Bournemouth Churches Housing Association has developed a continuum of accommodation and support services through consultation with residents and local authorities. This is a…
Abstract
Bournemouth Churches Housing Association has developed a continuum of accommodation and support services through consultation with residents and local authorities. This is a holistic continuum of services that is designed to be flexible enough to enable residents to move between different services offered as their support needs change. Ultimately, the continuum of support services is intended to empower residents in achieving independent living after moving from fully supported services, to semi‐supported services, to independent accommodation with floating support. It has been possible to develop this range of services by mapping accurately support needs and developing effective professional working relationships with partnership agencies, such as Supporting People Administering Authorities.
Jonathan Lazar and Irene Briggs
The chapter provides instruction on how public libraries can improve the services that they provide to community members with print-related disabilities.
Abstract
Purpose
The chapter provides instruction on how public libraries can improve the services that they provide to community members with print-related disabilities.
Methodology/approach
A combination of methods was used (interview, survey, document analysis, usability testing, and expert inspection), to investigate the current level of service provided to community members who are blind or low vision by the Baltimore County Public Library, in five areas:
1. Web Accessibility and Maintenance
2. Staff Awareness and Training
3. Physical Environment of the Library
4. Library offerings, including databases, materials, and equipment: what we have now and what we should have
5. Marketing materials: what, how, and where to be more visible
Findings
In all five areas, there were important findings about current barriers to accessibility, and suggestions for improvement in the future were made in the chapter.
Practical implications
The chapter details the steps taken by a large public library system, in a challenging budget environment, with changing leadership, to make improvements in the quality of service provided to people who are blind or low vision.
Originality/value
In the past, people with print-related disabilities were often referred to the Maryland State Library for the Blind and Physically Handicapped. However, over time, the nature of materials acquisitions at public libraries has changed. A large percentage of materials acquired by public libraries is now in digital format, which provides an opportunity for public libraries to start providing services to people with print disabilities.
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In the 1970s, the United States Congress enacted two statutes that have had dramatic and far‐reaching effects on the education of handicapped children by public schools. These two…
Abstract
In the 1970s, the United States Congress enacted two statutes that have had dramatic and far‐reaching effects on the education of handicapped children by public schools. These two laws, Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and the Education For All Handicapped Children Act of 1975 (known as Public Law 94–142), have required local public school agencies to provide new eductional programs for thousands of handicapped children not previously served by the public schools. Counselors, principals, and teachers were quickly informed of the law's requirements and willingly began the task of main‐streaming and assimilating these children into various curricula. Their physical needs were attended to rapidly; their societal and emotional needs, unfortunately, lagged behind. Within the past seven years, there has been an increase in books, articles, and films specifically addressed to counseling the handicapped. Unlike past literature which focused only on the vocational aspect of rehabilitation counseling, current writing emphasizes personal counseling meant to assist a disabled child to participate fully in the problems and joys of daily living.
The purpose of this paper is to examine a selection of creative writings by students at one Australian secondary school over a period of 50-plus years, charting the frequency with…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine a selection of creative writings by students at one Australian secondary school over a period of 50-plus years, charting the frequency with which key markers of gender appear in student storytelling over this period and sampling the types of gendered representation demonstrated in these stories.
Design/methodology/approach
Taken from a larger study, and grounded in feminist and poststructuralist reading practices, the research draws on Critical Discourse Analysis and quantifies verbal processes relating to gender using Halliday and Matthiessen’s Systemic Functional Linguistics (SFL) (2004).
Findings
The research finds the visibility of females in the selected corpus has increased considerably, yet the nature of female and male participation in these texts remains comparatively unchanged when measured by the process types of Halliday and Matthiessen’s SFL (2004).
Originality/value
If past decades of (pro)feminist choices are only challenging gendered patterns of representation at the level of quantity but not type, this has significant implications for teachers of English. The paper’s conclusion considers what more might be done in present and future teaching to assist students to problematise their own, as well as others’, representations of gender.
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Stanislav Ivanov and Craig Webster
The hospitality industry in developed countries is under pressure due to labor shortages and it is likely more food and beverage operations will have to be automated in the…
Abstract
Purpose
The hospitality industry in developed countries is under pressure due to labor shortages and it is likely more food and beverage operations will have to be automated in the future. This research investigates the public’s perceptions of the use of robots in food and beverage operations to learn about how the public perceives automation in food and beverage.
Design/methodology/approach
Data were collected from a survey disseminated online in 12 languages, resulting in a sample of 1,579 respondents. The data were analyzed using factor analysis and OLS regressions.
Findings
The data also reveal that generally positive attitudes toward the use of robots in tourism and hospitality is a strong indicator of positive attitudes toward the use of robots in an F&B setting. The data also illustrate that the public’s perception of appropriateness of the use of robots in F&B operations is positively related to robots’ perceived reliability, functionality and advantages compared to human employees.
Research limitations/implications
The implications illustrate that the public seems to be generally accepting robots in food and beverage operations, even considering the public’s understanding and acceptance of the limitations of such technologies.
Practical implications
The research suggests that a critical element in terms of incorporating automation into future food and beverage operations is encouraging consumers to have generally positive attitudes toward the use of robots in hospitality and tourism industries.
Originality/value
This survey is based upon the data gathered in multiple countries to learn about how individuals perceive the use of robots in food and beverage operations, illustrating the attitudes that will assist or hinder the automation of this service industry.