The purpose of this paper it to outline current resource‐sharing initiatives in Irish academic libraries that support increased research activity in line with national policy…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper it to outline current resource‐sharing initiatives in Irish academic libraries that support increased research activity in line with national policy. This paper aims to point to the challenges and opportunities such initiatives present.
Design/methodology/approach
The approach takes the form of a review paper based on practice.
Findings
It has been suggested that the greatest obstacle to finding library research is that librarians do not publish their research. As financial constraints impact on all publicly funded organisations it is not unreasonable to suggest that decision making will become more dependent on research evidence than previously. Economies of scale cannot justify the development of a research body such as the Research Information Network (RIN) in the UK and, while its output is relevant to higher education in Ireland, it is important to remember that its findings must be adapted and scaled to the Irish environment, and that partnerships and collaboration may result in different dynamics from those in a larger polity. It is therefore important that Irish research is documented and published, so that it helps map the information landscape which supports the research agenda and the national interest.
Originality/value
The paper presents a synthesis of current practice, outlining current shortcomings and challenges. It will be of interest to all librarians concerned to learn more about resource sharing in the British Isles and in particular in the Republic of Ireland.
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The main purpose of this paper is to generate discussion on the necessity for document delivery services to re‐position themselves, thus “adding value” within the information…
Abstract
Purpose
The main purpose of this paper is to generate discussion on the necessity for document delivery services to re‐position themselves, thus “adding value” within the information chain.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper is empirical, based on working practice in a major academic library.
Findings
Document supply is a vital link in the knowledge chain. It is the information professional's responsibility to rise to the challenges outlined above, and to regenerate and rejuvenate services in order to strengthen the infrastructure to support research and scholarship across all disciplines, in the manner most appropriate to them. In so doing, document supply services will become a linchpin in academic and research support rather than the weakest link.
Originality/value
The paper is a synthesis of current practice, outlining current shortcomings, and challenges.
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This paper seeks to report on the 10th ILDS Conference held in Singapore.
Abstract
Purpose
This paper seeks to report on the 10th ILDS Conference held in Singapore.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper is descriptive in approach.
Findings
The conference was very successful and, contrary to rumours, interlending and document supply is alive and well throughout the world.
Originality/value
The paper is a report on the only international conference held on the subject of interlending and document supply.
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Keywords
The purpose of this paper is to provide a review of the most recent literature concerning document supply and related matters.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to provide a review of the most recent literature concerning document supply and related matters.
Design/methodology/approach
The reading of over 150 journals as well as monographs, reports and web sites forms the basis of the approach.
Findings
Electronic books remain a minority market but the literature at least remains optimistic and readers are improving in quality and acceptability. Open Access continues to grow but with continuing and widely differing views on its impact. Increasing concerns are being expressed about the monopolistic implications of Google and there are some stout counter‐arguments. A number of interesting articles on document supply show it to be in robust health.
Originality/value
The paper represents a useful source of information for librarians and others interested in document supply and related matters.
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Avril Bell, Lesley Patterson, Morgan Dryburgh and David Johnston
Natural disaster stories narrate unsettling natural events and proffer scripts for social action in the face of unforeseen and overwhelming circumstances. The purpose of this…
Abstract
Purpose
Natural disaster stories narrate unsettling natural events and proffer scripts for social action in the face of unforeseen and overwhelming circumstances. The purpose of this study is to investigate stories of natural disasters recounted for New Zealand school children in the School Journal during its first 100 years of publication.
Design/methodology/approach
Content analysis is used to categorise the disaster event and to identify two distinct periods of disaster stories – imperial and national. Textual analysis of indicative stories from each period centres on the construction of social scripts for child readers.
Findings
In the imperial period tales of individual heroism and self‐sacrifice predominate, while the national period is characterised by stories of ordinary families, community solidarity and survival. Through this investigation of natural disaster stories for children, the paper identifies the shifting models of heroic identity offered to New Zealand children through educational texts.
Originality/value
This study adds to the existing literature on the School Journal and to the broader study of the history of imperialist and nationalist education in New Zealand. In these times of increased disaster awareness it also draws attention to the significance of disaster narratives in offering social scripts for children to draw on in the event of an actual disaster experience.
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Karen Carberry, Jean Gerald Lafleur and Genel Jean-Claude
This chapter explores the impact of delivering culturally community family therapy with strength-based strategies, to transgenerational Black Haitian families living in Haiti and…
Abstract
This chapter explores the impact of delivering culturally community family therapy with strength-based strategies, to transgenerational Black Haitian families living in Haiti and the Dominican Republic following the 2010 earthquake. A series of workshop intervention over several years, which were co-facilitated by community pastors and leaders provided a cultural-based intervention drawing on Black British and Caribbean culture, Haitian culture, Christian spiritual belief systems, in conjunction with some bi-cultural attachment and systemic methods and techniques. Community feedback through testimonies contributed to evaluation and outcomes in developing new strategies to manage stress, and family conflict and distress, together with developing new strategies in sharing a vision for the future across the community.
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Rachel Gabel‐Shemueli and Simon Dolan
The purpose of this paper is to propose emotional intelligence (hereinafter EI) competences as a key predictor for overall cross‐cultural adjustment of managers and professionals…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to propose emotional intelligence (hereinafter EI) competences as a key predictor for overall cross‐cultural adjustment of managers and professionals in its three respective dimensions: work, interaction and non‐work adjustment. This explorative study contributes to the assessment and selection of potential professionals for international assignments by identifying the combination of soft competences and selected pre‐existing personal factors that can predict cross cultural adjustment beyond traditional technical or functional skills.
Design/methodology/approach
Data were gathered via a pre‐validated multi‐item questionnaire. The latter was administered in two languages: English and Spanish and two steps of multiple hierarchical regression analyses were conducted, in addition to the main variables (i.e. main effect). A total of 16 individual, organisational and context‐related control variables were used in this study.
Findings
The main findings indicate that EI is related to overall cross‐cultural adjustment measured in its three dimensions. However, EI was most strongly related to interaction adjustment following overall cross‐cultural adjustment. Furthermore, by isolating some important variables, the predictive role of EI on cross‐cultural adjustment above and beyond these control variables was shown.
Research limitations/implications
EI is still a new and debatable construct. Researchers are continuing to explore this construct from different angles. Moreover, there is keen interest in ascertaining whether the findings reported herein are sustainable. With the exception of one external source (culture distance), all data for the current study were collected via a self‐reported questionnaire and although additional effort was made to reduce some potential method‐variance problems, they cannot be entirely ruled out. The authors encourage future studies to improve the design by gathering data from multiple sources and from diverse settings.
Practical implications
The paper reviews the possible advantages of including EI assessment in international postings selection process.
Originality/value
This paper fills the need to study the predictive role of key soft skills in understanding cross‐cultural adjustment of international assignees. This study analysed the role of emotions in cross‐cultural settings by specifically examining a set of competences stemming from the EI construct. Although EI has been extensively used in the organisational behaviour literature, to the best of the authors' knowledge, there is still a need to empirically explore the relationships of this construct within the context of overseas postings and cross cultural encounters.