Social Sciences

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Information Technology and Management the Mendeley: an innovative Reference Management Software for Research
(Research Centre for Social Sciences, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka, 2016) Rathnabahu, R.M.N.
Technology has now made availableadvanced Bibliographic Management Tools to overcome the said situation .Such kinds of open source andcommercial Bibliographic Management tools are of immense value for resource discovery,collaboration, information management and citation .The Mendeley which was developed in 2007now functions as a powerful social networking tool .It consists of two parts) :a ( DesktopApplication )b (Web Application .The Mendeley supports Windows, Mac and LinuxOperating Systems .It is also free of charge .The Mendeley is fully compatible withWindows Word 2003-2010, Mac Word 2008-2011, LibreOffice and BibTex as well.Respective software helps researchers to write research papers in a desired format andprovides assistance to the researchers to manage, share and discover research materialsadding PDFs of articles, book chapters, notes .It is capable to work in collaboration withweb based environment .Accordingly, identifying research sources and facilitating research group work finds it easy . The Mendeley reduces workload trouble for researchers in termsof edit and proof read the research as well . The Mendeley immensely serve the researchersto overcome the inaccuracies that they encounter during their research and to manage shareand discover both content and contacts in researchTherefore, this study intends to find out how the Mendeley functions to organize, write,collaborate and discover research information for the researchers .
Religious Associations and Development in India: A Study of the Ramakrishna Mission
(Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka, 2014) Dutta, Sumedha
India has had a relatively long tradition of religious associations providing autonomous spaces of power, social and civic activism, which dates back to the birth of Buddhism and Jainism, followed by the medieval Bhakti and Sufi movements, through the plethora of socio-religious associations that had cropped up during the late nineteenth and early twentieth century, until the ones that have emerged in the post-colonial era. Notwithstanding the fact that the fundamentalist and divisive politics of certain religious associations has led to several gory riots and the very partition of the country, many of them have played a pivotal role in ensuring that development remains inclusive, although, their role continues to be undermined in academic writings. Again, with the onset of the „LPG era‟ in India by the 1990s, that saw a roll back of the state mechanism, and the phenomenon of development taking a „participatory‟ turn following the 74th Amendment Act of the Indian Constitution, the gaps which evolved in service delivery are increasingly being filled up by civil society associations. In this context, the proposed paper seeks to analyze the contribution of one of the most prominent religious philanthropic associations in India, the Ramakrishna Mission, in the field of development. Using the purposive and snow ball sampling techniques, the study interrogates the members of the Ramakrishna Mission, apart from the beneficiaries of some of its projects and a few state officials, to elucidate as to how a „traditional‟ association negotiates its existence within the paradigm of a „modern‟, bureaucratic and „secular‟ state. The study observes that through its emphasis on Practical Vedanta, the Ramakrishna Mission has made colossal contributions in the field of education, health, relief work, rural and tribal development. In the ultimate analysis, the proposed paper compels one to rethink the relationship which religious associations share with the nebulous concepts of „development‟ on the one hand, and „civil society‟ on the other.
Teachers’ Motivation in Maldives – Influenced by Cultural Aspects
(Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka, 2013) Hasan, Abdul Raheem; McDonald, Lex; Hynds, Anne
Internationally the demand for effective teachers has grown, because effective teachers strongly influence student outcomes. This largely depends on the levels of teachers‟ motivation to carry out the tasks associated with teaching. Hence, the sources of teachers‟ motivation are under continuous scrutiny as the sustenance of motivation at a high level is imperative. The research reported here explored stakeholders‟ perceptions of the motivational influences for successful indigenous teachers to stay on in Maldives, a small island state in the Indian Ocean. This case study employed qualitative methods of interviewing, focus-group meetings and questionnaires to collect data from school principals, leading teachers, successful teachers, parents, and students. Analysis of data via qualitative approaches indicated that the participants‟ perceptions of what motivated successful teachers to remain as teachers were largely influenced by cultural aspects that were contextual, inter-related, inter-dependent and multifaceted. These findings highlight the importance of conducting habitual, specialized and localized studies to understand teachers‟ motivational influences. This implied the need for educational policy-makers, school managers and supervisors of teachers to understand the complexity of contextual motivational influences to maximize teachers‟ positive impact upon student development. The scope of this study is limited to the perceptions of natives even though a large proportion of expatriate teachers including Sri Lankans are in service. Future research could include foreign teachers‟ perceptions to create a wider spectrum for a fuller understanding of the motivational influences for teachers to stay in these uniquely vulnerable islands.

Social Sciences

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