Conventional wisdom about the digital divide maintains that per capita income, education, age and access to technology are its main causes and also the main barriers to internet…
Abstract
Purpose
Conventional wisdom about the digital divide maintains that per capita income, education, age and access to technology are its main causes and also the main barriers to internet access. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the validity of that claim in the case of the Isle of Man (IOM).
Design/methodology/approach
A nominalist ontology and positivist epistemology characterizes the underpinning research philosophy for this case study. Research data consisted of secondary census instruments and primary data derived from interviews with a sample of IOM civil servants.
Findings
The findings were that despite having better results in terms of the causes of digital divide, the IOM trailed the UK level of internet access to a significant degree. This result raises questions about the wisdom of basing digital divide and e‐government strategies on technology proliferation and economic indicators.
Research limitations/implications
The IOM is a comparatively small entity compared to the UK. In addition, basing the primary data collected on IOM civil servants only may result in an element of bias.
Practical implications
Many governments invest considerable sums of money on their digital divide and e‐government programmes which may be misdirected if they are addressing the wrong causes of it.
Originality/value
This paper evaluates an issue which normally requires the resources of government or institutions in order to research it.
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This paper aims to demonstrate how a librarian at a liberal arts college partnered with a professor of rhetoric and media studies to teach students methods to classify sources…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to demonstrate how a librarian at a liberal arts college partnered with a professor of rhetoric and media studies to teach students methods to classify sources using Bizup’s BEAM.
Design/methodology/approach
Students in rhetorical criticism, read the Bizup article on BEAM. The library instruction included a discussion of the article and an application exercise where students classified cited references in a peer-reviewed journal article using BEAM.
Findings
BEAM was a valuable addition to the rhetorical criticism course. The application exercise used in the library instruction session introduced BEAM as a tool to be used in reading and evaluating sources. Students were able to apply what they learned as they selected, deciphered and interpreted sources of information for use in their academic writing.
Practical implications
Librarians teaching in a variety of academic disciplines may use or adapt BEAM as a tool for helping students learn to critically evaluate information sources, as they read texts and as they engage in research-based writing assignments.
Originality/value
This work showcases how librarians using BEAM can extend library teaching beyond traditional bibliographic instruction and into the realm of critical inquiry. It also demonstrates how librarians can use BEAM to initiate conversations with academic faculty about information literacy. It also contributes to an emerging area of scholarship involving the use of BEAM to teach source evaluation.
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Pauline Assenza and Alan B. Eisner
After decades of successful expansion, The Reader's Digest Association's products were mature. With an average readership age for the flagship Reader's Digest magazine of 50.3 in…
Abstract
After decades of successful expansion, The Reader's Digest Association's products were mature. With an average readership age for the flagship Reader's Digest magazine of 50.3 in 2004, efforts to develop new products had so far failed to entice a significant number of younger customers. Following a financial downturn in 1996, positive financial results remained illusive. Several major changes instituted by Thomas O. Ryder, CEO since 1998, including acquisitions, re-capitalization, restructuring and systematic re-engineering of the corporate culture, had proven mildly successful, but RDA, as well as the entire publishing industry, faced a persistent decline in profitability. Could RDA fulfill its stated mission to create “products that inform, enrich, entertain and inspire people of all ages and cultures around the world”, and could it do this by continuing to rely on the 80-year old Reader's Digest magazine?
Julieann Coombes and Courtney Ryder
One’s standpoint and consequent research paradigm impacts how we conduct research, including study design, analyses interpretation and dissemination of results. In 2017, the…
Abstract
Purpose
One’s standpoint and consequent research paradigm impacts how we conduct research, including study design, analyses interpretation and dissemination of results. In 2017, the authors began PhD, studying the potential barriers to aftercare treatment for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children aged under 16 who had sustained a burn injury in one of five major hospitals in Australia. The paper aims to discuss this issue.
Design/methodology/approach
As Aboriginal PhD students, the authors are conducting research using Aboriginal ontology as a framework, which is based on a holistic framework with interconnectedness, person-centred care and Aboriginal ways of knowing as the foundation. The framework has been shaped by the first author’s knowing, being and doing, and the authors’ worldview has informed and shaped the standpoint and the way the research has been developed and conducted.
Findings
It was important for the authors to have a connectedness to each aspect of the research and to each individual person that shared their story: this was paramount to the ways of being.
Originality/value
This connectedness stems from growing up on the authors’ country and learning from elders, from the connection to all entities living around, within and with the authors. The Indigenous research methodology was used throughout the study, including yarning and Dadirri, a way of deep listening and learning, as the basis for interviewing.
This paper examines the potential relationship between the history of American generations and the development of American management thought. The paper reviews the recently…
Abstract
This paper examines the potential relationship between the history of American generations and the development of American management thought. The paper reviews the recently developed generational theory of American history, along with the generational concept itself. Then, the leading thinkers in the history of the management discipline are classified according to their generational membership. The potential theoretical and research implications of the interplay of managerial and historical generations are then discussed.
Current issues of Publishers' Weekly are reporting serious shortages of paper, binders board, cloth, and other essential book manufacturing materials. Let us assure you these…
Abstract
Current issues of Publishers' Weekly are reporting serious shortages of paper, binders board, cloth, and other essential book manufacturing materials. Let us assure you these shortages are very real and quite severe.
Jacqueline Graves, Amunpreet Boyal, Tracey Shields, Roger Newham, Alistair Hewison and Louise Terry
This paper aims to report findings of a service evaluation using a human rights-based approach in the training and education of staff in palliative settings.
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to report findings of a service evaluation using a human rights-based approach in the training and education of staff in palliative settings.
Design/methodology/approach
A non-randomly sampled, uncontrolled, pre- and post-test design. Data was collected at three points over a six-month period during the period April 2017 to September 2019. As a service evaluation no ethical approval was required. Consent was implied by self-completion and submission of questionnaires. In total, 1,402 people attended the training, 480 completed pre- and post-training questionnaires (146 completed the questionnaire at six months), with 86 completing a questionnaire at all three data collection points.
Findings
Findings show increased levels of self-reported knowledge and confidence at two weeks and six months post-training. Implementing human rights in the workplace is complex. Difficulties maintaining knowledge and keeping up to date with changes in legislation and traditional ways of working were cited as barriers to service users’ human rights.
Research limitations/implications
More evaluation is required to ensure the positive elements in this evaluation can be applied more widely.
Practical implications
Human rights education has a contribution to make in supporting staff to manage the challenges involved. It may also increase the complexity of decision-making. Training needs to incorporate systems wide approaches and its benefits measured.
Social implications
The aim was to provide staff with the knowledge to make objective and proportionate decisions about personalised care. The assumption was this would help improve the experience of end of life care.
Originality/value
This is the first evaluation in the UK that we are aware of that has examined the impact of human rights education on end of life care.
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Ever since the National Enterprise Board set up shop with Lord Ryder in the chairman's seat, politicians and industrialists alike have been speculating on the kind of role it…
Abstract
Ever since the National Enterprise Board set up shop with Lord Ryder in the chairman's seat, politicians and industrialists alike have been speculating on the kind of role it would come to play on the industrial scene. Its ill‐fated predecessor, the Industrial Reorganisation Corporation, had developed a swashbuckling style in its earlier days, but by the time it was forced to put up the shutters when Mr. Heath's administration decided to put it down in 1971 it had turned business opinion round a point or two in its favour to the extent that several prominent businessmen not noted for their attachment to the idea of state intervention in industry had agreed to serve as Board members.