Michael Chamberlain focuses on medieval Damascus to develop a new approach to the relationship between the society and culture of the Middle East. The author argues that historians have long imposed European strictures onto societies to which they were alien. Western concepts of legitimate order were inappropriate to medieval Muslim society where social advancement was dependent upon the production of knowledge and religious patronage, and it was the household, rather than the state agency or corporation, that held political and social power. A parallel is drawn between the learned elite and the warriors of Damascus who, through similar strategies, acquired status and power and passed them on in their households. By examining material from the Latin West, Sung China and the Sinicized empires of Inner Asia, the author addresses the nature of political power in the period.

BackgroundWeb-based digital repositories allow educational resources to be accessed efficiently and conveniently from diverse geographic locations, hold a variety of resource formats, enable interactive learning, and facilitate targeted access for the user. Unlike some other learning management systems (LMS), resources can be retrieved through search engines and meta-tagged labels, and content can be streamed, which is particularly useful for multimedia resources.ObjectiveThe aim of this study was to examine usage and user experiences of an online learning repository (Physeek) in a population of physiotherapy students. The secondary aim of this project was to examine how students prefer to access resources and which resources they find most helpful.MethodsThe following data were examined using an audit of the repository server: (1) number of online resources accessed per day in 2010, (2) number of each type of resource accessed, (3) number of resources accessed during business hours (9 am to 5 pm) and outside business hours (years 1-4), (4) session length of each log-on (years 1-4), and (5) video quality (bit rate) of each video accessed. An online questionnaire and 3 focus groups assessed student feedback and self-reported experiences of Physeek.ResultsStudents preferred the support provided by Physeek to other sources of educational material primarily because of its efficiency. Peak usage commonly occurred at times of increased academic need (ie, examination times). Students perceived online repositories as a potential tool to support lifelong learning and health care delivery.ConclusionsThe results of this study indicate that today’s health professional students welcome the benefits of online learning resources because of their convenience and usability. This represents a transition away from traditional learning styles and toward technological learning support and may indicate a growing link between social immersions in Internet-based connections and learning styles. The true potential for Web-based resources to support student learning is as yet unknown.