全面加强志书编纂质量管理刍议

从修志实践上看,受撰稿人员志德、专业水平、工作经验、社会阅历所限,基层撰稿人员与主管审查验收领导对志书质量标准把握不一致,志书编纂过程程序不完善,基础环节质量保障机制缺失,审查验收制度不健全,审稿把关不够严,以及在审、编、校、印等环节中,重审验志稿,轻编辑校对印刷等因素影响,一些地方的志书编纂质量较差。因此,对志书(包括年鉴)编纂应全面加强质量管理,在贯彻落实《地方志书质量规定》的基础上,细化和完善本地质量管理措施,建立符合实际的质量保障机制,切实提高地方志书的编纂质量。在具体工作中把握好五个重点环节:最大限度地发挥编辑人员的群体智慧是提高志书质量的基础;建立以主编为中心的主编负责制是提高志书质量的关键;确定编纂流程管理备案制,规范编纂程序是提高志书质量的重要措施;实行志稿评议是保障志书质量的有效手段;坚持编纂督查通报和审查验收是提高志书质量的重要环节。     

Is Greener Whiter Yet? The Sustainable Slopes Program after Five Years

This study focuses on two basic questions: Are voluntary programs effective in promoting higher environmental performance by participant firms? If so, which distinct areas of environmental performance are more likely to be improved by firms joining a voluntary environmental program? We address these questions by assessing the environmental effectiveness of the ski industry’s Sustainable Slopes Program in the western United States between 2001 and 2005. We found no evidence in our five-year analysis to conclude that ski areas adopting the SSP displayed superior performance levels than nonparticipants for the following areas of environmental protection: overall environmental performance, expansion management, pollution management, and wildlife and habitat management. SSP participants only appear to show a statistically significant correlation with higher natural resource conservation performance rates. For policymakers, these results suggest that caution is needed before a priori assuming that strictly voluntary programs can be effective in promoting comprehensive superior environmental performance.     

A NOTE ON ADDED INFORMATION IN THE RAS PROCEDURE: REEXAMINATION OF SOME EVIDENCE

ABSTRACT.  An example in Miernyk (1977) presented a rather counterintuitive result, namely, that introducing accurate exogenous information into an RAS matrix estimating procedure could lead to an estimate that was worse than one generated by RAS using no exogenous information at all. This became an oft-cited black mark against RAS. Miller and Blair (1985) included a different (and small) illustration of the same possibility. It was recently pointed out by one of us that the Miller–Blair numerical results are wrong. For that reason, we decided to reexamine all the empirical evidence we could find on the subject. While figures in both Miernyk and Miller–Blair appear to be wrong, more recent published examples seem to have it right. In short, it is possible to identify examples in which additional (correct) information leads to poorer RAS estimates, at least under several fairly common metrics for comparing "closeness" of matrices. However, the overwhelming majority of the evidence is to the contrary. As a general rule, introduction of accurate exogenous information into RAS improves the resulting estimates, and counterexamples should probably not be taken too seriously.     

GrenzWerte—55. Deutscher Geographentag in Trier

Unter dem Motto GrenzWerte wird der 55. Deutsche Geographentag vom 1. bis 8. Oktober 2005 in Trier stattfinden. Inmitten der Großregion SaarLorLux/Rheinland-Pfalz/Wallonien, die selbst von Grenzen unterschiedlichster Art durchzogen und umgeben ist, werden die Öffnung Europas nach Osten und weitere interessante Grenzaspekte Deutschlands thematisiert. Vielerorts wird diskutiert über Grenzen, die erreicht sind, beispielsweise im Verkehrswesen, beim Umweltschutz oder in Nachhaltigkeitsfragen. Das Motto GrenzWerte hat diesen Trend aufgegriffen und ließ neben der räumlichen auch eine inhaltliche Grenzdimension entstehen. Darüber, welche Anknüpfungspunkte sich daraus für die Angewandte Geographie ergeben, sprach der stellvertretende Vorsitzende des DVAG, DIPL.-GEOGR. KAI PARTALE , mit dem Vorsitzenden des Ortsausschusses für den Geographentag in Trier und Professor für Angewandte Geographie und Raumentwicklung an der Universität Trier, PROF. DR. HEINER MONHEIM.