Search results

This paper reports on a systematic review of the published literature on the effectiveness of whole‐school behavioural interventions, which aim to promote emotional and social well‐being among young people in secondary education. The findings are based on 27 studies of varying designs with some limitations. The results suggest that the literature is not well developed, and has a substantial skew towards interventions conducted in the United States. However, it does suggest that conflict resolution training is successful in promoting pro‐social behaviours in the short term, and that the use of peer mediators may be effective for longer‐term outcomes. The evidence relating to preventing bullying and disruptive behaviour is more varied, with evidence of mixed effectiveness being identified for the roles of the community, teachers, young people, external agencies and parents.

During the past decade some fundamental economic changes have occurred in the United States and other industrialised nations which resulted in a dramatic increase in the numbers of plant closings and major permanent workforce reductions in firms and industries. Some of the reasons for these economic changes are: the restructuring of several major basic industries; intense foreign competition; lagging or declining growth rates in some industries; the modernisation of production through labour‐saving technologies; poor management; a lack of sufficient investment; and shifts in growth away from basic industries and into energy, high technology and service sectors.

Much to the relief of everyone, the general election has come and gone and with it the boring television drivel; the result a foregone conclusion. The Labour/Trade Union movement with a severe beating, the worst for half a century, a disaster they have certainly been asking for. Taking a line from the backwoods wisdom of Abraham Lincoln — “You can't fool all the people all the time!” Now, all that most people desire is not to live easy — life is never that and by the nature of things, it cannot be — but to have a reasonably settled, peaceful existence, to work out what they would consider to be their destiny; to be spared the attentions of the planners, the plotters, provocateurs, down to the wilful spoilers and wreckers. They have a right to expect Government protection. We cannot help recalling the memory of a brilliant Saturday, but one of the darkest days of the War, when the earth beneath our feet trembled at the destructive might of fleets of massive bombers overhead, the small silvery Messerschmits weaving above them. Believing all to be lost, we heaped curses on successive Governments which had wrangled over rearmament, especially the “Butter before Guns” brigade, who at the word conscription almost had apoplexy, and left its people exposed to destruction. Now, as then, the question is “Have they learned anything?” With all the countless millions Government costs, its people have the right to claim something for their money, not the least of which is the right to industrial and domestic peace.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the current impact of virtual worlds on librarianship and identify significant gains in a new mode of information delivery and immersive learning.

Through exploratory research and observation, the prospective study addresses a very new trend in information delivery and technology within library services.

Provides evidence of global collaboration among information scientists, significant contributions to library collections, and potential for educational opportunities through immersive learning environments.

A small number of librarians are participating in virtual world librarianship in relation to the profession, due to the mode being a very new one. Future research should include studying the needs of library patrons and information seeking behaviors in virtual worlds along with accessibility, security and sustainability.

The study implies many educational opportunities and potential for information organization, information delivery, multimedia, and immersive learning on a global scale.

This study presents significant evidence that virtual worlds have provided a new medium of information delivery and educational opportunities that librarians are currently embracing and sharing with other fields, including medicine, art, science, and education.