Camden rejected a viewdata solution to user information needs as being too highly structured in its approach and instead opted for a customised version of Geac's new Community…
Abstract
Camden rejected a viewdata solution to user information needs as being too highly structured in its approach and instead opted for a customised version of Geac's new Community Information System (CIS) based on that company's existing Local Information System software. Data from the authority's DataEase Adult Education database were incorporated into CINDEX (Camden Community Information Network Directory and Exchange) by uploading files from the former to the latter. A variety of online and offline methods of access and reporting are described.
Background As described in VINE 48, Hillingdon Libraries issued in September 1982 a 91‐page specification for the supply of an integrated online library system. Though only one…
Abstract
Background As described in VINE 48, Hillingdon Libraries issued in September 1982 a 91‐page specification for the supply of an integrated online library system. Though only one page of the specification covered local information, it resulted in a contract with Geac Computers Ltd for the supply of four major software packages: circulation; public access catalogue; acquisitions; and local information.
Intuitively, most people have a mental picture of community information systems, generally conforming to the vision of those services provided so well for so many years by the…
Abstract
Intuitively, most people have a mental picture of community information systems, generally conforming to the vision of those services provided so well for so many years by the public library services eg leisure pursuits, society names and addresses and other locally useful information such as names and addresses of local government officers, where to go for consumer advice and so on. And indeed many community information systems do just that.
All societies in the modern world are troubled by crime, and the general public is equally fascinated by criminals and fearful of criminal behaviour. In the United Kingdom, events…
Abstract
All societies in the modern world are troubled by crime, and the general public is equally fascinated by criminals and fearful of criminal behaviour. In the United Kingdom, events such as the murders of Jack the Ripper, the Yorkshire Ripper and Harold Shipman, and the Soham tragedy, coupled with film and television programmes including Silence of the Lambs, Cracker and Crime Scene Investigation, have fuelled the public's consciousness of the criminal mind.In the fight against crime, the development of offender profiling by the FBI in the USA has further captured people's imagination. The technique was introduced to help law enforcement agencies solve serious crimes such as serial rape or murder, and to a lesser extent arson and property crime. At the heart of profiling lies the belief that by combining psychological principles with crime scene analysis, it is possible to identify the likely characteristics of a perpetrator.Although advances in crime detection are welcomed, the profiling field appears riddled with contradiction and disagreement. Social scientists argue that the discipline is unscientific due to methodologically weak research, while police officers appear sceptical about its benefits for solving crime. In Britain, profiling has witnessed both notable successes, for example Canter's profile of the serial rapist and murderer John Duffy, and dramatic failures, such as the Colin Stagg profile in the Rachel Nickell inquiry. This article reviews the offender profiling literature, examines its applicability in the legal system and identifies areas for future research.
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To examine the trend of “witness tours” that travel to the North American Arctic to experience, document, and then advocate on behalf of environmental issues in the North. These…
Abstract
To examine the trend of “witness tours” that travel to the North American Arctic to experience, document, and then advocate on behalf of environmental issues in the North. These tours are presented as part of a colonial legacy that has long witnessed the North as a space of potential investment from the South. Especially in their reliance upon suffering as a narrative practice to justify their experience, these tours repeat patterns that reduce the agency of Northern communities and peoples to address changes they are facing. The chapter also provides best practices for such excursions and compares their approach to Northern-based expeditions that also advocate for environmental conservation and protection.
In the first part of the chapter, the history of colonialism and exploration sets the foundation for understanding the recent trend in witness tours. These tours are then examined through a discourse analysis of their narratives to highlight their connection with colonial approaches to the North. The final section of the chapter presents three necessary steps to reduce the reliance upon colonial legacies for these tours.
The witness tours examined are heavily dependent upon using their resilience of the travels to travel through harsh landscapes to make their case for caring about these landscapes. Far from being an innocent narrative strategy, this reliance upon suffering provides a level of elitism to these narratives at the same time as it reproduces colonial patterns. The chapter suggests three steps to avoid these problems: (1) Recognize the stories of people who live in the North; (2) Do not present the Arctic as a timeless wilderness landscape; and (3) Understand our limited perspective on the North as outsiders.
The chapter suggests that witness tours need to be understood within the context of a history of colonial exploration in the Arctic as well as the agency of Northern peoples to address both environmental change and colonialism.
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As Lorna Jowett and Stacey Abbott have pointed out, the US TV serial Supernatural owes much of its success to the way it combines horror with family drama, strengthening the…
Abstract
As Lorna Jowett and Stacey Abbott have pointed out, the US TV serial Supernatural owes much of its success to the way it combines horror with family drama, strengthening the affective involvement of viewers in the lives of its protagonists, the monster-hunting Winchester brothers. The notion of home – presented variously as a domestic, feminine space from which the Winchesters and their compatriots are excluded; a mobile and contingent space of masculine bonding; and a hybrid space which allows for self-expression outside prescribed gender norms, but which also holds the potential for danger – is central.
Heather L. Duda has pointed to the ways monster hunters are excluded from the normative institutions of their societies, and this is certainly true of the Winchesters, who live in their family car and are unable to maintain ‘normal’ homes. Later seasons give them a home in the form of an underground bunker, not designed as a domestic space, but nonetheless a place where their hypermasculine behaviours can be relaxed. This chapter examines the tensions that emerge in this apparent move from a traditional narrative of the home as feminine space under threat to something more ambivalent, where masculine identity itself may be in danger.
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This paper examines the role of curiosity in volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous (VUCA) work contexts.
Abstract
Purpose
This paper examines the role of curiosity in volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous (VUCA) work contexts.
Design/methodology/approach
This conceptual article relied upon an examination of literature about curiosity, VUCA and soft skills.
Findings
Curiosity, when encouraged and supported within the workforce, may aid organizations in closing soft skill gaps and better navigating ambiguity, perpetually changing business landscapes, and rapidly advancing technology.
Research limitations/implications
Empirical research is needed to validate, confirm and further explicate the specific mechanisms and value of curiosity within VUCA environments.
Practical implications
Organizations need to move beyond espousing a value of curiosity to deliberately and effectively cultivating and supporting it within their employees.
Originality/value
Although ample research and literature has examined curiosity, soft skills and VUCA environments independently, the body of literature on the specific role of curiosity in such environments is limited.
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Alison Sheridan, Linley Lord and Anne Ross-Smith
The purpose of this paper is to identify how board recruitment processes have been impacted by the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) governance changes requiring listed boards…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to identify how board recruitment processes have been impacted by the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) governance changes requiring listed boards to report annually on their gender diversity policy and profile.
Design/methodology/approach
Employing a social constructivist approach, the research analyses interviews conducted with matched samples of board directors and stakeholders in 2010 and 2017 about board recruitment in ASX50 companies.
Findings
The introduction of ASX guidelines requiring gender reporting disrupted traditional board appointment processes. Women's gender capital gained currency, adding an additional dimension to the high levels of human and social capital seen as desirable for board appointments. The politics of women's presence is bringing about changes to the discourse and practice about who should/can be a director. The authors identify highly strategic ways in which women's gender capital has been used to agitate for more women to be appointed to boards.
Research limitations/implications
While sample sizes are small, data within the themes cohered meaningfully across the time periods, making visible how women's presence in the board room has been reframed. Future research could consider what this may mean for board dynamics and how enduring are these changes.
Practical implications
This study highlights the forms that human and social capital take in board appointments, which can be instructive for potential directors, and how these intersect with gender capital. The insights from the study are relevant to board recruitment committees seeking to reflect their commitment to a more gender equitable environment.
Originality/value
There has been a recalibration of men's and women's gender capital in board appointments, and there is now a currency in femaleness disrupting the historical privilege afforded “maleness”.