Les Moyens Techniques de la Science

Scientific publishing, as far as the Revue de synthèse is concerned, experienced some deep reshaping during the past fifteen years. This article analyses the formula obtained for this journal, made of a paper periodical, an electronic journal, a historical collection and an experimental website for supplements. First elements of evaluation are provided on production and diffusion. An account is given about an experimentation of multimedia publishing made with the last two issues.     

Considering Quipus: Andean Knotted String Records in Analytical Context

The knotted string records used by the Incas to record numerical information and to perform royal histories remain elusive of decipherment. Recent interest among anthropologists in how societies use objects to preserve and record memories has stimulated new research on these quipus. Close analysis of ancient quipus reveals their capacity for containing information that might have been read or recalled. A continuing tradition of displaying quipus in one Andean town shows how the objects function to validate authority, even when they cannot be read, and suggests their deep connection to local notions of history and community.     

Weaving a New Fabric of Natural History

Abstract

Natural history offers an interestingly rich mix of traditional and modern ways of organizing data, information, and knowledge. The Linnaean tradition still defines the basis of how taxonomic knowledge of organisms is organized, while at the same time complementary perspectives on databases and ontologies are developed and implemented, to provide enhanced access to natural history collection data to researchers in taxonomy and biodiversity. Some of this knowledge enrichment may even be automated, and bootstrapped from basic object metadata. This metadata is largely composed of natural language text, which is generally more noisy and ambiguous than numeric data. In this contribution, we present two methods for the automated discovery of metadata from textual object databases: first, the automatic detection of new metadata in existing free-text database columns, and second, the discovery of new ontological relations between metadata elements.     

Applied archaeology: revitalizing indigenous agricultural technology within an Andean community

Abstract

In many parts of the world European colonization, and more recent social and economic change, has radically altered and, in some cases, decimated both the social structure and the subsistence base of indigenolls communities. Archaeologists have often demonstrated the sophistication and practicality of prehistoric technologies, but only rarely have they developed long-term projects to evaluate the continuing relevance of these technologies to present-day communities. In this article the first experience of applied archaeology by The Cusichaca Trust is described, showing how a rural development project was developed within specific environmental and social contexts. The Trust's main research focus was the study of the agricultural infrastructure of the Incas and their predecessors in the Cusichaca and Huallancay side-valleys of the Urubamba Valley, Cuzco, Peru. This was paralleled by a rural development project to restore to full productivity some of the abandoned terraces and canals to the benefit of the local community. Attention is drawn to the relationship between conserving and using ancient agricultural infrastructures and the degree to which community organization is central to the maintenance and use of such technologies.     

处处是江南:中国古代耕织图中的地域意识与观念

从南宋楼璹《耕织图》始,我国历史上先后创绘了几十套体系化的耕织图,而它们基本上又是以"江南"为具体描绘区域的。这种情况的出现,与唐宋以后"江南"的重要地位及其象征意义直接相关的。首先,农业经济的发达使"江南"成为重农、劝农的"示范"之地;其次,浓厚的文化艺术氛围,加之创作者心目中的江南情怀与意识,促进了"江南"场景的表现与传播;再次,作为王朝统治合法性的重要隐喻与象征,使"江南"受到历代统治者的高度重视。这一现象背后,深刻体现出古人的地域意识与观念。     

论新方志编纂中社会学理论与方法运用的价值

章认为传统编纂模式已不适应新时代要求,可以尝试运用社会学理论与方法来编纂新志。运用社会学理论可在一定程度上使方志的编纂过程变成研究过程,编纂变成研究。同时,方志学并不等于社会学,不能混淆二的本质区别。     

天虫吐丝福万民 经纶织就传古今 中国蚕桑丝织技艺

正蚕桑丝织是中国古代最重要的发明创造之一,是中华民族认同的文化标识。在中华民族五千年的发展史中,丝绸与中国社会的方方面面都密不可分,它为中国文明写下了灿烂的一页,也为世界文化贡献了耀煌的篇章。中国蚕桑丝织技艺遗产包括栽桑、养蚕、缫丝、染色和丝织等整个过程的生产技艺,同时也包括这一过程中衍生的相关民俗活动,至今还较好     

Informality and Flexible Specialization: Apprenticeships and Knowledge Spillovers in an Indian Silk Weaving Cluster

This article draws on quantitative and qualitative data from the Banaras (Varanasi) silk weaving cluster in North India to show how informal institutions based on family and community interact with the relations of production to enable flexible specialization while reproducing or accentuating inequality. The family‐based apprenticeship system produces a supply of highly skilled workers but contributes to labour surplus by lowering the costs of entry and making exit difficult. Surplus labour ensures that productivity gains resulting from technical improvements do not accrue to weavers as higher wages. A community of artisans called the naqsheband (designers) produces fabric patterns that are central to the industry's market. Geographical clustering results in quick diffusion of these designs and free imitation is the key to innovation. But this entails hyper‐competition, conservative changes, a culture of secrecy and quickly dissipating monopoly rents. The Banaras case enables us to understand how collective efficiencies as well as inefficiencies are created by the same institutions.