Internet commentary

Citation

Andrew, A.M. (1999), "Internet commentary", Kybernetes, Vol. 28 No. 3. https://doi.org/10.1108/k.1999.06728caa.008

Internet commentary

Keywords Cybernetics, Internet

Abstract Comments on the Internet, giving details of new facilities and provisions that are of specific interest to systemists and cyberneticians. They include: Radical constructivism, ID21 news.

Radical constructivism

A new discussion list on this topic was announced in a message circulated to the CYBCOM list on January 10, 1999. The aim is to explore the contributions of notable workers under this heading. For an exposition of the meaning of the term, see von Glaserfeld (1995).

Anyone wishing to join the list is invited to submit an introductory note of 100 words, or longer if desired. This may contain a description of constructivism-related projects and publications, and/or general reasons for interest in the topic. The note should be sent to the list maintainer, Alex Riegler, at the e-mail address: ariegler@univie.ac.at. Alternatively, a form to be completed can be found at the Website: http://www.univie.ac.at/cognition/constructivism/list.html. According to the fuller description at the Website, "Its topics cover theory, applications and publications that deal with radical, epistemological and educational constructivism, autopoiesis and second order cybernetics. Typical proponents of constructivism are (among others) Ernst von Glaserfeld, Heinz von Foerster, Humberto Maturana, Francisco Varela, Jacob von Uexkuell, Gordon Pask and George Kelly."

ID21 news

This very useful news service is available either by browsing a Website or by e-mail. The acronym is an abbreviation of: "Information for Development in the 21st Century". The following description is from a message circulated to the cyberspace-and-society list last November:

Welcome to ID21: the new Development Research reporting service. Academics, consultants and NGOs (Non-Government Organisations) based in the UK produce a constant stream of development research findings. Yet all too often, those who make or implement development policy are unaware of this new information and its policy implications. Recent developments in information technologies can help to bridge this knowledge gap. The UK Department for International Development is backing an Internet-based system which links development research and researchers directly to policy makers and development practitioners around the world through a new Website. Hosted by the Institute of Development Studies, the initiative is known as ID21 ­ or Information for Development in the 21st Century. Its key feature is a searchable online collection of short, one-page (500-word) digests of the latest social and economic research studies across 30 key topic fields.

ID21 is online at the address: http://www.id21.org The collection contains hundreds of policy-relevant research digests on critical global development issues, drawn from over 40 major UK-based economics and social studies departments and think-tanks, together with a wide range of NGO research departments and consultants.

Another way to keep in touch is to subscribe to the e-mail newsletter called ID21NEWS. This gives regular updates about additions to the ID21 collection, with a short summary of each. The summary is followed by what is described as a "clickable Web-link" allowing direct connection to the full text of the item on the Web, more conveniently than navigating a series of Web pages.

An alternative system allowing users to request full texts to be sent automatically via e-mail is being developed. The "clickable Web-link" facility can of course only be effective if the user's e-mail software and Web browser are suitably linked, but even without this the extended Web address, referring to the required page of the Website, is convenient.

The instructions for subscribing to ID21NEWS are a little different from those for most automatic list servers, in that the message: subscribe id21news ­ has to be in the subject field of the message rather than its main body (and similarly for unsubscribing). The contents of the body part are unimportant, but since some e-mail software does not allow a blank message, a single word or letter can be inserted. The message should be sent to the address: id21news@ids.ac.uk

ID21News Issue No. 19

The contents of this issue, dated January 11, 1999 (the latest at the time of writing this Commentary), illustrate the relevance of the material covered, not only for social scientists and people concerned with development, but for general news interest. Three new items announced in this issue are:

1. 1.

   Hidden assets? Measuring the performance of non-governmental organisations.

2. 2.

   Counting the real cost. The long-term effects of natural disaster in South-east Asia.

3. 3.

   British researchers' hot solutions to hot-money crises.

The first of these is contributed by a development worker currently in Lusaka, Zambia, and the summary is as follows:

How should we rate the performance of NGOs (non-governmental organisations) as aid and development agencies? Do existing evaluations reflect their real or most vital strengths and shortcomings? Research conducted on behalf of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) by Finland's Ministry of Foreign Affairs probed 13 cases from around the world in which NGOs formed the subject of evaluations. It found little consensus on which methods for impact assessment stand out as the most revealing or reliable. And despite growing demand from all quarters for more and better monitoring and evaluation studies, the signs are that awareness of the true impact of NGO-run development projects remains sketchy.

The full text can be found by opening the Website mentioned earlier and following links, or by inserting the extended address: http://www.id21.org/static/8cls3.htm to go straight to the relevant page. The author of the item is R. Riddell, and in the news issue a postal address is given, along with phone and fax numbers and the e-mail address: r.riddell@pop3.zamnet.zm

The second item is contributed by a member of the Overseas Development Institute, London, and the summary is as follows:

The cost of a natural disaster is too often measured only in terms of immediate financial losses. An Overseas Development Institute (ODI) study examines long-term effects of disaster in relation to three case studies in Fiji, the Philippines and Vietnam. Does the impact of a natural disaster on a country vary according to its state of economic development? Do economic factors influence preparedness for and response to disaster? And do economic planners fail to take the risk of natural disaster sufficiently into account? The study report concludes that disaster prevention and preparedness measures, including simple and cheap public education campaigns, offer big humanitarian and economic gains.

The full text can be found by inserting the extended address: http://www.id21.org/static/10ask4.htm and the author can be reached using the e-mail address cbenson321@aol.com

The third item is contributed by a member of the Panos Institute, London, and the summary is as follows:

Researchers at the UK Institute of Development Studies (IDS) have come up with new suggestions to prevent the kind of market volatility and swings that have led to the recent Southeast Asian financial crisis. Instead of merely blaming "crony capitalism" ­ as Western governments do ­ they want regulations to be imposed in the countries where private investments originate. Special feature from ID21 and the Panos Institute.

The full text, which refers particularly to events in Bangkok, can be found by inserting the extended address: http://www.oneworld.org/panos/ news/36DEC98.HTM The author is Teena Gill of the Panos Institute, London, which can be reached using the e-mail address panos@panoslondon.org.uk (The Panos Website, at: http://www.oneworld.org/panos has many other interesting items and is well worth browsing.)

These three recent additions to the ID21 collection illustrate its wide coverage and relevance to current events, and confirm the usefulness of the automatic list server in allowing users to "keep in touch without really trying" (as it was expressed in one of the information sources for the UK Mailbase).

Alex M. Andrewe-mail: AlexAndrew@compuserve.com

Reference

von Glaserfeld, E. (1995), Radical Constructivism: A Way of Knowing and Learning, The Falmer Press, London (reviewed in Kybernetes, Vol. 24 No. 9, 1995, pp. 68-71).