The Otago Museum, Dunedin, has a collection of over 150 cuneiform tablets. This paper describes t... more The Otago Museum, Dunedin, has a collection of over 150 cuneiform tablets. This paper describes the background of the collection and presents a brief analysis of two tablets from the collection, one historical and the other mathematical. The Otago Museum, on the campus of Otago University in Dunedin on the South Island of New Zealand, holds one of the most important collections of cuneiform texts in the Southern Hemisphere. To date, though, only one text in the collection has been published, that being an Old Babylonian childbirth incantation by Farber (1984). In 1997, Larry Stillman visited the museum for a brief inspection of the collection and subsequently alerted Wayne Horowitz to the potential importance of the collection. In September 2013 they visited the Otago Museum to begin a study of the collection as part of the Cuneiform Texts in Australian and New Zealand Collections (CANZ) project that intends to publish the cuneiform texts held in Australian and New Zealand collections.
Through the lens of a case-study, this paper outlines some of the problems that arise when implem... more Through the lens of a case-study, this paper outlines some of the problems that arise when implementing ethics requirements in vulnerable communities. There is a mismatch between positivistic ethics norms and those required in the field. In the case study described here, researchers used a community-based participatory research design to study the impact of an ICT intervention on a group of largely illiterate, low status elderly woman in a rural village in the North West province of South Africa. The case study highlights some of the ethical and practical issues that were faced by the researchers who were from a professional research institute. The study consequently provides novice and experienced ICT4D researchers alike with a deeper understanding of the unique actions and choicesand inevitable uncertainties, complexities and compromisesthat can arise when addressing ethical issues such as informed consent, which is necessary to obtain legitimised entry into a traditional community.
The goal of this project was to enable community service organizations (CSOs) to significantly im... more The goal of this project was to enable community service organizations (CSOs) to significantly improve their organizational technological expertise and their ability to transmit that expertise to their clients - ultimately empowering both. Doing IT Better was a three-year project conducted by Monash University, in partnership with the Victorian Council of Social Service (VCOSS) to build information and communications technology (ICT) capacity in the Victorian community service sector. It was established in recognition that CSOs are now dependent on ICT systems — in the same way as government and commercial organizations — to support basic organizational functions and service delivery. However, limited financial resources and a shortage of ICT skills and know-how in the sector have left most agencies struggling. The project was premised on the understanding that improved ICT capacity will improve organizational efficiencies, enabling more resources to be directed to the community ser...
This thesis was scanned from the print manuscript for digital preservation and is copyright the a... more This thesis was scanned from the print manuscript for digital preservation and is copyright the author. Researchers can access this thesis by asking their local university, institution or public library to make a request on their behalf. Monash staff and postgraduate students can use the link in the References field.
Based on work in Australia, this paper offers explanatory theories about how welfare workers deal... more Based on work in Australia, this paper offers explanatory theories about how welfare workers deal with contradictions between the rationalising 'informationalization' of welfare system governance and the demands of people-centred welfare practice, or 'technologies of care'. While the situation in Australia with respect to the relationship between government, funders and welfare workers may not be mirrored in other places, the learnings from the studies used to form these views are relevant for the development of local research, insights and practice. Due to the unequal power relationship between funders and community or welfare workers, ICT systems governmentality is privileged over the more fluid and less controllable process of welfare practice. In the tension between governmentality through information systems and the practice of contingent and narrative-based welfare, there are there are clear social-technical effects to be recognized. These include what can be c...
The Otago Museum, Dunedin, has a collection of over 150 cuneiform tablets. This paper describes t... more The Otago Museum, Dunedin, has a collection of over 150 cuneiform tablets. This paper describes the background of the collection and presents a brief analysis of two tablets from the collection, one historical and the other mathematical. The Otago Museum, on the campus of Otago University in Dunedin on the South Island of New Zealand, holds one of the most important collections of cuneiform texts in the Southern Hemisphere. To date, though, only one text in the collection has been published, that being an Old Babylonian childbirth incantation by Farber (1984). In 1997, Larry Stillman visited the museum for a brief inspection of the collection and subsequently alerted Wayne Horowitz to the potential importance of the collection. In September 2013 they visited the Otago Museum to begin a study of the collection as part of the Cuneiform Texts in Australian and New Zealand Collections (CANZ) project that intends to publish the cuneiform texts held in Australian and New Zealand collections.
Through the lens of a case-study, this paper outlines some of the problems that arise when implem... more Through the lens of a case-study, this paper outlines some of the problems that arise when implementing ethics requirements in vulnerable communities. There is a mismatch between positivistic ethics norms and those required in the field. In the case study described here, researchers used a community-based participatory research design to study the impact of an ICT intervention on a group of largely illiterate, low status elderly woman in a rural village in the North West province of South Africa. The case study highlights some of the ethical and practical issues that were faced by the researchers who were from a professional research institute. The study consequently provides novice and experienced ICT4D researchers alike with a deeper understanding of the unique actions and choicesand inevitable uncertainties, complexities and compromisesthat can arise when addressing ethical issues such as informed consent, which is necessary to obtain legitimised entry into a traditional community.
The goal of this project was to enable community service organizations (CSOs) to significantly im... more The goal of this project was to enable community service organizations (CSOs) to significantly improve their organizational technological expertise and their ability to transmit that expertise to their clients - ultimately empowering both. Doing IT Better was a three-year project conducted by Monash University, in partnership with the Victorian Council of Social Service (VCOSS) to build information and communications technology (ICT) capacity in the Victorian community service sector. It was established in recognition that CSOs are now dependent on ICT systems — in the same way as government and commercial organizations — to support basic organizational functions and service delivery. However, limited financial resources and a shortage of ICT skills and know-how in the sector have left most agencies struggling. The project was premised on the understanding that improved ICT capacity will improve organizational efficiencies, enabling more resources to be directed to the community ser...
This thesis was scanned from the print manuscript for digital preservation and is copyright the a... more This thesis was scanned from the print manuscript for digital preservation and is copyright the author. Researchers can access this thesis by asking their local university, institution or public library to make a request on their behalf. Monash staff and postgraduate students can use the link in the References field.
Based on work in Australia, this paper offers explanatory theories about how welfare workers deal... more Based on work in Australia, this paper offers explanatory theories about how welfare workers deal with contradictions between the rationalising 'informationalization' of welfare system governance and the demands of people-centred welfare practice, or 'technologies of care'. While the situation in Australia with respect to the relationship between government, funders and welfare workers may not be mirrored in other places, the learnings from the studies used to form these views are relevant for the development of local research, insights and practice. Due to the unequal power relationship between funders and community or welfare workers, ICT systems governmentality is privileged over the more fluid and less controllable process of welfare practice. In the tension between governmentality through information systems and the practice of contingent and narrative-based welfare, there are there are clear social-technical effects to be recognized. These include what can be c...
Published here for the first time is the jewel of the cuneiform tablet collection of the Otago Mu... more Published here for the first time is the jewel of the cuneiform tablet collection of the Otago Museum in Dunedin, New Zealand. This tablet, E2014.62 preserves a rather unique exemplar of the medico-magical corpus. The obverse gives prescriptions against Lamaštu while the reverse preserves what seem to be a related ritual and accompanying incantations. The very bottom of the reverse provides a drawing of a human-type figure with a goat-like head, which we tentatively identify with " an oath with the feet of a goat ". Otago Museum E2014.61 is a unique member of the med-ico-magical corpus that is related in some manner to the Lamaštu group of texts. The tablet is found in the collections of the Otago Museum in Dunedin, on the South Island of New Zealand. This collection is now being published by a joint project of the Otago Museum and the CANZ Project (Cuneiform in Australia and New Zealand) under the direction of Luis Siddall and Wayne Horowitz.2 1 The edition is by PZ and WH, the commentary is mostly the work of PZ with assistance from WH. The authors also thank W. Farber, J. Fincke, and especially M. Geller and the Keilschriftmedizin Seminar for their insights into the tablet, its text, and drawing. To steal a phrase, it often takes " a village " to publish a new collection of cunei-form tablets of the quality of those at Otago. We thank all of those, including the above, who have graciously given of their time helping us to publish the Otago tablets in a timely and responsible manner.
The application of the Living Lab (LL) approach to social-technical innovation to the Digital Doo... more The application of the Living Lab (LL) approach to social-technical innovation to the Digital Doorway Initiative in the informal settlement of Zandspruit near Johannesburg is outlined in the context of the initiative's evolution from an educational project to a broader community innovation initiative. The relationship between different stakeholders is explored in a theoretical and practical sense as a future research and practice challenge for both the study of ICTs in society (in this case, a poor community), and the fostering of community-driven innovation. The activity also offers a research challenge for understanding the cultural transformations that are necessary for bringing about more effective integration between technical and social-technical viewpoints about design and research in a social context. Current and projected community-based research activities are also outlined, including the development of a project in Australia for high-needs indigenous communities.
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Papers by Larry Stillman