Evaluation Of Online Encyclopaedias English Language Essay

Evaluation Of Online cyclopaedias position Language EssayThis report evaluates the capabilities of three online cyclopaedias Wikipedia, Free Online encyclopedia Britannica and Encyclopaedia Ameri atomic number 50a. The evaluation is ground on the APPARATUS assessment method that atomic number 18 given over weights agree to their relative importance to search capabilities, mental objects , used materials references credentials of author(s). The Encyclopaedias ar appraised establish on these the APPARATUS assessment and the ratings tabulated at the end of the report to facilitate comparison.2. IntroductionIn this report, we evaluated the APPARATUS assessment of three online Encyclopaedias Wikipedia, Free Online Encyclopaedia Britannica and Encyclopaedia Americana. The evaluation focus on the following criteria ,Authority Objectivity 2) Purpose 3) Physical Production 4) Arrangement 5) Recency 6) the true 7) Treatment 8) Users 9) ScopeThese criteria were weighed according t o their relative importance to APPARATUS assessment . Ratings from 1 to 4 were assigned to respective features and tabulated.WikipediaWikipedia is an online free- circumscribe encyclopedia that drug users can edit and contri excepte to. Jimmy Wales, wikipedia co- pieceer, has pronounced Wikipedia as an perspiration to create and distribute a multilingual free encyclopaedia of the highest quality to every single person on the planet in his or her give birth language. Wikipedia is to bring knowledge to everyone who seeks it.BritannicaEncyclopdia Britannica has been the worlds most valued reference source for over two centuries. Today Britannica provides a frame of products, intended to fit diverse users needs.If users want the full 32-volume Encyclopdia Britannica, an encyclopaedia for younger users, or educational t distributivelying materials, Britannica provides an appropriate resource with features and enhancements.Encyclopaedia AmericanaAmericana is one of the commodio usst public encyclopaedias in the English language. followers the acquisition of Grolier in 2000, the encyclopaedia has been produced by Scholastic. It has articles on natural and exact sciences, on engineering and economics, in addition to on separate works of literature, music, and art. legion(predicate) articles in the encyclopaedia are write from anti-Marxist and anti-communist viewpoints. As a rule it contains instructive articles, but thither are alike analysis articles most frequently about separate countries and centuries-for example, the articles The 18th Century and The 20th Century.Authority and ObjectivityWikipediaWikipedia is an online free-content encyclopaedia that users can edit and contribute to. Jimmy Wales, wikipedia co-founder, has pronounced Wikipedia as an effort to create and distribute a multilingual free encyclopaedia of the highest quality to every single person on the planet in his or her own language. Wikipedia is to bring knowledge to everyone who seeks it. Wikipedia articles are each(prenominal) free content and their text is covered by the Creative Commons Attribution-Sharealike 3.0 Unported License (CC-BY-SA) and in most cases the gnu Free Documentation License (GFDL). The Wikimedia Foundation does not own writeright on Wikipedia article texts and illustrations. It is purposeless to email our contact addresses asking for approval to copy articles or images, even if rules at users company or school or organization order that user ask web site operators before copy their content. The only Wikipedia content users should contact the Wikimedia Foundation about is the trademarked Wikipedia/Wikimedia logos, which go away not be freely usable without permission. Wikipedia is available in languages former(a) than English. Wikipedia has more than(prenominal) than two hundred and eighty languages, including a Simple English version, and connect projects include a dictionary, books, and scientific reference sources, quotations manuals and a news serve (see baby projects). All of these are main(prenominal)tained, updated, and managed by separate communities, and often include education and articles that can be hard to find through other common sources.BritannicaThe tower board is organized more than four thousand expert contributors, and the articles are written and continuously updated by a hundred full time editors. The authors, compilers, and editors are coming from different backgrounds like Nobel Laureates or Pulitzer Prize winners, expecting writers, artists, civil servants, scholars and activists. Some contributors in the record of the Britannica include Freud, Russell, Marie Curie, Einstein, Huxley and Shaw. Nowadays, the contributors are professors and domain experts in specific areas from Oxford, Harvard, Yale, University of kale and other reputable universities. Some contributors introduced their personal negative opinion on topics such as Hinduism so that the articles on Britannica concu r some cultural bias. A quote of the 11th edition will better assistant to understand these biases. The 9th edition onwards, the Britannica was widely considered to consecrate the greatest potential of any frequent English language encyclopaedias especially because of its broad coverage and distinct or outstanding authors.Encyclopaedia AmericanaAll articles are signed by the author, a leading authority in his/her field, chosen by a team of editors and advisors. Americana is one of the largest general encyclopaedias in the English language. This series has more than 45000 articles, most of them more than 500 lyric poem and many running to considerable length (the United States article is over 300,000 words). The works coverage of American and Canadian geography and archives has been a conventional strength. The Encyclopaedia Americana is written by over 6000 contributors, and most articles are signed by their contributors. Controversial subjects are included with several refer ences for abortion, homelessness, and homosexuality. The editors have striven for a match and objective viewpoint on all topics.PurposeWikipediaWikipedias purpose is to benefit readers by acting as an encyclopaedia, a comprehensive written compendium that includes information on all branches of knowledge. The goal of Wikipedia is to build a free encyclopaedia indeed, the largest encyclopaedia in history, not only in terms of breadth but withal in terms of depth and also want Wikipedia to be a reliable resource. The purpose of an encyclopaedia is to gather knowledge spread near the globe to express its general system to the men with whom we live, and broadcast it to those who will come after us, so that the work of prior centuries will not survive useless to the centuries to come and so that our children, becoming better instructed, will at the same time become more worthy and happy, and that wiki cannot die without having provided a service to the human race. Many yackors come to Wikipedia to acquire knowledge, while others come to share knowledge. At this very moment, dozens of articles are being superior, and new articles are also being created.BritannicaThe purpose of the online encyclopaedia Britannica is to be an beautiful reference and to provide academic materials to students and investigateers. For academic institutions, libraries, and corporations, Britannica provides Encyclopdia Britannica Online, a wealth of trusted, wide-ranging resources intended especially for stark researchers. This widely varied set of powerful resources makes Encyclopdia Britannica Online an essential addition to every academic, corporate, and research library. Encyclopdia Britannica Online School Edition presents Britannicas renowned educational resources in a student-friendly and zesty site designed especially for teachers and elementary, middle, and high school students. This unique resource brings together three encyclopaediasEncyclopdia Britannica, Britannica Stu dent Encyclopaedia, and Britannica Elementary Encyclopaediato meet the needs of a variety of reading levels. In addition, a section specifically for teachers provides worksheets to support effective use of the Internet in the classroom.Encyclopaedia AmericanaThe corporate purpose of Scholastic is to support the intellectual and personal growth of all children, beginning with literacy, the cornerstone of all learning. As well as more than 90 years of experience reenforcement the learning lives of children, today Scholastic remains committed to providing quality, engaging educational content in digital and impress formats for the next generation of learners, and the families and educators who guide them. This encyclopaedia is intended for use as a general reference resource in schools, colleges, and public libraries. No American bias is detected.Physical productionWikipediaAs for the largest Wikipedia, which is the English version, it includes around 3.8 jillion articles. All thes e documents are only in electronic format. Another feature of the toolbox is the Printable version. Use it whenever users want to print articles for a printer-friendly version of the article. Browsers (eg.Mozilla Firefox or Internet Explore) that will be familiar with the media print will automatically apply the printable version when printing with the default on Mono book style sheet. There are more than 8000 active contributors working on more than 19 million articles which is a really large number of articles. It can compare to another project by the cofounder of Wikipedia called Citizendum. Its the short for of citizen compendium and is another online encyclopaedia project with tighter editing rules and higher reliability overdue to a close interaction between authors and editors. This means that Citizendum contains more reliable information but way less content (about 16 thousand articles).BritannicaBritannica ordinarily prints a new set of the tomes every two years, but 201 0s 32-volume set will be its last. Instead, the company will focus only on its digital encyclopaedia and education tools. The online version of the encyclopaedia, which was first published in 1994, represents only 15% of Britannicas revenue. The other 85% is sales of education products online learning tools, curriculum products and more. Encyclopaedia Britannica brings to sudden stop of print consequence after 244 years. The print version of the Britannica was considerably more expensive than its competitors. In general, the Internet tends to provide more stream coverage than print media, due to the ease with which material on the Internet can be updated. encyclopaedia AmericanaToday, each year Americana released more than 600 titles for readers of all ages(0-18), in a variety of print and digital formats. Since 1926, when Scholastic published its first collection, Saplings, the Company has continued to release award-winning and best-selling books, ranging from beautifully-rendered titles for tots to holding reads that fascinate spheric audiences. Among those 600 are the amazingly successful publishing properties like harry Potter, and Captain Underpants, Goosebumps, The 39 Clues, the beloved series Clifford the Big Red Dog, I Spy, Bone, Fly Guy, darling America, Geronimo Stilton, The Magic School Bus, and The Hunger Games trilogy. The list of authors and illustrators consists of Tedd Arnold, Blue Balliett, Jim Benton, Meg Cabot, Patrick Carman, Suzanne Collins, Christopher Paul Curtis, Gordon Korman, Cynthia Lord, Ann M. Martin, Jon J Muth, Dav Pilkey, J.K. Rowling, Matthew Reinhart, Pam Muoz Ryan, Allen Say, Brian Selznick, David Shannon, Jeff Smith, Maggie Stiefvater, Mark Teague, and Walter Wick, among others a diverse list representing titles that span themes, ages, and geographies. Scholastic sell division also publishes licensed properties such as sentiency Wars, Rainbow Magic, Its Happy Bunny, Lego, Chuggington, and Bob have gots. Scholastic bo oks have a reputation for gathering accolades and awards (including Caldecott Medals, National Book Awards, currentbery Medals, and Coretta Scott King Awards) and topping bestseller lists year upon year, and include memorable titles and series like The Adventures of Super Diaper Baby, The Invention of Hugo Cabret, No, David, Allie Finkles Rules For Girls, How Do Dinosaurs Say Good Night?, Amulet, Star Wars A Pop-Up Guide to the Galaxy, Wonderstruck, Smile, The Underland Chronicles, The Baby-sitters Club, Owen Mzee, The Guardians of GaHoole series, Chasing Vermeer, Charlie Bone, Zen Shorts, and the Shiver trilogy. Nearly ten years later, on July 21, 2007, Scholastic published the much-anticipated seventh and final book in the series, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, making publishing history with a record-breaking 8.3 million copies sold in the U.S. in the first 24 hours. More than one hundred forty million copies of the Harry Potter books are in print in the United States mor e than 400 million copies have sold worldwide.ArrangementWikipediaWikipedia has a good starting point at the summary of a topic, but its greatest value is its colligate to outside sources. As for Britannica, its a pathetic bum of its old treeware self. Wikipedia also has many portals, which categorize content around topic areas our best portals are collected as feature portals. Articles can be found utilise the search box on the top-right side of the screen. A representative article contains a main page, titled on the definite topic (I.e., UNESCO) and a second page is accessible to discuss the topic with other users. These pages can be read, edited or one can access the editing history. On the main article page, there is a short introduction on the topic, organized by a table of content that work as hyperlinks. To pompousness articles, users can type a search in the search field or browse through the lists that include lists of countries and territories, of people, by nationali ty, by occupation. It also has alphabetical indexes sorted by the first two letters of the title modified by subject or special categories. to each one subpart includes an edit button so everything can be edited. Paragraphs contain several hyperlinked terms to further extend the information someone can get on the topic or related issues. The last part of the page is a list of reference, then external links and related articles. One of the lesser users known, especially useful, techniques for researching with Wikipedia is the effective use of the What links here link which is on the left side of the screen, as the first item in the box marked toolbox. This link will contribute users a complete list of other Wikipedia articles that link to the current article. Even if the article user are looking at is a stub or, more extraordinarily, if it is a blank article, several related articles may be easily accessible through this feature. Sometimes these backward links will show users ways in which the article users started from is incomplete in one area or another. An refering feature is a list of timelines (centuries, decades or the major events in a given year). It is remarkable to mention that there is no advanced search option but only a single option less normal search. Changes can be viewed at the recent changes page and a random page at random articles. Over 3,500 articles have been designated by the Wikipedia community as feature articles, exemplifying the best articles in the encyclopaedia. Another 15,000 articles are designated as good articles. Some information on Wikipedia is organized into lists the best of these are designated as featured lists.BritannicaThe Britannica includes 33 volumes. It separated into three main sections volumes from 1-12 (Micropedia) which covered the short articles set (less than 750 words) that focuses on ready reference questions. Volumes from13-29 (Macropedia) containing longer articles (2+ pages) with more in-depth informa tion. Volume 30 (Propedia), a one volume covers 10parts of knowledge (Matter and energy, The Earth and life on it, Human life, Human society, Arts, Technology, Religion, History of mankind, and Branchesof Knowledge) , this volume summaries of contains all human knowledge.The topic in each section in (Micropedia, Macropedia) arranged alphabetically letter by letter. This Britannica is connected with facebook, twitter, youtube, newsletters, RSS, Widgets. When I browsed through the articles, each EB article was overwhelmed by as many as 8 Airtel ads per page, depending on the length of the article/page. If users would like to avoid ads, sign up for a subscription form. There is a normal search and an advanced search. If we want to narrow down or broaden the results, the advanced search option uses Boolean operator like AND, OR, NOT, using other options. In the field of research tools users can change different options such ascompare countries, this day in history, timeline, world atlas , world data analyst. There is also a shine up section, where we can see the special features of the encyclopaedia. Each list has its own features, so for the videos, images audio list, the requested result is displayed including naturally images, audio recordings and video files so that user can comprehend the topic more easily. Users can contribute to their browsing history, relating articles in terms of type, description, date, and contributor. Users can get information about the primary contributors and other contributors in the list of contributor. It is also possible to browse a dictionary or thesaurus to search the meaning of words. In the last part, widgets shows information of history of event and people related to the requested article and various date. The results are also displayed like a table of contents, where users can conveniently select the sub-menu of their survival of the fittest for a more efficient browsing. An interesting feature is that the author of the a rticle can give his or her purpose to the readers. Indeed, the online encyclopaedia Britannica academic edition have got the teachers choice award, 2007 2008 SIIA CODiE winner because of its structured and organized contents, secure environment for internet research, and neutral perspectives (as we mentioned this neutral perspective is subject to discussion).Encyclopaedia AmericanaArticles are composed of alphabetically, using the word-by-word system. If two or more articles have the same heading they are ordered by person, place, and thing. Each entry begins with a large bold-faced heading, and may be further sub-divided by smaller bold-faced sub-headings. Longer articles include a contents box for quicker searching, with an information highlights box. Cross-references may be provided in the text or at the end ofarticle. A bibliography is included at the end of an article when appropriate. Users can choose among five customized interfaces that meet specialized needs and the readin g and interest levels of the user. The five interfaces are 1) Elementary School interface 2) Middle School interface 3) High School interface 4) Adult Patron interface 5) Librarians/Educators interface. Each interface composes of features and returns search results based on reading levels tied to three core differentiated domains Elementary School, Middle School, and High School/Adult Patron. A pronunciation key and a list of abbreviations used in the encyclopaedia are included at the beginning of each volume.Recency (Currentness)WikipediaIn October 2012, there are editions of Wikipedia in 285 languages. It has become the largest and most popular general reference work on the Internet, standing sixth globally among all websites on Alexa and having an estimated 365 million readers worldwide. In 2011, Wikipedia received an estimated 2.7 billion monthly page views from the United States alone. Wikipedia has taken a great deal of criticism in the press for problems relating to the trust worthiness of its authors and its general responsibility.BritannicaMany people know Britannica as the publishing firm of those big multivolume encyclopaedias that have been a source of joy and learning since 1768. Today that encyclopaedia is chiefly to be found in a multitude of digital forms that are updated daily. The online encyclopaedia Britannicas home page is updated every day with the breaking news and revised articles from New York Times. Britannica also marks the contribution of users by presenting the comments they left on articles. The updating of the content is subject to the editorial boards policy. The updating are quite fast and the content is revised more regularly than the printed version. Now Britannia is also available as Online School Edition, so its not completely behind Wikipedia. Today this Britannica extremely grow with schools, parents, and educators, designing products for the 21st-century classroom and todays home learning environments. Britannica is a c reator in digital education, and their products are marked by engaging and reliable content. Encyclopedia Britannica Inc, have announced that it will stop publishing its 32-volume print edition (retail value $1400) after 244 years, and instead focus on its digital versions. The Encyclopaedia Britannica is a general knowledge book brought out first in three volumes in 1768 by three people.Encyclopaedia AmericanaToday, Scholastic is the largest publisher and distributor of childrens books in the world, with a collection of titles that entertain and support childrens wide-ranging interested and stages of reading development. Whether its a graphic novel or a board book, a future dystopian setting or a look back in history, our books help young readers explore their imaginations and become lifelong lovers of books. Information is up-to-date for the time of publication.AccuracyWikipediaWikipedia has taken a number of positive steps to help develop and maintain the trueness and objectivit y of Wikipedia entries. Its important to note that Wikipedia articles are in a state of constant flux and there is the potential for vandalization. Wikipedia with an open reputation has directed to various concerns, such as the quality of writing, the amount of vandalism and the accuracy of information. Some articles have unconfirmed or unreliable information, although a 2005 investigation in Nature presented that the science articles they compared came close to the level of accuracy of Encyclopdia Britannica and had a convertible rate of serious errors. Wikipedia had a rule against using original research that some claim discourages participation by scholars and experts. Nevertheless, those same scholars and experts are able to introduce in the writing of articles and linking to supporting documents on the web. Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales has always maintained that the service and its community are set up a self-policing and self-cleaning nature that is supposed to ensure its articles are stainless.BritannicaSince the articles are written by professors and experts from in their respective fields we can confidently conclude that the content is accurate. It also is satisfactorily up-to-date. The time structure is also organized very well. In a press release, Jorge Cauz, President Encyclopaedia Britannica says Britannica Online includes abundant information along with gorgeous multimedia, and that makes it an excellent match for Bharti Airtels broadband service. There are eight serious errors, such as general misunderstandings of vital concepts, in the articles but users can find a series of factual errors, omissions or misleading statements. Wikipedia had 162 such problems, while Britannica had 123. The averages are 2.92 mistakes per article for Britannica and 3.86 for Wikipedia. Britannica came out looking a little bit more accurate than Wikipedia. the error rate for each encyclopaedia was not insignificant, and added that he thinks such numbers demons trate that broad review of encyclopaedia articles is needed. Britannica is more reliable than Wiki. However, the content is not necessarily in-depth. While searching for Singapore, the article does not mention the Marina Bay Sands or who the president is. In comparison, the recent marriage of Prince William is mostly covered.Encyclopaedia AmericanaThe 30 volume publication contains tens of thousands of articles written to serve the educational community as a bridge between the general reader and the specialist. Articles are accurately presented in easy to understand language, and are aimed at all learners and educators, from the young student to teachers and librarians. When an author is chosen to write an article, he/she is reminded that the objective of the publication is to present facts and interpretations to the non-specialist reader, as well as explain technical terms in an understandable manner. Before publication, each article is reviewed by the editors to ensure accuracy o f information and vocabulary, spelling and sentence structures that it satisfies these objectives. In the new edition, the Editor has make an afforded to limit the work to its legal purpose the presentation of knowledge with faithfulness and with learned objectivity, avoiding the promotion of theories and such discussions and protections as are wholly strange to the character and nature of an encyclopaedia. Every effort has been made to protect not only accuracy of statement but also fairness and correctness of view.TreatmentWikipediaThe editing guidelines also mention a manual of style that provides detailed guidance to help editors to use a reliable, clear and exact language and layout. It is recommended to avoid lingo or vague or unnecessarily complex wording. Usually if any jargon or concept is used in an article, it will be hyperlinked to the matching Wikipedia page on this term. Regarding as the importance of the term, it finally attains a Wikipedia article of its own, whic h is nearly always linked to. It is usually clarified with more known terms. There is no range of English specification except for quotations, proper names, titles of works such as books, films, or songs where the original spelling must be kept. Articles on precise comparison of variety of English can feature different spellings. In addition, the guidelines mention that several citation styles are possible, namely the main recognized styles such as APA or MLA. The users can also give a rate the article according to its perceived trustworthiness, objectivity, completeness and whether it was well-written, the user can also mention whether users are knowledgeable on the topic .BritannicaAs this encyclopedia have for many years, by cooperating with experts, scholars, educators, instructional designers, and user-experience specialists by subjecting their work to hard editorial review and by combining it all into learning products that are useful, reliable, and enjoyable. Each edition of the Britannica is written and updated by about 100 full-time editors and more than 4,400 contributors. It is regarded as one of the most scholarly of English language encyclopaedias and remained roughly the same size for the past tense 70 years, consisting of 40 million words on a half-million different topics. The current 15th edition, published in 2010, consists of 32 volumes a two-volume index, a 12 volume Micropaedia, and a 17 volume Propaedia. The online edition costs a lot less, with a basic subscription running at $17 per year or $1.99 per month, compared to $1,395 for the 32-volume print version. The company has been providing online editions of its encyclopaedia for 20 years, with more than 65% of its online sales coming from educational institutions the online edition is updated continually. The goal is to expand its appeal to consumers. With that move, Britannica is taking on Wikipedia. Although publication has been based in the United States since 1901, the Britannic a has maintained British spelling. Its three-volume first edition was published in 1768-71 in Edinburgh, Scot. In subsequent editions it grew in size and reputation. The most famous editions include the ninth (1875-89), known as the scholars encyclopaedia, and the 11th (1910-11), which, with contributions from more than 1,500 experts of world reputation, was also the first to divide the usually long treatises into more specified articles. The current edition, the 15th (1974, with a major revision in 1985), exemplified a new structure, dividing the major articles from the shorter ones. Encyclopdia Britannica now also appears in CD-ROM and on-line(a) versions. A series of ownership changes lead to its purchase by American publishers in 1901 since the 1940s it has been published in Chicago. Almost all articles are written in simple and widespread way, but particularly for the science and technology, users can see technological jargons, as this is addressed more to the educated users. It uses MLA and APA citation styles.Encyclopedia AmericanaThe index also lists thousands of entries for which there are no separate articles, but does provide listings of articles that cover the subject. In all cases, volume and page numbers are provided for easy look-up. In 1902 a new version in 16 volumes that carried over some of the old material was published under the title Encyclopaedia Americana, under the editorial supervision of Scientific American magazine. The magazines editor, Frederick Converse Beach, was editor-in-chief, to be assisted by hundreds of famous scholars and authorities who served as consulting editors or authors. The first publisher was R.S. Peale Co between 1903 and 1906 further editions were issued by the Americana Corp. and the Scientific American Compiling Department, with George Edwin Rines appointed managing editor in 1903. The relationship with Scientific American was terminated in 1911. From 1907 to 1912, the work was published as The Americana. A major new edition appeared in 1918-20 in 30 volumes, with George Edwin Rines as editor-in-chief. An Annual or Yearbook was also published each year beginning in 1923 and continuing until 2000.The sentence structure is very simple with easy understanding vocabulary. The meaning and simple sentence structure can clarify the complexity of expressed thoughts. It seldom use jargons words in the Americana.UserWikipediaWikipedia aims to be user friendly and accessible to all. The main resource is in English but if the user doesnt speak English, he or she can access it in another language, though the content will be more limited. The English text of the CC-BY-SA and GFDL licenses is the only legally binding restriction between authors and users of Wikipedia content. What follows is our interpretation of CC-BY-SA and GFDL, as it pertains to the rights and obligations of users and contributors.BritannicaThe online encyclopaedia Britannica is a general encyclopaedia so that it is not only tar geted to the intellectual levels such as students, teachers, librarians, and administrators but also targeted the kids. The Britannica websites are general audience sites, intended for Users (visitors and subscribers) of all ages. If a user is a California resident, he/she is entitled to prevent sharing of his/her personal information with third parties for his/her own marketing purposes through a cost-free means. If users send a request to Britannica Customer Service, Britannica will provide users with a California Customer Choice Notice that they may use to opt-out of such information sharing. Now all Airtel Broadband customers in India can take a 2 year free subscription to Encyclopaedia Britannica (worth Rs.6575). Specifically, there are three models for them students encyclopaedia (age 11 and above), childrens encyclopaedia (age 8-11), and thesaurus and dictionary. In the latter, articles to be browsed are subjects related to their curriculum. EB is absolutely the biggest autho ritative resource of information with over 100 million users. Users are able to visit many of website pages without informing who they are or revealing any information about themselves. Users contin

What Was Bps Strategy Prior To The Accident Business Essay

What Was Bps dodging Prior To The Accident Business EssayDeepwater Horizon was an offshore oil-rig set(p) in the Gulf-of- Mexico, owned by Transocean, leased by BP and deployed by Hyundai. 20th April 2010, during the drilling, a tear in the riser-pipe caused an uncontrollable leakage of petroleum, claiming 11 lives, injuring 17 others. The fervidness fed by the oilfield continued for next 36 hours causing the rig sunk ultimately. Dis assurement in the midst of different stakeholders caused a delay in winning measures to snare the oil-leakage. This leakage from the oil-field could only be stopped after 87 days, resulting approx 60,000 barrels/day of oil-leakage into the gulf-of-Mexico causing irreparable damage to naval and coastal ecosystem. Beaches bear closed, tourism and related business suffered, seafood was contaminated and oil killed marine-life across the US-coast. BP on Nov-12 agreed to plead guilty to 14 criminal acts related to this event and to bear $4.5 billion. Th e potential fine for the spill low the act is $1,100 to $4,300 a barrel spilled, (NY Times, 2013). This incident also triggered government, MNCs and purlieual agencies to agree upon and device stringent measures on modify the safety of offshore oil-rigs, safeguarding the environment, enhancing the post-disaster measures (OCS report, 2011).this incident damaged the strong portfolio value of BP apart from causing it immense financial loss. Preparedness is of utmost important, a process should be devised and actively in-place to tackle much(prenominal) disasters, in such an environment, strategies originate in formal plans (Mintzberg and Waters, 1995) precise intentions exist both government and MNCs , formulated and articulated by primordial leadership government, backed up by formal controls to ensure complete adherence by MNCs, to increase preparedness for disasters in an controllable or predictable manner- for the most part this approach converges towards planned-approach. Despite of BPs commitment towards maintaining readiness to respond on larger-scale, to minimize damaging-effect and facilitate mitigation activities- the order of the deepwater incident was enormous in magnitude and unprecedented which caught BP in its mitigating scheme-formulation. Environmental and social impact assessment is an inherent part of BP scheme (BP, 2013) which analyses the potential assay to environment and on human in the neighborhood of such establishments, though the state-of-art technologies BP failed to assess the risk of this oil-rig. BP lacked in the collaboration with all stakeholders in addressing this disaster. The traditional-way of aerial and satellite imagery in estimating the actual deep-underwater military position failed (Jernelov, 2010). Another failure of BP was to manage the media in restricting the exaggerated and conflicting facts spread across worldwide thus damaging BPs strong portfolio-value.Strategy Literature Re cycloramaWe can relate the concept of strategic space (Fiegenbaum Thomas, 1990) with the Deepwater-horizon disaster we would map as the first-step the characteristics of the business environment, termed as strategic space. Three dimensions, a) the levels of organisational strategy (e.g. US government and BP-corporate), b) the strategic decisions do process (e.g. scope, resource deployment), and c) the time period which defines the broad characteristics of the strategic space.First firms inquire to throne on a well-designed, skilfully-sound, and precise research, placed in spite of appearance a comprehensive framework covering initially the stable aspects of group behavior, then moves progressively to theory developing and testing of dynamic behavior (Fiegenbaum Thomas, 1990). MNCs and government need to join hand to invest on the study of this incident to identify the root-cause of this failure and then agree to devise put upd preventive measures for such future incidents. It is clear that tradition al countermeasures failed, which necessitates for a new approach of risk-management. In the aftermath of this, US govt is taking monumental measures to improve regulatory oversight on offshore drilling (OCS report, 2011). We can see competition as a dynamic process in which firms continually take actions to outperform each other (Rindova et al, 2010), once one competitor faces such disaster the other firm eagerly willing to take the advantage of the situation by airing negative campaign and aggressive advertisement e.g. as Shell did. During such disasters we can argue that a firms decisions as a series of competitive actions provides audience with necessary cues in framing impression about it, as well as comparing it to other players in the kindred market. Firms competitive actions thus act as a dynamic mechanism for firm specific reduction of ambiguity. Emergence period of such disaster on which we management is relatively short and creates a dynamic environment in which firm s BP need to make rapid changes in their strategies responding to the changing need of the ground-situation, Rindova et al (ibid). Deepwater-horizon or such incidents are huge in magnitude and poses significant capability to cause damage we need to introduce -out-of-the-box thinking and improvisation/innovation to devise strategies to skin with such situation the dynamic nature of such incidents requires prompt action taking capability in the terms of financial, technological resource.Insurance and reinsurance firms also come under scope during such incidents their risk evaluation process need to be enhanced and routine check-up should be stringent. Product diversification and size dimensions are two such aspects that needs close inspection while determining the value of such huge installations Fiegenbaum Thomas (ibid). Having a good strategy and right death penalty of the very(prenominal) is essential for a good-management (Thompson et al, 2012) all stakeholders need to contrive a well-defined strategy in-place to manage such disasters and absolute adherence is needed when calamities occur. The strategy need to be flexible exuberant to adept itself responding to the actual ground-situation feedback loop. A deliberately sudden approach might be useful Mintzberg Waters (ibid). MNCs need to be made responsible to adjust themselves during the unexpectedly tough business-environment by undertaking strategic defense and approaches that enables them to overcome the adversity Thompson et al, (ibid). But at the same time government also cant escape its responsibilities. Off course a good strategy is essential to obtain and sustain market-position strong enough so that the firm is capable to yield profitable financial performance despite unforeseen events/external factors e.g. disaster, natural calamity or potential competition.A review on BP StrategyWhat was BPs strategy prior to the accident?BP being a trusted company adheres to a higher set of standard s in everyday work (BP, 2011). Business doesnt occur in vacuum, the place and time is important (Parry et al, 2007)- stakeholder theory (Donaldson and Preston, 1995) emphasizes on considering all stakeholders in the environment in which firm operates not only the shareholders interest strategy-making. Several stakeholders and their competitive interest are associated with such huge installations. BP needs to respect this and maintain balance among all such groups while making their strategy. BP seemed to follow a deliberate approach until this event.BP states its objective as create value for shareholders (BP, 2011) it being a global MNC needs to be responsible towards environment and people in the region it operates. Safety remained top-priority for BP, when disaster happens BP needs to be flexible enough to response to the situation and devise measures to control the aftermath- we observed that they pass three days in discussing the approach. Constructive dialogue with all stak eholders and prompt action in such cases is needed. Government authorities, local-people, environmental-organizations, employee and shareholders, opinions from all should be considered during formulating the strategy which lacked in the case. This incident also shows that neither government nor BP was prepared to sustain such disaster this shows an obvious lack from BPs part in conducting appropriate risk assessment (OCS report, 2011). Experts conclude that this disaster could have been avoided, preparedness and prompt-action is pivotal in managing such disaster.Analysis of BP actions in light of the strategic frameworksResource based viewVRIO resources for BP is its strong portfolio value inimitable and rare, its technical expertise valuable and rare, financial and organisational strength valuable. BP has lost two of its VRIO resources, resulting from this incident its brand-value and financial-strength to pay the huge fine. BP lacked the technical-expertise to avoid the inciden t and then failed to restrict the leakage it lost its valuable and rare resources infrastructure, human life. The myth of inimitable technical expertise of BP and its strong portfolio value were shattered by the incident. It is a huge loss for a firm.Approach based viewBP followed a planned approach in addressing this unprecedented disaster and their lack of being flexible and adapting/enhancing strategy to mitigate this series of events caused the continuous oil-leakage for 87 days. They also lack the coordination with different stakeholders and discussions on approach prevented them three days to take measure. Consensus approach would have been primal Mintzberg Waters (ibid) as they need to take input from US government agencies, environmentalists and other lease-partners to devise the most appropriate damage control mechanism. Flexibility and artless communication would have been key in estimating the damage and make containment plains where BP failed in establishing consensu s and maintain transparency about the actual size of the disaster. A combination of emergent taking input from all stakeholders and Umbrella approach would have been reduce the damage. Ideological approach, Mintzberg Waters (ibid) where collective vision of all stakeholders are respected might have been useful.Five-Force analysisBP has strong supplier groups US government, Transocean, Hyundai they are few and supply highly differentiated products so they pose significant threat to the industry (Porter, 2008/1979). BP suffered here as in future these suppliers would either expel BP US govt already did a ban on future explorations by BP in US or impose stringent conditions. BP loses its takings capability directly affecting its market-share, posing a moderate threat to BP from strong buyer perspective. Substitutes and new-entrants are of minor threat solely rivalry is of major impact. Shell initiated aggressive campaign against BP after this incident, causing more damage to BP br and-value.Conclusions/RecommendationsIn our time protection of the environment is a priority and such environmental disasters have a huge impact created and multifold by media and environment agencies to damage the portfolio value of the Oil-MNC. Firms needed to justify their actions to all stakeholders including the valuable shareholders. Firms need to balance between profitability and right (Breeze, 2012) and demonstrate their adherence in a sustainable corporate social responsibility. Not only in their vision statement but also everyday acts. Assurance of human safety and environmental protection is pivotal for any industry such things remain sometimes neglected in leased oil-rigs, reforms is necessary both at the government layer imposing regulatory steps on quality-control and the firms internal decision-making process to ensure their political autonomy, technical expertise, and their full consideration of environmental protection (OCS report, 2011). Instead of one-sided blam ing MNCs for this disaster we need to equip ourselves from preventing such incidents to occur, suggestions Strengthen the collaboration between government-agencies and MNCs,Firms need to invest on RD to improve spill-response.Analyze the traditional measures to contain the spill and introduce upgrades both Firms and Govt. responsibleBP to invest to enhance its spill preparedness and control mechanisms locate on robust design, leakage measurement and containmentGovernment and BP need to ensure fair, transparent damage control and estimating mechanism.Restore the coastal wild life and marine food-chain, trust building measures need to taken by government to assure the seafood consumers.Firms and government need to establish stringent measures to safeguard the human-life on the rig and the rescue-staff. coarse term restoration of the marine life plan is needed from Government funded by BP to mitigate the irreparable loss of the coastal-life.Government should impose laws on the financi al responsibility of the firms operating in the area during such disasterSuch confidence-building measures would slowly but steadily improve the environmental situation of Mexican-Gulf and lessons learnt from this disaster would help firms to enhance their disaster preparedness. Disasters caused by blow-outs might occur in future too and investment needed to prevent such situation failsafe mechanism, if that fails capping of blow-out need to be do swiftly and relief-walls might be suitable to restrict the leakage, Jernelov (ibid). Consensus and umbrella approach, Mintzberg and Waters (ibid) where strategies originate/revolve around consensus- in such a multiparty environment reaching consensus is of utmost important, no stakeholder can devise/deploy strategy in single handed. Government needs to develop the boundaries of tolerance and impose safety-mechanisms, within which firms need to operate and periodic checking mechanism should be in place to ensure firms operate within their limits set by government. Corporate Social state determines the expected behavior of a firm towards its commitment to society and responsibility of conducts for environment BP needs to demonstrate this in their future plants.

Tower of Hanoi Solutions

Tower of Hanoi SolutionsIntroductionThe Tower of Hanoi is a puzzle popularized in 1883 by Edouard Lucas, a French scientist famous for his study of the Fibonacci sequence. However, this puzzles root are from an ancient legend of a Hindu temple. The legend states that there is a secret room in a hidden temple that contains leash large pegs. One of these poles has 64 golden books stacked upon it, each disk existence smaller then the disk underneath it, with the biggest disk at the bottom. Since the line of descent of time, monks have been trying to shift the 64 disks onto the third peg. The monks also shadower only transfer the disks if the following rules are followed. First, the monks can only move virtuoso disk at a time, and second, they cannot put larger disks on top of smaller disks. Once all 64 disks are shifted to the third peg, the world lead end. After encountering this puzzle (in a simpler form) at a science fair a couple years ago and seeing it occasionally until n ow instantly in an engineering classroom environment, I decided that this was the perfect opportunity to examine this puzzle at a deeper level.(A basic rendition of a 3 disk tower) AimMy aim is to explore the different prototypes that lead to the answer to the legend how much time would it tamp down for the world to end?Finding an best StrategyIn order to get closer to solving this puzzle, the goal will be to let the most efficient way to get 64 disks onto the third peg. To better grasp the mathematical concepts and patterns when solving the tower, it would be easier to look at a simpler version of the puzzle, such as the following 3 disk example.Binary Code (Standard Gray Code)We can relate the pattern seen above to binary code, specifically Standard Gray Code. Standard Gray Code is a binary numeral system where two successive values differ in only one (binary) digit. Using this method may bring us closer to being able to solve the 64 disk tower. If we relate the example in Fi gure 1 with Standard Gray Code, using 3 binary digits, we are left with something like this000Step 1001Step 2011Step 3010Step 4110Step 5111Step 6101Step 7100Step 8For example, Step 1 is shown by the three digits 000. The next step is 001, changing the digit that corresponds with the smallest disk, which means disk 1 is the first disk to move in the solution. And to continue, Step 2 is 011, showing that now the middle (second) disk is being moved. This method could lead us to the solution of a 64 disk tower, as it would show which disk to move however, the soil in this method is that even though the binary digits can show which disk has moved, it does not show where to move it. There are always two possibilities for each disk, and when we factor in the 64 other disks, the calculations get extremely tedious and suboptimal as a solution.Recursive PatternThe next viable solution is finding a recursive pattern to determine how many moves it would take to solve the puzzle, depending on the number of disks. A recursive pattern uses information from the previous step to find the next. In order to move n amount of disks from peg 1 to peg 3, we can again refer to Figure 1. The first step is transferring n-1 disks from peg 1 to peg 3. We assign a variable to the number of moves this takes, in this case, M. Next, transfer the middle disk to peg 2 (step 3) and finally, transfer the remaining disks from peg 3 to peg 2 (step 4). When you move n amount of disks to any peg, the number of moves will be the same, no matter which direction you choose to go.From this, we can find an equation to finding the moves needed for any number of disks 2M + 1, where M equals the number of moves needed to transfer n-1 disks from peg 1 to peg 2.This brings up another flaw to the problem. In order to find how many moves needed to transfer 64 disks, we also need to calculate the number of moves for 63, 62, 61, etc amount of disks as well. Because of this, the recursive pattern cannot be used to find the time it takes before the world ends. However, what the recursive pattern can do is generate numbers that lead into a non recursive pattern. of Disks of Moves2M + 1112(0) + 1 = 1232(1) + 1 = 3372(3) + 1 = 74152(7) + 1 = 155312(15) + 1 = 31From Table 2, we can see that the third column represents a geometric progression that can help us find a formula for a non-recursive pattern.Non-Recursive Pattern (Explicit Pattern)When looking back at Table 2, there is a direct correlation that can be made from the number of disks and the number of moves. Recognizing that there is a geometric progression, one could infer the pattern that is being used though the proponent of two. of Disks of Moves121 1 = 1222 1 = 3323 1 = 7424 1 =15525 1 =31Therefore the function to find the number of steps with any number of disks would be 2n 1, with n being the of disks.Just to further prove that 2n 1 is the correct function, we can graph 2n 1 and compare to the number of disks and moves in Table 2.It completely fits the data points, confirmative the relation between the points and the function. Now we can just plug in the function 264 1 = 590,000,000,000 yearsConclusionIn order to move 64 disks from the first peg to the third, the monks would need over 590 billion years, assuming that they can move one disk per second. The function 2n 1 was found by recognizing the geometric progressions in the recursive formula and using it in an explicit pattern. This function can be used to find the most optimal number of moves it would take to move any number of disks to the third peg.BibliographyBogomolny, Alexander. Tower of Hanoi. Tower of Hanoi. N.p., n.d. Web. 3 Mar. 2017. .Johnson, P. Sam, Recurrence Relations And Their Solutions (Problem Tower Of Hanoi), 2015 December 26, and 1/1. Information on Subsets of a Set. N.p., n.d. Web. 3 Mar. 2017. .Longman, Addison Wesley. Millers Mathematical Ideas, 9th Edition Web Site Chapter 4 Internet Project. Millers Mathematical Id eas, 9th Edition Web Site Chapter 4 Internet Project. Pearson Education, n.d. Web. 3 Mar. 2017.Math, Dr. bespeak Dr. Math FAQ Tower of Hanoi. Mathforum.org. Drexel University, n.d. Web. 3 Mar. 2017.

George Gray Essay -- essays research papers

George Gray George Gray is a poem about a man who missed out on many of breedings opportunities because he was so afraid of failure that he did not even try. He passed up love because he was afraid of being hurt, desire because he dreaded all(prenominal) the changes that came with it and sorrow because he feared the pain. The poem begins with George staring at his own gravestone and realizing that there was nothing special to be state about him because he had done nothing with his life. He looked back on his life and realized that it would be so much harder then to regain all of his missed opportunities. The whole poem was a metaphor using a boat to represent Georges life and at the end, he let the boat sail freely and be guided by the winds of destiny. He regretted all of the opportunities that he had missed and by the time he realized that he neer lived his life, it was too late to live it to its fullest. Therefore, life should be lived to its fullest so that when it is over, there are no regrets. So many people have ideas of things they want to do, whether they be business-related, something that scares them or even just asking someone else out on a date. Everyone has ideas about how they want to live their lives, but most people neer wind up following through. They are so afraid of failure or of looking bad that they run from any kind of challenge. Then posterior in life, when they realize that they had all these opportunities and never took ad...

Importance of St. Petersburg in Fyodor Dostoyevskys Crime and Punishme

Importance of St. Petersburg in Fyodor Dostoyevskys Crime and PunishmentFyodor Dostoyevskys Crime and Punishment explores the dangerous cause of St. Petersburg, a malignant city, on the mastermind of the impoverished student Raskolnikov. In this novel, Petersburg is more than just a backdrop. The city plays a central role in the development of the characters and the actions that they take. Raskolnikov survives in one of the cramped, dark spaces that are characteristic of Petersburg. These spaces are like coffins they suffocate Raskolnikovs mind. St. Petersburg creates a grotesque environment in which Raskolnikov can non only create the Overman Theory, but he can also carry it out by murdering a pawnbroker in cold blood, then justify his actions with the notion that society will be better off without her. Raskolnikov finds no relief outside of his cramped room the Petersburg climate is just as oppressive to the psyche as the cramped space of Raskolnikovs room. Not only is the outs ide air dangerous it forces him to find relief in the devils tavern. charm wandering the infernal streets of St. Petersburg, Raskolnikov enters the devils realm in the form of Petersburg taverns. These are evil places, where treacherous ideas of robbery and murder circulate. Raskolnikov overhears the twisted idea to knock down the pawnbroker inside one of these infested taverns. The malignant nature of the spaces in Petersburg allows Raskolnikov to embrace the Overman Theory and the Arithmetic of Morality. Raskolnikov justifies killing the pawnbroker because he concludes that it is rational, just, and pure arithmetic. One person must reveal so that the lives of numerous others may be saved. The Arithmetic of Morality appears logical to Raskolniko... ...turmoil. For Marmeladov, this leads to his self-destruction as an alcoholic, throwing his life and the life of his family away in taverns for Raskolnikov it causes him to murder dickens defenseless women, hoping to steal money th at can be used to help others. Both these men mean no harm by their actions, but their cramped, disjointed environment molds them into grotesque characters who seem to act not of their own will, but as though pulled through life by the forces of St. Petersburg. Works Cited Bely, Andrei. Petersburg. Trans. Robert A. Maguire and John E. Malmstad. Bloomington, IN Indiana University Press, 1978.Dostoyevsky, Fyodor. Crime and Punishment. New York Penguin Signet Classic, 1968.Gogol, Nikolai. The Overcoat. The Collected Tales of Nikolai Gogol. Trans. Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky. New York Pantheon Books, 1998. 394-435.

Martin Luther King, Jr.: Leader and Significant Christian :: essays research papers

Martin Luther King, Jr.Leader and Significant ChristianMartin Luther King, Jr. was born January 15th, 1929, to Martin Luther King, Sr. and Alberta Williams King. Martin Luther King, Sr. was a prominent member of the black-market community in Atlanta. He was a Baptist Minister and he served as pastor of Ebenezer Baptist Church. Martin Luther King, Sr. stressed the importance of education to King, Jr. King, Jr. accompanied local, segregated public school and he stood out in his class with his dedication to learn. With this dedication, King went on to succeed at Morehouse College at the age of 15. He graduated from Morehouse in 1948 and continued his pursuit of knowledge at Croezer Theological Seminary. King graduated with honors only to further his education by getting a doctoral degree in systematic theology in 1955. During Kings education, he learned the importance of public speaking. King was ordained a Baptist minister at the age of 18 and it was a necessity for King to be able to express himself eloquently and to be able to persuade his audience. It was this faculty to move large audiences that caught the eye of Edgar D. Nixon, a local leader of the NAACP. Rosa Parks had just been arrested for her refusal to give up her seat on a heap to white person. Nixon decided to seize this opportunity and stage a boycott of public transportation. King was named the president of the Montgomery Improvement Association and was instrumental in organizing the Montgomery bus boycott. The boycott drew national attention and King was a central figure. The M.I.A. filed a suit that was brought before Federal Court in order to rectify segregation. The Federal Court ruled in the favor of the M.I.A. Segregation of buses was no longer legal and in this process King get together many southern blacks.King had earned enough national recognition that he could go on to stage many more events to protest racial discrimination. King helped to found the Southern Christian Leadership Co nference and it was within this organization that King made a major impact on recent America. King organized many more marches and peaceful demonstrations in order to end the injustice of racism. He endured many violent attacks by police officers and members of the Ku Klux Klan. He always remained faithful to the teachings of Mohandas Gandhi and practiced them through peaceful protests. King made great strides towards equality in this practice and died in doing so.

The Color Purple Essay -- essays research papers

The Color Purple by Alice Walker is a really controversial novel, which many people found to be very offensive. It is basically the struggle for one womans independence. The main character in The Color Purple is Celie a coloured woman with little or no education at all. She is one who has been used and abused by all the men in her life, and because of these men, she has very little courage or aspiration in her life. She has so little courage, that all she wants to do is just survive. Through the various women she meets throughout here life like Shug, her sister, and Harpos wife, she learns how to enjoy herself, make courage and happiness. She finally learns enough and with the final straw she could no longer bare, she leaves her husband and becomes an independent happy woman. Celie was an abused woman from all the men in her life. She was abused and raped by her stepfather and then by her own husband. This abusiveness took away all of Celies ambitions and drove her into a state o f fear. That is why she refers to these men scarce known as Mister, for she had lost her feelings. She feared them so much that she would always do whatever she was told without hesitation, because she was fearful of being beaten. The first evidence comes from the opening line of the novel, You bettor not never tell nobody but God (P.11). That is why all her letters open with Dear God, because she fears what will happen to her if she does tell anyone. And it is because of these men, that she has ver...