent publications and presentations:

• Shurville, S. and Owens, A. (in press). Always Coming Home: Applying Force Field Analysis as a Structured Approach to Eliciting Ongoing Organizational Contexts and Requirements for Flexible Learning. UCFV Research Review.
• Shurville, S., O’Grady, T., and Mayall, P. (2008). Educational and institutional Flexibility of Australian Educational Software. Campus-Wide Information Systems,Volume 25, Issue 2, pp 74-84.
• Scott, B., Shurville, S., Maclean, P. and Cong, C. (2007). Cybernetic Principles for Learning Design. Kybernetes, Volume 36, Issue 9/10, pp 1497 - 1514.
• Browne, T. and Shurville, S. (2007) Educating Minds for the Knowledge Economy. Journal of Organisational Transformation and Social Change, Volume 4, Issue 1, pp 3-12.
• Greener, S., Rospiglosi, A. and Shurville, S. (2007). Engaging from the Inside: Reflections on the Value of Social Cognitive Theory for Learning in Online Discussion. In the proceedings of the 2nd International Conference on e-Learning, Columbia University, New York, USA.
• Greener, S., Shurville, S. and Rospiglosi, A. (2007). The Value of Social Cognitive Theory in Online Discussion: Reflection via a Critical Incident repertory Grid. In the proceedings of the 7th International Conference of Information and Communications Technologies in Education, Crete, Greece.
• Shurville, S. and Browne, T. (eds.) (2007). A special double issue of the Journal of Organizational Transformation and Social Change on ICT-Driven Change in Higher Education (Part Two). Journal of Organisational Transformation and Social Change, Volume 4, Issue 1.
• Shurville, S. and Fernstrom, K. (eds.) (2007a). Special Issue of Campus Wide Information Systems on Global Educational Networks for the Common Good. Campus Wide Information Systems, Volume 24, Issue 3.
• Shurville, S. and Fernstrom, K. (2007b). From Rhodes to Global Educational Networks for the Common Good. Campus Wide Information Systems, Volume 24, Issue 3.
• Shurville, S. and Owens, A. (2007). Engaging Colleagues in Personal and Organizational Change via Force Field Analysis. In the proceedings of the 7th International Conference of Information and Communications Technologies in Education, Crete, Greece.
• Shurville, S. (2007) Successful ICT-Driven Change in Higher Education. Presented at International Hive User Group 3rd Annual Conference, Perth Western Australia.
• Browne, T. and Shurville, S. (2006). Initiating E-learning by Stealth at a Late Majority Institution. In Fernstrom, K. and Tsolakidis, K. (eds.) Proceedings of the 6th International Conference on Information Technologies in Education pp 101-106.
• Luckin, R., Shurville, S. and Browne, T. (2006). Initiating E-Learning by Stealth, Participation and Consultation in a Late Majority Institution. Journal of Organisational Transformation and Social Change, Volume 3, Issue 3, pp 317-332.
• Shurville, S. and Browne, T. (eds.) (2006a). A special double issue of the Journal of Organizational Transformation and Social Change on ICT-Driven Change in Higher Education (Part One). Journal of Organisational Transformation and Social Change, Volume 3, Issue 3.
• Shurville, S. and Browne, T. (2006b). Introduction: ICT-Driven Change in Higher Education: Learning from E-Learning. Journal of Organisational Transformation and Social Change, Volume 3, Issue 1, pp 245-250.
• Shurville, S., Simpson-Horn, G., Scott, B., Lee, M. P. and Harrison, A. (2006) Outcomes of the Periodic Review of an MSc in Knowledge Management Systems Taught via Flexible Learning. In Fernstrom, K. and Tsolakidis, K. (eds.) Proceedings of the 6th International Conference on Information Technologies in Education, pp 348-352.
• Scott, B. and Shurville, S. (2005). Epistemological Unification of the Disciplines: The Contributions of Socio- Cybernetics. In the proceedings of the Sixth European Congress on Systems Science Paris, France, September 19-22, 2005 (CD-ROM only).
• Shurville, S., Rospigliosi, A. and Scott, B. (2005). Innovative courses in E-Business Information Systems for SMEs. In Méndez-Vilas, A. , González-Pereira, B., J. Mesa González, J., and Mesa González, J.A. (eds.) Recent Research Developments in Learning Technologies. Published by FORMATEX, Badajoz, Spain, pp 160-164.
• Shurville, S. Lee, M., Scott, B. and Harrison, A. (2005). Design, Development and Delivery of an Innovative Blended MSc in Knowledge Management. In Hawamdeh, S. (ed.) Knowledge Management: Nurturing Culture, Innovation and Technology, Hackensack, NJ: World Scientific, pp 537-550.
• Shurville, S. and Williams, J. (2005). Managing In-House Development of a Campus-Wide Information System. Campus-Wide Information Systems, 22, 1, pp 15-27.

Where the copyright is kosher, these can be requested from me.