The explosive growth in client/server technology, and the availability and popularity of Internet‐based navigational tools and access services, present today's reference library…
Abstract
The explosive growth in client/server technology, and the availability and popularity of Internet‐based navigational tools and access services, present today's reference library with a broad and much publicised array of opportunities to expand the quality of its services and even, in some cases, the scope of its mission. The paper proposes, however, that this sudden rate of change in the underlying technological infrastructure has surpassed the ability of most libraries to identify, let alone assimilate, these opportunities properly. The paper examines emerging Internet‐based strategies for community libraries, and suggests the need for a new set of information access models in the areas of patron access and control; rights and usage tracking; cost‐recovery on World Wide Web‐based services; Internet‐based ILL; self‐service for the remote patron; and community marketing via the Web.
Bruce Taylor, Geoffrey Alpert, Bruce Kubu, Daniel Woods and Roger G. Dunham
Few studies track non‐lethal weapon use by law enforcement agencies (LEAs), the number/level of force used by these agencies, complaints for excessive force, and injuries to…
Abstract
Purpose
Few studies track non‐lethal weapon use by law enforcement agencies (LEAs), the number/level of force used by these agencies, complaints for excessive force, and injuries to officers and suspects, both over time (especially recently) and with a national probability‐based sample. This study aims to address these gaps by developing longitudinal estimates to examine these use‐of‐force issues.
Design/methodology/approach
Two surveys of LEAs were conducted (n=518 and n=357 LEAs), covering 2003 to 2008, and statistical weights were used to align the data to be representative of all state and local LEAs in the USA, including adjustments for survey non‐response.
Findings
Conducted energy devices (CED) deployment has risen significantly (to about 70 percent of LEAs). However, standard baton use is down to 25 percent in 2008 and when available to the officer, batons are more likely to be left in their vehicles compared to CEDs. Baton use and empty‐hand tactics are becoming less commonly used by officers, but CED use was ranked among the most used tactics from 2005 to 2008. Excessive force complaints against LEAs, internally generated, have more than doubled from 2003 to 2008. Officer injuries varied little from 2003 to 2008, but they are still only about half as common as suspect injuries. Also, only 20 percent of LEAs collect injury data in a database, complicating future research.
Originality/value
This is one of the few studies to track, nationally, the types of non‐lethal weapons in use by LEAs, and force level used, providing aid to LEA executives and policymakers who need to follow new trends in non‐lethal weapons.
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Daniel Woods, Mary Alice Barksdale, Cheri F. Triplett and Ann Potts
The purpose of this paper is to describe a study of identity development in the context of a preservice teacher education program that used a variety of approaches to support…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to describe a study of identity development in the context of a preservice teacher education program that used a variety of approaches to support development of understanding of cultural diversity.
Design/methodology/approach
Fifty preservice teachers in a graduate program in elementary education participated in the study. Of the 50 participants, 47 were Caucasian, two were African American and one was originally from India, but was a US citizen. The analyses were qualitative. A phenomenological approach to data analysis was taken, viewing the drawings and written explanations created by the participants as independently occurring phenomenon (as compared with data that might be considered for grounded theory or constant comparison) (Hycner, 1985; Moustakas, 1994).
Findings
Overall, the low number of drawings and writings that included representations of cultural, linguistic, special needs and gender diversity suggests of a lack of understanding about the significant roles of these student characteristics in the lives of elementary teachers dedicated to meeting student needs. Given the strong focus on diversity education in this preservice teacher education program, this was an unexpected finding. One explanation is that preservice and beginning teachers are highly involved in identifying their own beliefs and values about teaching and exploring how their personal characteristics can be reconciled and applied in their specific teaching contexts.
Originality/value
It is imperative that teacher education programs effectively address diversity in the classroom for the population typically entering the teaching profession. While many programs spend considerable time and effort “teaching” multicultural concepts, few, if any, have asked students to look inward in the way we did on this study.
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Christopher S. Koper, Daniel J. Woods and Bruce E. Kubu
The purpose of the study is to examine gun violence prevention practices among urban police in the USA, assessing their scope, effectiveness, limitations, and impacts.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of the study is to examine gun violence prevention practices among urban police in the USA, assessing their scope, effectiveness, limitations, and impacts.
Design/methodology/approach
A national survey was conducted with police agencies serving cities of 100,000 or more people.
Findings
Strategies used most frequently and rated as most effective include targeted efforts focussed on high‐risk places and groups, as well as multi‐agency problem‐solving efforts, particularly those involving federal authorities. However, most agencies make limited use of proactive strategies to reduce gun crime, and there are substantial gaps in the enforcement of many gun laws. Results also suggest that gun crime is lower in places where police engage in more intensive gun‐related enforcement and prevention efforts.
Research limitations/implications
The survey focussed only on large US cities. Implementation of the strategies could not be examined in detail, and assessments of the effectiveness of strategies reflect the views of practitioners. There is a need for more in‐depth research on gun‐related enforcement and prevention practices, their effectiveness, and the organizational and environmental factors that facilitate or hinder them.
Practical implications
The study highlights strategies that should be given priority consideration in policy decisions. The findings also suggest that police efforts to address gun crime can be enhanced considerably – and that doing so may produce demonstrable reductions in gun crime. Further examination of policy changes necessary to facilitate these efforts is warranted.
Originality/value
This study represents the first national survey of gun violence reduction efforts by police in the USA.
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Robert Chapman Wood, Daniel S. Levine, Gerald A. Cory and Daniel R. Wilson
This chapter introduces evolutionary neuroscience and its organizational applications, especially its usefulness for motivation analysis in macrolevel disciplines such as…
Abstract
This chapter introduces evolutionary neuroscience and its organizational applications, especially its usefulness for motivation analysis in macrolevel disciplines such as strategic management. Macrolevel organizational disciplines have mostly lacked a theory of motivation beyond self-interest assumptions, which fail to explain many important macrolevel organizational phenomena. Evolutionary neuroscience provides an empirically grounded, parsimonious perspective on the human brain and brain evolution which helps clarify the profound complexities of motivation. Evolutionary neuroscience’s theory of the physiological causes of self- and other-interested motivation can support better macrolevel motivation analysis and unify disparate, potentially conflicting motivation theories. Examples are offered of how neuroscience-based motivation theory can support more comprehensive strategic management analysis of competences and competitive advantage.
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Daniel Walter Scott and Cheryl Lee Maxson
The purpose of this paper is to examine characteristics of gang organization in youth correctional facilities as reported by youth and staff as well as to analyze the relationship…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine characteristics of gang organization in youth correctional facilities as reported by youth and staff as well as to analyze the relationship between institutional violence and level of gang organization.
Design/methodology/approach
The data were collected through interviews with staff and youth in correctional facilities. Gang organization level averages are compared across youth and official perspectives, and the variability of responses among youth is also examined. Negative binomial regression models are conducted to determine the association between perceived level of gang organization and officially recorded violent behavior, both prior to and subsequent to the interview.
Findings
Perceptions of institutional gang organization vary notably depending on who is reporting. In contrast with prior studies of street gangs, controlling for youth demographics and offense characteristics, the authors find no significant relationship between gang organization and violence.
Research limitations/implications
The sample size is small and the data are cross-sectional. Future studies will need to be conducted in order to confirm these findings, as they contradict prior studies. The analysis of street gang organization may need to be approached differently by scholars.
Originality/value
Research has not been conducted on the organizational structure of gangs in youth correctional facilities or its relationship to institutional violence.
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Hodaka Morita and Maroš Servátka
We study whether group identity mitigates inefficiencies associated with appropriable quasi-rents, which are often created by relationship-specific investments in bilateral trade…
Abstract
We study whether group identity mitigates inefficiencies associated with appropriable quasi-rents, which are often created by relationship-specific investments in bilateral trade relationships. We conjecture that group identity strengthens the effect of an agent’s generous action in increasing his trade partner’s altruistic preferences, and this effect helps reduce incentives to undertake ex-post inefficient opportunistic behavior such as investment in an outside option. Our experimental results, however, do not support this conjecture, and contrast with our previous experimental findings that group identity mitigates distortions in ex-ante efficient relation-specific investment. We discuss a possible cause of the difference and its implications for the theory of the firm.
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Myung Ja Kim, Woo Gon Kim, Joung Man Kim and Chulwon Kim
The purpose of this study is to investigate the relationships among determinant (ease of use), extrinsic (usefulness) and intrinsic motivations (enjoyment), attachment and usage…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to investigate the relationships among determinant (ease of use), extrinsic (usefulness) and intrinsic motivations (enjoyment), attachment and usage intention regarding seniors’ use of mobile devices for tourism. In addition, this study examines the moderating role of knowledge in these relationships.
Design/methodology/approach
The researchers collected data via online surveys to reach the target population of this study, 55 years and older adults who had used mobile devices for tourism. The researchers used the partial least squares approach for this study.
Findings
The results reveal that ease of use has significant effects on extrinsic and intrinsic motivations. The motivations of usefulness and enjoyment significantly affect attachment, which, in turn, influences usage intention. The relationships between ease of use and usefulness, ease of use and enjoyment and enjoyment and attachment were stronger for the high-knowledge group than for the low-knowledge group. The relationship between usefulness and attachment was stronger for the low-knowledge group than for the high-knowledge group.
Research limitations/implications
The findings of this study provide compelling implications for academics and practitioners in the senior tourism field.
Originality/value
The compelling insight of this study is the development of a research model that combines an emergent construct of attachment as a mediator and knowledge of technology as a moderator.
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I would like, in closing, to suggest a few points for your consideration with a view to provoking an interesting discussion, and make the following suggestions:—