13 Apr 2010
The Founders and Survivors project is giving me plenty of challenges and opportunities to learn more about Drupal (not to mention challenges of other kinds). This morning’s challenge is:
We have a view of the Archives of Tasmania convict index and a new, improved form for users to submit additional information on convicts, such as dates and places of birth and death. I have added an ‘additional information’ field to the convict index content type, which is a node reference to the ‘additional information’ type. I want users to be able to add an additional information node which is referenced from the relevant index node, without having to edit the index node.
The node_widget module looks like part of the solution: it allows you to add or edit the additional information node within the convict index node (which simplifies the process for non-tech users) but (1) it doesn’t include multigroup fields and (2) the user still has to edit the node, which I think is a stumbling block for our target audience.
I’m seeing responses coming in to my queries on identi.ca and twitter but I’m also posting here to help clarify things in my own mind and as a reference in case I do find a solution.
24 Mar 2010
[24 March is Ada Lovelace Day, an international day of blogging to celebrate the achievements of women in technology and science. Find out more at http://findingada.com/. This post is less polished than I would like it to be, as I am dashing it off at the end of the work day.]
Donna alerted me to Sr Judith Zoebelein, who is Editorial director at Internet Office of the Holy See – i.e., she has oversight for the Vatican’s internet presence. I first visited http://www.vatican.va/ about twelve years ago when I began studying church history, and still find it a useful resource/reference for Catholic doctrine and history. But I never thought much about the underlying technology or who might be maintaining it.
Sr Judith has been responsible for the Vatican’s website since its launch on Christmas Day, 1995. Here are a couple of videos of her from the Lift 2007 conference, speaking on the challenges of virtual and actual community, and e-learning and interviews for the Scoble Show.
As a traditionally-minded Christian, I sometimes encounter misunderstanding (though little overt hostility) in the free software community about Christianity or religion in general, about compatibility between the values of free software and religious allegiance, and about the role of women in traditional religions. The Vatican’s long and constant presence on the Web is a demonstration of the principle that the church does not exist on some other-worldly plane but is part of the wider human community and is not necessarily in conflict with it. The Vatican’s use of free software is consistent with the value for human life and freedom that is at the heart of the Christian message. I will be the first to admit that the churches and religious institutions have often failed badly at spreading this message.
For a large part of the church’s history – and probably still, in some parts of the world – the religious vocation was one of the few options for women to gain an advanced education and exercise professional activity and leadership. While feminism has broadened opportunities for women, in many religious traditions there are still structural barriers to full equality for women in participation and leadership within their religious communities, barriers which are often defended on supposedly unquestionable bases. (I’ll leave this particular discussion for another time or place as this wasn’t meant to be a theological post.) In the Roman Catholic Church, women are barred from ordination, but the religious orders have provided a space for many women to exercise leadership within the church, often providing an alternative voice to the male clerical hierarchy. While the status of women within the Catholic church might look discouraging to feminists both within and outside the church, it is encouraging to see that a woman can have such a powerful influence on the institutional church’s online presence.
23 Mar 2010
The known parameters:
I have classes to finish and papers to write up until about 28 May.
I am attending the centenary of the World Missionary Conference (which is another blog post in its own right) in Edinburgh from 2 to 6 June.
I need to get to Hobart (maybe with a quick laundry stop in Melbourne) by 14 or 15 June.
A travel agent suggests either Qantas+BA to Edinburgh or Emirates to Glasgow.
This will be my first trip to the UK and when I visit new places I try to get out of the main destinations a bit, at the very least by taking a cross-country train trip. Edinburgh to London by train?
Apart from being a first-time tourist in the UK, I would like to catch up with extended family and friends in (or near) London. Should I spend a whole week in London? Or take some time out in a holy place after the conference? Ampleforth? Iona? Lindisfarne? I am geographically challenged – are any of these practical? Affordable?
15 Mar 2010
This blog has moved to One fewer car.