Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Humanities/2017 July 24

= July 24 =

Novel with an amanuensis
I am trying to remember the title and author of a novel I read in school. Unfortunately, I don't remember much about it, except that about a third of the way into the novel, the main character got a job as an amanuensis. The word "amanuensis" came up a lot in the novel. Some other things I think I remember: The novel had a female main character and almost certainly a female author. It was definitely originally written in English and most likely by an American author. It was published probably not before 1970 and definitely not after 1988. The book was fairly short, probably not more than 200 pages in paperback.

Thanks for any suggestions you can provide. --Metropolitan90 (talk) 04:52, 24 July 2017 (UTC)


 * I can't help with the answer, but your question has inspired me to create Category:Amanuenses, which seemed rather an oversight. Thanks.  --   Jack of Oz   [pleasantries]  20:00, 24 July 2017 (UTC)
 * The things you learn reading the refdesk. I thought an amanuensis was something much fancier.  Maybe I had it confused with "apotheosis"?  Not sure.
 * Anyway it's not clear to me how this is different from "stenographer", the link for which improbably redirects to "shorthand". I'm thinking "stenographer" and "amanuensis" are synonyms, and one should probably redirect to the other. --Trovatore (talk) 22:06, 24 July 2017 (UTC)


 * Not really synonyms. A famous counterexample in music is Eric Fenby, who took dictation from the blind Frederick Delius to write his orchestral and other scores.  That's not a job for a stenographer.  --   Jack of Oz   [pleasantries]  01:01, 25 July 2017 (UTC)


 * About the closest Google Books match is Masquerade of Hearts, a 1984 historical romance by one Sheila O'Hallion. jnestorius(talk) 05:20, 25 July 2017 (UTC)
 * Thanks, but it's not that one. I'm looking for a more literary novel. --Metropolitan90 (talk) 02:13, 26 July 2017 (UTC)

Internal construction contractors
Why is it that many large infrastructure companies are increasingly creating their own internal construction contractors for capital projects, who often partner up with an external contractor? 82.132.239.193 (talk) 09:39, 24 July 2017 (UTC)
 * Some local councils have "Direct Labour Organisations" which they use in preference to tendering to outside contractors .  They still have to tender but they can accept the quote from their DLO.   The idea is to save money and also train local people in building skills.   Often there is no competitive advantage.   The companies you refer to may be thinking on the same lines. 2A00:23C0:7F02:C01:311A:34E5:2E94:A54E (talk) 09:49, 24 July 2017 (UTC)
 * In my experience, the two focus on different aspects of project management; the internal personnel focus more on managing stakeholders and watching costs and schedules (as it relates to business requirements) while the external personnel focus more on obtaining contractors, applying professional expertise to the scheduling, and so on. Ideally, the two keep each other in check. Matt Deres (talk) 13:19, 24 July 2017 (UTC)
 * What I mean is that traditionally, client organisations used to procure an external contractor who would do whatever they were contracted to do as the principal contractor. The client would monitor costs, manage stakeholders and also do technical/safety assurance. But there seems to be a trend recently whereby the client (sponsor) would appoint an internal contractor who does all of the above and appoint a delivery partner.  The internal contractor, however, would become the principal contractor so I guess it's the client organisation becoming more involved in the delivery of the project.  82.132.239.193 (talk)
 * This is fundamentally a form of vertical integration, which has gone in and out of fashion many times, and the usual advantages would apply. You have not said which part of the world you are in, so it's very difficult to suggest reasons why it might be popular now. Matt's talk 13:05, 25 July 2017 (UTC)
 * Design–build and Design–bid–build are probably the most germane articles we've got, though I note that the D-B article is slightly at odds with my understanding. According to that article, DB utilizes a single contact to oversee both the design and build aspects of the project, but that's not necessarily the case. While they will be the same contractor there may still be two levels of project management going on: the external one doing the D-B and the internal one that manages the external contractor. Matt Deres (talk) 16:41, 25 July 2017 (UTC)

Creative Commons
I still have questions about Creative Commons, so...

Say someone uses a photo with a Creative Commons license, but doesn't use the proper attribution, etc. What could happen to that someone? and what could the original author/copyright holder do to that person? Thanks, Zhangj1079 (T&#124;C) 16:21, 24 July 2017 (UTC)
 * Copyright violations are a matter of civil law, and the copyright holder can sue for damages. -- Jayron 32 16:36, 24 July 2017 (UTC)
 * Thank you! Zhangj1079 (T&#124;C) 13:46, 25 July 2017 (UTC)
 * More explicitly: if you really want to go after them, you have to hire a lawyer and sue, which means lots of money spent on legal costs. Unsurprisingly, many creators can't afford to do this. In a few especially egregious cases, organizations such as the EFF have represented plaintiffs alleging violations of a CC license, but don't count on this as a legal strategy. For content hosted online by a host subject to U.S. law, the copyright holder can submit a DMCA takedown request to request it be removed, but it's up to the host to judge whether to honor it. (Note that none of what I said is peculiar to CC licenses. This is how copyright works in general.) --47.138.161.183 (talk) 22:25, 25 July 2017 (UTC)
 * And to state the semi-obvious: if it's an honest mistake, a polite request might be all you need. Many people don't pay attention to the attribution, etc. requirements, and there are frequent misconceptions around the CC licenses, with people assuming they're all the same. --47.138.161.183 (talk) 21:04, 26 July 2017 (UTC)

What happened to the native Roman population of Italy after the Lombards invaded?
What happened to the native Roman population in areas that were under Lombard control? Was it outnumbered by the Lombards, or did the Romans remain the majority with the Lombards forming the aristocracy? Uncle dan is home (talk) 23:15, 24 July 2017 (UTC)


 * Mostly the latter, as was the case everywhere else in the Empire where Germanic tribes took over the government (well, not Britain probably, but at least in Italy, Gaul, Spain, North Africa). The Romans didn't go anywhere, they just had new rulers. There were so few Lombards (or Visigoths, or Vandals, or Franks) that they lived pretty much as separate cultures side by side. They even usually had separate legal codes. The Lombards used their own laws, and the Romans used their own laws, for a few centuries anyway. The Lombards and the other conquering Germanic tribes eventually assimilated into the much larger Roman population - for example they all ended up speaking languages descended from Latin instead of their native Germanic languages. Adam Bishop (talk) 02:21, 25 July 2017 (UTC)


 * The article titled Kingdom of the Lombards mentions some of this topic, noting, for example "The new organization of power, less linked to race and clan relations and more to land management, marked a milestone in the consolidation of the Lombard kingdom in Italy, which gradually lost the character of a pure military occupation and approached a more proper state model.[10] The inclusion of the losers (the Romans) was an inevitable step, and Agilulf made some symbolic choices aimed at the same time in strengthening its power and to credit it with the people of Latin descent." -- Jayron 32 13:21, 25 July 2017 (UTC)


 * From another angle, the article on the genetic history of Italy has: "Despite the lengthy Goth and Lombard presence in Italy, the I1 haplogroup associated with the Norsemen is present only among 6-7% of mainland Italians, peaking at 11% in the northeast (20% in Udine." ---Sluzzelin talk  01:06, 26 July 2017 (UTC)


 * Norman conquest of southern Italy also seems to have thus had little impact on the local population genetics. -- Jayron 32 11:43, 26 July 2017 (UTC)
 * lombards article says that Alboin decided to lead his people to Italy, which had become severely depopulated and devastated after the long Gothic War (535–554). Cities were mere skeleton of their past, and rural area in no better shape. So, the discrepancy in number may not have been so great between former residents and Langobardi, this is one of the reason of the latter success. Gem fr (talk) 18:51, 27 July 2017 (UTC)