Stephen Ball, Judith Mudd, Marie Oxley, Mike Pinnock, Hazel Qureshi and Elinor Nicholas
This paper explores how a research‐based understanding of outcomes in social care can be incorporated into practice. Drawing on research by the Social Policy Research Unit and the…
Abstract
This paper explores how a research‐based understanding of outcomes in social care can be incorporated into practice. Drawing on research by the Social Policy Research Unit and the practical experience of North Lincolnshire Social Services Department, this paper highlights how culture change and the involvement of stakeholders are key to using outcomes ideas as a motivational framework for service improvement.
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The development of information technology (IT) networks in the delivery of a range of material to learners in higher education is explored. Factors which influence the application…
Abstract
The development of information technology (IT) networks in the delivery of a range of material to learners in higher education is explored. Factors which influence the application of IT are described and learner characteristics and needs are enumerated. The range of learning material appropriate to, and the mechanisms for, IT delivery are examined. Some examples of provision are noted. Strategic issues and the strengths and weaknesses of networked access are analysed. Prospects for developing systems and the requirements are discussed. The results of a small scale survey of provision in academic institutions are reported and discussed in a second part of the paper.
This study seeks to examine, from the viewpoint of 12 adult fiction readers who are members of book clubs, how they go about selecting fiction books to borrow from the public…
Abstract
Purpose
This study seeks to examine, from the viewpoint of 12 adult fiction readers who are members of book clubs, how they go about selecting fiction books to borrow from the public library.
Design/methodology/approach
Each participant took part in an individual, semi‐structured, face‐to‐face interview. Using Williamson's Ecological Model of Information Seeking and Use as the conceptual framework, the study examined the role that fiction readers' “internal environments” and “external contexts” played in their book choices.
Findings
The selection of fiction books at the public library occurred, to a large extent, outside it. Fiction books were selected as part of everyday life information seeking, influenced by study participants' personal characteristics and circumstances as well as sources from their everyday lives, which typically included family, friends, book club and the mass media. While the public library was the main means by which study participants obtained their fiction books, it was not the first source to which they turned for ideas on what to read.
Originality/value
The study moves from a preoccupation of readers' actions at the public library to examine, more holistically, how everyday life information sources influence their choices of fiction books at the public library. It highlights the purposive and serendipitous dimensions of book selections and also underscores the importance of recognizing trust as a determining factor in book selection.
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In 1959, Al Schmid joined the faculty at Michigan State, where he taught in the Department of Agricultural Economics until his retirement as a University Distinguished Professor…
Abstract
In 1959, Al Schmid joined the faculty at Michigan State, where he taught in the Department of Agricultural Economics until his retirement as a University Distinguished Professor in 2007. Over the course of his long career, Schmid authored eight books and more than a hundred journal articles, monographs, and book chapters. He also lectured and consulted extensively, in Michigan, across the United States, and abroad (including Mali, Zimbabwe, France, and Romania).3
Library Workstation and PC Report, founded in 1984 as M300 and PC Report, was the brainchild of Allan Pratt, then at the University of Arizona. Pratt, the founding editor of Small…
Abstract
Library Workstation and PC Report, founded in 1984 as M300 and PC Report, was the brainchild of Allan Pratt, then at the University of Arizona. Pratt, the founding editor of Small Computers in Libraries, had a hunch that OCLC's introduction of the M300 workstation was going to call for much hand‐holding and specialist advice and information for librarians. He was right. M300 and PC Report had a subscribership well before the first issue was mailed to readers. And it remains a growing publication to this day.
Imagine being able to call up television news reports in whatever order you choose and then request further background information. Citizens of Washington DC should be able to do…
Abstract
Imagine being able to call up television news reports in whatever order you choose and then request further background information. Citizens of Washington DC should be able to do this from late this year, via a scheme arranged by Bell Atlantic and ABC TV News.
The first contribution to this section is by Richard Schmalensee titled “Thoughts on the Chicago school legacy in U.S. antitrust.” It appears the purpose of this essay is to set…
Abstract
The first contribution to this section is by Richard Schmalensee titled “Thoughts on the Chicago school legacy in U.S. antitrust.” It appears the purpose of this essay is to set up a target for the rest of the contributors to shoot at – a target that is emphatically pro-Chicago. In his essay, Schmalensee reviews some of the aspects of U.S. antitrust policy that outraged Chicago school lawyers and economists in the 1970s. He takes a brief look at some of Chicago's subsequent victories that he claims are now generally accepted as positive changes. And finally, he argues that some of Chicago's lost battles also constitute positive aspects of its legacy. His discussion is focused on four broad issues: the objectives of antitrust, the past policy toward “no-fault” concentration, the treatment of productive efficiency, and the evaluation of non-standard business conduct (pp. 11–12).