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This open access book presents contemporary perspectives on the role of a learning society from the lens of leading practitioners, experts from universities, governments, and industry leaders. The think pieces argue for a learning society as a major driver of change with far-reaching influence on learning to serve the needs of economies and societies. The book is a testimonial to the importance of 'learning communities.' It highlights the pivotal role that can be played by non-traditional actors such as city and urban planners, citizens, transport professionals, and technology companies. This collection seeks to contribute to the discourse on strengthening the fabric of a learning society crucial for future economic and social development, particularly in the aftermath of the coronavirus disease.

The provision of good library services is a crucial factor in determining the quality of distance education. This collection of articles acquaints readers with distance librarianship as it is practiced in developed and developing countries throughout the British Commonwealth. The reader includes: "Introduction" (Michael Wooliscroft); "Distance Librarianship: A Perspective" (Elizabeth F. Watson); "The Distance Learner, the Librarian and the Course Development Team" (Janet Jenkins); "Reaching the Remote Student" (Margaret Appleton); "Library Services to Distance Learners: Research and Operational Developments in a U.K. and European Context" (Peter Brophy, Deborah Goodall, and Peter M. Wynne); "Distance Learners and Library Use in Western Canada: the Findings of an Inter-university Survey" (Alexander L. Slade); "Library Services for the University of the West Indies Distance Students" (Beverley A. Steele); "The University of South Africa's Library Services to Distance Learners" (S. H. Behrens and L. M. Grobler); "Serving Learners in a Technical-Vocational Distance Education Programme: Issues for CAST in Jamaica" (Terrence Bobb-Semple); "Library Services to Distance Learners at Massey University: Some Management Issues" (Celia Bockett, Lucy Marsden, and Joan Pitchforth); "A Library Service to Distance Learners: What Should the Library Provide?" (Anthony K. Cavanagh and Joan Tucker); "Initiating the First Steps: the Use of Technology To Provide Library Services to Distance Learners in the Commonwealth Caribbean" (Linda Claudia de Four); "Rendering Equitable Library Services to Distance Learners in India: Problems and Prospects" (Neela Jagannathan); "Library Support--the Missing Link in Support Services at the Secondary Level for the Distance Learner in English-Speaking Africa" (Magnus John); "Providing Support Services for External B.Ed. Distance Learners Programme at the University of Nairobi" (Judith W. Kamau); "Information Technology and Libraries in Distance Education: Present and Future Prospects for India" (Uma Kanjilal); "Overcoming the Tyranny of Distance" (David Meacham and Margaret H. Macpherson); "Library Services for the Open University of Tanzania: Experiences of the First Year" (Geoffrey R. V. Mmari); "Library and Information Science Through Distance Education: the IGNOU Experience" (R. Satyanarayana); "Library Services to Students at a Distance: A Case Study of the University of Otago Library, Dunedin, New Zealand" (Hayley Solomon); "Open Library Information for Off-Campus Students: The Australian Scenario" (Marie-Therese Van Dyk); and "Factors Affecting the Provision of Library Services to Distance Learners: the Commonwealth Caribbean Experience" (Elizabeth F. Watson). (SWC)

This article presents a systems approach to RFID deployment in a supply chain from two perspectives: (1) RFID data-based decision-making at all levels of supply chain and (2) communications infrastructure necessary to provide seamless data and information flow. The main contribution of this article is highlighting the interconnection between these two perspectives and the fact that without tackling these issues simultaneously, no viable solution can be developed. Unlike typical articles in the literature, which solely highlight the potential advantages of RFID technologies, this article aims to provide an overview of the basic challenges of deploying RFID systems in supply networks. By providing visibility, effective RFID implementation in a supply chain can bridge the gap between the shop floor and higher level operations. Such a revolutionary concept changes the traditional "linear" structured supply chains into network-centric supply chains. Based on this concept, this article presents a wide range of RFID applications, ranging from shop floor control to inventory management, and discusses technical and research challenges. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One of the major costs of software development is associated with testing and validation of successive versions of software systems. An important problem encountered in testing and validation is memory aliasing, which involves correlation of variables across program versions. This is useful to ensure that existing invariants are preserved in newer versions and to match program execution histories. Recent work in this area has focused on trace-based techniques to better isolate affected regions. A variation of this general approach considers memory operations to generate more refined impact sets. The utility of such an approach eventually relies on the ability to effectively recognize aliases. In this paper, we address the general memory aliasing problem and present a probabilistic trace-based technique for correlating memory locations across execution traces, and associated variables in program versions. Our approach is based on computing the log-odds ratio, which defines the affinity of locations based on observed patterns. As part of the aliasing process, the traces for initial test inputs are aligned without considering aliasing. From the aligned traces, the log-odds ratio of the memory locations is computed. Subsequently, aliasing is used for alignment of successive traces. Our technique can easily be extended to other applications where detecting aliasing is necessary. As a case study, we implement and use our approach in dynamic impact analysis for detecting variations across program versions. Using detailed experiments on real versions of software systems, we observe significant improvements in detection of affected regions when aliasing occurs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the standard model that characterize individual decision making, loss aversion and narrow framing (LANF). It states that LANF makes individuals react to situations with inferior decisions. It mentions that institutions are expected to develop, train and educate individuals to lessen the impact of LANF in whatever decisions they make.