Alice Kawakami and Pauline Swartz
This article describes the first of a series of assessments examining discrete areas of the service, needed to evaluate a digital reference program. The University of California…
Abstract
This article describes the first of a series of assessments examining discrete areas of the service, needed to evaluate a digital reference program. The University of California, Los Angeles, began the first stage of a planned comprehensive evaluation with an assessment of competencies designed to reveal gaps in training that would be the starting point for a revised training program. The objectives of the first assessment were to isolate librarian‐error from user‐error, software‐error and network‐error. This assessment is the first piece of wide‐ranging evaluation that will involve all staff in the process of crafting best practices for digital reference service.
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The purpose of this article is to present a series of reflections on future scenarios distributed to Taiga Forum participants in March 2006.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this article is to present a series of reflections on future scenarios distributed to Taiga Forum participants in March 2006.
Design/methodology approach
Permission was obtained to reprint the scenarios, and select national library leaders, seasoned professionals and mid‐career librarians were invited to respond to these scenarios.
Findings
Taiga scenarios focus on broad areas – internal organizational structures, advances in information technology, changing user expectations. Local engagement with these scenarios will help staff prepare for the future. Scenarios lend themselves to a variety of uses, including in‐service training, staff development, team building. Scenario planning can easily be tailored to the specific needs of an institution.
Originality/value
The Taiga Forum was an invitation‐only event. Broader dissemination of the scenarios provides others not only with the opportunity to move beyond their borders in technical services, public services, collection development, or information technology, and transcend the traditional library organization, but also with the opportunity to develop new solutions.
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Atsuko Kawakami, Subi Gandhi, Derek Lehman and Jennie Jacobs Kronenfeld
The disparities of COVID-19 vaccination rates between the rural and urban areas have become apparent during this pandemic. There is a need to understand the root causes of vaccine…
Abstract
Purpose
The disparities of COVID-19 vaccination rates between the rural and urban areas have become apparent during this pandemic. There is a need to understand the root causes of vaccine hesitancy demonstrated by the rural population to increase coverage and to contain the disease spread throughout the United States. This study aimed to explore other factors influencing vaccine hesitancy among rural dwellers besides the geography-related barriers such as poor health care access and individuals having no or suboptimal insurance coverage.
Methodology/Approach
By reviewing existing data and literature about vaccination, health literacy, and behaviors, and prevailing ideologies, we discuss the potential causes of vaccine hesitancy in rural areas that could create barriers for successful public health efforts related to vaccine coverage and provide suggestions to ameliorate the situation.
Findings
Geography-related barriers, health literacy, and preconceived notions are key determinants of adopting healthy behaviors and complying with public health authorities' recommendations among rural individuals during a public-health crisis. We argue that ideology, which is much deeper than preconception or misconception on vaccination, should be incorporated as a key factor to redefine the term “vulnerable populations” in public health research.
Research Limitations/Implications
The limitation of our study is that we have not found an effective way to encourage the populations who hold conservative religious and political ideologies to join the efforts for public health. Even though geography-related barriers may strongly impact the rural dwellers in achieving optimal health, the various forms of ideologies they have toward certain health behaviors cannot be discounted to understand and address vaccine-related disparities in rural areas. There is a need to redefine the term “vulnerable population” particularly as it relates to rural areas in the United States. During large-scale public health disasters, scholars and public health authorities should consider the ideologies of individuals, in addition to other factors such as race/ethnicity, area of residence (rural vs. urban), and socioeconomic factors influencing the existing vulnerabilities and health disparities.
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Jack Hassell, Joana Kuntz and Sarah Wright
While worker well-being is increasingly recognised as a performance driver and marker of socially responsible organisations, workaholism is ubiquitous and remains poorly…
Abstract
Purpose
While worker well-being is increasingly recognised as a performance driver and marker of socially responsible organisations, workaholism is ubiquitous and remains poorly understood. This study aims to uncover workaholism precursors, dynamics and trajectories, and explains how organisations can manage its emergence and impact.
Design/methodology/approach
Fifteen semi-structured interviews were conducted with a diverse sample of self-identified workaholics in New Zealand and analysed through interpretivist phenomenological analysis.
Findings
This study contributes to the workaholism literature by elucidating how the work–identity link is formed and maintained, the psychophysiological experiences and worldviews of workaholics and the role families, organisations and culture play in workaholism. The findings also elucidate the relationship between workaholism, work addiction and engagement.
Practical implications
The authors outline how leaders and organisations can detect and manage workaholism risk factors and understand its trajectories to develop healthy workplaces.
Originality/value
The retrospective experiential accounts obtained from a diverse sample of workaholics enabled the identification of workaholism precursors, including some previously undetected in the literature, their complex interrelations with environmental factors and workaholism trajectories.