Search results

The purpose of this paper is to give an overview of the Jisc and Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) Library Data Labs project and its outputs. This collaboration involved bringing together cross-institutional library teams to produce proof of concept data-visualised dashboards using library analytics data that could be made available to others via the Heidi Plus service.

The teams used an agile approach, which adapted the agile methodology for non-technical and disparate team members. The key agile elements were followed, including the Scrum approach, whereby teams had a product owner, several development team members, a data wrangler and a scrum master. Many of the dashboards took inspiration from some of the earlier Jisc work on library analytics.

A wide variety of proof of concept dashboards were created addressing a range of library issues. These fell into two main categories for the cross-institutional teams, namely, comparing the Society of College, National and University Libraries (SCONUL) annual statistics results against the National Student Survey (NSS) data and collection management and analysis.

Some of the HESA data were potentially sensitive. In effect, this created a walled garden as some of the data were not designed for sharing. Furthermore, the data that the Jisc team used were restricted by publisher agreements, meaning that specific institutions’ usage could not be identified to others.

The paper provides insight into the Library Data Labs project and discusses a number of implications from the outcomes of the project. These are now being investigated by HESA, Jisc and individual institutions.

The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the bespoke resource list management system (MyReading) at the University of Huddersfield.

An online survey was designed to assess student use of MyReading and their views on potential improvements. The survey used closed questions designed to obtain quantitative data. Thematic analysis was used to analyse qualitative data obtained from open questions.

The paper supports findings of another recent study which found that reading lists are perceived as more important by students than by lecturers. A variety of positive and negative themes emerged which pointed to this conclusion. Positive themes were: the perceived helpfulness of reading lists, students’ view of MyReading as a starting point for independent further reading, ease of use of MyReading and the time saving afforded to students and the value students place on their reading lists as being “quality assured” by lecturers. Negative themes were: inconsistency in the length and structure of lists; concerns that some lists are not regularly updated; lack of awareness of functionality, revealing training needs for students and lecturers; and suggestions for future enhancements to MyReading. Another finding from the quantitative data is the clear link between low use of reading lists by students in certain schools and low use of other library resources.

The research provides guidance to universities regarding future development of resource list management systems and promotional and training needs.

The study adds rich information to the existing body of qualitative research on students’ perceptions of their reading lists.

The present study was conducted to find what practices Pune city's management institutes are following for managing their online databases. Essentially, the purpose of the research was to study librarians' awareness about the life cycle of electronic resources and how to manage their life span, so that the data in use do not go obsolete.

This experimentative study was based on a structured questionnaire designed to discover whether librarians of Pune's management institute followed the recommended six-step process in managing the life cycle of institutes' electronic resources as proposed by Jill Emery and Graham Stone in their Techniques in Electronic Resource Management (TERMS).

Our study revealed that the librarians are not following any fixed protocol and are managing electronic resources in an ad hoc manner as per their own discretion. A majority are not even aware of the six steps the TERMS model prescribed for managing electronic databases.

The limitation of the study is to find the current practices of management of electronic resources at management institutes / colleges affiliated to Savitiribai Phule Pune University. Institutes which are not subscribing any database other than databases provided by UGC-INFONET thus got excluded from the study.

A comprehensive literature review revealed that although such studies have been carried out elsewhere in the world, there is nothing specific to the Indian scenario. This study aims to plug that information gap.

This paper builds upon existing research into library usage by exploring whether demographic characteristics such as age, gender, ethnicity and country of origin have an effect upon undergraduate library usage at the University of Huddersfield.

The study uses demographic and library usage data for a graduating year of full‐time undergraduate students at the University of Huddersfield, and uses statistical tests to explore the significance of the relationship between demographics and usage.

The study finds that there is a statistically significant relationship between demographic characteristics and library usage on some, though not all, dimensions. But in many cases the effect size is small.

The study uses data from a single UK university, and the findings may not therefore be generalizable. Furthermore, the study is able to identify statistical relationships but is not able to fully explain why they exist.

The findings suggest that library services may need to be shaped differently for different demographic groups of students. Working with students in their own institution, librarians may be able to discover more about why these differences exist.

This paper shows a relationship between usage and demographic characteristics among undergraduate students, allowing librarians to consider how better to shape their services to meet student needs.

Many students irrespective of level of study produce excellent course work which, if given support and encouragement, could clearly be of a publishable standard. Academic staff are expected to produce quality publications meeting peer-review standards although they may be relatively novice authors. All are engaged in some aspects of academic writing practices but not as frequently involved in co-production of publications emanating from student work. This activity is still at the margins of much of the student experience. The paper aims to discuss these issues.

Mindful of these issues, the authors designed and offered a writing programme including a writing retreat. This brought together undergraduate and postgraduate students from a range of applied disciplines (health and art, design and architecture) and their supervisors with the aim of co-producing publications and participating in a community of scholarly practice. The project was delivered over nine months. It involved four days “compulsory” attendance and included a preparatory workshop, a two day off-campus writing retreat and a dissemination event. Student and supervisors applied to participate as a team. Kirkpatrick’s (2006) four-stage classic model: reaction, learning, changes in behaviour and real world results was used as a framework for the educational evaluation.

Key findings organised thematically were: supervisor-supervisee relationships; space and time; building confidence enabling successful writing and publication.

This paper will provide an overview of the design, content and approaches used for successful delivery of this innovative project. It will draw on examples that illustrate the different types of joint enterprise that emerged, illuminate experiences of co-production and co-authorship along with recommendations for future ventures.

It is clear that libraries consider the use of data to inform decision making a top priority in the next five years. JISC's considerable work on activity data has highlighted the lack of tools and services for libraries to exploit this data. The purpose of this paper is to explore the potential of a shared analytics service for UK academic libraries and introduce the JISC Library Analytics and Metrics Project. The project aims to help libraries effectively management collections and services as well as delivering pre-emptive indicators and “actionable insights” to help identify new trends, personalise services and improve efficiencies, economies and effectiveness (student attainment and satisfaction and institutional reputation, for example). The project builds on the Library Impact Data Project at the University of Huddersfield and the work of the Copac Activity Data and Collections Management tools. The paper will deliver a case study of the project, its progress to date, the challenges of such an approach and the implications the service has for academic libraries.

The paper will be a case study of the project and its institutional partners and early adopters work to date and explore both the technical and cultural challenges of the work as well as its implications for the role of the library within the institution and the services it provides. Specifically the case study will comprise of the following aspects: a brief history of the work and the context of library analytics services in the UK (and internationally). A description of the approach adopted by the project, and the vision and goals of the project. Exploration of the challenges associated with the project. Outline of the implications of the project and the resultant service.

This paper will report on the initial findings of the project, which will run from January to December 2013. In particular it will consider the issues surfaced through the close engagement with the academic library community (through the projects community advisory and planning group) and the institutional early adopters around data gathering and analysis.

Data accumulated in one context has the potential to inform decisions and interventions elsewhere. While there are a number of recognised and well-understood use cases for library analytics these tend to revolve around usage and collection management. Yet, the potential of a shared analytics service is in uncovering those links and indicators across diverse data sets. The paper will consider a number of practical impacts: performance – benchmarking, student attainment and research productivity; design – fine tuning services, personalised support; trends – research landscape, student marketplace, utilisation of resources. The case study will explore these practical implications for libraries and what they mean for the future of the library within the academy.

The paper will present a case study of a unique service that currently fills an important gap within the library analytics space. The paper will focus on the services potential to transform both the way the library works and how it is perceived by its users, as well as its role and relationship within the broader institution.

The literature on leadership is quite extensive; however, this study explains the impact of leadership styles on career success, career competence and career adaptability in the health sector. It explains the impact of servant leadership on career competence and career adaptability with a serial mediating impact of psychological safety and proactive behavior as well as self-efficacy and proactive behavior.

It is a quantitative study, and it tested the suggested model in hospitals in Pakistan. The data were collected from 310 health practitioners from the hospitals, and it was analyzed with partial least square structural equation modeling.

The findings suggest that psychological safety and proactive behavior serially mediate the impact of servant leaders on career competence and career adaptability; hence, servant leadership tends to increase career competence and career adaptability of individuals. One more serial mediation has been tested with positive results between servant leadership and career competence and career adaptability.

The study takes a very well theoretically linked model which tests the serial mediating path of servant leadership to career competencies and career adaptability.

The purpose of this paper is to show how accounting technology transfers from the centre of the British Empire contributed to the early professionalisation of accounting and auditing practices in a New Zealand public utility company – the Auckland Gas Company – while it was operating in a colonial, pioneer, settler society.

An explanatory historical narrative links the company's inward transfers of accounting technology to the developing professionalisation of its accounting practices. Different analytical frameworks are used to combine the two components of the narrative: those of Jeremy for technology transfers, and Carnegie and Edwards for stages in the professionalisation process. The narrative is informed by archival research on the annual reports and financial statements of the company, and the minutes of its directors' meetings.

Accounting technology transfers are identified in the company's adoption of British accounting regulations, its appointment of skilled immigrants, and their adoption of contemporary English gas companies' accounting practices. Proto‐professional accounting, i.e. the earliest stage of accounting professionalisation as the practice changes from non‐professional to professional, is evidenced in the change in accountants' and auditors' work from unpaid to paid, and in their exercise of more specialised skills. Effects of technology transfer on the professionalisation of the company's accounting practices are traced through changes in its accounting methods, internal control systems, external reporting forms, and the auditing of its accounts.

The paper's focus on technology transfer in proto‐professional accounting in a New Zealand setting is an original contribution to the literature on accounting technology transfers between different countries in different periods.

The purpose of this chapter is to highlight the importance of including emotional intelligence training with programs related to providing mentorship to others. Formal mentoring programs, established with specific goals and objectives, need foundation work for context in order to be successful. This chapter pulls from professional literature, important basic components of both emotional intelligence skills and attributes for successful mentoring. By demonstrating the relationship between emotional intelligence and mentors who are successful, future programs and activities within the workplace regarding formal mentorship structures can be influenced positively. There is a relationship between having good emotional intelligence skills by people who mentor and being successful within the mentoring relationship. Mentors who are more self-aware of their own emotions are more likely to manage a mentoring relationship more positively and with better outcomes. Library and information science professionals are undergoing tremendous change within the professional environment, the establishment of mentoring networks can greatly influence professional turnover. The opinions and concepts presented from professional literature has been used and adapted by the author in various workshops and presentations. It is this practitioner’s opinion that any formal mentoring program should start with providing a foundation of emotional intelligence skills for the mentors.