HRAF News Vol. 2023-06
HRAF to Exhibit at SUNYLA Annual Conference
HRAF is pleased to be an exhibitor and sponsor of an upcoming library conference hosted by the SUNY Librarians Association. We continue to offer monthly webinars for librarians and faculty in anticipation of the switchover to the new versions of eHRAF World Cultures and eHRAF Archaeology. This month's featured HRAF Global Scholar, Dr. Aklilu Alemu Ambo, is engaged in comparative research using eHRAF World Cultures focused on education and academic achievement. We are especially excited to share findings from a recent cross-cultural study about the universality of body-based units of measurement. It is published in Science and is based on data from eHRAF World Cultures.
HRAF staff members Matthew Longcore and Amanda Westcott will visit SUNY Maritime College in New York City on Thursday, June 15th from 10 AM to 5 PM as exhibitors at the SUNYLA 2023 Annual Conference. The conference brings together librarians and staff members from the State University of New York (SUNY) system to promote professional development and advance library services.

The theme of this year's conference is SUNYLA Sets Sail: Academic Libraries Charting the Future. The conference will include sessions and workshops where participants can share knowledge and exchange ideas about how they envision libraries may evolve in the future. 

ln anticipation of the eHRAF legacy applications being discontinued on July 31, 2023, HRAF is offering a series of monthly webinars. These webinars are designed specifically for librarians and faculty who need assistance in preparing for the application switchover. Each webinar will take place via Zoom and will last approximately one hour, with training followed by time for questions and answers.
 
Here is the webinar schedule:

Tuesday, June 27, 11 AM EST  
Wednesday, July 26, 1 PM EST  
Wednesday, Aug 23, 11 AM EST  
 
To register for one of the scheduled webinars, please click the link below.

This month we are pleased to feature HRAF Global Scholar Aklilu Alemu Ambo. Aklilu received his Ph.D. in Education Policy and Leadership from Addis Ababa University and he is currently an assistant professor of Education Policy and Leadership at Madda Walabu University. His doctoral dissertation is titled "Quality Management Policies, Practices, and Challenges in the Secondary Schools of Ethiopia."

Aklilu is engaged in research focused on education and academic achievement. Studies show that a small percentage of students from Ethiopia are learning in their home country, despite the fact that the nation has allocated a quarter of its budget to education. Aklilu is using eHRAF World Cultures for comparative data on educational systems in the Global North and in developing nations.

HRAF is honored to welcome Dr. Aklilu Alemu Ambo as a HRAF Global Scholar for 2023.

A new study in Science titled "Body-based units of measure in cultural evolution" argues that "body-based units have had, and may still have, advantages over standardized systems, such as in the design of ergonomic technologies. This helps explain the persistence of body-based measurement centuries after the first standardized measurement systems emerged." This cross-cultural study was authored by Roope Kaaronen, Mikael Manninen, and Jussi Eronen, all of whom are researchers at the University of Helsinki.

Using ethnographic data from eHRAF World Cultures, the researchers identified the development and use of body-based measurements in 186 cultures worldwide, revealing both similarities and differences in the use of measurement units based on the human body. According to the findings, variations of the fathom, handspan, and cubit were most frequent and exhibited striking cross-cultural similarities. 

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