News – University Library Klagenfurt, Alpen-Adria-Universität Klagenfurt

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Georg Streißgürtl: Leaving Care in Österreich: Dimensionen von Agency beim Aufbau einer selbstständigen Lebensführung. Budrich, 2023 (Schriftenreihe der ÖFEB-Sektion Sozialpädagogik)

To be found in the reading corner

In international discourse, care leavers are young people who have spent a period of their lives outside the family in youth welfare centres or foster families. In Austria, the end of these measures is legally stipulated at the age of 18. This transition is often experienced as very abrupt and is associated with many challenges for young people.

In addition, the transition to adulthood is associated with socially prefigured ideas of normality. These send an ambivalent message to young people with care experience, which can be highly unsettling: On the one hand, a socially recognised practice – clearly visible in the life courses of their peers – calls on them to try things out, take paths of their own choosing and accept setbacks; on the other hand, the same society, in the form of the welfare state actor, sends them the message that they are already finished with the process of growing up at the time of transition, so to speak. Care leavers also generally have far fewer resources at their disposal when it comes to adapting to this construction of normality. In particular, stable social relationships and support networks are often weak, so that the transition process can often be accompanied by loneliness and a feeling of social isolation.

These fictions of normality and the associated subjective ideal-typical ideas of independence are taken up in the book, discussed in detail and linked to the discourse on agency. Agency, usually translated as the ability or power to act, is currently the subject of a broad and heterogeneous debate in the social sciences. This work is based on a relational understanding of the term, which asks, among other things, how agency is socially enabled, limited and produced, and supplements this with a narrative view of the working definition of relational narrative agency.

This provides a basic theoretical perspective that opens up a comprehensive scientific approach to the topic of care leavers. Accordingly, the book comprises a comprehensive theoretically orientated section, which is followed by a qualitative empirical study that combines a biographical-narrative approach with an agency analysis.

The results point to the multi-layered ideas of a responsible life, which are closely linked to the question of identity and the subjective striving for meaning and agency. This striving is also an expression of diverse interdependencies within the relational social structures and the associated fictions of normality.

This also presents professional social work with challenges that cannot be met with simplistic answers. Nevertheless, an attempt will be made in conclusion to translate the findings into ideas for social pedagogical practice.

Georg Streißgürtl is currently a research associate at the Institute for Educational Science and Educational Research at the University of Klagenfurt.

Buchcover: Nikola Dobrić/Hermann Cesnik/Claudia Harsch (eds.), Festschrift in Honour of Günther Sigott: Advanced Methods in Language Testing | ©aau/ouschan

©aau/ouschan

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Nikola Dobrić/Hermann Cesnik/Claudia Harsch (eds.): Festschrift in honour of Günther Sigott: advanced methods in language testing. Peter Lang, 2023.

To be found in the reading corner

The volume, traditionally called a Festschrift in the German-speaking world, has been compiled to honour Günther Sigott for his notable contributions to academia in general and to the field of language testing in particular. It comprises nine international contributions situated in the broader area of language testing and assessment. In particular, the themes include validity and validation, norms and standards, test design, test calibration, and the latest advances in psychometrics.

A copy of the recommended work can be found in the reading corner (11) with the shelfmark I 647860.

The volume at hand, traditionally called a Festschrift in the German-speaking world, has been compiled to honour Günther Sigott for his notable contributions to academia in general and to the field of language testing in particular. It is no exaggeration to say that Günther Sigott was one of the key figures placing language testing and assessment on the academic map in Austria. His work within the national testing standards and the manner in which this work communicated the importance of language testing also to the public helped solidify the relevance of the discipline. In this respect, Günther paved the path for many of us working as language testing scholars in Austria at a time when language testing was not yet established as a scholarly field outside the English-speaking world.

The contributors to this volume come from all around the world, spanning regions from Austria and its neighbouring countries of Slovenia and Germany, to the UK, USA, Canada, and all the way to Japan and Iran. They work as test developers, teacher educators, psychometricians, and researchers, taking up a variety of themes, such as washback of standardized tests, the acknowledgement of language varieties in high-stakes exams, fostering language assessment literacy, and psychometric models to enhance C-test interpretations or scoring validity.

The book opens with a much-appreciated integrative view on validity, bringing different schools of thought and divergent traditions from the UK and the USA together. It takes a very promising look on validity, which they argue needs to span four dimensions, that is, test development, measurement theories, consequences, and communication with all stakeholders. The next contribution outlines an argument for bringing test tasks from a large-scale standardised test, used for educational monitoring, into the language classroom. This way, it aims to open communication channels between test developers on the one hand and teachers and learners on the other hand. The focus lies on employing reading tasks in such a way as to foster reading abilities rather than ‘only’ measuring them.

The third chapter takes a closer look at what is needed to develop language assessment literacy (LAL) with teacher trainees, one prerequisite to enable future teachers to meaningfully develop, employ, and interpret tests and assessments in their classrooms. It revolves around a survey conducted in order to find out how challenging different known components of LAL are perceived by pre-service teachers. Then, the contribution that follows looks at a high-stakes language test at the end of secondary schooling, which also entails the right to enter university in Slovenia. It zooms in on language accuracy as one sub-component of language proficiency and examines its relation to other parts of the exam. The findings show that language accuracy, while having moderate to strong correlations with the reading section in particular, nevertheless has its own place in the exam, as only moderate correlations between the different test parts that target accuracy have been found.

Chapter five presents us with yet another set of high-stakes exams, this time in Austria, i.e., the Österreichisches Sprachdiplom Deutsch (ÖSD). It discusses the important dimension of pluricentricity, a perspective that the ÖSD takes into account by incorporating all three language varieties of the German language that are spoken in Austria, Germany and Switzerland. It outlines the rationale for the pluricentric approach that the ÖSD takes, how it is operationalized, and how it is implemented in the exams of the ÖSD. Chapter six, staying with the ÖSD, moves on to a more technical aspect of test calibration, one that can also be conceptualized to contributing to the ÖSD’s validity from a measurement perspective. It discusses efforts at calibrating different exam versions within the ÖSD via a common anchor test, in order to derive at test versions that have the same level of difficulty, to ensure comparability across different test sessions.

The remaining three chapters of the Festschrift focus on measurement aspects. Firstly, Chapter seven, offers a new approach to modelling local dependencies in C-tests, a well-known challenge for C-test researchers and users. This alternative approach first identifies items with such dependencies, and in a next step, bundles only those with known dependencies; in the last step, the bundled items along with those that did not show any local dependencies, are then scaled together on one difficulty scale. Then, secondly, Chapter eight present an innovative method that comprises only a few measures, which can easily be collected using existing automated indices, in order to estimate C-test item and text difficulties with reasonable accuracy. Even if the findings still show variability in the level of prediction accuracy, the suggested method is promising in so far as it could help saving considerable resources when it comes to pre-testing C-tests. Finally, the concluding chapter includes a very competently compiled overview of the latest advances in Many-Faceted Rasch (MFRM) modelling, in a manner that is not only insightful for measurement experts but also accessible to lay persons who wish to gain a first overview of what MFRM is all about.

©aau/ouschan

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Sara Blumenthal: Schamdynamiken in der stationären Betreuung Jugendlicher. Eine Ethnographie der Kinder- und Jugendhilfe sowie der Behindertenhilfe. Verlag Barbara Budrich, 2023. Schriftenreihe der ÖFEB-Sektion Sozialpädagogik

To be found in the reading corner

In her work, the author examines the topic of shame dynamics in the residential care of adolescents by interpreting ethnographically collected interaction processes and qualitative interviews. Various cases are analyzed in which, among other things, the tension between the emotional stress of professionals and their pedagogical scope for action play a role, their handling of the exercise of violence from the perspective of young people or the consequences of suicidal behavior. The expression of shame by the young people, the professionals and the researchers’ sense of shame are points of reference from which contrasts and structural correlations in the data can be found. Sociological theories of affect are included in the interpretation, which emphasize that a dichotomous understanding of affects as only positive or negative does not do justice to their complex function.

The book thus makes a contribution to understanding the social meaning of affects and makes affect research fruitful for social pedagogy.

Ass. Prof.in Dr.in Sara Blumenthal: Institut für Erziehungswissenschaften und

Bildungsforschung, Arbeitsbereich Sozialpädagogik und Inklusionsforschung,

Alpen-Adria-Universität Klagenfurt

A copy of the recommended work can be found in the reading corner (6) with the shelfmark I 647859. The title is also available as an e-book!

Long Night of Research | U12

How much non:rest does a library need?

We’ll be exploring this question for a whole night at our U12 station!

Embark on a journey through the university library. Exciting hands-on stations await you in our non-rest area: Try your hand at making paper, painting initials, crafting and drawing with a 3D pen. Visit our Karl Popper archive and marvel at the oldest and most valuable treasures in our treasure chamber. A large book flea market also awaits you.

Visit our points of interest:

Aula: Book flea market

Level 1: Infopoint (stamp pass, gifts, information material and much more)

Level 2:

– Paper drawing
– Painting with a 3D pen
– Handicrafts (bookmarks, buttons and much more)
– Our oldest object

Level 3: Karl Popper archive

We look forward to seeing you!

©aau/ubk

Book flea market

For the Long Night of Research 2024, the UBK is once again organizing its big book flea market!

On Thursday, 23.5. and Friday, 24.5. from 9.00 – 17.00 you can browse, rummage and buy again – at kilo prices:

1/2 kilo of books for 1 euro!

As always, the flea market is located in the assembly hall in front of the library entrance.

On Thursday, mainly textbooks and academic literature will be on sale, followed on Friday by fiction, children’s/young adult literature, illustrated books and general specialist literature.

There is something for everyone – guaranteed!

We are happy when our books find a new home!

Reduced opening hours around “Pentecost” (May 18-21)

Sat, May 18 – Mon, May 20 2024 the library will be CLOSED!
Tue, May 21: The library will be open from 08:30 to 16:00.

University members have unrestricted access to the library‘s reading rooms.

All registered users have unrestricted access to the library‘s reading rooms.

Registration for the 24-hour library is possible via the campus system under “My settings” >> 24-hour library.
Please register at least one day before you plan to use this service for the first time. Accounts are activated every day at midnight.7

Es ist ein Wald über die Sache gewachsen … | Z gozdom preraščeno …

Photography and literature exhibition on the Loibl concentration camp | Fotografska in literarna razstava o koncentracijskem taborišču na Ljubelju.

Where | Kje: Alpen-Adria-Universität Klagenfurt|Celovec (AAU), Klagenfurt University Library | Univerzitetna knjižnica v Celovcu (LV-Lounge, level 2), 07.05.2024-31.06.2024

Curators | Kuratorke: ELENA MESSNER | TINA PERISUTTI | DANA RAUSCH

The cooperation partners – Institute for Slavic Studies of the Alpen-Adria-University Klagenfurt, WerkStattMuseum|delavnicaMUZEJ in the Margarete Schütte-Lihotzky Haus, University Library Klagenfurt of the AAU, Institute for History of the AAU and Robert-Musil-Institute for Literary Research|Carinthian Literature Archive of the AAU invite you:

Exhibition opening on May 7, 2024, 6 pm – on the occasion of the liberation of the prisoners of the Loibl concentration camp from the power of the SS on the day before the surrender of the German Wehrmacht.

Odprtje razstave 7. maja 2024 ob 18. uri – ob dnevu osvoboditve ljubeljskega koncentracijskega taborišča dan pred kapitulacijo nacistične vojske v Evropi.

Plakat zur Ausstellung

Salutations | Pozdravne besede:

Lydia Zellacher (Head of Klagenfurt University Library)

Cristina Beretta (Institute of Slavic Studies, head of departement)

Short historical inputs | Zgodovinski input:

Alexandra Pulvermacher (Institute for History)

Sissi Rausch (WerkStattMuseum/delavnicaMUZEJ Margarete Schütte-Lihotzky Haus)

Moderation: Edith Bernhofer (Robert-Musil-Institute for Literary Research|Carinthian Literature Archive)

Diskusije | Discussions:

Exhibiting concentration camp literature – how(so)?|Zakaj in kako razstavljati literaturo o koncentracijskih taboriščih? Diskusija s kuratorkama|Discussion with the curators Tina Perisutti and Elena Messner. Moderation: Cristina Beretta

How does a historical material become a theatrical performance?/Kako prevesti historično gradivo v odrsko predstavo? Pogovor z Marjanom Štikrom (gledališki ustvarjalec). Conversation with Marjan Štikar (Theater maker). Moderation: Tina Perisutti

On the trail of the perpetrators. The significance of the prisoners for the prosecution and the memory of the Loibl concentration camp. Conversation with Lisa Rettl (Contemporary historian, exhibition curator,
therapist) and Peter Pirker (kärnten.museum)

About the exhibition | O razstavi

Razstava-instalacija umetniških fotografij in citatov iz literarnih besedil ponuja vpogled v del dolgo časa zamolčane zgodovine Koroške. Kakor dejansko zaraščeni gozd na izkrčenem terenu koncentracijskega taborišča na Ljubelju, tako je – podobna gozdu iz množice listov – narasla tudi literatura, ki v romanih, dramah, pismih, spominih in poeziji iz Avstrije, Francije, Češke, Slovenije in Srbije nudi intenziven in vznemirjajoč vpogled v „gradbišče smrti“.

Leta 1943 je SS na Ljubelju zgradila podružnico koncentracijskega taborišča Mauthausen z lokacijama na obeh straneh prelaza. Danes sta na slovenski strani spominsko obeležje in skrbno urejen muzej. Na severni strani se po zaslugi uspešnega spominskega dela Komiteja Mauthausen Kärnten|Koroška s spominskimi ploščami, talnimi ploščami, umetniškimi posegi in vodenimi ogledi intenzivno obravnava vprašanje suženjskega dela na bivšem gradbišču predora. Umetniška razstava in njen spremljevalni program se posvečata tudi vprašanju, ali ne bi bil že skrajni čas, da koncentracijskemu taborišču-dvojčku sledi sodobni muzej-dvojček, ki bi se s svojimi muzejskimi sredstvi zoperstavil težnji po pozabi.

Curated and designed by Elena Messner, Dana Rausch and Tina Perisutti, the exhibition uses artistic photographs and quotes from literary texts to provide an insight into a part of Carinthia’s long-hidden history. It shows that literature – a forest of leaves that has grown just as much as the actual sprawling forest surrounding the cleared concentration camp site at Loibl|Ljubelj – is capable of providing intensive insights into the “construction site of death”, with novels, plays, letters, memories and poems from Austria, France, the Czech Republic, Slovenia and Serbia.

In 1943, the SS set up a satellite camp of the Mauthausen concentration camp at Loibl|Ljubelj with sites on both sides of the pass. Today there is a memorial and a carefully designed museum on the Slovenian side. On the north side, thanks to the successful commemorative work of the Mauthausen Committee Carinthia/Koroška, the slave labor at the tunnel construction site is intensively addressed by means of plaques, floor panels, artistic interventions and guided tours. The artistic exhibition and its supporting program are also dedicated to the question of whether it might not be time for the former twin concentration camp to be followed by a current twin museum in order to counter the urge to forget in a museum setting.

Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)

https://www.werkstattmuseum.at/wald_dt-0

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Robert Musil im Spannungsfeld zwischen Psychologie und Phänomenologie

Hrsg.: Artur R. Boelderl, Barbara Neymeyr; De Gruyter: Berlin/Boston, 2024 (Untersuchungen zur Deutschen Literaturgeschichte, Bd. 170)

To be found in the reading corner

This interdisciplinary conference volume examines the significance of psychology and phenomenology in Robert Musil’s work. The focus is on Gestalt psychology and psychoanalysis as well as phenomenological philosophy and neurophenomenology. The contributions explore the interdiscursive fields of tension systematically and from a cultural-historical perspective. In this way, they open up new insights into Musil’s poetics, which also makes philosophy and psychology fruitful in literary terms.

You find items of the recommended work in the reading corner (12) as well as in the open stacks (12-266.Musi.2 | can be borrowed!) mit der Signatur I 657748.

Buchcover von Barbara Neymeyr: Schillers Moralästhetik als verfehlte Kant-Kritik und die >Kalokagathia

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Barbara Neymeyr: Schillers Moralästhetik als verfehlte Kant-Kritik und die ›Kalokagathia‹-Idee 2023 (Literatur und Philosophie, Bd. 6)

To be found in the open stacks

The book critically analyzes Schiller’s moral aesthetics as a supposedly more moderate alternative to Kant’s moral ethics. Turning away from current research theses, it is shown that Schiller’s objections to Kant, as well as those of Schopenhauer and Nietzsche, are based on misjudgments and that Schiller’s own design even implies a moral rigorism against his will. In addition, Schiller’s conception of ‘grace’ and ‘dignity’ contains inconsistencies, the cause of which is investigated. Beyond the problem-oriented systematic analyses, a cultural-historical horizon-building reveals how much Schiller and Hölderlin are influenced by the ancient ideals of ‘kalokagathia’ and ‘sympatheia’, which differ fundamentally from Kant’s philosophy.

In her book, Prof. Dr. Barbara Neymeyr uses systematic analyses and cultural-historical horizon-building to show the extent to which Schiller’s moral aesthetics not only prove to be a misguided critique of Kant, but also how far removed his concept is from Kant’s ethics. These findings offer a new perspective on the philosophical tradition and encourage us to reflect on the supposed alternatives to the ethics of duty. With her work, Neymeyr makes a valuable contribution to the Kant Year 2024 and beyond.

You find the recommended book in the open stacks (12-264.Schi.2) with the booknumber I 628793 and it can be borrowed!

www.canva.com (Lizenznehmerin UBK)

Game of Chairs

Chair casting in the non-rest area on level 2

More comfort for your studies: the UBK is buying new chairs.

Test our samples and help decide:

Go to the non-rest area.
Sit down.
Choose your darlings.
Make a mark next to your favourites!

From April 17 to 30, the chair candidates will be available for you to try out all around the clock in the non-rest area. Sit down, choose your favorites and make a mark next to them on the pinboard.

From Monday to Friday between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m., we are also available to answer your questions and receive your suggestions in person in the non-rest area. You are also welcome to give us feedback on the new seating in the reading rooms at any time via e-mail or the feedback box directly at the chair casting!

Come along, we look forward to your opinion!