Although aviation is an indispensable part of modern transportation, it attracts less popular attention today than at any time during this century. Ironically, the very dominance…
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Although aviation is an indispensable part of modern transportation, it attracts less popular attention today than at any time during this century. Ironically, the very dominance of aviation, with its attendant “professionalization,” has stolen much of its romance.
Newcastle University Library (NUL) has recently commissioned a microcomputer controlled admissions monitoring system; (ADMIS); from MARI Advanced Microelectronics Ltd.; Newcastle…
The canned fruit and canned vegetable industry of Canada is of recent but rapid growth. The recently issued Report by the Department of Trade and Commerce on the industry states…
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The canned fruit and canned vegetable industry of Canada is of recent but rapid growth. The recently issued Report by the Department of Trade and Commerce on the industry states that it supplies nearly all the Canadian home requirements and at the present time there is in addition a small export trade in canned pears and other canned fruits—not specified—which are sent almost exclusively to the United Kingdom.
The relationship between the CFO and the audit committee has changed from oftentimes one of minimal contact to almost daily interaction as a result of the Sarbanes‐Oxley…
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The relationship between the CFO and the audit committee has changed from oftentimes one of minimal contact to almost daily interaction as a result of the Sarbanes‐Oxley legislation. This is probably for the best, as the remoteness of audit committees in the past likely contributed to at least some of the corporate dysfunction we have seen in recent years.
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The report of the Chief Veterinary Officer of the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries which records the proceedings taken under the Diseases of Animals Act for the year 1929 has…
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The report of the Chief Veterinary Officer of the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries which records the proceedings taken under the Diseases of Animals Act for the year 1929 has just been issued. It indicates clearly the enormous amount and complexity of the work which devolves on the officers of the Ministry. They may very well say with John Wesley, “ All the world is my parish.” For instance in seven outbreaks of anthrax “ which …. occurred a few years ago,” the cause was found to be infected bone meal used as a manure and imported from an Eastern country (p. 43); another outbreak was traced to beans that had been imported from China (p. 44); again, special measures have been taken, at the instance of His Majesty's Government, by the Governments of Uruguay, Brazil, and Argentine to prevent the introduction of foot‐and‐mouth disease into this country by chilled or frozen meat (p. 46); an outbreak of foot‐and‐mouth disease at Los Angeles, California, led to an embargo being placed on the importation of hay and straw from that State (p. 52); while an outbreak in Southern Sweden led to similar steps being taken (p. 52). It is unnecessary to give further instances, but it is evident that the complexities of modern commerce and the development of rapid means of transport imposes world‐wide duties on the Ministry of a nature that were by no means contemplated when in 1865 the Veterinary Department of the Privy Council—of which the present Ministry is a lineal descendant—was instituted as a result of the outbreak of cattle plague which had ravaged the country. Table I. (p. 94) gives the total number of cattle in Great Britain for the five years 1925–1929 inclusive, each year ending in June. The percentage variation in the number of cattle during that time appears to be four per cent., so that the Ministry is responsible under the Act for about 7¼ millions of cattle, the 1929 return gives 7,190,539. The census and the subsequent co‐ordination of the returns made is in itself a task of no inconsiderable magnitude. In addition to this, however, veterinary skill of a high order is demanded, not only in the interests of a trade whose dimensions are indicated by the figures just given, but in the interests of public health in relation to notifiable cases, under the Act, of bovine tuberculosis. The number of cows and heifers in milk or in calf is given as 3,166,292 or 44 per cent. of the total number of bovine animals. It is of course from these that we derive our supplies of fresh milk, so that on their health our own health to a certain extent depends, and to a greater extent the health of invalids and children to whom milk is a prime necessity. It is therefore scarcely possible to over‐rate the weight of responsibility resting on the Ministry when the relation of its duties to the incidence of bovine tuberculosis is considered. Two important facts, however, demand attention. The first is that the Tuberculosis Order of 1925 was, as the Report points out, neither designed nor expected to eradicate bovine tuberculosis. The disease is widespread, and it is to be feared somewhat firmly established in our herds—an evil legacy from the past. The most that can be done at present is by means of the Order to remove as far as possible the danger to human health from the ingestion of the milk of infected animals and to reduce the number of these animals. Any attempt which might be made to completely eradicate the disease would in our present state of knowledge lead to a serious depletion of our herds throughout the country, and large expenditure in compensation (p. 23). In the second place while the Order of 1925 requires certain forms of the disease to be reported, no steps are at present taken or can be taken to search out the disease. An organisation designed so to do would be costly, as it would in the first place involve “ a considerable extension of periodical veterinary inspection of all dairy cows, coupled with the application of the biological test ” (p. 23). Hence leaving out of consideration our deficient knowledge of the disease, though its effects are horribly evident in our national life, the old conflict of public health versus public pocket is presented to us in an acute form.
Discusses the contribution made by Alan Jeffreys to the development of performance measurement in the Technical Services section of Newcastle University Library. Considers the…
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Discusses the contribution made by Alan Jeffreys to the development of performance measurement in the Technical Services section of Newcastle University Library. Considers the movement from the quantitative analysis of the 1980s to the qualitative analysis and setting of service standards which takes place today. Considers the development of Technical Services staff with a movement towards working more directly with users. Discusses retrospective conversion and the increasing importance of measuring performance against standards in order to understand how we can continue to improve the services offered.
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To report on the collaborative project between Newcastle University Library and 3M which aimed to increase self‐issue levels using six sigma methodology.
Abstract
Purpose
To report on the collaborative project between Newcastle University Library and 3M which aimed to increase self‐issue levels using six sigma methodology.
Design/methodology/approach
The six‐month long project is outlined and gives an insight into the process improvement methodology called six sigma. An explanation of why we ran the project is given and the Define, Measure, Analyse, Improve, Control (DMAIC) phases of the six sigma are described.
Findings
Outlines the long and short term measures which were needed to improve the self‐issue service.
Practical implications
Useful source for other libraries who may wish to improve their self‐issue levels. It is also useful for those who are interested in the use of six sigma in the service sector, more specifically in an academic library.
Originality/value
It was a unique project in that it was the first time 3M had collaborated with a UK academic library on a six sigma project and the first time Newcastle University Library had engaged in this type of process improvement exercise. It shows how in working objectively together both parties improved the self‐issue service in a systematic way.
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Michael E. Roloff and Denise H. Solomon
Although relational commitment increases the likelihood that intimates will confront each other about relational problems, commitment may promote decisions to withhold complaints…
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Although relational commitment increases the likelihood that intimates will confront each other about relational problems, commitment may promote decisions to withhold complaints in some circumstances. We conducted a survey of undergraduate daters that focused on the conditions under which relational commitment prompts individuals to express or withhold relational complaints. As expected, we documented a positive association between relational commitment and the willingness to confront a partner; the magnitude of this association was stronger among respondents who had dated for less than a year compared to those who had been involved for a longer time. Despite this general trend, we also found that relational commitment was positively associated with withholding grievances because the respondent believed that the problem was minor and perceived the partner would not change. Finally, we observed an interaction between relational commitment and partner's supportiveness when predicting the number of complaints withheld. Among individuals who were not very committed to their relationships, the association between partner supportiveness and the number of irritations withheld was negative and statistically significant. Among highly committed respondents, the same association was positive and not significant.
Referring to the plans of the Ministry of Health for creating a “Fitter Britain,” Sir Kingsley Wood recently said: “We have many plans for building up an A1 nation in the New…
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Referring to the plans of the Ministry of Health for creating a “Fitter Britain,” Sir Kingsley Wood recently said: “We have many plans for building up an A1 nation in the New Year. One important thing we must not forget. If we are to be successful we must, while steadily maintaining and improving our existing health services, always keep before us our fuller conceptions of health policy to‐day—that it is not enough to protect the individual or the community from disease, but that we must more and more be health builders. The present year finds us on the threshold of an important development in our plans for the creation of a ‘Fitter Britain.’ The aim of the Government is to give a special and better place in our health provision to physical education and self‐equipment. It is not because there is physical deterioration in Great Britain, but rather because we believe that still greater results can be achieved. We have no desire to set a course of physical jerks for the nation—dumb‐bells are perhaps relies of the past—but we do desire new concerted efforts in many directions. It is certainly necessary that there should be additional gymnasia and physical recreation, but also the provision of more clubs for young people, more community centres, more swimming baths, more playing fields, and more open‐air life. There will, of course, be no question of compulsion—it is alien to British conceptions of how this country can best attain a fitter and fuller life. We shall work through our existing organisations, local authorities, and voluntary organisations—aided by further Government assistance. So far as new plans needing Parliamentary approval are concerned, he said he hoped that the present year would see the serious gap filled which now existed when children left school and became employed. There was at present no public provision for medical care until insurance began at the age of 16. I do not forget,” Sir Kingsley Wood continued, “that the problem of nutrition is playing, and must play, an increasingly important part in our health plans and policy. The matter of sound nourishment, what constitutes a proper diet, and how we are best to apply our modern knowledge on these matters, is of great importance to the nation. Our own expert Advisory Committee are steadily going on with their work, a collection of family budgets is to be made as part of the Ministry of Labour's investigation of the cost of living, and a number of local authorities are, at the request of the Advisory Committee, also making a series of quantitative dietary surveys. Our milk‐in‐schools scheme is now in operation in schools containing 90 per cent. of the elementary school population. We are also enabled, now that the report of the Milk Reorganisation Commission is available, to consider how we can extend the scope of this scheme. Employment and wages play an important part in improving the nutrition of the nation, and it is gratifying to witness the increasing numbers of our people in work again and the increase in wages of so many industrial workers.”