To describe the initiatives of the Scottish Parliament in the field of e‐democracy and assess the prospects for future developments.
Abstract
Purpose
To describe the initiatives of the Scottish Parliament in the field of e‐democracy and assess the prospects for future developments.
Design/methodology/approach
Analysis and review.
Findings
The Scottish Parliament has always seen the internet as one of the major mechanisms for engaging Scottish citizens in the Parliament's business and activities. Its most successful initiatives have been the e‐petitioning system, the webcasting of proceedings, the discussion forums and the MSP video diaries.
Research limitations/implications
Relevant to parliaments and other representative institutions.
Practical implications
Simple implementable tools are described that have been shown to be effective.
Originality/value
Few parliaments have been able to put theory into practice in a short time. Applicable to other small parliaments with limited resources wishing to enhance democratic participation by electronic means.
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The Scottish Parliament Information Centre (SPICe) was created at the end of the 20th century to meet the needs of the new Scottish Parliament. With the opportunity to start…
Abstract
Purpose
The Scottish Parliament Information Centre (SPICe) was created at the end of the 20th century to meet the needs of the new Scottish Parliament. With the opportunity to start afresh, this paper seeks to analyse the most important elements on which new services were based.
Design/methodology/approach
A discursive account giving a general overview.
Findings
Library and information services increasingly face the challenge of justifying the value they are adding to their organisation. Experience showed the following requirements to be crucial factors in achieving this goal: the need to align your service with the objectives of your organisation, the need to build and maintain your credibility and the need to meet your customers face to face.
Research limitations/implications
This narrative approach provides material for further research and more theoretical analysis of the relationship between government and its supporting information services.
Originality/value
There are so few examples of establishing new parliamentary information services that this analysis of the initial and continuing challenges involved in creating such a service is uniquely instructive.
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YOU KNOW, of course, what happens when, epigrammatically at least, you have finished going round and round in ever‐diminishing circles. There is a parallel of a kind with copy…
Abstract
YOU KNOW, of course, what happens when, epigrammatically at least, you have finished going round and round in ever‐diminishing circles. There is a parallel of a kind with copy dead‐lines for monthly library periodicals—in the sense that you start with the tightest possible production schedule, in order to carry the latest news, and then you start sending copy in to the printer earlier and earlier because it's so uncomfortable to have tight dead‐lines, until after a while you find yourself writing the August issue long before the January issue has even appeared.
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DOUGLAS FOSKETT has accepted the nomination to the LA Presidency for 1976, a fitting seal upon many years of service, in a variety of offices, to the association and to the…
Abstract
DOUGLAS FOSKETT has accepted the nomination to the LA Presidency for 1976, a fitting seal upon many years of service, in a variety of offices, to the association and to the profession both at home and overseas.
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Reviews the issues arising out of an annual series of conferences, Information for Scotland, held since 1993. Three main contexts are identified and issues examined: marketisation…
Abstract
Reviews the issues arising out of an annual series of conferences, Information for Scotland, held since 1993. Three main contexts are identified and issues examined: marketisation and globalisation, convergence and regrouping, the Scottish Parliament and democratic renewal within the political context; the new agenda for learning within education; and the rise of electronic networks within technological change, are all discussed in the context of papers delivered at the conferences.
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An introduction is given to some of the resources on the Internet that may be used in academic libraries in Europe. Particular reference is made to accessing other libraries'…
Abstract
An introduction is given to some of the resources on the Internet that may be used in academic libraries in Europe. Particular reference is made to accessing other libraries' catalogues, document delivery services, shared information products and campus wide information systems. Several figures of screen outputs are included to provide the reader with an insight into the range of information available. The use of the Bulletin Board for Libraries (BUBL) as a starting point for finding out about resources on the Internet is suggested.
Steven C. Michael and Janet E.L. Bercovitz
An agency relationship exists whenever one party (the principal) delegates authority to another (the agent). Because agents are assumed to be self-interested and to possess goals…
Abstract
An agency relationship exists whenever one party (the principal) delegates authority to another (the agent). Because agents are assumed to be self-interested and to possess goals that diverge from the principal's goals, the principal must expend resources (called agency costs) to insure that agents act in her interest (Jensen & Meckling, 1976). In chains, the firm can choose as outlet managers either employees who are paid a salary (and perhaps a bonus) or franchisees who are granted the right to their outlet's profits after royalties and other expenses. In both cases, an agency problem is created because the firm delegates local decision-making to outlet managers whose interests are not perfectly aligned with that of the franchisor's (Rubin, 1978).