Purpose – This paper aims to discuss the importance and value to librarians of keeping up with new trends and terms occurring in the scholarly literature before they become…
Abstract
Purpose – This paper aims to discuss the importance and value to librarians of keeping up with new trends and terms occurring in the scholarly literature before they become commonplace. The paper makes several arguments as to why doing so helps librarians remain relevant to patrons in an increasingly challenging library environment. Also suggested are ways that librarians can create web services that leverage the knowledge they gain about the new terms with which they have gained some expertise. Design/methodology/approach – This paper contains a discussion of the author's own experience in developing the free online web service ResearchRaven, and notes the rise of certain new terms (e.g. epigenetics) in the health sciences. The new terms' appearance in calls for papers for meetings, in calls for papers for publication and in grant funding announcements signaled that the increasing use of single words or short phrases in such venues offers opportunities for librarians to develop expertise in the subject area – and to develop web applications growing out of such expertise. Findings – This paper provides empirical insights into reasons why librarians need to keep to keep up with the rise and incidence of new scholarly terms and coinages, long before they appear in the scholarly literature and in such databases as PubMed. The paper also details how librarians can use the e‐mail alerts and RSS feeds of ResearchRaven to keep informed, and suggests avenues for developing comparable web services to showcase their own libraries and existing services (e.g. institutional repositories). Originality/value – This paper fulfills a need to encourage librarians to track the use of new terms in the health sciences and in scholarship generally, to gain familiarity with such terms, to follow with erudition and acumen the rise of nascent fields and the interactions among many disciplines, to spot opportunities to develop web services and applications to serve those new communities, and to convey to existing disciplines news of developments that might be of interest to them, thereby rendering their libraries ever more innovative in practice while at the same time adding value for patrons.
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OWING to the comparatively early date in the year of the Library Association Conference, this number of THE LIBRARY WORLD is published so that it may be in the hands of our…
Abstract
OWING to the comparatively early date in the year of the Library Association Conference, this number of THE LIBRARY WORLD is published so that it may be in the hands of our readers before it begins. The official programme is not in the hands of members at the time we write, but the circumstances are such this year that delay has been inevitable. We have dwelt already on the good fortune we enjoy in going to the beautiful West‐Country Spa. At this time of year it is at its best, and, if the weather is more genial than this weather‐chequered year gives us reason to expect, the Conference should be memorable on that account alone. The Conference has always been the focus of library friendships, and this idea, now that the Association is so large, should be developed. To be a member is to be one of a freemasonry of librarians, pledged to help and forward the work of one another. It is not in the conference rooms alone, where we listen, not always completely awake, to papers not always eloquent or cleverly read, that we gain most, although no one would discount these; it is in the hotels and boarding houses and restaurants, over dinner tables and in the easy chairs of the lounges, that we draw out really useful business information. In short, shop is the subject‐matter of conference conversation, and only misanthropic curmudgeons think otherwise.
Abstract
Subject area
Doing business in China
Study level/applicability
This case was developed for us in an undergraduate strategy course at the point in the course when global strategies are discussed. It might also be used in an undergraduate entrepreneurship class when “diffusion of innovation” is being discussed.
Case overview
This case describes the experience of a student consulting team from Baylor University working in China during the summer of 2012. The team was charged with the responsibility of determining an entry mode into China for a farm-implement company in Sweden. The students spent most of the summer in three different locations in China interviewing dairy farmers and equipment dealers to identify the proposed customers for the products and their equipment needs. Their findings led them to the conclusion that Alo, the Swedish farm implement company, would have to alter their mode of entry into the Chinese market to be successful. The decision facing Amanda Sherek, the team leader, was how to structure the team’s report to Alo to help them recognize the need for rethinking the company’s original strategy.
Expected learning outcomes
At the conclusion of the case discussion, students should be able to: list and explain critical findings of the students that should be involved in developing a strategy for Alo; identify the appropriate global strategy for Alo to use in entering China; relate the theory of “Diffusion of Innovation” to Alo’s situation in China; identify whether Alo was contemplating using a production orientation or the marketing concept for its entry into China; and outline a strategic plan for Alo to enter the Chinese dairy farming industry.
Supplementary materials
Teaching notes are available for educators only. Please contact your library to gain login details or email support@emeraldinsight.com to request teaching notes.
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The Food and Drugs Bill introduced by the Government affords an excellent illustration of the fact that repressive legislative enactments in regard to adulteration must always be…
Abstract
The Food and Drugs Bill introduced by the Government affords an excellent illustration of the fact that repressive legislative enactments in regard to adulteration must always be of such a nature that, while they give a certain degree and a certain kind of protection to the public, they can never be expected to supply a sufficiently real and effective insurance against adulteration and against the palming off of inferior goods, nor an adequate and satisfactory protection to the producer and vendor of superior articles. In this country, at any rate, legislation on the adulteration question has always been, and probably will always be of a somewhat weak and patchy character, with the defects inevitably resulting from more or less futile attempts to conciliate a variety of conflicting interests. The Bill as it stands, for instance, fails to deal in any way satisfactorily with the subject of preservatives, and, if passed in its present form, will give the force of law to the standards of Somerset House—standards which must of necessity be low and the general acceptance of which must tend to reduce the quality of foods and drugs to the same dead‐level of extreme inferiority. The ludicrous laissez faire report of the Beer Materials Committee—whose authors see no reason to interfere with the unrestricted sale of the products of the “ free mash tun,” or, more properly speaking, of the free adulteration tun—affords a further instance of what is to be expected at present and for many years to come as the result of governmental travail and official meditations. Public feeling is developing in reference to these matters. There is a growing demand for some system of effective insurance, official or non‐official, based on common‐sense and common honesty ; and it is on account of the plain necessity that the quibbles and futilities attaching to repressive legislation shall by some means be brushed aside that we have come to believe in the power and the value of the system of Control, and that we advocate its general acceptance. The attitude and the policy of the INTERNATIONAL COMMISSION ON ADULTERATION, of the BRITISH FOOD JOURNAL, and of the BRITISH ANALYTICAL CONTROL, are in all respects identical with regard to adulteration questions; and in answer to the observations and suggestions which have been put forward since the introduction of the Control System in England, it may be well once more to state that nothing will meet with the approbation or support of the Control which is not pure, genuine, and good in the strictest sense of these terms. Those applicants and critics whom it may concern may with advantage take notice of the fact that under no circumstances will approval be given to such articles as substitute beers, separated milks, coppered vegetables, dyed sugars, foods treated with chemical preservatives, or, in fact, to any food or drug which cannot be regarded as in every respect free from any adulterant, and free from any suspicion of sophistication or inferiority. The supply of such articles as those referred to, which is left more or less unfettered by the cumbrous machinery of the law, as well as the sale of those adulterated goods with which the law can more easily deal, can only be adequately held in check by the application of a strong system of Control to justify approbation, providing, as this does, the only effective form of insurance which up to the present has been devised.
The purpose of this paper is to describe the role that the University of Toronto has had in helping to establish a Regional Centre of Expertise (RCE) on Education for Sustainable…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to describe the role that the University of Toronto has had in helping to establish a Regional Centre of Expertise (RCE) on Education for Sustainable Development in Toronto, Canada. The way in which the RCE initiative has helped to move forward the university's own five‐year plan will also be discussed.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper begins with a historical overview of the development of the Toronto RCE, acknowledging the diverse range of NGO, governmental and educational institutions that collaborate within this network. It then describes how the RCE initiative is helping to advance the objectives of the University of Toronto's own five‐year plan. Finally, the paper details how the University of Toronto has supported specific projects of the RCE, and where it hopes to help to lead the RCE into the next phase of its development.
Findings
In addition to presenting a case study of an RCE, the paper includes critical discussion of broader conceptual issues, such as how one might best interpret “interdisciplinarity” and community “outreach” in a university setting.
Originality/value
The UN University's RCE is, in itself, a highly original and valuable initiative. The paper describes one of these networks and its own, unique focus, while also drawing conclusions about how universities might more actively engage with community partners to advance environmental awareness.
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A.M. Leman, A.R. Omar, Won Jung and M.Z.M. Yusof
This paper aims to develop of an industrial air pollution monitoring system (IAPMOS) as one of the target solutions for monitoring mechanisms in the workplace.
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to develop of an industrial air pollution monitoring system (IAPMOS) as one of the target solutions for monitoring mechanisms in the workplace.
Design/methodology/approach
Quality function deployment approaches were used in this study. The process of getting data from workers was by using questionnaires. The questionnaire regarding the welding process work environment was given to two selected automotive industries located in Shah Alam, Selangor, Malaysia.
Findings
From the data, the system development was analysed in order to formalize the specific needs of workers and management. The preliminary data were discussed regarding the development process and reliability factors that influenced the IAPMOS. The voice of the customer was then input during the design stage of IAPMOS.
Research limitations/implications
The monitoring of industrial air pollution which was done in the welding process used a direct reading method and the date was assigned as “base line” during system development. The standards International Organization for Standardization (ISO) 9001: 2008, ISO 14001: 2008, and the Malaysia Standard, MS 1722: 2003 were the major sources helping to improve the working environments. The working environment is important to productivity and has a direct impact on human intervention.
Social implications
Poor working environments will give a negative impact and an uncondusive work environment will create a potential health hazard and less productivity.
Originality/value
The paper provides information to aid in improving workplace environment.
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W. Edwards Deming was revered as a technical genius in the areas of mathematics, statistics, and statistical variation. Though largely known for his professional achievements, the…
Abstract
W. Edwards Deming was revered as a technical genius in the areas of mathematics, statistics, and statistical variation. Though largely known for his professional achievements, the core of Deming was his quality of character. He was raised by his parents under austere conditions in the heartland of the USA. The values ingrained in him by his parents included spiritual beliefs, a love of learning, devotion to family, commit‐ment to friends, and a strong work ethic. With an intense loyalty and love for his wife and children, he balanced his life so that family remained a priority. An accomplished writer of music, a grammarian, and a person with spiritual interests, Deming was much more than a public figure recognized as an icon of the “quality” movement.
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Parker of, L.J. Salmon and J. Widgery
October 16, 1967 Master and servant — Dismissal — Redundancy — Industrial Tribunal — Practice — Employer's claim that dismissal summary — Evidence of irregularities — Scope of…
Abstract
October 16, 1967 Master and servant — Dismissal — Redundancy — Industrial Tribunal — Practice — Employer's claim that dismissal summary — Evidence of irregularities — Scope of permissible cross‐examination and re‐examination — Redundancy Payments Act, 1965 (c.62), s.9(2).
Damien Brun, Susan M. Ferreira, Charles Gouin-Vallerand and Sébastien George
Smart eyewear, such as augmented or virtual reality headset, allows the projection of virtual content through a display worn on the user’s head. This paper aims to present a…
Abstract
Purpose
Smart eyewear, such as augmented or virtual reality headset, allows the projection of virtual content through a display worn on the user’s head. This paper aims to present a mobile platform, named “CARTON”, which transforms a smartphone into smart eyewear, following a do-it-yourself (DIY) approach. This platform is composed of three main components: a blueprint to build the hardware prototype with very simple materials and regular tools; a software development kit (SDK) to help with the development of new applications (e.g. augmented reality app); and, finally, a second SDK (ControlWear) to interact with mobile applications through a Smartwatch.
Design/methodology/approach
User experiments were conducted, in which participants were asked to create, by themselves, the CARTON’s hardware part and perform usability tests with their own creation. A second round of experimentation was conducted to evaluate three different interaction modalities.
Findings
Qualitative user feedback and quantitative results prove that CARTON is functional and feasible to anyone, without specific skills. The results also showed that ControlWear had the most positive results, compared with the other interaction modalities, and that user interaction preference would vary depending on the task.
Originality/value
The authors describe a novel way to create a smart eyewear available for a wide audience around the world. By providing everything open-source and open-hardware, they intend to solve the reachability of technologies related to smart eyewear and aim to accelerate research around it.
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The Minister of Labour, Mr Joseph Godber, announced in the Commons that he hoped to make Orders establishing industrial training boards for the wool and iron and steel industries…
Abstract
The Minister of Labour, Mr Joseph Godber, announced in the Commons that he hoped to make Orders establishing industrial training boards for the wool and iron and steel industries during June. He said that there were one or two points outstanding in relation to the definitions of the engineering and construction industries which would entail further consultations. As soon as those were completed, he would make Oreders setting up boards for those two industries.