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1 – 10 of 261Not enough course‐centred training results in long‐term applicationof learning upon the return to work. Much can be done during a trainingcourse to assist the learning transfer…
Abstract
Not enough course‐centred training results in long‐term application of learning upon the return to work. Much can be done during a training course to assist the learning transfer process. Practical hints and tips are offered that will help learners overcome what are too often insurmountable barriers to implementing learning within the workplace.
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Describes learners according to how they have responded to the twinchallenge of taking responsibility for planning their own learning andsqueezing learning out of this emerging…
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Describes learners according to how they have responded to the twin challenge of taking responsibility for planning their own learning and squeezing learning out of this emerging experience. Typifies learners as sleepers, warriors, adventurers and sages. Provides a range of development processes for each.
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Adrian Thornhill and Andrew Gibbons
Examines the concerns of survivors who remain in organizationsfollowing redundancies. Categorizes the issues which arise from theseconcerns and uncertainties into three…
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Examines the concerns of survivors who remain in organizations following redundancies. Categorizes the issues which arise from these concerns and uncertainties into three categories: issues which arise following notification of forthcoming redundancies; issues arising from the notification of those affected; and issues following notification and termination of contract. Based on in‐depth interviews with senior human resource practitioners in 40 organizations, utilizes organizational practices and learning to explore the management of these issues. Recognizes the relationship between choice of redundancy strategy and the nature of the issues which arise. Argues that while organizations may be concerned with the needs of redundant staff, this will be insufficient to address the concerns and uncertainties of survivors. Also evaluates organizational practices aimed at building survivors′ commitment in the longer term. Argues that while organizations are attempting to recast their culture and their employment relationships, there is still much which could be done to recognize post‐redundancy issues from the perspective of the individual survivor.
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To examine how the synergy of open access and open source have been used at Edinburgh University Library to design and implement an e‐thesis service, and to offer a comfortable…
Abstract
Purpose
To examine how the synergy of open access and open source have been used at Edinburgh University Library to design and implement an e‐thesis service, and to offer a comfortable theoretical framework to aid others.
Design/methodology/approach
The concepts of open access and open source are introduced and compared to show the conceptual relationship between them and the natural partnering of these approaches to information freedom. The development of the open access repository (Edinburgh Research Archive, ERA) and the related open source software (Tapir for DSpace) are then examined as an opportunity for other implementers and developers to gain insight, both technical and non‐technical.
Findings
That open access and open source are a natural and forward looking way to develop e‐theses and other research material repositories. The discussion of developing open source and the brief study of the creation of ERA show us that this approach is both warranted and useful.
Research limitations/implications
It shows how institutions can leverage open source technology successfully, and further consideration must be given to this development methodology.
Practical implications
Software and documentation outcomes available for the community have been produced should aid the further research in this area and provide a good starting point for institutions.
Originality/value
We discuss for the first time both the theoretical aspects and the practical considerations surrounding an e‐theses archive which is of value to any group of information professionals considering similar activities.
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Maxine Seaborn Thompson, Linda K. George, Marvin Swartz, Barbara J. Burns and Jeffery W. Swanson
The purpose of this study was to identify contextual factors that affect the ability of caregivers to provide necessary supports to mentally ill individuals. Context was defined…
Abstract
The purpose of this study was to identify contextual factors that affect the ability of caregivers to provide necessary supports to mentally ill individuals. Context was defined here as the socially patterned arrangements of peoples' everyday lives and the social and cultural meanings attached to them. Three contextual areas of caregiver burden were explored: race, role responsibility, and relationship between caregiver and the mentally ill individual. Using a stress process model as a guide for our analysis we examined the role of contextual factors, primary stressors and social supports as predictors of several dimensions of caregiver burden: objective financial burden, subjective financial burden, and household disruptions. Analyses were based on interviews with 219 caregivers of persons with severe persistent mental illness who were part of randomized clinical trial of outpatient commitment (OPC) combined with community based treatment. The findings provide evidence of the importance of environmental context in structuring different aspects of caregiver burden, in particular the influence of race and relationship with the client. Parents and spouses experienced more financial burden and household disruptions than other relationships and African American caregivers reported more subjective financial burden than whites. African American caregivers also were more tolerant of client behaviors than whites. Instrumental social support and help with the client were predictors of caregiver burden. The latter was interpreted as evidence of a support mobilization effect.
This paper aims to introduce the concept of adaptive agency and illustrate its emergence in the field of English teaching in a number of countries using England over the past…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to introduce the concept of adaptive agency and illustrate its emergence in the field of English teaching in a number of countries using England over the past 30 years as a case study. It examines how the exceptional flexibility of English as school subject has brought many external impositions whilst its teachers have evolved remarkable adaptivity.
Design/methodology/approach
It proposes several models of agency and their different modes, focussing finally on adaptive agency as a model that has emerged over a 30-year period. It considers aspects of this development across a number of countries, mostly English speaking ones, but its chief case is that of England. It is principally a theoretical paper drawing on Phenomenology, Critical Realism and later modernist interpretations of Darwinian Theory, but it is grounded by drawing on two recent empirical projects to illustrate English teachers’ current agency. It offers a fresh overview of how agency and accountability have interacted within a matrix of official policy and constraint.
Findings
Adaptive agency has become a necessary aspect of teacher expertise. Such a mode of working creates great emotional strains and tensions, leading to many teachers leaving the profession. However, many English teachers whilst feeling controlled in the matrix of power and the panopticon of surveillance, remain resilient and positive about the future of the subject.
Research limitations/implications
This is to some extent a personal and reflexive account of a lived history, supported by research and other evidence.
Practical implications
Adaptive agency enables teachers to conceptualise the frustrations of the role but to celebrate how they expertly use their agency where they can. It makes their work and struggle more comprehensible. In providing the concept of harmonious practice, it offers the hope of a return to more satisfying professional lives.
Originality/value
This paper offers an original concept, adaptive agency, and discusses other valuable conceptualisations of agency and accountability. It combines a unique individual perspective with a fresh overview of the past three decades as experienced by English teachers in England.
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Holt Zaugg and Melissa C. Warr
The purpose of this paper is to describe the efforts to set up a creativity, innovation, and design (CID) studio within an academic library. This paper will describe the reasons…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to describe the efforts to set up a creativity, innovation, and design (CID) studio within an academic library. This paper will describe the reasons for creating a CID studio, assessment of the pilot study, and next steps.
Design/methodology/approach
The assessment used surveys, interviews, focus groups and observations of students and faculty to determine how well the CID fits into the library.
Findings
Initial findings indicate that the CID studio is a good fit within the library space as learning activities in it support collaboration, discovery, and integration of library services. However, noise issues, equipment needs, and expansion of space are key future needs.
Research limitations/implications
As libraries move from simple repositories of information to places of learning and collaboration, a CID studio space provides an opportunity to integrate learning opportunities with library services.
Originality/value
Through the first iteration, the CID has a unique and purposeful place within an academic library. It provides the opportunity for greater integration of library services. However, future iterations need to address key issues of space, equipment, and noise.
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THE POPULARITY of Hamewith and its author was quite phenomenal in the north‐east of Scotland. It is a significant mark of the affection in which the author was held by the…
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THE POPULARITY of Hamewith and its author was quite phenomenal in the north‐east of Scotland. It is a significant mark of the affection in which the author was held by the community at large that he was soon popularly known as ‘Hamewith’ himself, in the same way as a farmer in that airt comes to be known by the name of his place. Hamewith was first published by Wyllie & Son, Aberdeen, in 1900. By 1909 a new and more elaborate edition was called for, with an introductiion by Andrew Lang, then Scotland's leading littérateur, and published by Constable in London. By 1912, when he was entertained to an official public dinner in Aberdeen, Charles Murray, who had emigrated to South Africa in 1888 at the age of 24, was then Secretary for Public Works in the Union of South Africa. It is important to note that Murray spent practically the whole of his working life (1888–1924) in South Africa, and wrote practically all his verse in exile. He is by no means the only Scottish writer to have seen his native land more clearly from a distance. One thinks, for example, of Stevenson in Samoa, Grassic Gibbon in Welwyn Garden City, and George Douglas Brown in London.